What was History's Greatest Empire?

[Indian Empire]

Why isn't the Mongolian empire on the poll? It was the second largest.

Actually, #1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_PoSyBRHeU

As a HUGE fan of the Mongols, the poll list is nearly idiotic (no offense!) and their should at least be a "Other" option. The topic is great, but the rest of it goes beyond silliness. Plus, he forgot the Abbasids, the Macedonians, The Brazilian, the Incas, the Aztecs, the Egyptians, Thrace, Persia, and other empires. I am really wondering if the OP really knows anything about history in general

There are so many things I know about the Mongols, I could let it take up the page. The Mongols were individual tribes in the 1100's when, one day, a boy named Timijin was born. He had the idea of uniting Mongol Tribes as one. He was inspired to do this by his father, who was kidnapped by the Tartars. He killed his younger brother in a fight at age 10. Under the guidance of his older brother, Timijin plotted out a way to unite the Mongols. I forced him into a civil war, which he won. So, at the age of 44, Genghis had united Mongol tribes. Among the first empires to fall was the Jin empire. The Mongols then worked westward, into modern day Kazakhstan, and at Genghis' death at age 64, the empire extended from the Caspian sea to the Pacific. With a new emperor, Ogedei, the Mongols invaded Russia in the Winter of 1227. Sounds familiar huh? The Nazis failed to invade Russia during winter. Under Ogedei's reign, the Mongols invaded Kievan Rus and continued to work westward, invading Eastern Europe. The death of the Emperor caused Mongol forces to withdraw at the Hungarian Border. The last emperor, Kublai Khan, was the last and by far the most successful. After one of his top generals was killed by the Ilkhanates, Kublai stormed into Persia, Crushing the Ilkhanates, conquering the Abbasids. The Mongol invasion of the lands killed about 95% of the people in Persia. The Mongols captured the Abbasid Capital, Baghdad, in 1258. Their expansion was stopped after the first ever defeat of the Mongols at the Battle of Ayn Jalut in 1273. He conquered the Song in 1279, and was challenged by his brother, Eric, for the crown. Eric quickly surrendered, realizing his forces were outmanned and over numbered by Kublai's forces. After the kidnapping of all of his wives, Kublai became depressed. by 1294, his weight and age got the best of him, and he died at age 80. The Chinese began to rebel, and the Mongol Empire split into 4 dynasties in 1294, shortly after Kublai's death.

[Asigna]

No love for the Caliphates? Remember, without them, no Al Qaeda, no ISIL, no Al Shabaab, no Jemaah Islamiyah, no Al Nusra, no Taliban, no Abu Sayaff, no Boko Haram...

How would the lack of any caliphate bar the first preclude the existence of Islamic fundamentalism?

Redrawing Ethnic borders.

[Briwen]

roman empire, I would say one of the most fashist empires ever existed. They did genocide, they surpressed like almost anyone, they had slavery and for fun they forced people to kill each other...Last but not least they adopted one of the worst religions ever and killed (again) thousands of people.

The worst thing ever happend to this world was the roman empire.

Not really, I mean if you look at Spain dying the height of the inquisition, or 1600s Britain in Africa and Asia you'll see a lot of the same things. For the time period the Romans did what pretty much every other significant empire was doing.

Actually not, all other european empires just had the Romans as example. So I say the Romans are responsible for the attitude of the furture empires of Europe. They adopted the "Roman Way"

As for ancient Asia I cant say anything, since i dont know much about it I know how China united, but even in China they had more values.

And there were democracies in europe in greece and in the celtic world, women werent opressed in the celtic world also they had some kind of codex which romans obviously didnt have and they werent imperialistic scum.

[Ifaltannia]

Why isn't the Mongolian empire on the poll? It was the second largest.

Actually, #1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_PoSyBRHeU

As a HUGE fan of the Mongols, the poll list is nearly idiotic (no offense!) and their should at least be a "Other" option. The topic is great, but the rest of it goes beyond silliness. Plus, he forgot the Abbasids, the Macedonians, The Brazilian, the Incas, the Aztecs, the Egyptians, Thrace, Persia, and other empires. I am really wondering if the OP really knows anything about history in general

