Did France plan to just use Germany as a giant irradiated buffer zone? Were there discussions with West Germany about this? edit: specifically, this was mentioned by David Rothkopf in this week's FP podcast.

My research mostly involves Franciscan missions in North America, but I would like to learn more about the Society of Jesus in South America. We can blame the movie The Mission and it's awesome soundtrack.

Did the expulsion of the Jesuits result in abandonment of the missions? What were the repercussions and corresponding power struggles? Many missions had been inhabited for a few generations, were they simply abandoned or did someone else step in to take control? In North America missions were often a refuge from slavers. Did the breakdown in the missions lead to an increase in slaving raids? What are some other fascinating aspects about this time period that I might not know to ask?

Thanks.

What changed in the 100 or so years between the two crusades which led to the failure of the Second crusade?

I'm working on an epistolary story set in the east of Canada in 1908. I can find some background on the content of contemporary letters, but I can't find much about what those epistles would be written on. I want to get the physical details close, so:

What size and color might writing-paper and envelopes be (and would it still be acidic wood-pulp paper)?

Would I be using a pen and inkwell, or would it be more likely for me to own a fountain pen?

Would my ink be blue or black?

Am I right in thinking that a domestic letter might be sent by a 1c or 2c 'King Edward' stamp?

Anything else you might know about North American letter-writing in the period would be wonderfully helpful. Thank you!

Mildly curious, that's all.

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My history teacher said today that the world record of mobilization goes to finland which during the second world war mobilized 700.000 men and women while finlands population then was only 3.7million. Is this true or did some other nation mobilize more of its population?

Right now the top post on /r/TodayILearned claims that the French agronomist Parmentier tricked his countrymen into adopting the crop by locking up a large quantity of it and instructing guards to accept all bribes. I have "always known" that outlawing the plant for other than his own personal use was how Frederick the Great introduced the potato to Prussia - and then the first comment on the TIL claims the same story for the Greek Kapodistrias.

Since Frederick was ahead of the other two, it is of course possible that they heard the story and decided to try it out for themselves, and that human nature took care of the rest. But it also sounds like too perfect a story - the genius statesman fooling his own obstinate people into changing for their own good - not to suspect the stories have been, if not fictionalized, then mixed together somewhat.

What do we really know about this?

I've been watching a lot of Wuxia movies lately and I've noticed a recurring theme. The heroes will be brought before a corrupt judge. The judge will try to get them to confess to some crime they haven't committed and when they refuse the judge will pull an arrow shaped token out of a jar on their desk, throw it towards the accused, and dramatically proclaim "torture!". This appears in a number of movies that I've seen with a lot of similar features - the same basic layout for the courtroom, the same arrow shaped tokens. I'm wondering if this has any basis in actual historical practice or if it's something that was invented for Wuxia dramas.

Additionally, if anyone could provide details or point me at resources related to how judicial proceedings were carried out in Chinese cities in the period between ~1700 and ~1900 I'd be grateful. It seems like a potentially fascinating topic.

Obviously the diseases brought by the Europeans played a huge role in the depopulation. However, as European colonists weren't exactly known for being gentle towards native populations and I've seen it mentioned that many Native Americans were forced into slavery in terrible conditions, one could think that ''natural'' factors weren't the only reason.

In reading about the German invasions of France in 1914 and Russia in 1941, I often come across anecdotal assertions of the Germans seeing the Eiffel Tower in the distance as they got close to Paris, or, in the case of WWII, the advance German reconnaissance groups seeing "the golden domes of the Kremlin" off in the distance in Moscow.

Is there any legitimate, scholarly evidence of these events occurring? Like a soldier's diary, or memoirs, or something?

I know that is a broad question, but I would just like some examples of what the beliefs (gods, myths, ceremonies, etc.) were of tribal groups in Europe before they were all converted to Christianity.

The Republican vs. Unionist divide is always portrayed as Catholic vs. Protestant. But "protestantism" is a pretty big tent. Did any protestant groups side with the IRA in an "enemy of my enemy" sense? How about for purely nationalist reasons?

There were ties between Irish revolutionaries and various communists, so I presume at least a few dialectic materialist atheists were floating about, but Im most curious if some Free Baptists or whomever decided to be so free that the ended up on the other side altogether.

I'm looking for a book about the history / story of humans and the world from origin to civilization to today. What are some of the best books out there? I'm not looking for anything pre-humans but definitely going back a few million years to our earliest origins. It would be nice to read something very detailed but it doesn't have to be. Could be non-fiction or narrative non-fiction (what is the best book for each?). I'm hoping to better understand how humans have progressed - and how human nature has been applied. I don't mind reading something very long.

I know this has been asked before, but the answers seem to change.

Thanks!

I saw some old pictures of the UN and I saw "Ukrainian S.S.R." as a separate member apart from the Soviet Union? How did this happen? Wasn't Ukraine part of the Soviet Union?

Despite being traditionally taught as a fully invasive holy war, it seems like there would be a great deal of exchange between participants on both sides. What were areas where the 'invaders' showed appreciation for concepts, tools, or practices of the populations already living there? This could include Islam, but also Judaism and any other alternative thought models in operation at the time.

For example, The Creation of Adam... where's Adam's bush? Was manscaping in back then?

Did the Finns believe the British and French would come to their aid if the Soviets invaded? Or was it doubt that the Soviets would invade or even succeed?

I know very little about the pre-colonial Americas, unfortunately, but I'm aware that a large number of pyramids and ziggurat-like-structures were constructed by various civilisations. Would these pyramids usually be situated in the midst of cities? Where was the manpower for their creation sourced - obviously, large numbers of skilled craftsmen would have been required alongside manual labourers. Finally, were these pyramids invariably religious in purpose, or would they serve other purposes such as palaces or forts?

I realise this is a sweeping generalisation of numerous different cultural groups and with no set time-period. Apologies for that - I honestly know so little about pre-colonial America that it's hard to give any specific details.