After Russia turned communist, Stalin's purges killed millions of people. China didn't seem to care, and had their own revolution, and millions of people died due to famine. Then Cambodia became communist and the Khmer Rouge killed millions of people as well. Then even after that North Vietnam still continued to fight for communism. Hungary also tried to start a revolution to get rid of communism, and most of the Eastern Bloc countries were unhappy with communism. How did communism continue to gain support from the masses when almost every example of a country turning communist made the people unhappy and caused a lot of death?

What did he really do? Did he really claim that he is the son of God? What are the differences between the historical facts and the teachings in the Bible about him?

I was thinking about this the other day. Boats back then were made of wood and cloth, so how come enemy nations didn't send in a few die-hard loyalists to charge the docks and dump kerosene all over the inside?

Even if they couldn't get the boat on fire, couldn't they at least burn the sails down to hinder an attack for a few days?

I'm far from an expert on history, but I can't imagine their fire fighting equipment would be much to stop a boat that's on fire. If it is, what would the response time be? There were no phones or anything so by the time they got to the blaze wouldn't it be out of control?

I know that fire ships existed, but those were utilised on the water. (I think...please correct me if I'm wrong!) I'm specifically asking about boats that are docked at one place, which would make it easy pickings for a few guys or gals to burn down.

Thanks, and sorry if this is a "duh!" question! Genuinely curious!

I know that Turks were believing in a religion called "GökTengri" until they became Muslims. The question is, why would anyone change their religion? How did Persians and Turks became Muslims and accepted Islam? I've heard of Talkan and Curcan massacres against Turks, done by Arabs. Is that true?

Thanks Historians!

Were rations shipped to campaigning armies, was food taken from hostile towns/cities and encampments of defeated enemy armies? If it was a combination of the above, what proportion (approximately) of food came from respective means? To avoid uncertainty, let's say this is concerning late Republican or early imperial Rome, though Alexander's campaigns or Persia under Cyrus would also be appreciated.

Hi, I know this has been answered before but it is so hard to find an unbiased answer, but here is my question.

When the jews got immigrated to the land of the later state of isreal, who owned it?

What I have collected as "facts" by myself are these.

• Jews and Palestinians lived there side by side in peace, before WWII.
• The land was not "owned" by anyone officially?(or was it?)

I don't want to know who "owned" the land way back in time, as you can say that about any place after any war, but right before the immigration of the jews.

When the immigration camps and Isreal formed, did they "throw" out the Palestinians that lived there before? If they did, was this by force or could they stay if they wanted to?

Considering we are in the centenary of World War One and everyone is talking about it, this question sprung to mind as I don't have a clear answer in my head. I know vaguely that in the long term, it was a series of diplomatic clashes between the Great Powers and the disruption of the balance of power in Europe, and in the short term causes, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the July Crisis, but could I get a well-informed opinion here?

you always hear people refer to others as "literally Hitler." he is basically the closest physical thing to evil in the common language, so who did people think was the most evil person before then? Similarly who was the smartest before Einstein, and who was the nicest person before Mother Theresa? (that last one may just be a regional thing but I don't know.)

The Eastern Roman Empire lasted a thousand years but much of that was on the defensive. Is there a tipping point that sealed its fate? Could it have come out aggressive and become stronger. Could it have changed small or large policies to strengthen its base at home?

It is all in a WW1 trunk from my grand grandfather that is in really bad shape. It's wood with metal run around the edges. Is there anyway to clean it without damaging the wood or the painted on markings?

Also the photos are rolled up in tubes and probably have been that way for decades. I'm kinda scared to unroll them and just throw them on a scanner. What is the safest way to try to copy/scan them without damaging them?

Also I have a bunch of metal uniform items (pins and stuff) that are also old and dirty. What is the safest way to clean them without damaging them?

Finally there are a ton of old books and orders. Room temperature in zip lock bags?

All of this stuff has been mistreated as hell unfortunately. It was kept outside in the elements the last few years because people suck.

I'm currently engaged in writing a fiction work whose setting takes place in rural Texas during the Vietnam War. The time period itself is roughly from the late 1950s, following the key characters through grade school into high school, and stops roughly before 1973 when the draft was abolished. I can find plenty of works about the Vietnam War itself (e.g. The Things They Carried) but what I'm more interested in is the day-to-day life in the civilian home; especially those in rural farming communities. If anyone could list some detailed autobiographies, or even websites, that would be a tremendous help. Most of the questions I need answered are very small and mundane and most likely border on the psychotic, such as: how commonplace where A/C units, bars, and highways? How were the draft boards for towns determined: by population, or were they zoned like elections? Typical classes found in a public school curriculum for that time; average attendance of rural communities. Basically I need to get as close to total submersion as I can. Any lead will help! Thank you so much for your time.

Is there any historical proof to this allusion?

So, yesterday I was a story from the one thousand and one Arabian nights book, and I noticed that after each mention of the city of Damascus; the author likes to remind the reader that Damascus is infamous for homosexuality, corruption, and decadence.

Is there any historical evidence to such a claim?

Thank you!

Horses were extremely important apparently to Indians, but they were introduced by Europeans. I was wondering how this happened. Did the Spanish teach Indians how to ride and break horses and the idea spread? How long did it take for this to spread throughout the plains? Did non-plains groups have horses before British and French contact? How long did horse culture last before reservations?