Hope you’re having a great weekend AskHistorianees! Here are some of the popular and/or interesting questions from last week, which did not get an answer yet:

/u/newcitynewchapter asked to what extent did various segments of the Soviet population understand that Khrushchev's "retirement" was closer to a soft coup

/u/TortaDelBBQ would like to know more about the changes in the ratio of civilians to army members in Prussia and later Germany

/u/Rittermeister wonders why were so many US Marshals killed in Oklahoma in 1872 as opposed to other years

Here is a look back at the theme of the week! So, what did we learn about the history of drinks?

/u/yodatsracist talked about the reasons behind the huge popularity of tea in Turkey

/u/CptBuck enlightened us about alcohol drinking in pre-modern Islamic societies

/u/Mictlantecuhtli and /u/constanto talked about the Mayan and Aztec chocolate

/u/PM_ME_SILLY_SECRETS answered I have encountered factoids about Romans using urine to whiten their teeth or as a cleaning agent for clothes. I've also read that "money doesn't stink" is attributed to emperor Vespasian after introducing taxes on distribution of urine. So, how useful was pee in Roman Empire and Late Republic?

/u/AlviseFalier answered In what measure did Italians see themselves as Romans?

/u/PM_ME_HISTORY_FACTS answered When and how did the paternalistic idea of donating to "charity" evolve into more egalitarian or idealistic "humanitarianism"?

I broke my own record this week. My reply to u/keiji-kiriya's question about the rise of dissenting views in the modern interpretation of Greek warfare is the longest I've ever posted on r/AskHistorians.

Previous record

/u/quickspore answered Why did the Portuguese Empire combine with the Spanish Empire, and why was the latter in charge?

/u/callievic answered What social opportunities would be available to a free black family living in the antebellum deep south?

/u/inanimatecarbonrob answered What would William Shakespeare's (~1564 - 1616) education have entailed?

/u/daeres answered Did large communities of non-Indo-Europeans really survive in Greece into the Historic period?

/u/WARitter answered Would a 17th Century breastplate have stopped a pistol/musket ball?

/u/restricteddata answered Are mental illnesses a relatively modern phenomenon?

/u/casestudyhouse22 answered What do we know about Roman music? and Do we have any indication of what early peasant music sounded like?

/u/cathman99 answered As the Western states such as Montana or Wyoming entered the Union in the 1880s/90s, how did their territorial history and comparative isolation influence the development, practice, and application of law in those regions over the next few decades?

/u/checkma7e answered So United Kingdom is split into England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Was all of it simply England at some point in history?

Literally everything from the Tuesday Trivia: Booze and the Drunk History: What is Your 'Go To' History Story to Tell at a Bar? floating feature.

/u/sunagainstgold answered:

• Historiography question: feminist history vs history of women?
• In WW2, why were British ladies allowed to join anti-aircraft gun crews but not actually allowed to do any of the shooting?
• was toy maker a real profession that was common in pre-industrial Europe or is it just an invention of fairy-tale fiction?

/u/kukoshi answered I was wondering how Moses liberated the Jews from Egypt in regards to history and not the bible?

Rundown!

• /u/kikoshi on "I was wondering how Moses liberated the Jews from Egypt in regards to history and not the bible?"

• /u/frogbrooks answered "To what extent was the spread of Islam bloodless?"

• /u/devious29 on "How much was the UN/NATO involved in the Falklands conflict?"

/u/itsallfolklore answered:

• Was the phrases like, "once upon a time" derived from fictional stories that insisted they actually happened, during the Middle Ages? Was this a common trope of the time?
• Can we identify isoglosses in folkloric traditions?

/u/iphikrates answered In movies like Braveheart, leaders often give inspiring speeches. Assuming this was accurate, how would thousands of foot soldiers hear this leader right before battle?

/u/kieslowskifan answered:

• Were pretty much all Suffragettes racists?
• I'm a German living in western Germany in December, 1944. Do I have any idea how poorly the war is going, or would Nazi propoganda have successfully hidden German setbacks from me?
• What events took place between the election of Hitler and the Holocaust that allowed the Holocaust to happen?
• Why did no Tsars before Alexander II think of abolishing serfdom?
• In "Winter of the World" by Ken Follett the German Center Catholic Party cut a deal with the Nazi party to ensure the passage of the enabling act that gave Hitler dictatorial powers in exchange for catholics being left alone by the Nazis. Can anyone speak more on the details of this deal?

/u/alriclofgar answered How do we account for genetic similarities between Saxon, Viking and Norman invaders/settlers in Britain?

/u/ciderdrinker answered How much power or authority did the federal German states have over their own affairs after unification?

/u/rhodis answered Did nobles and laymen from more remote parts of Europe (Scandinavia, Iceland, Ireland) contribute to any of the Crusades? In what way?

/u/PartyMoses answered Is the Peasants' Revolt an example of early class warfare as some Marxist historians believe?

/u/mikedash answered I've heard the story of how the Ottoman Sultan went above and beyond to give aid to the Irish peasantry during the Potato Famine. How much of this story is urban legend, how much is verifiable?

/u/iguana_on_a_stick answered What training did Roman soldiers during the mid-Republic receive?

• The modernisation of the Habsburg Monarchy as a case study for the creation of 'The Fiscal-Military State in the Eighteenth Century and the financing of war'

I wrote by far my longest post so far on AskHistorians this week and I would like to share it.

It was about the judicial system of New Kingdom Egypt.

Since I didn't get around to it until a few days afterwards, I'll add my post on Weapons and tactics used in the Imjin War.