Canmoore

Has any Empire in the history of Human civilization, dominated the world not just militarily, but industrially, culturaly, and politically. As much as the United States of America does today?

The only Empire i can think of that has ever come close would have been the Roman Empire. What is your take?

Officer of Engineers

Mods, lock this thread before we embarrass this kid any further.

Son,

Here are hints

Eygpt
China
Babylon
Hittie
Persia
India
Great Britian
France
Turkey
Mongolia
Russia
Japan

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Chimo

troung

Rome...
Byznatines...

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To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

gunnut

The British Empire was the last to do this. The pound was the legal tender world wide. Her Majesty Queen Victoria controlled 1/4 of the land of the world, and about as much population. Her fleet owned the oceans. London was the center of the world. And that was AFTER the British Empire lost the United States to independence.

That was only about 130 years ago.

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"Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

Bluesman

Plus, we're about the least 'imperial' of any of the world's empires.

We could own about any peice of dirt we'd care to take, and we don't take ANY.

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- George Orwell

-{SpoonmaN}-

Why the hell would you want to? The USA is the most powerful country in the world true enough, but it still depends on trade with the rest of the world, like everyone else. Going around waging wars of conquest would expend money, people and resources for no worthwhile purpose, and then there's the whole "occupying the country" thing after that.

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"I have this to say to the people of Australia: Kick me, I'm different."

Bluesman

But you're missing the point: it's simply not what we're about. Practical matters aside, it's not what we do.

Canmoore

I didnt say that the US is an empire in any ways, now did I?

I am not saying the US is an empire, because they are not. I should have made my point a little clearer.

What i ment is what country/empire whatever have you, in history, can compare to the dominance that the U.S. has over the world right now.

I know that those countries/empires do Officer, but that kind of defeats the purpose of this thread when you just name off a bunch. Like why do those countries compare to the States?

thats the question im asking, im not looking for a debate about the States being an Empire or not, because there is nothing to debate there, the States is simply not an Empire. But it is a country.

ok, how is that?

Canmoore

I say Rome, because the Romans advanced human civilization more than any other country in History, prior to the States.

Everything from House Addresses, Roads, Aquaducts, Watermills to grind flour just to name a few.

Not to mention that Roman architecture was very advanced, and buildings such as the Colloseum still amaze people today.

Compared to the U.S.

Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons, Rock'n'Roll, The Airplane, Space Flight,
Electricity, Empire State Building... Just to name a few

That is why i think that the Romans are the closest country in history in comparison to the States.

troung

We go about things in different ways.

gunnut

The US is a relatively isolationist country. A major portion of the nation actually don't want us to be involved with the rest of the world. Our influence derive mainly from trades rather than conquest, at least in the recent decades.

Roman Empire was one of the most influentian and one of the most important in the history. Its relative strength was probably greater than the US right now.

The British Empire with its vast reaches during the 19th century was definitely greater in relative strength than the US right now.

In a way, we took over from where the British left off. Same language only made it easier for us to conduct our trades. The US is built on shoulders of giants.

astralis

gunnut,

well, no; han china fielded armies that dwarfed the legions of rome, not to speak of lesser states such as parthia. in the china history forum there's a thread running for pages, "rome vs china". lol.

relative strength, on the whole, is hard to determine. the british empire had its way with the world simply because nationalism still did not exist in the countries it spread its imperial wings over, and because the british had absolutely no doubt regarding their supposed superiority in every sense of the word. as an example, how else would the british have ruled india with a handful of men? the US, certainly, would not do as the british did to the indians involved in the Mutiny: tying men to cannon and blowing them to bits.

such factors are certainly hard to measure!

Grundy

correct me if im wrong but werent the russians the first into space??? You could argue that nuclear power/weapons were a joint excercise of the Allies but the people who had the biggest impact on nuclear weapons (to the best of my knowledge) where german jews, werent they?

Simullacrum

What are you smoking boy.?? lol

Please look into history before talking.
The roman Empire took off after the Greeks, Which gave just as much or even more, and was a foothold for the Romans to continue there status on the world stage, Hell even the roman spoke greek.!

just like the romans continued from the Greeks, The yanks continued from the British Empire.

The British Empire was the most extensive empire in world history and for a time was the foremost global power. It was a product of the European age of discovery, which began with the global maritime explorations of Portugal and Spain in the late 15th century, that inaugurated the era of the European global empires.

By 1921, the British Empire held sway over a population of between 470 and 570 million people, approximately one-quarter of the world's population. It covered about 14.3 million square miles (more than 37 million km²), about a quarter of Earth's total land area. Though it has now mostly evolved into the Commonwealth of Nations, British influence remains strong throughout the world: in economic practice, legal and governmental systems, sports (such as cricket and football), and the English language itself.

The British Empire was, at one time, referred to as "the empire on which the sun never sets" because the empire's span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous colonies.

We may not be a super power like we once where, But still our contribution to the world stage from , Science, Engineering, Medicne, Diplomacy, Militry, Elcetronics, Monetry, Laws.. list goes on, is still up there with the best the yanks can give.!
Still to this day we influnce in the world stage.

Not bad from a country the size of Idaho and a population of 56 million.!

Parihaka

New Zealand.
With our dependencies,( Ross Dependency, Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau) and of course Samoa, Fiji, the Chatams, the Aucklands etc etc we control more countries than anyone else. So there.

Oh and we control Australia too, they just don't know it.