Was it conquest such as in northern africa, or was it missionary influence? Etc. Thank younfor any answers

Although training and discipline greatly helps any kind of army, Mongols were able to conquer Asia from China to Poland. They had armies of horse archers with supporting lancers. While they also had the advantage of having the greatest commanders of their age, why couldn't any of these peoples able to stop Mongols?

Chinese had defeated the nomadic Xiongnu many years ago and had crossbows but couldn't stop them. Hungarian crossbowmen had caused some casualties to Mongols in Mohi. I believe Khwarezmians also used foot archers to stop mongol cavalry. Medieval generals were surely not dumb, mongol horse archers could be stopped with misille units and infantry. Yet Mongols always defeated them. Why did everyone get crushed by Mongols, all falling to feigned retreat?

I found that Russian principalities were able to defeat the Golden Horde later on, but I couldn't find much details about their battles.

I'm specifically interested in the early 1800s, right before the Napoleonic Wars. In an episode of Horatio Hornblower, a peace treaty between Britain and France leaves the title character stranded ashore on half-pay, without a ship to command, reduced to pawning off his greatcoat and sword to make rent. His friend, who served as first lieutenant, is in similar financial straits. How historically accurate is this? Can anyone provide salaries relative to the cost-of-living in a typical port city? I have a hard time believing the pay was so low even for commanders that they were forced to live in genteel poverty.

If that were the case, why didn't officers take other jobs, e.g. with a merchant ship, during peacetime? Was it because their half-pay bound them as full-time employees in the Royal Navy, despite... well, not being employed?

According to Wikipedia, in 1706, at the age of 27, Ann wrote, "I desire to be humbled before God for that sad and humbling providence that befell my father's family in the year about ninety-two; that I, then being in my childhood, should, by such a providence of God, be made an instrument for the accusing of several people for grievous crimes, whereby their lives was taken away from them, whom, now I have just grounds and good reason to believe they were innocent persons; and that it was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that sad time, whereby I justly fear I have been instrumental, with others, though ignorantly and unwittingly, to bring upon myself and this land the guilt of innocent blood; though, what was said or done by me against any person, I can truly and uprightly say, before God and man, I did it not out of any anger, malice, or ill will to any person, for I had no such thing against one of them; but what I did was ignorantly, being deluded by Satan.

And particularly, as I was a chief instrument of accusing Goodwife Nurse and her two sisters, I desire to lie in the dust, and to be humble for it, in that I was a cause, with others, of so sad a calamity to them and their families; for which cause I desire to lie in the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness of God, and from all those unto whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offense, whose relations were taken away or accused."

The "evidence" given in the witch trials included the accusers saying they "saw" the accused afflicting them, so you would think they normally would know whether they were lying or not.

Do we have any examples of these women writing or discussing it?

Hi, I am looking for books or other reliable sources regarding the 1962 India vs China War/“Border Dispute”. I wasn’t able to find decent sources on my own. Any and all information on this topic or direction will be appreciated.

Thank you!

Most of the world considers the current year to be 2018 (although I understand there are exceptions).

100 years ago it was 1918.

I doubt that 2017 years ago it was considered year 1.

When and how did the year 0 get decided upon, and at which point was the current year first accurate along this time keeping method?

In many photos you can see men, women and children of occupied countries gathering and smiling with the Axis occupation soldiers during World War 2.

Why is that and how can that be?

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Something that's always confused me. I've read, and heard stories from people who lived in the Soviet era, that jeans were something of a hot commodity as a Western fashion item, but were contraband with no equivalent manufactured in the Eastern Bloc, and that when restrictions were relaxed during Gorbachev's era they naturally became one of the most sought-after of newly available Western products. But the Soviet Union's anti-jean policy has always seemed a bit contradictory: blue jeans were designed explicitly as work clothes for manual labor, and occupied that position in American fashion until the 1950s and greaser culture moved them to the edge of mainstream. They're cheap to make. They're durable. They don't have to be washed after every wear. In short, the ultimate in proletarian form-and-function clothing. So why the hate?

EDIT: I just caught my typo in the title; I am aware that it should be "Mahayana." My apologies.

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Quite a few of Shakespeare's plays contain French. To what extent would the audience be able to understand French? What about hidden meanings and poetic devices— to what extent would these be understood?

Referring to US history. Was this a problem our founding fathers had to deal with?

It is a fact that Hinduism and Buddhism have never been and still are not separate from each other in South Asia, but as the concept of Hinduism is quite new, I am assuming there was a long period at which people followed the thoughts and teachings of Buddha without calling themselves Buddhists. Is this true? If so, when did the two dharmic cultures start to separate?

I've recently read Martim Afonso's brother's journal about his journey to Brazil in 1531, and since then, I've been looking for resources on how these expeditions were and the daily life of a conquistador/explorer. I.e. How did they camp? What did they wear/carry? How did they organize and plan their routes? How did they manage their supplies? What did they eat?

It could be anything from 15th to 17th century, I'm really interested in this topic and I'd love to discover more about it.

I’ve heard a lot of conflicting accounts on the Greek regime during and after WW2; could they accurately be described as fascist and did Metaxas ever consider aligning with the Axis powers?