AskHistorians

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In Federalist No. 10 James Madison wrote that direct democracies have generally been short-lived and always been disastrous. What democratic states was he thinking of?	2633
From 1046 there were 5 German-born popes in a row. From 1261 to 1378 most popes were French. But between 1523 and 1978 all popes were Italian. Was the italification of papacy caused by the Protestant Reformation?	948
The slogan "They Can't Lick Our Dick" was used in Richard Nixon's election campaigns. What would typical Americans think of it? Was there a target demographic/social group? Members of which party would have better attitude for "licking the Dick"?	811
In the Soviet Union people in the Baltics got more consumer goods and higher standard of living than people of the other member-republics. Was it a consequence of a conscious decision to try to make the Baltic people complacent so they wouldn't rebel?	317
Even after Napoleon I made himself Emperor, France remained officially a "republic", and Napoleon's title was "by the Grace of God and the Constitutions of the Republic, Emperor of the French". What did "republic" mean to people back then, for it to be compatible with monarchy.	141
Was the great Mongol army actually majority Turkic? If so, how could they maintain the Mongol identity of the entity, seemingly without imposing Mongolian language on Turks? Why did the elites abandon the Mongolian language in every conquered area except Yuan, while insisting on still being Mongols?	134
In medievalist writings I see terms "free peasant" and "unfree peasant", but I wonder whether these labels were consistent across time and space. Do different writers have different standards for being "free peasant", so that what's seen as free in one place&time would be seen as unfree in another?	98
Why did the Eastern Roman Empire have a love-hate relationship with Venice? Romans were flip-flopping between giving Venice preferential treatment such as lucrative trade treaties and randomly arresting, expelling or massacring the Venetian merchants. Were Greeks envious of the Venetians' wealth?	88
How did the Sino-Soviet split and rivalry impact the Vietnam War? Did the Soviet Union and China back different factions in North Vietnam?	75
Was the great Mongol army actually majority Turkic? If so, how could they maintain the Mongol identity of the entity, seemingly without imposing Mongolian language on Turks? Why did the elites abandon the Mongolian language in every conquered area except Yuan, while insisting on still being Mongols?	75

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