I thought it was a typo or something but I read that the United States provided support to the Khmer Rouge because it would weaken Vietnam's influence or something like that. From how evil the Khmer Rouge was (plus being communist) I'm just not seeing the reasoning here behind U.S. involvement. What am I missing?

Post the French Revolution, France led several successful military campaigns with an improved military under Napoleon. Some attribute it to an overly-patriotic army which was already massively sized, others to Napoleon's own strategic prowess but some have also cited rapid infrastructural improvements in the Navy (as a means to counter British dominance). So, how did France fund this post the revolution at a time when the nation was already heavily indebted and unstable, and Britain was picking up colonies out of French hands?

As the title says, I’m curious as to why most countries standard issue rifles were bolt actions rather than lever actions.

I couldn't find it but I wouldn't be surprised if this has been asked before.

Would it be possible for mods or users to tag the post they are writing with something? I don't think it is necessary to do it for everything. It could even be vague. But at this point, anything about war or more precisely military battles during the Middle Ages or WWII is getting annoying. People joke about Hitler questions but they do get seriously annoying when you browse regularly.

Military history can be interesting but the overwhelming number of questions about military history is always about the more.... popular type of stuff (violence, minutiae, etc.) rather than stuff more related to politics, society or even logistics.

Maybe a WWII - Combat history tag? Or something. I am not sure how it would exactly go but could it be something worth thinking about?

I've been reading a bit about Chinese history from a fairly zoomed out perspective and I can't help but notice that powerful women often come across as... negative. At least the people who write about them seem to look upon them negatively even if modern historians a lot more balanced.

Three come to mind immediately, Dowager Empress Lü, Empress Jia Nanfeng and Empress Wu Zetain, though the last one seems to force a kind of begrudging respect thanks to her difficult to deny skills as a ruler.

I often hear that a lot of this comes from Confucian conservatism when it comes to powerful women, and resulting tropes and stereotypes of domineering empresses and their weak husbands or sons. Despite that I was just kind of curious if there were powerful women who flexed their muscles but who were seen as more virtuous by the old Chinese historians than the examples I listed previously, more akin to how the English acclaim Elizabeth the first or other similar cases? What were the qualities a powerful woman would have to have in Ancient China to get a more favorable evaluation and who were good examples of this?

I have heard the saying "A Princes Education" in a number of stories, I remember it specifically from a romantic one, that I can not remember the name of for the life of me. In it, a prince confessed to his bride that he was given "A Princes Education" as in had a woman give him a hands-on sexual education... did stuff like that ever actually happen back in medieval time? or any other points in history? (I made the post NSFW just to be safe)

I've been interested in the alt-history mod Kaiserreich for the Hearts of Iron series for some time. This mod explores a timeline where Germany and the other Central Powers win the First World War (known as the "Weltkrieg" in that timeline) in 1919. The point of divergence from our timeline is the decision by the Germans to resume unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917. In the Kaiserreich timeline, Germany decides not to resume. This decision (and other events) keeps the U.S. out of WW1.

What I've always been curious about is that single first point of divergence. I've often thought it would be interesting to write a short story covering the moment this decision was made, and exploring what elements would need to change for the decision to change. What I'd like to know is when exactly the decision to resume unrestricted submarine warfare was made? Where was it made? Who made the decision? Was it during some kind of meeting or war council? Did Kaiser Wilhelm wake up one morning and make the decision himself? Was it a boring administrative decision made by a single person in an office? Who was involved in the decision making process? Was anyone firmly in favor of or firmly against resumption?

I am half Russian and as such have heard stories of historical Russian heroes my entire life. One story is that of Alexander Nevsky, who tricked German and Estonian crusaders to go onto thin ice where they fell through, allowing the Novgorodians to win the battle. However, I recently read the wikipedia page on the battle and it claims that the crusaders falling through the ice is a story fabricated in 1938 in the movie Alexander Nevsky. I would believe this, however, on Alexander Nevsky's tomb/memorial in the State Hermitage Museum, a metal engraving made hundreds of years ago shows crusaders falling through the ice. So what really happened? Thanks in advance.

Outside medieval knights and their variations and some samurai i struggle to think of any military unit that uses plate armor through history,why is that?or is the premise of the question wrong in the first place?

When a football/soccer player plays for their country for the first time we tend to say that he/she ”won his/her first cap”. We can also say that a player ”has been capped X times by [nation]” or ”has won X caps for [nation]” Why is this and what is the story behind it?

Thanks for helping!

From what I understand, at the time of the founding of the United States, people were far more likely to identify as a citizen of their respective state than of the union of states. Especially in the AoC (which I haven't fully read, so excuse me if there is such a clause) it seems the nation was so paranoid about another tyrannical federal government, it almost seems expected that they would ad a secession clause. Compounded by the fact that the US Revolution is the result of one part of a greater nation feeling under-represented, why did the founding fathers not add a stipulation for the peaceful secession of a state from the union, if they had reason to believe they weren't being properly represented by their federal government or were having their rights infringed by other states?

