AskHistorians

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July 14th, 1789, the Bastille was captured. Only a few weeks later in August, slave uprisings in Saint-Domingue proclaimed, “the white slaves have killed their masters, and now we are free.” How did news make it so quickly to the Caribbean, and how did slaves stay informed on political issues?	1827
In the Pre-Industrial world, China seems to have achieved a level of mass production on a scale unseen anywhere else. Is this a simple matter of population and a larger pool of labor, or did China have more advanced manufacturing processes and practices? If so, what did those look like?	1442
A common view of the Napoleonic Wars can be summarized as Napoleon beating the pants off Europe for years until the British swoop in and save the day with a smaller, better army. How true is this and how much may be unintentional bias due to British sources being more accessible to English speakers?	721
Could your typical soldier in an 18th or early 19th century firing line do anything to increase their odds of survival in battle short of running away? Standing in a rigid line, it seems like nothing except pure luck could keep you safe from a bullet or a cannonball.	341
Breechloading rifles have been produced as early as the 14th century, but were not common until well into the 19th century where they massively outclassed older muskets. What factors made these guns prohibitive for large production, and what changed in the 19th century that made it possible?	146
Why was the urban French working class so poor compared to both French peasant farmers in the countryside and compared to the British working class in the late 18th century? More specific details in the post.	68
During the Franco-Prussian War, the professional French army doctrine of entrenchment was time and again defeated by German conscripts practicing maneuver warfare. Why then did trench warfare prove so successful only a few decades later in World War 1?	60
I’m forced back in time to my choice of the Napoleonic Wars, Franco-Prussian War, or World War 1, where I must serve a minimum of 6 months as a common soldier before I can return to 2021. Which one would I choose to give me the best odds of survival and why? Which one do I really want to avoid?	35
The Maxim machine gun was first built before the invention of smokeless powder, and the British Army bought a number of black powder Maxim guns for use in Africa. How did they perform, considering the conventional idea that black powder single-barreled machine guns are impractical due to fouling?	24
When did we start waging wars on “fronts” across large areas rather than consolidated armies going on campaigns? And what technologies or ideas were required to allow that change in warfare?	22

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