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Throughout history which nations have been true Superpowers of their time? I know that now America is, and that not long ago the Soviet Union was, but what about before that?
Throughout history which nations have been true Superpowers of their time? I know that now America is, and that not long ago the Soviet Union was, but what about before that?
Britain was. Napoleonic France was. In terms of sheer mass of territory and wealth extracted, Spain surely was once for so long as it had a solid grip on its New World holdings.
Throughout history which nations have been true Superpowers of their time? I know that now America is, and that not long ago the Soviet Union was, but what about before that?
Don't forget little Portugal.
But the greatest empire of all time has to be the Mongol empire under the reign of the Great Khan Mongke.
The Moghul Empire never extended over even a quarter of the territory of the present Russian Federation, nor did it rule over more people that today's Russia.
The USSR was almost certainly the largest part of the globe to ever be within the confines of influence of a single ruler.. The British Empire including Canada, India and Australia would probably come in second.
The Moghul Empire never extended over even a quarter of the territory of the present Russian Federation, nor did it rule over more people that today's Russia.
The USSR was almost certainly the largest part of the globe to ever be within the confines of influence of a single ruler.. The British Empire including Canada, India and Australia would probably come in second.
I'm not so sure about that last part. the British empire controlled about 33 million sq. miles. the Mongol empire is second with 24 million, and the Russian empire is third with 22 million.
I don't think that you can include Portugal into the ranks of superpowers. Even at its height in only controlled a small stretch of across Africa, part of the eastern half of South America and along the Indian coast and a few key islands. Spain was the more dominate empire and so much so that between 1580 to 1640 Portugal was ruled by Spain.
There is an axiom that "Power comes out of the barrel of a gun." I would suggest there are exceptions to that often quoted line. Stalin is reputed to have asked contemptuously of an aide, "How many divisions does the pope have?" Had he lived a few more decades he would have found out. It's a pretty well-known fact that Pope John Paul II, an ardent anti-communist, was the inspiration behind the emergence of trade unionist Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement in the 1980s that resulted in Poland's eventual liberation from the Soviet orbit. Moreover, it figured large in the breakup of the eastern bloc countries and the chain reaction of events that brought down the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall. Reagan devotees are wont to fully credit RR for the fall of communism, but it's doubtful that it will stand up to serious historical inspection.
The Vatican occupies only 109 acres in Rome, but it commands a world-wide network, making it a monolithic spiritual and political power of enormous resources. It maintains diplomatic relations with 172 countries, one more than the US. The Vatican claims over a billion adherents. No wonder the late Israeli statesman David Ben-Gurion said, "Never mind that nonsense about how many divisions does the pope have -- just look at how many people he can summon to his aid." If there is still doubt about the power of ideas and the determined will of one man, think on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, who made the British Empire tremble. Your thoughts?
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