Greatest Empire Ever

[JomZ]

I think you should define "greatness" first. And I have no idea why you added American Empire in that mix.

Greatness;

How long it lasted, what kind of mark it left on the world, how big it was, what kind of achievements did it complete.

Let’s create some controversy, I am going to throw out the Third Reich of Germany under Adolph Hitler. It is not my personal opinion but I felt that this empire could be analysed, not based on the “Final Solution”, but on its relative achievements defined by Jersay’s definition of Greatness.

em•pire
Pronunciation: 'em-"pIr
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French empire, empirie, from Latin imperium absolute authority, empire, from imperare
1 a (1) : a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority; especially : one having an emperor as chief of state (2) : the territory of such a political unit b : something resembling a political empire; especially : an extensive territory or enterprise under single domination or control
~Merriam Websters Online Dictionary

How long it lasted:
Not too long due to its constant military activity and loss of resource capitalization and people. Yet it conquered many nations in a short period of time. Also this nation was bankrupt and economically dead and was turned around relatively fast.

What kind of mark it left on the world/ what kind of achievements did it complete:[b/]

Time Magazine named Adolph Hitler person of the century, due to his actions of him and his empire it radically changed the world:

A small list of things that came about due to the Third Reich:

Technological
Atomic Power
Jet Propelled aircraft
Rockets
Military Advancement (too many to name here)
Radar
Computers

Political
Fascism a relatively new form of governance
Catalyst to Israel creation
Conquered a major portion of the world in such a short time
The rise of the Cold War and strengthening the Soviet and U.S. presence globally


How big was it?:
It spanned across almost all of Europe, Northern Africa, and Russia,

I am not condoning that the Third Reich was good, in fact it was very cruel and vicious. Yet most empires on this list were to one degree or another. Although we will never fully understand the impact that this empire had on the world, due to its relative recentness (only 60+ years compared to the 1000s year old empires of the greeks, romans, huns, Mongols, etc)

 

[Hank C]

Greatest Empire ever........Great Britan of course.

 

[FiveParadox]

I would agree, Hank C.

Remnants of its Empire days remain today.

Canada only removed the word "Dominion" from the nation's true name only a few decades ago, correct? Her Majesty the Queen is continued to be recognized in dozens of nations — Great Britain most certainly was an Empire.

 

[Hank C]

Yes the British Empire is the greatest empire ever, Rome had its time too.

America is very interesting. I would not characterize it as "empire" in the same sense. The American flag only flies over the USA.

However the United States is a global power. It has a culture which has penetrated every reach of the globe. Enough weapons to destory every person on the planet. The US military dwarfs any other and at least the next 10 powers put together. The US is the most powerful creation of all time, more advanced than any of the "empires" in history.

What makes the US global sphere a so called "empire" is not its ties with the worlds populace or nations, but the systematic and enduring power the United States exercises over them.

 

[Daz_Hockey]

The heard the word "Hyper power" being used to describe both the british and american empires, nah even if Americans are knighted, they cannot use the title sir, Canadians decided not to, but Americans.....not in a million years, we thought we'd forgotten all these problems then that fascist witch Wallace Simpson comes along, she was trying to claim HRH...never

 

[Jay]

Hmmm.....I'm stuck and can't reply, I think I'm tired.

Oh well, maybe tomorrow ....

Got anything on that yet, ITN?

 

[Jay]

Re: RE: Greatest Empire Ever

We don't dispense these titles to just anyone either ITN...commoner Americans have a hard time reaching such heights...

I managed to read this entire thread without commenting or smarting off. Got to this one, and it nearly cracked me up and threw me off my chair.

"Commoner Americans?" There is no such thing as a commoner, because there is no such thing as a royal in America. Well, once in a while you run into a royal pain in the arse... :lol: .

Uncle

 

[I think not]

Hmmm.....I'm stuck and can't reply, I think I'm tired.

Oh well, maybe tomorrow ....

Got anything on that yet, ITN?

Nope, I'm brain dead on Thursdays. :lol:

 

[Jay]

You know what they say about Thursdays.....

 

[Blackleaf]

1. Viking Empire; it was big, and it the Vikings were the dominant people for many hundreds of years. They were the ones that destroyed the Romans weren't they?

 

[Blackleaf]

World's 10 greatest empires ever -


1) British Empire.
2)?
3)?
4)?
5)?
6)?
7)?
8)?
9)?
10)?

 

[Blackleaf]

Please dude, the Brits have slaugthered people all over the world by the millions, in the name of the MONARCHY! How nobel!

You've slaughtered millions all over the world in the name of the President. What's the difference?

 

[the caracal kid]

well, it seems it is those with ties to the brits that are saying the british empire was the greatest, which cements the notion that greatness is relative to the observer.

 

[I think not]

Re: RE: Greatest Empire Ever

You've slaughtered millions all over the world in the name of the President. What's the difference?

Ha! Good one. There is a difference, millions died in battle with the US, your policies even spread famine and it was NEVER in the name of ANY President.

By the way, your map is historically innaccurate, your empire never had the whole of Canada while you held colonies in the states.

