askhistorians

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The French Second Empire fought a war with Austria over Italian unification in 1859, but then supported the installation of an Austrian Habsburg, Maximilian, as Emperor of Mexico from 1864 onward. What led to this shift in French policy regarding the Habsburgs?	8
Apparently, the Romans made increasing use of field artillery over time. Is this true, why is this, what sorts of artillery were being used in field engagements, and how?	8
A Gallic army sacked Rome in 387 BC and another nearly sacked Delphi in 279, but the leaders of both were named Brennus. Was this pure coincidence, or did the Romans ape elements of the Greek story or vice versa?	8
Why did Austria embark on a war with France in 1809 after the allies it had expected to have pulled out? Even then, quite a lot seemed to go well for them (e.g. Aspern-Essling), so why in the end did they lose the war?	8
I'm a cold-blooded old fart who wants the kids off my lawn. But what am I doing with this lawn, anyway? What were typical home leisure activities for the elderly in, say, late 19th/early 20th century America?	8
Japan's military contribution to the First World War seems to have been limited to mainly naval action in the Pacific in 1914 and in the Mediterranean in 1917-18. Was the deployment of Japanese ground forces in Europe or the Middle East ever considered? If so, why did it not take place?	8
The recent publication of Einstein's travel diaries reveal some pretty racist statements about various Asian peoples, especially the Chinese, yet the Japanese get let off the hook somewhat. Why? How common was it for someone to approve of the Japanese on one hand but despise the Chinese on another?	8
Were Monty Python the first people to deliberately mis-subtitle actual footage of Hitler?	8
The Spanish colonies in the Americas seem to have seen quite a lot of inter-ethnic mingling, yet the Philippines, despite a similar timeframe of colonisation, seem not to have. Why wasn't there as much mixing going on in the Southeast Asian colonies?	8
What motivated the Shōgitai and other pro-Tokugawa troops at Ueno to keep fighting after Tokugawa Yoshinobu surrendered in the spring of 1868?	8

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