Who were they and what was the outcome of the battle/war? How significant was their role?

Were they rectangular, round or oblong? Were exclaves, enclaves and discontinuities common?

I always heard about how Allies Cracked Nazi Enigma machine, but I never heard about how they cracked Japanese code. the only think I know is the code had been cracked before battle of midway.

If both Canada and white South Africa have been divided between Anglo and non-Anglo sectors (the French-Canadians in Canada and the Afrikaners/Boers in South Africa), and the non-Anglo sectors tended to be more overtly anti-Semitic than the Anglo sectors (with some Afrikaners even sympathizing with Nazi Germany), why did Canada get fewer German Jewish refugees per capita in the 1930s than South Africa?

The Pope, as head of the catholic church to which monarchs were faithful to, had the power to excommunicate (European) monarchs and declare them illegitimate heirs to the thrones of their respective Kingdoms and Empires, or to order other monarchs to declare war on them. Did Japan, China or any other far east Kingdom/Empire have such a religious leader with the same powers?

I understand that the battle of Stalingrad was one of epic proportions, I understand that it was a devestating defeat for the germans because of the encirclement and all that.

BUT

Let's say the nazis ran over Stalingrad without much effort, how crippling would it have been for the soviet war machine? How important was the city in itself? Was it a special strategic point or just one of many locations where an amazingly large battle could have potentially been fought?

I was in Ieper yesterday at the Menenpoort and I though by myself. I see a lot of "local" regiments then I tough of something I read in the newspapers arround D-Days that the American Military stopped with "local/friendship" regiments after D-Day because the youth of certain communities where decimated. Now is my questions is did the British stop with these regiments after WW1, because they already saw that the youth was decimated?

Edit: Sorry for the error in the title.

Often in historical fiction and fantasy fiction, people will make curses invoking all "the gods". Were ordinary people practicing religion this...vaguely.

Hi, How did early humans discover metal and mine/forge it when they have no metal tools in the first place? (i.e. pickaxe, shovel, ore smelter)

Did Vichy France continue the preexisting administration, did the Nazis handle the colonies, or were the regions left relatively autonomous for the war's duration?

So I'm a huge fan of games like Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis, I always was a big fan of history in class in high school but the way it was taught never interested me.

How would you suggest I go about learning about the different people? Focus on one major group of people and learn as much as i can and then moving on to another? Or learning about a certain era in whole at a time?

And what books would you suggest that are historically accurate, engaging, interesting, etc. I really wanna learn more but have never known where to search. Pretty much every area interests me...Asia, Spain, Italy....pretty much anything interests me and I'm willing to check out anything you guys would recommend.

Thanks!!

Reading The Sunne In Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman. It refers to Ludlow Castle as the home of Ceciley Neville and her children. Wouldn't that castle belong to Edward of Westminster, since he was Prince of Wales at that time?

Guys nowadays are so obsessed with getting chiseled abs, but was that always considered sexy? If not, when did the whole six pack thing become sexy?