 

[Daz_Hockey]

I think, they measure greatness in size and scale, not their actions, in which case, yes the british empire was the biggest the world has ever seen

 

[I think not]

The Spanish Empire would come a very close second then

 

[Blackleaf]

The British Empire wins hands down. It was, and remains, the largest empire that the world has ever known - bigger than the Roman, bigger than the Mongol. The biggest ever.
---------------------

The British Empire was, at one time, the foremost global power and the greatest empire in history. It was a product of the European Age of Discovery that began with the global maritime explorations of Portugal and Spain in the late 15th century. By 1921 (the Empire was at its largest between the two World Wars, not before) the British Empire held sway over a population of about 470–570 million people; roughly a quarter of the world's population; and covered about 14.3 million square miles (more than 37 million km²), about a QUARTER of the world's total land area. Though it has since almost completely evolved into the Commonwealth of Nations, there remains a strong influence across the world, such as in economic practice, legal and government systems, the spread of many traditionally British sports (such as cricket and football) and also the spread of the English language. The British Empire was at one time refered to as "the empire on which the sun never sets", as due to its vastness, the sun was always shining on one of it's colonies.

At what is usually considered its height in 1921, the British Empire consisted of the following territories:

[edit]
Africa
Basutoland (now Lesotho)
Bechuanaland (now Botswana) (divided, one part colony and another part a British protectorate)
British Togoland (now part of Ghana)
Gambia
Gold Coast (now Ghana)
Egypt (as a state under British protectorate)
Kenya (most parts colony, the coast area protectorate)
Mauritius
Nigeria
Northern Cameroons (now part of Nigeria)
Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia)
Nyasaland (now Malawi)
Sierra Leone
Somaliland
South Africa
Southern Cameroons (now part of Cameroon, being 9% of the territory of Cameroon)
Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)
South West Africa (now Namibia)
Swaziland (as a state under British protectorate)
Sudan
Tanganyika and Zanzibar (now Tanzania) (Zanzibar as a state under British protectorate)
Uganda
[edit]
The Americas and Atlantic
Ascension Island
British Guiana (now Guyana)
British Honduras (now Belize)
Canada
Falkland Islands
Newfoundland (now a province of Canada)
West Indies
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Dominica
Grenada
Jamaica
Montserrat
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
St Helena
Tristan da Cunha
South Georgia (also claimed by Argentina)
[edit]
Antarctica
British Antarctic Territory (under Antarctic Treaty overlaps Argentine and Chilean claim)
[edit]
Asia
Aden Colony (now part of Yemen)
Aden Protectorate (states under British protection; now part of Yemen)
Bahrain
Bhutan
British India (now India, Pakistan and Bangladesh)
British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel (excluding the Golan Heights), the Gaza Strip and the West Bank)
Brunei (British protectorate)
Burma (now Myanmar)
Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)
Hong Kong (now a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China after ceded by China in 1898)
Iraq
Kuwait
Malaya (now Peninsular Malaysia, part of Malaysia)
Maldives
North Borneo (now Sabah, part of Malaysia)
Muscat and Oman (now Oman)
Qatar
Sarawak (now part of Malaysia)
Sikkim (now part of India)
Straits Settlements (Singapore, Malacca, Penang, and Labuan in Southeast Asia and Cocos Islands and Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean; now divided among Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia)
Transjordan (now Jordan)
Trucial States (states under British protection; now the United Arab Emirates)
Wei-Hai-Wei (威海衞) (Now the city of Weihai in Shandong, China)
- There were also several extraterritorial territories in China called treaty ports, the most famous being the British concession in Shanghai

[edit]
Europe
Channel Islands (crown dependencies)
Guernsey
Jersey
Cyprus
Gibraltar
Malta
Isle of Man (crown dependency)
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
[edit]
Pacific
Australia
British New Guinea (southern part of what is now Papua New Guinea)
Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu)
Fiji
Gilbert Islands (now part of Kiribati)
Nauru
New Hebrides (condominium shared with the French Empire) (now Vanuatu)
New Zealand
Pitcairn
Solomon Islands
Tonga (as a state under British protectorate)

HMS Nemesis destroys a Chinese ship during the first Opium War of 1839-42.

British officers, 1845.

wikipedia.org

 

[Daz_Hockey]

ah, but as you may know, a lot of central and southern american countries were pretty much backed by britain in their independance struggles, so a lot of south america should go, plus I've just come back from Goa, it was portugeuse, there is a difference you know, they get a bit offended when you compare them, and call them spanish

 

[I think not]

Actually here are a few more, better maps:

Extent of the Mongol Conquests (Ca. 1230-1380 A.D.)

Greatest Extent of the Russian Empire (Ca. 1790-1860 A.D.)

Napoleonic Empire (Ca. 1800-1815 A.D.)

 

[Blackleaf]

Re: RE: Greatest Empire Ever

You've slaughtered millions all over the world in the name of the President. What's the difference?

Ha! Good one. There is a difference, millions died in battle with the US, your policies even spread famine and it was NEVER in the name of ANY President.

By the way, your map is historically innaccurate, your empire never had the whole of Canada while you held colonies in the states.

We don't have a President (Thank God) so we can't do anything in the name of our President.

The British built roads, schools and hospitals in their colonies. We managed to take lands such as Iraq and control them pretty easily, whereas nowadays the US struggles to control Iraq. So what does that tell you?

Britain controlled India, a country with a vast population, whereas the US struggles in a small country of 20 million.