/r/askhistorians

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Before WW2, Singapore was considered a nearly unconquerable fortress, a "Gibraltar of the East". How then were the Japanese able to conquer it and the Malay peninsula so quickly and easily?

188 upvotes • Huggydabuggy

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In 223BCE how different would the different versions of Greek spoken across the Eurasia, have been from each other? Were they all mutually intelligible?

188 upvotes • grapp

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How accurate is the idea of "jail or the military" as a sentencing measure in the US, historically?

188 upvotes • Awken

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I read a novel once where a WW2 era Japanese officer expresses pride at the fact his country went from a medieval feudal state to a major modern world power in the span of a human lifetime. 80 years ago did Japanese really believe that their country was "medieval" until less than a century before?

188 upvotes • grapp

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Has there ever been archaeological / written evidence to identify the "lost home in the north" of the Aztecs?

188 upvotes • fatmonkey112

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Chinese diplomat: "U.S. ships took Chinese troops to reclaim the Spratlys after they were occupied by Japan during World War Two. Other countries only started occupying what he said was Chinese territory from the 1960s after oil was discovered." Is this true?

188 upvotes • envatted_love

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When Crusading armies came back to Christendom, what knowledge did they bring from the Middle East?

188 upvotes • Turnipocalypse

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Conan II of Brittany supposedly died after wearing a pair of poisoned gloves. How common was this method of assassination?

188 upvotes • whitesock

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In an interview, Stephen Pinker claimed the homicide rate in the Middle Ages was 35 times greater than it is today, is that true? Where did that claim come from?

188 upvotes • Temnothorax

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Why was Horatio Nelson able to succeed so tremendously at the Battle of the Nile in 1798? What skills did he possess that lead us to characterise him as a brilliant admiral?

188 upvotes • Elm11

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Before WW2, Singapore was considered a nearly unconquerable fortress, a "Gibraltar of the East". How then were the Japanese able to conquer it and the Malay peninsula so quickly and easily?	188	Huggydabuggy
In 223BCE how different would the different versions of Greek spoken across the Eurasia, have been from each other? Were they all mutually intelligible?	188	grapp
How accurate is the idea of "jail or the military" as a sentencing measure in the US, historically?	188	Awken
I read a novel once where a WW2 era Japanese officer expresses pride at the fact his country went from a medieval feudal state to a major modern world power in the span of a human lifetime. 80 years ago did Japanese really believe that their country was "medieval" until less than a century before?	188	grapp
Has there ever been archaeological / written evidence to identify the "lost home in the north" of the Aztecs?	188	fatmonkey112
Chinese diplomat: "U.S. ships took Chinese troops to reclaim the Spratlys after they were occupied by Japan during World War Two. Other countries only started occupying what he said was Chinese territory from the 1960s after oil was discovered." Is this true?	188	envatted_love
When Crusading armies came back to Christendom, what knowledge did they bring from the Middle East?	188	Turnipocalypse
Conan II of Brittany supposedly died after wearing a pair of poisoned gloves. How common was this method of assassination?	188	whitesock
In an interview, Stephen Pinker claimed the homicide rate in the Middle Ages was 35 times greater than it is today, is that true? Where did that claim come from?	188	Temnothorax
Why was Horatio Nelson able to succeed so tremendously at the Battle of the Nile in 1798? What skills did he possess that lead us to characterise him as a brilliant admiral?	188	Elm11