Take for example the Civil War. Completely setting aside the moral and legal questions of slavery and states rights/federal rights, a large minority of the nation didn't like how the larger half were forcing legislation upon them. Based on the principles that the nation was founded on, shouldn't the south have been able to secede on the grounds that it was no longer able to voice a significant vote for their own legislation?

My grandfather was born and raised in Hungary and has lived a very full life. He’s now in his 80’s and had a small health scare a couple months ago (he’s ok) which among other reasons has inspired me to sit him down and record as much as he’s willing to share about his experiences.

I’m interested in any tips that you all have to share about interviewing primary sources. One area that I wish I had more info about was on the format: is it generally more effective if I set it up as an organic conversation or if I had prewritten questions? If the latter, what types of questions should I ask? Should I ask questions in order of years, or should I organize it in a different way? However if you have other information beyond this scope that would be helpful, I’d appreciate it.

If it’s at all helpful, I’ll provide a general overview of what I know already. My goal is to both learn more about his life, as what we all know comes from little stories told over dinner once in a while, and to also record what we already know in a way that preserves his memory.

Thanks for your help!

My grandfather was raised in Esztergom during the war. He is the youngest of 4 brothers and the son of a “police officer” (not sure of his exact title). My Great Grandmother apparently made dough for a local baker to make some side money. He worked for a time as an alter server and was confirmed by (according to him) Cardinal Mindszenty. There’s several stories from his youth that we know about, such as the time he almost burned down his house by playing with a bomb fuse left over from the war that would be worth talking about during the interview.

When he was 16 he worked in a coal mine. (He knows the name but it’s in Hungarian and I’d have to write it down since I don’t speak it) By this time the war was over and Hungary was a communist state. One story that he likes to talk about a lot was the time that the mine collapsed and he was left for dead, but he found his way out and was awarded a day off.

From here my grandfather and my Great uncle István find their way to Budapest. I think their uncle or someone had a position in the city government and probably found them a job. At some point the revolution began and my grandfather and his brother were caught in the middle of it.

My grandfather has mentioned several things from this period such as how he and some people took over a police station, how he heard a politician speak to a crowd (I think Imre Nagy but I’m not sure), and how his brother got shot in the foot. This last one is pretty significant for the family because he was apparently one of the first to be shot when the Soviets came, so he and my grandfather were taken by ambulance out of the city (or to a safer place) and avoided much of the chaos.

From here my 19 year old grandfather got it in his head that they should leave the country. He definitely had knowledge of the West because he talks about how the radios back then would talk about how the Americans would come to the rescue very soon. His journey to Austria was like many others: he and my great uncle István hired a guide who made them pay all their money, then he, my aunt, uncle, their infant daughter, and other families broke through the barbed wire, hid in haystacks, and slowly made their way into Austria.

I think they spent some time in Austria because he mentioned the other day that his brother worked for a time in a shop in Innsbruck that made those iconic tiled furnaces who’s name I forgot. Eventually they decided to go to America and somehow were collected from Europe and taken to the US. They stopped for a time in Iceland, but then were taken to a refugee camp in America. Here my Grandfather met VP Nixon and shook his hand. To this day he still regards him as a good president.

From here my grandfather started his life in America. He gave up coal mining to become an upholsterer and eventually a house builder. Eventually he married a Hungarian lady, but divorced her not long after. (This story is wild too, apparently her father was a counterfeiter and in general a maniac) He met my grandmother and settled down.

He recently opened up about his regrets on leaving Hungary. My other uncle and my Great grandparents still lived in Hungary and my grandfather had no knowledge of English or much about American culture upon arriving. (For example, one story that he likes to tell was when he tried hitting on a waitress at a diner but found out from her that she thought he was gay because he held his friend’s hand upon entering the restaurant, which is apparently what male friends in Hungary did at the time.) I think I might ask some questions about this too, so any advice about this would be great in addition.

There’s a lot of missing info, and I think it’s not all just because it was ~60 years ago. For example my dad thinks that my grandfather is intentionally withholding information, but I’m not sure myself because we’ve never sat him down and had him talk for a long time about his life before.

Like I said at the top, any tips are appreciated. Thanks for reading and sorry if this sounds like a rambling mess

The economic conflict between free labor and slave labor, of northern capital versus southern agriculture, was the engine of U.S. history from independence up until the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865. Did this conflict exist in any other New World slave economies?

I know the Inca resisted against Spanish colonialism even after their capital Cusco was taken by the Spaniards. Did some Mexica try to resist afterwards? Did some flee to other independent Native groups or did they stay completely subordinate to Spain after Tenochtitlan's fall?