What was the difference between being an Earl vs a Duke or a Count etc?

Also why were Britain, France, Germany, and Italy interested in Africa in the first place? What strategic or economic purposes did their African colonies serve?

I notice that in the American military today, individual soldiers walking around in uniform are given a lot of respect and deference. Stores offer discounts, people often stop to thank them for their service, people give up their bus/metro seats to soldiers, etc.

In WWII, were Nazi SS soldiers treated the same way by the German public? What kind of reception would an SS enlisted member get if he were to walk down a main street in Berlin 1941, wearing his uniform?

EDIT: 565 upvotes and not a single answer. :(

What did the West know about the situation in China during the Great Famine? 45 million dead, it is hard to imagine.

When was earliest mention of Depression? How was Depression dealt with when it first came to public attention? When was the earliest mention of Suicide & Suicidal Ideation? How has public opinion of Suicide changed over the years?

How have Depression & Suicide been linked throughout history? What are the origins of mental health & psychiatric hospitals like Broadmoor & Bethlem Royal Hospital (formerly known as"Bedlam")?

How do Depression & Suicide link historically with other mental health conditions?

Are there any books that you'd recommend I read to get more of an insight into the History of Depression, Suicide, Suicidal Ideation, Broadmoor, Bedlam or the history of mental health generally.

If this post is against the rules, I'll happily remove it. I'm just generally intrigued. Thanks.

let's say I am a young person between ages 19-25 looking for a job just out of college in Poland or somewhere How is my everyday life affected by the communist system. what would be considerate a good job to get. are men and women treated differently because of their gender. and what do I do for FUN. ?

In the Age of Enlightenment a lot of books were written about people stranded on a non-existent island. Why were these books written and do they have deeper meaning?

while most other European countries had come together as unified nations, Italy didn't until the late 19th century. why is that? what kept them apart and why?

The CPC didn't seem to have a problem throwing out other aspects of Chinese culture, and even reformed the writing system to some extent by replacing hundreds of the most complex characters with simplified variants. So why didn't they take the next logical step of switching to a phonetic writing system, like an alphabet?

I've generally read that in most western cultures suicide has been looked down on being viewed at best as a sickness and at worst as a serious sign of moral fault. In Shakespeare, however, in plays such as Romeo and Juliet or Othello suicide seems to be very romanticized. How was suicide viewed in Elizabethan times and how would have people reacted to suicide in these plays?

I want to get a book for my brother for Christmas. He would take a keen interest in the history, philosophy and theology - any combination of. Just something that would provide an informative read. I am no historian though, so hoping you folks would have some good suggestions.

How realistic is this movie with regards to naval combat, daily life aboard a man-of-war, the Napoleonic Wars, etc.?

Given the controversy surrounding the casting in the newly released Moses film, a lot of people have been giving different takes on the primary race in Egypt. Some say, at the time, people were more lighter skinned and closer to being white than they are today, some say they've always been more tan.

Given Egypt has a very long history, I am really only asking specifically about the time period Moses took place. If you want to shed some light about race during other times in Egypt's history, feel free to do that also.

One final note, I had read that the Ptolemaic dynasty was white, since that were Macedonian Greek in origin, and then became rulers of Egypt and, through constant inbreeding, remained white until their rule ended with Cleopatra VII.

Sorry if this sounds like a silly question.

Take ancient Egypt for example (not exclusively). We are left trying to piece together small bits and pieces of information - why didn't the Egyptians have a more formulated and ever-lasting way of storing information? Did they just not care? Technology too primitive?

I think I'm interested both the former and the latter half of the 1800s USA. So books on both would help.

This question has ostensibly been dealt with in at least three different /r/AskHistorians threads. I have read through all three of these threads and have concluded that there are two main theories.

The first has to do with the Himalayan orogeny being a geographically impassible hurdle such that the Mongol Empire didn't gain access to the sub-continent until well after its zenith, at which point it was no longer able to exercise the kind of long-distance power that it had known in the past. The argument here is basically that the sons of The Khan, while competent, were not quite up to the task, especially when faced with large and highly organized Indian forces.

The second theory is that the Mongols could not deal with the sub-tropical and tropical conditions they encountered in the sub-continent and perhaps wisely, decided to stay the fuck away.

I don't have an opinion either way. My area of "expertise," such as it is, has to do with native California and parts of Central America.

Ultimately then, my question is this; why did the Mongols leave most of the Indian sub-continent alone? Was it because they lacked organization by the time they'd finally made it around the Himalayan orogeny, or was it because they simply could not deal with the entirely different tropical environment? Or was it due to a third reason that I have not considered here?

Did it evolve from the beginning to the end? Did cavalrymen use swords, or multiple pistols, or both? How did it differ from the Union's cavalry, and was it more or less effective? Were riders from all socio-economic classes or did they come from, primarily, southern aristocracy? Or the poorer classes? What made Stonewall Jackson such a Titan of the war and did his death have as big an effect on the war efforts as we've been lead to believe? Being raised in the south Stonewall has had as big a reputation, if not more so, than Robert E Lee and I'm wondering why that is.