askhistorians

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How republican was the Dutch Republic, given the continued existence of hereditary aristocratic lineages like the House of Orange? What did 'republicanism' mean in a Dutch context?	37
What is up with this letter Elvis Presley wrote to Richard Nixon about wanting to become a federal agent? Why did he write it? Was he serious? Did anyone try to stop him? How did Nixon or his staff respond, if at all?	36
In the film 'Good Bye, Lenin' there is a scene in which the protagonist arrives at a bank to exchange his Ostmark for Deutschmark, only to find that the currency exchange offer had ended for two days. How did the currency switch actually occur, and how pedantic were the West Germans about deadlines?	36
The idea of the 'Sinicisation' (becoming Chinese) of the Manchus during the Qing Dynasty is no longer particularly accepted by historians of the period. But what of earlier conquest dynasties like the Mongol Yuan or the Xianbei Northern Wei? Has there been a shift there as well?	36
How far was Western engagement with Japan actually a cause of the fall of the Shogunate (Bakumatsu) in 1868, as opposed to a catalyst for existing forces within Japan or even just incidental to it all?	35
What was life like in Scotland under the Covenanters?	35
In 1074, Pope Gregory VII called on Latin Christendom to assemble an army in support of the Byzantines in the wake of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, but was unsuccessful. Why did Gregory's call to arms fail, compared to Urban II's in 1095, which led to the First Crusade?	34
When, and more importantly why, did the Byzantine Empire begin to be referred to as such in English?	34
The Indian National Army which fought the British in Southeast Asia is often considered an Axis collaborator, but how ideologically linked were they to the Axis? Did they generally accept Nazi racial theory or Japanese pan-Asianism, or was it more a marriage of convenience?	34
In 1868, the Emperor Meiji's 'Kami and Buddhas Separation Edict' mandated a firm division between Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, which had previously overlapped. What lay behind this decision? How, and how effectively, was it enforced? And how did it ultimately impact religion in Japan?	34

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