I've read in a few different primary sources across the ages that described in passing how, in times of war, people would not just burn their crops, but actually render fields unusable, at least for the immediate future.

However, I never really gave much thought to the idea of how exactly one renders a plot of agricultural land unusable. One would think that burning the crops, while obviously denying an immediate source of food, would ultimately increase the fertility of the soil.

Was this an exaggeration on the part of the authors, or a misunderstanding on my part? If not, what were they doing? Poisoning the soil with some mixture?

Unfortunately every variation of "destroyed fields" I've googled has just given me programming nonsense. It seems I actually have to pester somebody smart enough to know the answer themselves.

So history can be studied quite broadly, and often is. However, history is really a collective series of small actions of peoples, and that's going all the way down to how individual people chose to spend an afternoon, whether someone decided to walk left or right out the door in the morning, and so on. So just how micro (as opposed to macro) can historians get to where they're still discussing something important and meaningful to our understanding of history?

Have the ruins of any Zoroastrian fire temples been found within the traditional borders of the Roman empire?

How did traveling and banking work in the US in the late 19th century? Were bank withdrawals easy or did travelers rely on other means (ex: traveler's cheques, keeping all their money hidden on their person, etc)?

I hope this isn't too trivial

I remember reading about a kind of historical trade war involving button makers (the kind that go on clothes), and maybe a button makers guild, but I can't find anything about it, and I don't know what words to search for.

It was something to do with cloth buttons maybe, and people were up in arms about them?

Does anyone know anything about historical button controversy?

Is there a website where we can read documents from the Nazi era of Germany? I'd like to gather informations about the structures built for the atlantic wall in my area but can't find an original plan or anything official.

Are there any native North American stories or myths of shadow men?

Can I get a reading recommendation for Russian history pre-Vladimir the Great? I mean Russia broadly, could be oriented toward Slavic or Central Asian or other Russia-related history. I would also love a source on what we do know about old Slavic paganism if there is one. RU or ENG. Thank you!

Are there any well sourced and respected books that document what the Axis powers (any or all of them) wanted to do after WW2?

In WW2, were US casualties per state of origin roughly proportional to population? Or did some states suffer disproportionately high casualties?

What was really the first man-made object to reach space, and when? Quite a debated topic and I can't find a definitive answer.

AskHistorians has its twenty year rule, but obviously the study of history doesn't. What is the most recent time periods historians are currently doing work on?

I’m listening to The History of Byzantium and Robin says when Theophilos ascended to the throne he gave generous donatives to the Senate and people. Why would he give money to the Senate?

I’ve seen a number of posts here about western European medieval feudalism and how many even relatively modern descriptions of it are now believed to be inaccurate, to the point that some historians argue the term isn’t a useful one. Has anyone here done a post describing our current understanding of medieval European sociopolitical relations, given that the “fiefs and vassals” model might be out of date?

I know that’s a broad question, but I’m especially interested in a post with affirmative descriptions rather than negative ones (i.e. The evidence currently suggests X, not Our prior understanding of Y is unsupported by the evidence). I vaguely remember seeing a post or two like this, but I couldn’t find them searching. Thank you in advance!

What are some good 'intro' texts on the Tiananmen Square Massacre and the ideological climate of 1980s China?

Exactly how large were the Tsarist/Provisional Government debts that the Soviets repudiated, and to whom were they owed? I've seen this issue mentioned a lot in histories, but I've never seen even an attempt at assessing their value quantitatively.

Approximately when did it became unnecessary for European towns and villages to build walls around them for protection?

Does the original edict of 1636 proclaiming Japan's Sakoku policy still exist? I've found some translations around but not from academic websites, and I haven't been able to locate proof that the original text is still around

I'm a roman legionary stationed in Gaul. I'm far from home and I'm getting paid soon. How do I get paid, and if I want to save, where do I put my hard-earned coins? Do I even earn enough to start saving?

Hi, I hope this does belong here, I apologize if not. I am looking for literature on the "mass media" (especially newspapers) of the Weimar republic. I do have quite some German literature on the subject, but I struggle to find some in English. I would be interested in looking into whether the perception differs between German or non-German historians, so if anyone could point me in the direction of some international authors who covered that topic, that would be really appreciated :-)

Why is the man called Gustavus Adolphus in English when he is Gustav II, second of his name?

Did private boat owners whose ships were lost or damaged at Dunkirk receive any compensation? Did any owners try to resist the requisition?

Mists of Avalon was intended to be a retelling of the Arthurian mythos. In it, there is a scene where one of the characters ingests a plant and hallucinates. Did such psychoactive plants exist in, say, the late 5th or early 6th century? If so, how widely were they used?

I have two questions.

1: The Parallels between Sargon the great story and Moses ?

Sargon was an orphan of a priestess that placed him in a basket to the river and was adopted by a Gardner, oddly similar to Moses’s story, can anyone explain this ?

2: why was Abraham set in the city of Ur ? Why wasn’t he set in like Jerusalem, the story would make a lot more sense that way.

How was the city of Rome governed under Byzantine rule? What factors allowed the Byzantines to hold the city against the Lombards, and how and when did their rule come to an end?

In operation weserubung (the invasion of Norway and Denmark) the Wikipedia lists the German Air Force as taken 1,130 air crew losses. When and where was the majority of this lost? Denmark capitulated and Norway had very little Air Force at the time?

I'm in the middle of A Higher Calling, and I never realized how interested I was in the air war during WWII.

What other media would you recommend (books, podcasts, movies, shows) to continue learning about WWII combat aviation?

About South India's History: How Big was the Acrot State? Did it rule over 2/3rds of the Southern India?

During World War II, from what I understand, Germany's ground forces had the Heer and the Waffen SS, which were very similar (in terms of types of forces and weaponry) but operated independantly. Were there similar divisions (division as in split structures, not the military unit) amongst the forces of the U.S.S.R, the U.S.A and the United Kingdom (which had similar structure but operated independantly) ?

Why does it matter if a country runs up a trade deficit? Been reading up some history and it always gets mentioned as a factor in the failure of many regimes.

Was it true that during WW2 the axis powers never released their own loss numbers to the public, while the allies frequently reported the losses on both sides?

I remember reading a book many years ago back in High School that followed a child growing up in Nazi germany and the things that they saw. It was mostly a work of fiction with some relation to real events, but I remember that was soemthing they mentioned in the book. while in Germany the radio reported the allies losses in recent battles but never mentioned Germanys own losses, so when the person made it to the UK and heard on the radio the losses from both sides they were quite surprised.

I'm hoping someone can help me find a past post about Europe's industrialization and the factory system. I really want to find one specific quote, where a noble is commenting on the efficiency of the new system, saying that "a dozen peasents working in this way could fashion tens of thousands of pins in a day, but alone could not make even one pin in their whole lives"

not sure if this is the right place to ask, but anyone know the worth of these books?

Is there a specific name for the conical caps which Phoenicians are often depicted wearing?