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When John Paul II died, one of the prospects floated to replace him was Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, who had been Archbishop of Paris from 1981 until his retirement 2 months before the Pope's death. Lustiger's theology was fairly moderate, and combined conservatism with a willingness to be...

I think most of us can agree that being killed in a cellar in the middle of the night with no trial was probably not a very fair fate for Nicholas II and especially for his wife and children*. But letting them go to exile in Paris to live out their days in luxury doesn't seem very right either...

I figured this was probably a question that had been asked in the past, but a quick search didn't turn up anything, so... What would be required to cause the United States to adopt the "Right Arm of the Free World"? After all, the FAL was chambered in 7.62x51 instead of 0.280 British...

It's very odd to me that the US, unusually for Western nations, seems never to have had peacetime conscription. While I realize the background for this (notably, unlike most of Europe, it's never had a real enemy on its borders), it still seems like something interesting to consider, especially...

Apparently during negotiations for the Treaty of Turin (that saw Savoy and Nice annexed to France), the idea was floated of having the northern portions (or even all of Savoy in the extreme case) join Switzerland, following the example set forth by Carouge, which was annexed to Switzerland in...

So, in the early 20th century, we see a profusion of paramilitary youth movements, of which the most prominent would become the Scouts. Though some weren't explicitly paramilitary, most taught skills such as leadership, navigation, outdoorsmanship, and marksmanship - that is, skills important...

Hello, all. For the sake of a timeline I'm baking, I'm trying to figure out if the French ever imported colonial labor forces/what kind, like the British tended to do with Indians (e.g. to South Africa, Guyana) and the Dutch with Indonesians (again, South African and Suriname). Are there any...

Hey, I found this amazing article, presenting the work of an Israeli Visual Design graduate student. The article's in Hebrew, but I think that the images speak for themselves, mostly. http://www.xnet.co.il/design/articles/0,14563,L-3101907,00.html

So, I am preparing my glorious 3rd attempt at my Land as Promised timeline, whose central conceit is a Jewish state in Palestine in 1922 (even though, broadly speaking, this is one of the less important things that happens in that timeline). And I was thinking, one of the causes of conflict in...

In the early 50s, the British attempted to introduce the .280 British intermediate round, alongside the EM-2 bullpup assault rifle and Taden light machine gun. Apparently there was some interest on the Continent and in the Commonwealth, but in the end, the project was canned as the Americans...

The British were notoriously successful with their "Double Cross" counter-intelligence operation in WWII, finding and converting literally every German agent in the United Kingdom. I have heard it said that part of this success, like the success of the Soviets in infiltrating the British ranks...

I was rereading Red Mars, and they mention that the Martian expedition is given a Rickover reactor. Interested, I looked it up - apparently Admiral Hyman Rickover is the longest serving officer in US Navy history (63 years), and is considered by most to be single-handedly responsibly for the...

‘Next year in Jerusalem. Every Passover, we feast and tell the story of our Exodus from the land of Egypt. After all is said and done; after the meal is done and the afikoman is found, and wine set out for Elijah, we hold our glasses high and proclaim, “Next year in Jerusalem!” ‘This is...

For research purposes, do you know someplace that I could find approximate speeds for rail laying using early 20th century technology? Terrain would be a mix of flat plains, rocky hills, and swamp. Thanks!

Does anyone know of any projections of the size of the Irish population (Republic, North, or the whole island) without the incredibly high emigration rates it historically sustained?

I recently learned about the Czech Corridor, a proposal at the Paris Peace Conference to create a corridor some 80 km (or more, in some of the proposals) wide and 200 km long to allow the Slavic brothers of Czechoslovakia and Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes to share a border. Apparently...

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to have Israel be considered enough a part of the European community to join some sort of federal-y European coalition, like the EU (butterflies may change the name or whatever). POD is May 15, 1948. I mean, they're part of Eurovision, and...

In 1954, the United Kingdom withdrew its 80,000 strong garrison from the Suez Canal in an attempt at rapproachment with Cairo (this effort would ultimately fail). 2 short years later, Egypt seized and nationalized the canal (previously held by a joint Anglo-French corporation), in what was...

I was really surprised not to see a thread on this already, but what if Trotsky had succeeded Lenin, as Lenin had intended? (Instead of Stalin, who succeeded IOTL) Trotsky was one of the architects of the USSR. He was Lenin's right hand, he was the father of the Red Army, he was the guy who...

Note: I apologize about the giant stack of text in the middle; nevertheless, it's quite relevant to the TL. And yes, it is a bit of a cheat to pad it out :D The Land, as Promised Prologue: This Year in Jerusalem ‘Next year in Jerusalem. Every Passover, we feast and tell the...