AskHistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Was Hirohito's reputation intentionally 'laundered' by Allied forces during/after the second world war? That is, as I understand it, Tojo was portrayed as the 'mastermind' behind Japanese imperial aggression, contemporaneously; was this a misunderstanding (willful or otherwise)?	7
In HBO's Rome, Caesar attempts to re-cement his alliance with Pompey through another marriage after his daughter Julia has died. Did Caesar really broach another marriage alliance, and, if so, why didn't Pompey accept?	7
'His Excellency' portrays George Washington as reluctant to employ a Fabian strategy, preferring an "honorable" fight, even at the cost of losing, to victory through less honorable means. How aware was Washington of his army's limitations?	7
Caligula inherited rule at 25, and Nero at 16; did their disruptive reigns affect how future emperors chose their successors? To what extent did they 'poison the well' for future young candidates, and to what extent were their reputations attributed to youth? How fair were the charges against them?	7
We're famously living in an era with some of the lowest crime rates in measured history, the culmination of a trend that started in 1995. Do we have any idea what started this downward trend?	7
At the time it was declared, was the Monroe Doctrine intended to be enforced? Would the US have been capable of enforcing it? If not, why was it issued?	7
Organized labor seems less accepted and valued in America than it is in western Europe. Why is this, and has it always been the case? Was there a time when organized labor was viewed as central to the American identity, and, if so, what has undermined it?	7
Was the D-Day invasion necessary? It seems like invading a fortified coast that knew they were coming would clearly result in a significant loss of life. Would the Allies have been able to re-take the continent from Patton's path through Italy, or would that have been too difficult?	7
How did the Medici bank work? What steps would a prospective borrower have to go through to get a loan? What sort of research or formula did the Medici use to decide who was a safe enough risk, and how were they able to get around the papal prohibition of lending with interest?	7
How common were tournaments in the high middle ages? Are fictional portrayals of the victor claiming the loser's horse, arms, and armor grounded in real practice? Would arms and armor in fact be uniform enough to be useful to multiple users?	6

« < > »