AskHistorians

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Were there ever times that translators deliberately mistranslated a message to manipulate the leader? (I.e. one king says “let us be allies” and a translator with a personal vendetta against that kingdom translates it as a declaration of war).	2
Many people today exercise with music, but when did this start? Did gyms in 1910 have a phonograph playing tunes while people lifted weights? Did a 16th century aristocrat have a violinist while he swam?	2
The classic image of an early car driver (such as on the cover of “Go, Dogs, Go!”) has a mask, a small beret, and a scarf. Where did this image come from? Why was car driver fashion so ubiquitous?	1
Did either side in WW1 have any aims aside from “win the war?” Did they really want anything from their enemies apart from reparations for the conflict?	1
Throughout history, it appears that older generations make similar complaints about the younger generations. Are there any complaints about the youth a thousand or two years ago that we wouldn’t hear today?	1
I'm a general in the Second World War, and after losing too many battles I'm fired by my angry superiors. What happens to me now? Do I do anything to help the war effort?	1
Why was the USSR ideologically comfortable with shooting people attempting to flee to the west?	1
What would the treaty of Versailles after WW1 have looked like if the war ended within the first year? Did either side really want anything from the enemy nations?	1
My understanding is that, to some extent, the Khazar state (or at least its nobility) converted to Judaism in the late first millennium. What caused this conversion effort to be successful? Why was Judaism unable to replicate Christianity’s success with kingdom-scale conversions outside of this?	1
The average man in the antebellum southern US didn't seem to own slaves(or many slaves). Why would they care enough about slavery to fight for secession?	0

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