We always hear about the tiger tank and how formidable it was, as well as other Nazi weapons like the rockets. Did the allies have weapons that struck the same fear on the axis?

When I say Germanic "Tribal" economy I am referring to the general economy of the predominantly German tribes between the 2nd century BC and the 6th Century AD. Were there taxes? Or was the entire economy based on looting and trade? Could and did a powerful chief tax loot that was looted from a city?

With the rule of the four good Caliphs and what-not.

I've been doing a fair bit of reading on armoured units and warfare during the Second World War, and one thing I can't fathom is why Italian armour is so poor, they were allied with the Germans who, even during the early years of war were fielding tank such as the Panzer III and early Mk IV's as well as the fabled StuG's, yet the armour used by the Italians is perhaps more comparable to that of the Japanese, being that they used poorly armoured and armed tanks.

Even when the Allies had begun to standardise the 75mm on the Lee/Grant and Shermans, the Italians primarily used the 47mm which was, by 1942, rather insufficient against newer armour. Even the Carro Armato P40 which used a 75mm gun was only produced in very minute quantities and was still using riveted armour as opposed to being cast or welded.

So how did the Italians remain so far behind in the quality of their armoured units when the rest of Europe was making huge steps forward?

If yes, how did they explain it?

I am aware of efforts against the Scots and the Irish (war, tribunals, property confiscation, religious repression, and so on), but did any of that occur against the Welsh?

This is something I've been curious about for quite some time..

Western politics and policy in the last hundred years has largely been dominated by the issue of Communism, with the direct or indirect consequences of decisions made back then are the big issues we face today.
The term "Iron Curtain" was coined by Churchill in his 1946 Fulton, MS speech, but the fear for Communism, as far as I've understood it, is obviously a child of earlier thought as evident by the support of the Russian Royalists by both the US and UK governments in the Russian Revolution of 1917.

So what's the story behind the fear of Communism, and to some degree socialism? Where does it come from?

Is it as simple as fear of losing power and wealth for the imperialists and business magnates? Or is it based on something deeper or even older?

Thank you :)

I don't mean scraping the sides, I mean ramming the front end full force into another ship.

Of the many types of gladiator one could be, which would statistically be the most likely to kick the most ass and sustain the least injury?

Also, why is/was it a thing?

I was trying to visualise how Mongol cavlary could have holstered lances (vertically?) to use a bow when I realised that nothing I had ever read actually stated that all Cavalry carried bows, and that I was just assuming that they would.

Two in one. I know many Jews in the Islamic world were slave merchants, particularly in Andalusia and North Africa, though they were prohibited to enslave Muslims by the Islamic governments and prohibited to enslave Jews by other Jews. I think in Italy Jews were allowed to own and sell Muslim and pagan slaves, but not Christian ones but am not sure

I'm drawing a blank on whether Christian Arabs/Christians in Islamic countries/empires were allowed to own slaves, i know Christian Arabs weren't allowed to own or ride horses.

And, i am sure, Christians in Christian countries were allowed to own slaves until prohibitions of slavery began at various points in history, some popes tried banning it a early as the 1100s (banning Christians from owning Christians), and Muslims were sort of banned from owning Muslims. In all cases laws were infrequently applied, re and mis interpreted, and sometimes slavery would be prohibited for a time and re-legalized.

The Janissaires were Muslims and slaves of the Caliph at the same time, and black Africans were permitted to be enslaved by European governments whether they were Christian or not.

I couldn't find it in the FAQ so i thought i'd ask, super curious about it.

I want to learn more about them. Any interesting reads with links?

What role did he serve in the Roman Empire other than being a leader and why was he killed?

I realize Japan had concentrated a large portion of production and man power into it's naval forces. But they still managed to seize as well as maintain control deep inland china as well as Korea, Burma, Siam, and Manchuria. Siberia is filled with oil so oil supply was certainly an attractive result of a full scale invasion of Siberia. (see /u/MrMarbles2000's response)

Oil supply was one of the many reasons Japan attacked the US. Im not sure what the benefit of further invading China would hold, especially when the only reason Japan invaded initially was due to the Mukden Incident. But I'm sure whatever the invasion of southeast Asia, specifically Malaysia and neighboring islands, yielded China could just as much offer to the Japanese empire.

Edit: Updated

Relevant reading is appreciated.