I've recently read some news about foreign volunteers of Syrian civil war. They're seen as a threat to national security in their countries and some of them are arrested. How was the situation for foreign volunteers of Spanish civil war?

How did the samurai adapt to this new weapon? How was it employed on the battlefield? Was it ever viewed as a 'dishonorable' weapon, or is that just Hollywood BS?

What are the major factors that helped the RAF defeat the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain?

Statistically I know that poverty and crime increased massively during and immediately following the breakup of the Soviet Union, but what did the average person go through as it happened? Was it an extremely different event from the perspective of a factory worker living in a major city than it was for a farmer out in the country? What about for emergency personnel (police, ambulance drivers, etc.) and members of the military? Would someone living in a tiny village in central Siberia even have noticed necessarily?

This is an interesting subject for me, because part of being American I think means taking for granted the idea that the government is always going to be there in one form or another. It's a little terrifying the idea of waking up and finding out that it just isn't there anymore, and everyone is on their own for however long it takes one group or another to seize power.

I have researched the meanings to the English Corpus Christi Carol lyrics in both Wikipedia and YeaFoolishMortals blog spot. Apparently the author of the song is Anonymous and was discovered by an apprentice grocer named Richard Hill around 1504. I have read the theories of the song which are both religious and possibly linked to Ann Boleyn. To me the lyrics seem to be about an executed/wounded knight and his lover for religious or battle reasons. Could this be Sir Lancelot or Tristan? If any Historians of this subreddit could shed light on the mystery or recommend any books it would be most appreciated.

Lulley, lully, lulley, lully, The faucon hath born my mak away.

He bare hym up, he bare hym down, He bare hym into an orchard brown.

In that orchard ther was an hall, That was hanged with purpill and pall.

And in that hall ther was a bede, Hit was hangid with gold so rede.

And yn that bede ther lythe a knyght, His wowndes bledyng day and nyght.

By that bedes side ther kneleth a may, And she wepeth both nyght and day.

And by that bedes side ther stondith a ston, “Corpus Christi” wretyn theron.

Just saw Saving Private Ryan (again) on TV yesterday. It seems like a lot of equipment/vessels were sunk and lost in the channel during the invasion, especially the initial waves. Would any relics have survived to today? Would they be buried in the sand at the bottom? Have there been expeditions to recover any remaining items?

The city of Nantes claims to be the site of the first jazz show in Europe, conducted by an newly arrived US Army band in 1917. Is that accurate? If so, what was the show like? How was it recieved?

I would like to understand if there were distinctions of class within the noble hierarchy, how the various nobles fit into their respective societies, who were the most important, what the noble's possible responsibilities to each other were, how laws dictated interaction among highly and lowly ranked nobles, if there was a way to climb up the "nobility ladder" in less than a generation, or if there even was a "nobility ladder" in the first place.

Relative to before it was outlawed.

Some WW1 battle were fought for control of older fortifications, like the Battle of Verdun and the Siege of Przemyśl.

Did these fortifications performed as expected? Were they much better than field fortifications? Are the fortification of the inter-war period, like the Maginot Line, based on them or on field fortifications?

To what sort of taxes might Jesus be referring in the famous "Render unto Caesar" account in the gospels?

I think I once read something about a Roman colony in the Canary Islands. Both the Greeks and Phoenicians/Carthaginians established colonies, but I've never heard much about Roman colonies, except for settling recently conquered lands with veterans and such. I tried searching but I couldn't find any similar questions, I do apologize if it has been asked already though.

I know (as a Briton) that Britain was involved in the War before America and were fighting the Germans and the Japanese quite early on, but how come we never hear stories of British troops fighting, and British WW2 battles are rarely shown in film or media, so why is this?

Having read some books about China, what strikes me is the vicious nature of torture often gets referred to. For example, Jung Chang claimed that some torturers would attach a wire to the penis and the ear and play it like an instrument. While this is purely my judgement, that kind of viciousness seems rare among torturers, largely because people will talk under less duress. I also vaguely recall sleep deprivation being invented in China, although that may be my memory playing tricks.

Anyway, I was curious as to whether some of the more shocking evidence was colonial propaganda, or China's large population gave birth to more sadists, or whether there is another historic root.