Hi! I've heard from some friends that DDR/East Germany was a racist country. Is that correct or not?

Thanks!

hello, friendly Korean youngster here. In both history class and recollections from elderly people who have experienced the Korean War firsthand, I often hear the PRC's military tactic being referred to as 'human sea', or in more westerner-friendly terms, the 'meatshield', i.e. throwing enough manpower to overwhelm by numbers. I was also taught/told that this was due to the Chinese's inferior armaments and tactical expertise.

It just hit me, however, that the Communist Party had been in war for almost the entirety of its history, whether it be against the Nationalist Party, or Imperial Japan. It was also (allegedly) backed by Stalin's USSR, whose military might was in no way inferior to the UN forces. Given that, I would reckon that all the Chinese could muster wasn't just mob warfare.

So I ask the educated people here if there is any truth to the common knowledge of China's tactic in the Korean War.

First, my question might be misleading and if it is, I apologize. Secondly, I'm no historian. In fact, I really don't like history. I'm a ninth grader, so if I have any silly questions..bare with me. Recently I've been studying about the renaissance period, or more specifically, the reformation movement and I've been noticing a lot of similarities between it and LaVeyan Satanism(This is not traditional satanism. It is an atheistic philosophy that asserts that "each individual is his or her own god [and that] there is no room for any other god".). Now, sure LaVeyan Satanism might have not existed as LaVeyan Satanism at that time, but could something like that have existed? I mean with the church getting corrupted and people unhappy with it's power, including the rulers, people started worshipping themselves. In fact much importance was given to man himself rather than spirituality. The term Satanism dates back around the 15th century right around the renaissance and/or reformation. Is there any proof or some shred of evidence of this or is this just some weird coincidence?

Follow up question: what were some common symbols/sayings?

Long ago I came across a reference to a devil whose job it was to collect up idle words spoken in church in a bag, but I can't re-find it. Can you tell me where I might find a reference to this belief? Maybe even his name? I was researching 16th century morality plays at the time (if that helps), but it seemed to be a reference to an earlier belief.

In a novel I'm reading (I know, not exactly a credible source), Alexander is depicted as being obsessed with Cyrus the Great of Persia, even acting out scenes from his conquests. Is this at all accurate?

Any sources on the Persian Empire? Anything about it, from culture to politics to military, would be fantastic. Thanks in advance!

...and the same for Mark vs Marcus and John vs Johnathon but not Matt vs Matthew?

Like when someone was digging on their land and this black oil started to spring, what did the person think of it? Was there any significance to it? Did they get upset that their land is getting contaminated and they didn't find the water they were looking for or what? These days if you came across some oil on your land, you would be elated as if you won the jackpot, but how was it before oil became big?

I know this is very broad, but I was wondering if humor existed or was accepted thousands of years ago. I was thinking about the Bible, and wondered if anyone told jokes or did stand up routines (obviously not real standup, but something similar). Was it okay to be funny? Did people tell jokes?

I'm sorry if this is the wrong place, but could anybody here provide me with their favorite biography of Otto Van Bismarck? I am a layman with an interest in history, so something that balances readability with staying true to the source material would be great. I don't need anything too dense or too light.

I hear all the time that that's a horrible word, but I'd like to know how it became so bad.