I have heard a lot about Prussia's military, especially under Frederick the Great, being essentially the premiere military of Europe. What were the specific reasons for this? What reforms/systems/strategies gave Prussia the edge over contemporary armies?

I've been reading about the Rwandan god Imana, who by all accounts was the sole god worshipped by the Rwandan people, long before colonization by Christians. I've read that their monotheistic belief system, which was in other respects quite different from Christianity, eased conversion attempts, but the rapid dominance of Christianity also erased much of the knowledge about this belief system. Do we know enough to say conclusively that Imana was indeed wholly 'unrelated' to yhwh, God, and Allah, and were there other monotheistic belief systems in Africa or elsewhere that have similarly been erased?

listen to me, sahib,' said the taller fiercer of the pair, the one they called Abdullah Khan. "You must either be with us now or you must be silenced forever. The thing is too great a one for us to hesitate. Either you are heart and soul with us on your oath on the cross of the Christians, or your body this night shall be thrown into a ditch and we shall pass over to our brothers in the rebel army

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the thing stands, Sahib, and I tell it to you because I know that an oath is a binding thing upon a feringhee, that we may trust you. Had you been a lying Hindoo, though you had sworn by all the gods in their false temples, your blood would have been upon the knife and your body in the water. But the Sikh knows the Englishmen, and the Englishmen knows the Sikh. Hearken, then, to what I say.

I know that we have records of instruments used in ancient greece and mesopotamia. But do we have any "music sheet" from those times?

I am referring to the migrations of the Germanic tribes then the Slavic tribes with Huns and Bulgars mixed in there as well. I have a pretty good understanding of why/how it started...but why did it stop?

So let's say we have a guy in 1750 in the area we now call Kentucky. He wants to write a letter and send it to his long lost cousin in London.

How long would the journey take? What kind of mail systems were set up in that time. What dangers could be expected for mail carriers along the way and was there any sort of security that your letter would or would not arrive? How often did mail travel across the ocean?

Edit: Thanks to /u/breecher for showing the difference between a letter and a telegram. I specifically meant a handwritten letter.

In Jane Austen's novels, few of the rich adult males work, instead living off their investments or (at most) doing a little light estate management. The population of Britain at the time was 12,000,000. How many people were rich enough to live their entire lives without working (or, if female, having husbands who worked)? What about other European countries?

I posted this question last week but didn't get a response, so I'm giving it another shot.

I've been doing some genealogical work, and found that my great-great-(etc)-grandfather was born in England, his son was born in Barbados in the late 1600s, and his son in what would later become Maine (the father died there, as well, so I'm assuming they moved together). What might this pattern of migration suggest about the family, and what was life like for the settlers in Barbados?

Did any other monarchs try to come to the aid of Louis Xvi and his wife? Or were they just on their own in that mess? And if not...why?

Just thinking about the famous WW2 (WW1?) Christmas Truce, was it considered dishonorable to attack on Christmas Day? Did the British try to use this as anti-Revolutionary propaganda?

So i have always thought that the berlin wall was erected shortly after world wars 2 as a result of the tensions between the west and soviet russia, but ive now found out somewhat unexpectedly that it was constructed in the mid 60s.

So with that in mind what was the lead up, sociopolitical, economical or military to the berlin wall and why?

Edit: bonus question. How did Germany reunite as we know it today?

So the BBC has just started showing "Versailles", a period drama about how the Louis XIV built the palace of Versailles out of his father Louis XIII's old hunting lodge. I'm only halfway through episode 2 and already I'm getting the idea that Louis and his court were liberal, progressive and decadent (especially sexually) how fair a representation is this? Some examples include:

• His brother Philippe (Duke of Orléans) has a wife and a male lover whom (it seems) he openly is involved with. Is this type of relationship typical of the time?

• Philippe openly as the opposite sex, whilst it's more acceptable now how accepted was it back then?

• When Louis's wife, Marie-Theresa of Spain gives birth to her mixed-race child (the baby's dad is her servant Nabo) the birth is watched by a fair few onlookers, Was this a usual occurrence?

When Louis finds out instead of killing the baby in anger he sends her away, was this attitude realistic of the time?

• The doctor's daughter whose also present at the birth makes the discovery that the afterbirth needs to be removed to prevent illness, infection etc. Louis then appoints the daughter as his chief medical adviser (even though on paper it's still her dad). How realistic was this attitude?

And what effect did this attitude have on the French people Louis reigned over?

Thank you for any answers :)

How did "they" (aka humans), found iron melting possible, and where first? And why it spread so fast in comparisson with other human discoveries. And why all really advance bronze age civilizations where completely anihilated by iron age "tribes"invasion. Besides the obvious reason of those tribes having iron weapons.

It's very common to hear about court cases and laws that involve the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, etc but I have never heard of any court case involving the 3rd amendment or anything for that manner. I understand in today's day and age the 3rd amendment isn't really needed but was it ever really needed in US history?

I found an article on wiki that shows "Kingdom of Germany" before creation of Holy Roman empire, but other articles show that there was "Middle Francia" and "Eastern Francia" before Holy roman empire. which one is true, did Kingdom of Germany really exist at some point in medieval Europe(before Holy Roman empire)??

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It seems strange to me that the Romans dedicated so much to the invasion of Britain, especially after so much loss.

What was the economic benefit? What did Britain have that was worth crossing the channel for?

What would my standard daily meal consist of? What I would I eat on special occasions like a festival?

After spending some time on a Caribbean island and getting burnt I'm curious how sailors or other Europeans living or sailing in the area during colonization dealt with sunburn.

Every time this conversation comes up my brother calls me a nazi sympathizer. I just happen to be interested in history and my opinion is that Hitler was an intelligent person based on the fact that he successfully established an empire in the 20th century. Not sure if that's a valid enough reason but I'm curious what you all think of Hitlers intelligence.