There are so many things I know about the Mongols, I could let it take up the page. The Mongols were individual tribes in the 1100's when, one day, a boy named Timijin was born. He had the idea of uniting Mongol Tribes as one. He was inspired to do this by his father, who was kidnapped by the Tartars. He killed his younger brother in a fight at age 10. Under the guidance of his older brother, Timijin plotted out a way to unite the Mongols. I forced him into a civil war, which he won. So, at the age of 44, Genghis had united Mongol tribes. Among the first empires to fall was the Jin empire. The Mongols then worked westward, into modern day Kazakhstan, and at Genghis' death at age 64, the empire extended from the Caspian sea to the Pacific. With a new emperor, Ogedei, the Mongols invaded Russia in the Winter of 1227. Sounds familiar huh? The Nazis failed to invade Russia during winter. Under Ogedei's reign, the Mongols invaded Kievan Rus and continued to work westward, invading Eastern Europe. The death of the Emperor caused Mongol forces to withdraw at the Hungarian Border. The last emperor, Kublai Khan, was the last and by far the most successful. After one of his top generals was killed by the Ilkhanates, Kublai stormed into Persia, Crushing the Ilkhanates, conquering the Abbasids. The Mongol invasion of the lands killed about 95% of the people in Persia. The Mongols captured the Abbasid Capital, Baghdad, in 1258. Their expansion was stopped after the first ever defeat of the Mongols at the Battle of Ayn Jalut in 1273. He conquered the Song in 1279, and was challenged by his brother, Eric, for the crown. Eric quickly surrendered, realizing his forces were outmanned and over numbered by Kublai's forces. After the kidnapping of all of his wives, Kublai became depressed. by 1294, his weight and age got the best of him, and he died at age 80. The Chinese began to rebel, and the Mongol Empire split into 4 dynasties in 1294, shortly after Kublai's death.

Source Fail. Says The Mongol Empire Was Bigger Then The British.
But I Get Your Point The Mongols Were Very Influentual

British Empire - 33.6 million km² (under George V in 1922)
Mongol Empire - 33.2 million km² (under Kublai Khan in 1268)

[New Decius]

The United States does not count as an Empire. Usually when you have an Empire there is some form of Monarch or Emperor for example:

Romans had an Emperor

The British had a King

The Germans had a Kaiser

The Russians had a Tsar

The French had an Emperor

Also Empire's normally are not Republic's. America is a Republic.

Your leader has nothing to do with it. THe Romans had a president.
The Greeks had a president.

The Romans didn't have a President! Even when they were the Roman Republic they had Consuls! And then as the Roman Empire they had an Emperor.

[Trisian]

Why isn't the Mongolian empire on the poll? It was the second largest.

Actually, #1.

Oh god that quote was long. Anyways, they were the largest contiguous empire, but not largest in the total amount of land. The British held about 1/5 of the world's land and 1/4 of the world's population. With that much land and population, I'm pretty sure that they would have some cultural impact, even though it wasn't as great as the Romans.

[Ifaltannia]

Why isn't the Mongolian empire on the poll? It was the second largest.

Actually, #1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_PoSyBRHeU

As a HUGE fan of the Mongols, the poll list is nearly idiotic (no offense!) and their should at least be a "Other" option. The topic is great, but the rest of it goes beyond silliness. Plus, he forgot the Abbasids, the Macedonians, The Brazilian, the Incas, the Aztecs, the Egyptians, Thrace, Persia, and other empires. I am really wondering if the OP really knows anything about history in general

There are so many things I know about the Mongols, I could let it take up the page. The Mongols were individual tribes in the 1100's when, one day, a boy named Timijin was born. He had the idea of uniting Mongol Tribes as one. He was inspired to do this by his father, who was kidnapped by the Tartars. He killed his younger brother in a fight at age 10. Under the guidance of his older brother, Timijin plotted out a way to unite the Mongols. I forced him into a civil war, which he won. So, at the age of 44, Genghis had united Mongol tribes. Among the first empires to fall was the Jin empire. The Mongols then worked westward, into modern day Kazakhstan, and at Genghis' death at age 64, the empire extended from the Caspian sea to the Pacific. With a new emperor, Ogedei, the Mongols invaded Russia in the Winter of 1227. Sounds familiar huh? The Nazis failed to invade Russia during winter. Under Ogedei's reign, the Mongols invaded Kievan Rus and continued to work westward, invading Eastern Europe. The death of the Emperor caused Mongol forces to withdraw at the Hungarian Border. The last emperor, Kublai Khan, was the last and by far the most successful. After one of his top generals was killed by the Ilkhanates, Kublai stormed into Persia, Crushing the Ilkhanates, conquering the Abbasids. The Mongol invasion of the lands killed about 95% of the people in Persia. The Mongols captured the Abbasid Capital, Baghdad, in 1258. Their expansion was stopped after the first ever defeat of the Mongols at the Battle of Ayn Jalut in 1273. He conquered the Song in 1279, and was challenged by his brother, Eric, for the crown. Eric quickly surrendered, realizing his forces were outmanned and over numbered by Kublai's forces. After the kidnapping of all of his wives, Kublai became depressed. by 1294, his weight and age got the best of him, and he died at age 80. The Chinese began to rebel, and the Mongol Empire split into 4 dynasties in 1294, shortly after Kublai's death.

