AskHistorians Archive Observer

At any point during or before WWII, did Switzerland ever consider breaking its long-standing neutrality policy in order to participate?

1 Answers 2014-01-24

Was Galileo's arrest more about heliocetrism or insulting the Pope?

1 Answers 2014-01-24

Why did the British Empire Fall?

1 Answers 2014-01-24

What were the roots of Antisemitism in European countries?

I'd imagine that with different social, religious, and political situations, that different events and practices lead to antisemitism in different parts of Europe, so how did it develop in a country you are well acquainted with?

1 Answers 2014-01-24

After Japan surrendered, their home island was occupied despite no real invasion. What was it like for U.S. soldiers arriving and occupying it? What was the process like of landing and occupying cities? What was the culture like around the stationed Japanese troops? Was there any resistance?

6 Answers 2014-01-24

When did Spain first become a Catholic Nation?

Obviously the Romans brought Catholicism with them, but when the did the native population accept Roman Catholicism first? Most sources I'm looking at seem to date the beginning of Spanish Catholicism to the conversion of the Visigoths?

Thanks in advance!

1 Answers 2014-01-24

During WWII, how was baseball effected in Japan, seeing as it is the "All American Game?"

I'm interested in what happened to it, and if it was banned. The sport had been introduced by an American in the 19th century.

1 Answers 2014-01-24

During the Fourth Crusade where did the Crusaders who took alternative ports end up going?

So during the Fourth Crusade, many sources indicate that there were large amounts of soldiers that left from alternative, more convenient ports, such as Marseilles and Flanders. Where did these Crusaders end up going? Did they end up in Venice, did they join the soldiers later at Constantinople, did they head to Egypt and the Holy Land, or did they simply disperse?

1 Answers 2014-01-24

How much of US forces in Vietnam War?

Were the US capable of ending the Vietnam war instantly if they just commit their full forces at once instead of over time?

1 Answers 2014-01-24

Pearl Harbor

Is there any evidence that FDR actually knew that Pearl Harbor was going to happen as an excuse to get into WWII?

1 Answers 2014-01-24

What were some common techniques used in mass removal of snow along trade routes and heavily trafficked roads/paths throughout our time in history?

1 Answers 2014-01-24

Were any first nations aware that there were Athabaskan speakers in the north and south?

Was there contact between the coastal BC groups and the California groups, and did they think of eachother as more closely related?

1 Answers 2014-01-24

With the Arab Spring over the last several years and now revolting in Ukraine, is there any precedent to such widespread revolution? What are the implications of such widespread revolution for the countries themselves and geopolitics in a broader sense?

2 Answers 2014-01-24

what are the earliest known large scale maps (on a continental level), how did people first go about mapping large areas?

2 Answers 2014-01-24

Why is Julius Caesar a household name, but Sulla and Marius are not?

Why are Caesar, Antony and Pompey so popular, but Marius and Sulla are not?

2 Answers 2014-01-24

How was the USSR able to surpass German, American, and British engineering by producing the most lethal tank in WW2, the T-34?

3 Answers 2014-01-24

Did the Greeks and Romans use any sort of stimulants?

1 Answers 2014-01-24

why was the church so offended by the notion of Heliocentrism? It was pagan natural philosophers who came up with the generally accepted (generally accepted in the late middle ages I mean) notion of the geocentric model, not catholic theologians

3 Answers 2014-01-24

Roman Historians -- Best books for the period between the Punic Wars and Caesar?

So, what I'm mainly looking for are books on the Macedonian Wars. I have "The Poison King", by Adrienne Mayor, so I actually have the Mithridatic Wars down. But I'm sorely lacking on the Macedonian Wars, the Gracchi brothers, Marius and Sulla, Pompey's conquests... pretty much everything up to the First Triumvirate.

1 Answers 2014-01-24

How true is this comment? Was Hitler in any way "progressive"?

Link: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1vyg6l/historians_of_reddit_what_commonly_accepted/cex9367?context=3

This user claims that Hitler was, somehow, "progressive", and that progressivism "taken to the extreme" apparently leads to fascism. They also appear to be not differentiating between "utopianism" and "progressivism"- it appears to be a common misunderstanding at least among the right in the U.S. that progressivism is in some way utopian. I was wondering what the other problems with their comment may be.

2 Answers 2014-01-24

Is there any evidence that the U.S. intentionally delayed getting involved in WW2 so that the Russia would face the brunt of the German forces?

I know that the United States did not become heavily involved except through the Lend Lease Act for years and was wondering if certain members of the allied forces intentionally left Russia to deal with the Nazi invasion so that they would be in a better position after the war to deal with communism.

Was it always the strategy for the Allies to have a "backdoor" invasion of Nazi Europe for strategic purposes or was the decision to wait calculated on having the USSR take losses?

Did we immediately pull support of Lend Lease after the war, and did that do significant economic damage the USSR?

Thanks all!

1 Answers 2014-01-24

How accurate is this assessment of pre-gunpowder combat patters at the top of BestOf?

Here's the thread the poster's main thesis is that nearly all combat before the advent of gunpowder consisted of groups of combatants utilizing limited ranged fighting before cautiously inching to the opposition, fighting for a short burst, and backing away to regroup.

I've heard this before (on this subreddit) with people describing it like "boxers breaking back to their corner at the end of a round".

I was wondering though, because historians emphasize the significance of discipline in ancient armies, and how this may be in place specifically to negate this pattern.

I've also heard there's scant evidence on the actual patterns of roman combat.

Is there a consensus on this?

1 Answers 2014-01-24

As an Indian if I were alive in England during the middle ages what would my ethnicity be considered?

So I am Indian with what you could consider light brown skin. If I were alive during the middle ages and lived in say England what ethnicity would the consider me? Would they just assume I'm a very light black person? Or perhaps would they just think I was a tan white person? How would this affect my social standing?

1 Answers 2014-01-23

How did Genghis Khan and the Mongol expansion impact the Middle East?

Did it have a big impact on the Muslim world as a whole or did it not even influence areas like Northern Africa and the Middle East?

1 Answers 2014-01-23

What commonly accepted historical inaccuracies drive you crazy? (x-post from AskReddit)

1 Answers 2014-01-23