Edit: This is not the place to discuss the current invasion or share "news" about events in Ukraine. This is the place to ask historical questions about Ukraine, Ukranian and Russian relations, Ukraine in the Soviet Union, and so forth.

We will remove comments that are uncivil or break our rule against discussing current events. /edit

As will no doubt be known to most people reading this, this morning Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The course of events – and the consequences – remains unclear.

AskHistorians is not a forum for the discussion of current events, and there are other places on Reddit where you can read and participate in discussions of what is happening in Ukraine right now. However, this is a crisis with important historical contexts, and we’ve already seen a surge of questions from users seeking to better understand what is unfolding in historical terms. Particularly given the disinformation campaigns that have characterised events so far, and the (mis)use of history to inform and justify decision-making, we understand the desire to access reliable information on these issues.

This thread will serve to collate all historical questions directly or indirectly to events in Ukraine. Our panel of flairs will do their best to respond to these questions as they come in, though please have understanding both in terms of the time they have, and the extent to which we have all been affected by what is happening. Please note as well that our usual rules about scope (particularly the 20 Year Rule) and civility still apply, and will be enforced.

Humans like repeating numbers and we've had plenty of "neat" dates in modern history. We all know about the armistice on the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month. Did any other numerically interesting dates coincide to a celebration or historic event?

This is a bit of a weird specific request.

My grandfather served in the US Army during WWII and was in the battle of Okinawa. I'm not sure what regiment, but I know he was artillery, "TEC 5". When I was a kid, I remember we were sitting at a restaurant, somebody brought up the topic of gold (the metal), and I suppose he had a flashback. He said "when I was in the army, after battle, you know, they were dead, we would---" and then my dad covered my ears. I never got to ask him much about his time in the army because I was young, and he's been dead for about 11 years.

I've got to learn a lot about Okinawa since I've been living in Japan and visiting the islands, but the question still haunts me about what he was about to say. Naturally, my dad doesn't remember as this was close to 20 years ago. Does anyone have any idea? Did they take gold fillings from corpses' teeth? That's the only thing I can speculate. Also any general artillery info about that battle would be appreciated. I've tried looking for his records, but apparently the warehouse that held the records from those days flooded some time back (DoD/CIA/FBI/NFL coverup???). I miss my grandpa.

Pray for Ukraine

Was the purpose to curb women's display of wealth on moral grounds? Was the Roman treasury starved of money during the second Punic war/ was there similar measures on men? The Punic war ended in 201 BC, yet the law wasn't repealed until 195 BC. Why?

We have a variety of non-dairy "milks" processed from rice, soy, almonds, oats, etc. Is this a modern phenomenon or is there an historical precedent?

I’ve been looking for concrete answers online but they all say it’s complicated.

I wanna do research on topics that are glossed over, like accounts of the lives of specific civilians who lived in cordoba under Muslim rule, or the lives of different citizens of Rome after caesar died and that one guy roamed around w an army of bandits forcing everyone to bend to his will despite weapons being banned inside the city. help me out with this guys name also btw, but mainly, how do you research???? any online websites or archives or sources?

come on, 250 of you have seen this post now, not a single comment? :(

It seems to me that even though archeology and historians are trying that the number of artifacts in private collections (both legal and illegal) grossly surpass the number artifacts in museums.

I mean we've kind of had this "civilized system" for the last what, 50-70 years. Everything before that was more chaotic than we like to believe.

If we look at it like that it seems to me that we have access and have "processed" a very small part of the world heritage.

Would I be correct?

I've often seen it presented that international sanctions eventually led to Japan's attacks on the United States and the Allies, but how much of an impact did sanctions have on the ground in the actual fighting in China? How long did it take for sanctions to bite into Japan's military strength?

Wondering if there are any materials associated with/cataloging PTSD-like symptoms amongst soldiers from ancient armies of, say, Persia, Greece, Thrace, Egypt, and so on?

Did the Allies take any non-military steps, like trade sanctions for example, to try to hold back Germany's expansion or at least to discourage Hitler?

I'm sure it was heavily censored and spun but they had to explain what happened to their 4 premier carriers and crews, didn't they?

I'm in the beginning stages of planning out my undergraduate thesis and I'm looking for topic suggestions. I have a general idea of the direction I want to go, but because a lot of aspects of women's lives in the Middle Ages are hard to research, I'd like to consider some additional options before I meet with my advisor.

What are your favorite topics from this time? What areas do you feel aren't over-saturated with research already? What areas do you wish more people knew about? What is your favorite story? Favorite badass individual? Weird, quirky, or funny stories? I want to hear it all. Additionally, any book or article recommendations would be more than welcomed - bonus points if you know of any relevant primary source material.

For context: I am a women's history major specializing in medieval to early modern Europe (mostly medieval), with minors in Criminology and Psychology. I'm very interested in areas dealing with reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, midwifery, paganism/non-Abrahamic religions, rebellious women, BIPOC living in western Europe during these periods, and LGBT individuals and issues - specifically the persecution and punishment of LGBT folks within ecclesiastical or secular courts, or due to vigilantism.

Thanks in advance!

I've been trying to research rural European common folk-owned houses circa early Middle Ages (around 500) to the end of the Renaissance (1600).
Aside from the very basics and small snippets, I haven't had much luck (most of what I found focuses on the architecture pertaining to the gentry and nobility or urban architecture).

Basically, I'm hoping to build a little office/workshop. Because I love history (as well as taking inspiration from a youtube video I saw of someone making a Viking house), I was hoping to build it in a way that's historically accurate.
I'm not picky about any specific type of building/era as I would like to know more before I make any decisions.

Anything suggestions would be so greatly appreciated!

Recent events got me to thinking about Pétain and Quisling. I am sure there are other examples throughout history, but is there a pattern to why a country's leaders would collaborate with the enemy instead of trying to free their people? I imagine there are examples in non-European countries: I'm just not aware of them.

Benedict Arnold also popped into my mind, but he wasn't a leader, so doesn't fit my question (I think).

I've often been curious about this one, while nearly every source I can find is a nutjob talking about aliens and the like, I've also read that the pots were discovered with tubes of copper and rods of iron, with some legitimate historians debating over whether it was some form of rudimentary battery, while others claim it was for storing scrolls and other artifacts.

It seems to me, such a specific design, of very specific materials related to electrolysis and electricity in general, its bizarre to dismiss it as a storage device.

So, the Baghdad Battery, was it real, aliens or just a pot?