From what I understood, a Pope had never actually granted a divorce before, so what led him to believe it was possible?

It seems that Hitler quickly became the prototypical bad guy in history. The go to example that people use for a maleficent ruler (and ultimate internet insult). Who would be the closest to the unanimous villain before WW2? Whom would a turn of the century teenager compare you to make their point?

I heard that the Reformation was in Czechoslovakia before Switzerland (or wherever) but that they were mostly wiped out in a religious genocide. Is there any hint of Truth to that claim?

I am Currently reading "Munich" by Robert Harris which is set at the Munich conference in September 1938. The two main characters are both Civil Servants, one in the British delegation and the other part of the German Foreign office, who knew each other at Oxford. The German character is trying to persuade the British that Hitler cannot be trusted and as part of this takes his friend on a nighttime drive to Dachau. The British character realizes before they even arrive where he is being taken and knows both of Dachau and the wider abuse of human rights in Germany.

How well known were camps like Dachau before the war? The British character claims that there are frequent demonstrations outside the German embassy in London. Did this actually happen?

I read War and Peace this year. While I've never studied the Napoleonic wars closely, and so all of the battles and politics were new to me, I was most surprised by the book's account of Napoleon's march into Moscow.

Having seen the famous infographic, I always assumed that Napoleon's defeat came as a result of action from the Russian military. But the book tells a different story.

• The Russian army didn't burn any crops or order them burned. The peasants did this on their own as they fled.

• The Russian army didn't retreat to draw Napoleon into the country. Rather, there were two commanders north and south of the French, and their reason for not combining forces and standing their ground had more to do with military politics.

• Moscow was not on fire when Napoleon entered. It burned as much because of neglect from lacking fire fighters than it did from military or government action.

• Finally, the book speculated that Napoleon could have held Moscow for six months and attacked St. Petersburg if he'd organized better.

Did I get that right? And is that historically accurate?

Just curious.. why is the UN flag the same as a flat Earth map?

I'm going to direct a play that takes place shortly before the french revolution and need to work on the basic ideas for costume design. While I'm going to take a somewhat stylised approach, I still want to try to stay true to the basic shapes and styles of french fashion at the time and I'm going to need at least a basic understanding. Any tips on where to find information on this would be greatly appreciated!

I stumbled on a rumor on the interwebs and wanted to find it's validity.

Currently, the monarch of the UK is considered a figurehead, meaning she has little de facto political power. When did the UK monarch first become a figurehead?

Hitler was very clear on his idea of the master race and white supremacy so how did the Japanese feel being on the side of someone who most likely did't view asians as equals?

Ross Perot won 8 and 18 percent of the popular vote over the course of two federal elections. Since then the most any third candidate has received is about 3%, and going back nothing comes close until someone won 6% in the 1980 election. What made Perot so successful?

As an Indian I have wondered why European colonialists decided to settle in Africa ( South Africa , Namibia) but left promptly from Asian countries upon Independence.

This seems to be hotly contested, both sides claiming to have won, with hindsight, who really won the war of 1812?

I just find it bizarre, compared to the US political situation in the past few decades, that a constitutional amendment had such overwhelming support, but was then readily repealed in less than two decades. How and why was the US Congress and the several states so eager to establish prohibition, and why was there a relatively sudden reversal?

Was he anything more than an early Romantic with better press than Shelley or Byron?

Hi there! I am a freshman history student with no experience in serious historical research. This year I'll be writing a thesis on the history of Taiwan. I have already found relevant literature, but still having troubles with sources. I don't live in Taiwan, and my Mandarin skills are, well, basic. I called several large museums, but the staff don't speak English there, and when I finally found someone who would explain the situation in Mandarin, the staff just replied "you can find everything on the website". I found a catalogue at last, only to discover that the most valuable catalogues are not accessible for me cause I'm not a member of their library or something... So I feel kinda lost, don't even know where to start from or who should I contact do get access to archive documents.

Also, I haven't really decided on the topic yet, since I don't know from which period most documents have survived. However, the period should be before 1895, that's an almost mandatory criterium. So, guys, what would be your advice?

P. S. It was suggested that I should contact the university library. However, our uni is very young and so is its library, and there are very few people who study Taiwanese history in our country, so I'm not sure if that would help

Like "Old Japanese" compared to Old English. I ask specifically Japanese because of the reduced contact to the outside world in the 1800s etc