Mongols Were #2

1) British Empire - 33.6 million km² (under George V in 1922)
2) Mongol Empire - 33.2 million km² (under Kublai Khan in 1268)

[New Decius]

The United States does not count as an Empire. Usually when you have an Empire there is some form of Monarch or Emperor for example:

Romans had an Emperor

The British had a King

The Germans had a Kaiser

The Russians had a Tsar

The French had an Emperor

Also Empire's normally are not Republic's. America is a Republic.

The third reich is an empire yet it was not headed by a monarch. Empires are powers who excercise immense power and want more of it. The definition of empire is subjective. US is the greatest imperialist power the world has ever seen since Rome. It’s golden age was the cold war until the end of Reagan’s administration.

You do realize the United States supposed Empire is itself the mainland U.S., and a couple of small islands and Territories. It doesn't constitute as an Empire. Rome controlled most of Europe and North Africa! The British controlled at one point the British Isles, North America, most of the Caribbean, India, much of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and many other territories! Even the Soviet Union controlled more territory than America ever has! And the Soviet Union wasn't even an Empire!

[Rephesus]

If you don't count uninhibited areas (Canadian North, Non-Coastal West Australia, British Antarctic, Northern Siberia) the Mongols (Narrowly) were larger.

Plus who needs ships when you have horses

[Greater Weselton]

The Roman Empire was definitely the greatest.

[Ifaltannia]

If you don't count uninhibited areas (Canadian North, Non-Coastal West Australia, British Antarctic, Northern Siberia) the Mongols (Narrowly) were larger.

Plus who needs ships when you have horses

Do i have to say this 50 times?

1) British Empire - 33.6 million km² (under George V in 1922)
2) Mongol Empire - 33.2 million km² (under Kublai Khan in 1268)

Okay?
Do You Get It?
Jeez!
It's By 0.4 million km squared but it counts!

[New Decius]

roman empire, I would say one of the most fashist empires ever existed. They did genocide, they surpressed like almost anyone, they had slavery and for fun they forced people to kill each other...Last but not least they adopted one of the worst religions ever and killed (again) thousands of people. (And teh opression of women and mass rapes.)

The worst thing ever happend to this world was the roman empire.

The Roman Empire brought many of the things that we still use today like the Roman Calender, the Latin Alphabet, they even influenced the languages in France, Germany, Britain, Italy, and much of North Africa.

[Rephesus]

The third reich is an empire yet it was not headed by a monarch. Empires are powers who excercise immense power and want more of it. The definition of empire is subjective. US is the greatest imperialist power the world has ever seen since Rome. It’s golden age was the cold war until the end of Reagan’s administration.

You do realize the United States supposed Empire is itself the mainland U.S., and a couple of small islands and Territories. It doesn't constitute as an Empire. Rome controlled most of Europe and North Africa! The British controlled at one point the British Isles, North America, most of the Caribbean, India, much of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and many other territories! Even the Soviet Union controlled more territory than America ever has! And the Soviet Union wasn't even an Empire!

The Soviet Union example really isn't that good, atleast Britian and America's lands were mostly populated. Russia's density is insanely low. That's including the other soviet states.

[New Decius]

Also you realize you cannot bring in modern technology as a factor. Many of the Empire's being discussed here existed in different time periods than the others though some did exist with each other.

There are really no Empire's around today as they Age of Empire's has long gone though I suspect it will probably start again within another century and probably in Europe.

[Briwen]

roman empire, I would say one of the most fashist empires ever existed. They did genocide, they surpressed like almost anyone, they had slavery and for fun they forced people to kill each other...Last but not least they adopted one of the worst religions ever and killed (again) thousands of people. (And teh opression of women and mass rapes.)

The worst thing ever happend to this world was the roman empire.

The Roman Empire brought many of the things that we still use today like the Roman Calender, the Latin Alphabet, they even influenced the languages in France, Germany, Britain, Italy, and much of North Africa.

so what? Romans didnt invent the calender, Celts had their own calender used by almost whole Europe, Greece had their own etc. Greece had their own Alphabet and many other countries also had their own letters... Actually the latin alphabeth is phoenician and not even latin.

I dont see how the things you mentioned are important?

[New Decius]

You do realize the United States supposed Empire is itself the mainland U.S., and a couple of small islands and Territories. It doesn't constitute as an Empire. Rome controlled most of Europe and North Africa! The British controlled at one point the British Isles, North America, most of the Caribbean, India, much of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and many other territories! Even the Soviet Union controlled more territory than America ever has! And the Soviet Union wasn't even an Empire!

The Soviet Union example really isn't that good, atleast Britian and America's lands were mostly populated. Russia's density is insanely low. That's including the other soviet states.

I was using it for an example to say how America doesn't count as an Empire. The Soviet Union wasn't an Empire an yet even it had more land than America has ever had. And they were the Soviets!

[The New Lowlands]

The third reich is an empire yet it was not headed by a monarch. Empires are powers who excercise immense power and want more of it. The definition of empire is subjective. US is the greatest imperialist power the world has ever seen since Rome. It’s golden age was the cold war until the end of Reagan’s administration.

