Okay, I have promised to do this AMA at 12:00 CET, it's 10:23 CET on my clock, so let's say, that I will start answering questions in two hours!

You can ask me anything about Cambodia from Angkor period to this day (or, not to break the rules of this subreddit, 20 years ago) - you can try and ask me about earlier times, but it's not well researched period not only by.

As for Malaysia, I can answer your questions about Malaya Federation and Malaysia - so it would be after World War Two.

If any mod sees this - could you please pin this thread? Thanks!

Thank you guys, I'm closing this AMA! Hope you've enjoyed!

I'm listening to Mike Duncan's Revolutions podcast, and in the most recent episode he discusses Mary Antionette and Louis XVI's marriage, and while talking about their reluctance to consummate the marriage the night after, he says that "there was probably a roomful of people milling about, as was the weird Royal custom." Were the Dauphin and Queen-to-be to be really expected to bone down in a roomful of aristocrats, or is it something more innocent?

Hi historians! I was looking up the history of cookies, and somehow I stumbled upon Martha Washington's jumble recipe:

Take a pound & a halfe of fine flowre & a pound of fine sugar, both searced & dried in an oven, 6 youlks, & 3 whites of eggs, 6 spoonfulls of sweet cream & as much rose water, fresh butter ye quantety of an egg. Mingle these together & make it into stiff paste. Work it a quarter of an hour then break it abroad, & put in as much annyseeds or carraway seeds as you shall think fit, & put in A little muske & ambergreece. roule them into rouls & make them in what forms you please. lay them on pie plates thin buttered, & prick them with holes all over. then bake them as you doe diet bread. If this quantety of eggs will not be enough to wet ye flour & sugar, put in 23 or 4 more, but no more cream, butter, not rosewater."

This is probably an obscure question for AskHistorians, but if any of you could decipher this for me, I would really appreciate it! I can't imagine people were ever able to follow this recipe, it seems so confusing. Hopefully you can provide some clarity for my curious mind!

So the general idea of an ethnic group isn't exactly scientific and can be defined along subjective lines such as "shared history" though they are often commonly agreed upon. Has there ever been an instance where two groups of people who considered themselves entirely separate entities with different cultures and histories became merged over time and began to identify as one ethic group?

As a completely made up example:

Two tribes in Ireland in 500 AD consider themselves to have nothing in common other than being on the same island are now both lumped together as "Gaelic" or "Irish."

Like stated above, when did people start using the beach as a place of relaxation, recreation, etc. I was wondering this while at the beach today.

The USA had the Manhattan Project and bat bombs (among other things). Those wacky Nazis had V2 rockets and jet fighters and presumably other pet murder miracles. But I never hear about Soviet technological boundary-pushing during WW2. Surely they had something going for them besides massive numbers and Georgy K Zhukov.

Every time I see a marcher lords mentioned in English history the author is almost always referring to the Welsh March, however I thought there were marcher lords on the border with Scotland as well. If I'm a lord who patrols the border with Scotland would I still be considered a marcher lord?

I mean, just how did that diplomacy evolve? Did Japan sign the non-aggression pact with Germany because it thought Germany was going to win the European front and decided it was worth risking the deteriorating relations with other western nations?

Why did Japan feel like it had to take sides at all? Would the western powers care enough during that time to worry about matters going on in Asia?

Economically, politically, militarily, etc.

I was wondering about the land where the concentration and death camps were built on by the Nazis. I recall from my limited knowledge of the subject that Germans claimed to never know about these camps and that Eisenhower even had a town walk through one of these camps (suggesting that it was near a town). So, I want to know, how did Nazi Germany acquire the land where these camps were built and if anyone owned it or if it was state property before hand.

It seems like the standard line infantry of the 18th century are armed very similarly all over Europe. I imagine a lot of the difference comes down to doctrine, how they were deployed and used etc...

So what are the differences between different nation's line infantry in battle?

Hey historians. I love history and I want to learn. About anything and everything. What history texts should I read?

Cyprus was obviously a huge mining center for copper in the early and middle bronze ages. It was called Alashiya, but which culture was dominant there? Minoan? Pelasgian? Philistine? Phoenician? Canaanites? One webpage i read said the people came from Anatolia, which is very vague, does that mean Hatti? Hittites? Hurrians? Or were they an independent culture? Did they have a King? What language were they speaking at that time?

For example, Charlemagne, Timor, Philip II, etc.

Hi, a long time ago when I had classes on epigraphy we were given lists of dates when Roman emperors became Pontifex Maximus or consul for the nth time. As most of you know these are used to aid in dating inscriptions. Now I seem to have lost my copies and I was wondering if someone knew a good book or internet resource for this? I really could use it for a pet project of mine.

Also while we're at it any other guides to Roman imperial epigraphy may be linked to as well as it could come handy in the future.

Thanks in advance!

Valete!

I realized the other day that the Colonial citizens probably had equal or less control over going to war than American citizens these days. Was there a vote for going to war? I realize that the colonies were all technically different entities so did they declare war at different times?

Also, was it sort of a grass roots thing where the citizens wanted it so the Colonial government acted or did the aristocrats all get together and declare independence without a formal say so by the public?