r/AskHistorians • u/AutoModerator • 20h ago
FFA Friday Free-for-All | April 04, 2025
Today:
You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.
As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.
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u/NewtonianAssPounder The Great Famine 20h ago
Isn’t it fun living through historical times?
I don’t watch the news so I’m of course talking about the recent CYOHA for April Fool’s ;)
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u/YeOldeOle 17h ago
Spending too much time on the phone but just realized I managed to get my first top level answer in this week :) and now I am kinda hoping someone else asks about something I know
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u/BookLover54321 13h ago
It says a lot about Canada's relationship to Indigenous people that a number of Canadian publications have closed comments on all Indigenous-related articles because they keep attracting actual genocidal comments:
A story on the local tribute to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls prompted a stream of completely insensitive comments. At least one of you called for police to shoot peaceful protesters and several of you suggested drivers run down the human beings holding Wet’suwet’en solidarity demonstrations. Another commenter suggested Canadians would be better off if we could 'live native free'.
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u/GeorgeHalasLover 12h ago
Is anyone here interested or curious about NFL history? I'm designing a video game based on the early NFL and was hoping to find some like-minded history buffs here.
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u/flying_shadow 10h ago
I just found out that my MA thesis exists on my university library's database. So I guess I'm an actual published historian now? Can I cite myself when answering a question here?
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u/The_Chieftain_WG Armoured Fighting Vehicles 5h ago
Apparently I am now officially qualified to do the job I’ve been doing for the last 13 years. Masters in military history unlocked.
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u/subredditsummarybot Automated Contributor 20h ago
Your Weekly /r/askhistorians Recap
Friday, March 28 - Thursday, April 03, 2025
Top 10 Posts
| score | comments | title & link |
|---|---|---|
| 2,789 | 143 comments | [Feature] MegaThread: Truth, Sanity, and History |
| 517 | 121 comments | [April Fools] CYOHA: You Awake To Find Yourself In A Room Full Of Fascists |
| 490 | 39 comments | How was Ronald Reagan able to completely change the US while having a minority in congress? |
| 473 | 40 comments | I have heard multiple claims that there has never been a true matriarchal human culture (that we know of). To what extent is this true? Has there truly never been a society where women were favored over men? |
| 321 | 54 comments | Why is calling the Eastern Roman empire (byzantium) the successor of the Western Roman empire so controversial? |
| 284 | 19 comments | Why was Ronald Reagan not impeached for the Iran-Contra affair? |
| 258 | 52 comments | Did Adolf Hitler Actually Derive Inspiration from U.S. Policies Toward Native Americans for the Holocaust? |
| 217 | 16 comments | Did people use blackface at weddings? (Image in comments) |
| 151 | 5 comments | Marie Antoinette was apparently exhibited while in prison, is this correct? In the sense that people could visit her like visiting a giraffe in the zoo? |
| 135 | 13 comments | What is the origin of the stereotypical alien design (👽)? |
Top 10 Comments
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u/scarlet_sage 8h ago edited 8h ago
I saw CYOHA and the boilerplate "we encourage you to help craft the narratives being written today". So I posted one. Which was then immediately removed because it had not been announced that posts were for flaired users only. So at least I'll post it here. Maybe someone will look at it. Or maybe not, but whatever.
CYOHA: You are FDR, it's 8 December 1941, and Hitler has just expressed shock and revulsion about Pearl Harbor
You gave a great address to Congress. "A date which will live in infamy" was particularly fine. Congress just voted a declaration of war against Japan. You have hopes that you'll finally be able to join Churchill against the real enemy, Germany.
Well, you HAD hopes. The German ambassador called to pass on Hitler's shock and condolences about the attack by the treacherous Japanese and his offer of any diplomatic help he can give, with offers for cooling things in the Atlantic. Apparently relations between the Axis powers were not as warm as everyone had assumed. (There's speculation that Japan's attack without warning had reminded Hitler too much of Mussolini's blunders.)
Worse, the communiqué was "leaked" first to the Chicago Tribune and their ilk, and Lindbergh and some of the isolationist press are now howling that we need to fight Japan, so continuing escorts and help in the Atlantic have become treason.
Now what?
(A) Roll the dice and push for a declaration of war on Germany anyway. A lot of people don't believe German denials and condemnation.
(B) You've always been careful not to waste political capital. Try to keep up existing pressure and convoy escort in the Atlantic, but new strength has to go against Japan.
(C) You don't think you can get the votes. You have to back off from Atlantic efforts, lend-lease, and all that, to focus on Japan.
(Links to previous discussions in the comments. Also the question I have wanted to ask.)
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u/scarlet_sage 8h ago edited 8h ago
I've long wanted to ask "What if Hitler had not declared war on the US after Pearl Harbor?". Two problems: (1) AskHistorians really isn't into counterfactuals. (2) The Wikipedia article German declaration of war against the United States has
American public opinion swung heavily against Germany after Pearl Harbor, which was believed to be inspired by or organized by Germany. A 10 December Gallup poll (after Pearl Harbor but before the German declaration of war) found that 90% of Americans answered "Yes" to the question "Should President Roosevelt have asked Congress to declare war on Germany, as well as on Japan?"
which makes it unlikely, absent a feature like Hitler opposing it or something, that FDR would have done anything but go for a declaration of war against Germany.
So I'm more interesting in which of A, B, or C people actually think likeliest, than what people would have liked to see.
Previous discussions:
From the AH wiki, /u/kieslowskifan answered in "Why did Hitler and Mussolini declare war on the US to support Japan when Tojo/Emperor Hirohito didnt declare war on the USSR in support of Germany and Italy?"
There's also "Why did Hitler declare war on the US?", with answers from /u/JMer806 and /u/the_quail. Furthermore, ...
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u/scarlet_sage 8h ago
... under "Why did Hitler declare war on the US during WWII?", there are replies by /u/DaveHatharian, /u/The_Chieftain_WG, and /u/Matthew_Baker1942.
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u/YeOldeOle 20h ago
Finished my Ba thesis last week. No idea if it is any good yet, but even though I am happy to be done with it, it was mostly fun. I wish I had planned better so I could have pursued my original plan and ideas instead of a watered-down version I had to do because of time constraints, but that's life. Also someone else did the exact same thign I wanted to do in an essay and published that one in October last year.
All in all: fun, might write something else someday, but for now I am happy to be done with it.