You do realize the United States supposed Empire is itself the mainland U.S., and a couple of small islands and Territories. It doesn't constitute as an Empire. Rome controlled most of Europe and North Africa! The British controlled at one point the British Isles, North America, most of the Caribbean, India, much of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and many other territories! Even the Soviet Union controlled more territory than America ever has! And the Soviet Union wasn't even an Empire!

The Philippines and Cuba were pretty significant colonial holdings. You could probably include Liberia.

[Memell]

Not really, I mean if you look at Spain dying the height of the inquisition, or 1600s Britain in Africa and Asia you'll see a lot of the same things. For the time period the Romans did what pretty much every other significant empire was doing.

Actually not, all other european empires just had the Romans as example. So I say the Romans are responsible for the attitude of the furture empires of Europe. They adopted the "Roman Way"

As for ancient Asia I cant say anything, since i dont know much about it I know how China united, but even in China they had more values.

And there were democracies in europe in greece and in the celtic world, women werent opressed in the celtic world also they had some kind of codex which romans obviously didnt have and they werent imperialistic scum.

Lol, the points you put forward are so nonsense that they become hilarious!
What you are basically pointing out is that we should consider responsible whomever started doing mathematical calculations in ancient times for Smart Bombs, "You know, 2+2 lead to that, and that, and that.....and we eventually started bombing children! Fuck you, anonymous mathematician of the past!"

Let alone the fact that Roman women were among the most emancipated for the time (i'm speaking of the period 1st century BC-3d century AD....then Christianity made the things a bit different).

[Herargon]

In modern times and in respect to size, it would have to be the British Empire without a doubt.

In terms of how enduring their influence? Unquestionably the Roman Empire; it's impact is still felt across the globe to this day.

I'm with this.

[Briwen]

Actually not, all other european empires just had the Romans as example. So I say the Romans are responsible for the attitude of the furture empires of Europe. They adopted the "Roman Way"

As for ancient Asia I cant say anything, since i dont know much about it I know how China united, but even in China they had more values.

And there were democracies in europe in greece and in the celtic world, women werent opressed in the celtic world also they had some kind of codex which romans obviously didnt have and they werent imperialistic scum.

Lol, the points you put forward are so nonsense that they become hilarious!
What you are basically pointing out is that we should consider responsible whomever started doing mathematical calculations in ancient times for Smart Bombs, "You know, 2+2 lead to that, and that, and that.....and we eventually started bombing children! Fuck you, anonymous mathematician of the past!"

Let alone the fact that Roman women were among the most emancipated for the time (i'm speaking of the period 1st century BC-3d century AD....then Christianity made the things a bit different).

so you dont know much about ancient history, I had 6 years latin in school. The roman women were the most opressed, they didnt even were citizens. Th emost powerfull man was the familias patrias and women didnt count. Even in Greece which was very patriachal women had more to say. Let alone in the celtic regions and germanic regions. (There were women warriors, priestesses, Queens ..etc)

[Utceforp]

Also you realize you cannot bring in modern technology as a factor. Many of the Empire's being discussed here existed in different time periods than the others though some did exist with each other.

There are really no Empire's around today as they Age of Empire's has long gone though I suspect it will probably start again within another century and probably in Europe.

Add Persia and China!

[Arglorand]

If it failed, I wouldn't consider it influence.

The extensive use of English globally could probably be attributed for a large part to the rise of the United States as an international economic superpower in the 1900s.

No.
-Canada English Because Of GB
-India English Because Of GB
-U.S English Because Of GB
-Ireland English Because Of GB
-New Zealand Because Of GB
-Australia Because Of GB
-Pakistan Because Of GB
-Bangledesh Because of GB
-Kenya Because Of GB

The List Goes On I Just Can't Think Of More On The Top Of My Head

I think Niger Does Too.

I really don't get what's so great about the whole world speaking English and not, say, Swahili.

[Geanna]

In your opinion what was the Greatest Empire in History.

I am torn between the British Empire and German Empire. The British Empire stretched around the world and was the greatest military power in the world for over three centuries with the Royal Navy being the most powerful Naval Force from the late 1600's to mid-1900's. The German Empire stretched around the world as well and was one of the greatest industrial powers in the early twentieth century. Their Imperial High Seas Fleet rivalled that of the British Grand Fleet and their ground army was one of the greatest in the world in training and experience.

What are your opinions on the subject?

I'd have to hand it to the Mongols that was alot of fucking land in a short amount of time.

[New Cyyro]

The British were able to expand like that because of technology...so Romans it is.

[Gezi Park]

Why are Japan and The Ottomans the only non-European empires?

Except the Ottomans was a European empire.

Btw I'd say the Hunnic Empire is missing.