Conflict that has made the largest impact on the world we know today.

[Deltacamelately]

Well it has to be the "ISI". No ISI, no Taliban, no Al Qaida, no Jehad, no 9/11 and therefore no GWOT. :))

[snapper]

Roman Empire for me definately. Those who chose WW1 and WW2 must understand that the very names of the partcipants are influenced by Ancient Rome; Kaiser = Caesar Reich= Roma Empire, France=Franks. Cold war= Roman Europe vs. Slavs. All the refernces of all the European countries owe some debt to Rome and therefore all wars since havebeen to some extent influenced by the Roman heritage.

[Kansas Bear]

Roman Empire for me definately. Those who chose WW1 and WW2 must understand that the very names of the partcipants are influenced by Ancient Rome; Kaiser = Caesar Reich= Roma Empire, France=Franks. Cold war= Roman Europe vs. Slavs. All the refernces of all the European countries owe some debt to Rome and therefore all wars since havebeen to some extent influenced by the Roman heritage.

That's an extemely Euro centric view.

[Triple C]

Speaking of Euro-Centrism, where is the the Eighty and the Thirty Years Wars?

[Guest]

Good morning Sir Kansas Bear

No Franco-Prussian war, no Franco-German hostility, no Ottoman Empire, no Serbian nationalism, no World War I.

But the Franco-German hostility goes back to the Napoleon's destruction of Frederick the Great's "invincible army", the French Eagles parading in Berlin, and the the humiliation of Prussia.

So I say French Revolution.

No French Revolution, no nationalism, no Napoleon, no revolutionary dreams by Karl Marx, no Bolshivism, no 50 million dead etc.

[Officer of Engineers]

Napoleon would still be Napoleon. Changing the circumstances will not change the character of the man.

[Yusuf]

Coming in late, think WWII has had the largest impact in modern world. It created two superpowers which led to cold war and many more wars because of that. Led to the creation of the Atom Bomb. It also ended colonialism and created new independent nations. Ended Fascism.

[Guest]

Agreed, but we are NOT talking about the person's character, but rather what he brought. The nationalism brought by the French Revolution gave him the kinetic energy (for a lack of a better word) to propel him forward.

It is circumstances that make people into what they are. Napleon's dream would have stayed dreams, far from the real physical world, had there not been a French Revolution.

Rommel as mentioned in his biography would have retired as a Major after World War I, had there not been a second one. Ike would stayed a clerk under Macarthur in the Philippinnes, never even imagining how far he would go in his life.

[Kansas Bear]

Good morning Sir Kansas Bear



But the Franco-German hostility goes back to the Napoleon's destruction of Frederick the Great's "invincible army", the French Eagles parading in Berlin, and the the humiliation of Prussia.

"Thus, the Germans declared war against Russia on 1 August and on France two days later."

Apparently the German hostility towards France wasn't as great as its hostility towards Russia!

Look at the opening weeks prior to WWI. Besides the spat between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, what other two countries were involved? The Konig/Czar of both countries were even related to each other!! Yet, the situation quickly spiraled out of control. Then the Ottomans allowed this:

"Finally on 29 October, the point of no return was reached when Admiral Souchon took Goeben, Breslau and a squadron of Turkish warships into the Black Sea and raided the Russian ports of Odessa, Sevastopol and Theodosia."

Numerous events can be attributed to the "death throes" of the Ottoman Empire.

[King Six]

Actually realistically the further you go back in history, the more of an impact each event had on future events. So the Roman Empire (the cradle of all western civilization) has far more impact then WWI. No roman empire = no WWI but not vice versa.

Exactly, a topic like this could go on forever until we get to the point where we are talking about the battles faced by early organic molecules

[snapper]

Napoleon would still be Napoleon. Changing the circumstances will not change the character of the man.

A long argued historical point...is it the man that makes the circumstances or the other way around? While I would agree that circumstances do not change a persons character as such surely they alow great men to come to the fore. It is both the man and his the times that makes the great historical leader I would argue.

[Guest]

We are surrounded everyday by potential Hitlers, Napoleon etc. they just dont know it. They are dormant. :) It is the circumstances that magnifies their hidden pesonallity into something big, and wakes them up, and gives them goal and objectives.

[mliraj]

While, all of the alternatives have real merit (and reading the posts is really enlightening), I would ask about the wars of conquest in America. I am aware that caling the whole colonization process a war is misleading, but I believe that it would not stretch the word to much.
And while it is clear (at least to me) that Native Americans (of any stripe) would not conquer Europe, if Europe did not come to America up to let's say 1800 something, would the European Wars of the time been as hard fought as they were?
I think Spanish gold was one of the main subsiders of quite a number of mercenary armies that fought in some of the pan-European wars, wasn´t it?
By the way, I admit my ignorance before hand. I am really trying to learn more about it. :):)

[Albany Rifles]

Kansas Bear

"Thus, the Germans declared war against Russia on 1 August and on France two days later."

Apparently the German hostility towards France wasn't as great as its hostility towards Russia!

As I once learned from a German Army officer....ALWAYS business before pleasure!

[BadKharma]

"Thus, the Germans declared war against Russia on 1 August and on France two days later."

Apparently the German hostility towards France wasn't as great as its hostility towards Russia!

As I once learned from a German Army officer....ALWAYS business before pleasure!

LOL that is a great quote.