Most important person of the 20th century (empire, USSR, France)

[NJGOAT]

Originally Posted by Snowball7

Einstein was a plagiarist and hack. He lifted every idea he ever published
from other scientists.

Just when I think you can't get any crazier...

[Montguy]

Originally Posted by Snowball7

Einstein was a plagiarist and hack. He lifted every idea he ever published
from other scientists.

So this isn't supposed to be, like, a serious thread?

If not, that really sucks--I'm always looking for appropriate venues to inject Henry Winkler, and, yet again, I have only myself to talk to. Sh*t.

[Cali BassMan]

Hitler
Gorbachev

[Dane_in_LA]

Originally Posted by majoun

If not for Princip there would not have been a Hitler nor a Stalin.

Well, yes, but... The powder kegs were stacked high and there was no lack of people striking matches. Princip's match was just the one finding something to ignite, if you'll pardon stretching a metaphor.

Austria-Hungary were itching to invade Serbia as it were. None of the great powers could allow another to mobilize without responding. And Germany could not mobilize without violating Belgian neutrality.

It almost doesn't matter who started the conflagration, it was the leaders of the time who hadn't realized fully what war in an era of railroads, conscription and mass production would be like.

[Twist of Lime]

Originally Posted by btownboss4

I think it is Gavrilo Princip, he shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, causing the World Wars, and the Destruction they wrought on Russia lead to the foundation of Soviet Russia.
He shaped the whole century with one bullet.

Gavrilo Princip was nothing but the immediate catalyst igniting an extremely unstable Balkans. He was not particularly important (and doesn't even belong in the Top 1000 most important figures of the century, much less the number one spot) because a conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was inevitable, and it was then inevitable that Russia and Germany and France the Britain would get pulled in.

Princip was no more important to starting World War I than Paul Tibbetts was to ending the Pacific War 31 years later. They were interchangeable parts in their respective eras that had no ability to change history but merely to do what someone was going to do anyway.

Important people change and control history. Princip did neither.

[ciceropolo]

Originally Posted by NJGOAT

Just when I think you can't get any crazier...

Snowball7 must have recently read Mark Twain

"It takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a phonograph, or a photograph, or a telephone or any other important thing—and the last man gets the credit and we forget the others. He added his little mite — that is all he did. These object lessons should teach us that ninety-nine parts of all things that proceed from the intellect are plagiarisms, pure and simple; and the lesson ought to make us modest. But nothing can do that.” – Mark Twain

[mofford]

Norman Borlaug 1914 - 2009

Son of Norwegian immigrants, he was born in Cresco Iowa 1914, he went to the University of Minnesota, and studied plant pathology and genetics. He worked for Dupont during the war, then quit to go work in Mexico for the Rockefeller Foundation, as Henry Wallace had encouraged The Rockefeller Foundation to work with the Mexican government to increase crop production, he was hired for this task and was very successful.

The high yield & disease resistant wheat varieties he introduced, have saved a billion lives. His work in Mexico led to it becoming a net exporter of wheat by 1963. He doubled wheat yields in India and Pakastan within a five year period 1965-1970. He won a Nobel Peace Prize, Congressional Gold Medal, Presidential Medal of Freedom, World Food Prize, to name a few.

[ciceropolo]

This is the type of question that annoys me somewhat, as for 'most important' I give a nod to the inventors, innovators rather than the political types / war leaders as too often they symbolize what is wrong with humanity in failing to learn from past mistakes. Question is probably best divided amongst the two realms.

But since it is not, with a twist I'll name Willis Haviland Carrier and with a nod to my prior post (Mark Twain's quote) -John Gorrie.

The development of refrigeration and air conditioning has (IMO) been the most wide spread innovation of importance to humanity across every industry and to virtually every person's comfort and ease from the ability to have fresh food year round to making copulation more comfortable in the hot climates.

[btownboss4]

Originally Posted by Dane_in_LA

Well, yes, but... The powder kegs were stacked high and there was no lack of people striking matches. Princip's match was just the one finding something to ignite, if you'll pardon stretching a metaphor.

Austria-Hungary were itching to invade Serbia as it were. None of the great powers could allow another to mobilize without responding. And Germany could not mobilize without violating Belgian neutrality.

It almost doesn't matter who started the conflagration, it was the leaders of the time who hadn't realized fully what war in an era of railroads, conscription and mass production would be like.

But if Serbia ( The Government) started the war, Russias and France's pacts were null and void, similar to Italy's situation with being in the Triple alliance.

[Grandstander]

Most important person...let's think about this...

Probably be the one who won the most impressive military victory, the one which mostly won WW II and was the most important battle of western civilization, unless it was the most Pyrric victory by the worst English king whose misrule caused Britain to briefly be the most atrocious nation.