askhistorians

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Why is Poland, despite having been under socialist rule, a very catholic nation today, but East Germany, also ruled by socialists for decades, is very atheistic?	2930
Why are whites and hispanics separate categories in the US? As a European it is mind-boggling for me that someone with Spanish ancestry isn't considered white.	179
The Roman citizenship was granted to a great number of people who were not citizens by birth. Were there any backlash against the practice of giving the citizenship to provincials by 'native' Romans?	160
Did medieval peasants participate in the government of their villages or did their lord regulate every aspect?	123
Why do judges and lawyers in the UK and other Commonwealth countries still wear wigs? When and why did they stop to update the court dress?	118
In the 1931 UK general election the Conservatives won 470 out of 615 seats. Despite their giant majority, the Tories didn't lead the government. Instead, Labour's Ramsay MacDonald was appointed Prime Minister. Why?	62
I'm an owner of a cotton plantation in 1865 and my slaves got freed. What do I now? Were do I find new workers?	32
I am just reading the Hornblower novels. In "Mr. Midshipman Hornblower" there is a midshipman, already 33 years old, having failed his lieutenant's examination several times. What was the typical age for midshipmen to get promoted to lieutenant? How hard was the lieutenant's examination?	27
How literally was the bible taken in the Middle Ages?	21
Dean Acheson, US secretary of State from 1949-53, called the Portugese dictator "the nearest approach in our time to Plato's philosopher king". That made me wonder what the general opinion about Salazar in the US was.	19

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