the most powerfull nation on earth... ever

[Simon Darkshade]

"You remind me of the poster 'Turk', - who, thankfully, disappeared from the forums"

Well, at least he hasn't got to the stage of basically threatening to beat his opponents..
Was Turk really just TF in disguise? snigger, snigger...

But basically, this 'discussion' is naught but extreme amusement, for me, witnessing laughable international level games of "you started it. No you started it. Look, you imperialists started it when you invaded Vinland." and the old favourite ""Mine's bigger than yours" "We're not afraid of you. We're SO not afraid of you we'll just keep on talking about it. So there."

For goodness sake, you're sounding like a bunch of politicians

 

[Giorgicus]

In terms of overall worldwide power (military, economic, and political influence), my vote would be for the United States, but not as of 2000, but in retrospect, as of the early 1960s.

Militarily, at that time we were at our zenith in comparison to the other superpower and/or aspiring superpowers, especially in terms of nuclear power. As it turns out, there was no such thing as a missile gap, and Kennedy insured that the U.S. would far outpace the Soviets in production of nuclear weapons. We also had a decided advantage in the geographical placement and ability of nuclear weapons to strike at our enemies.

Economically, of course, we were still outproducing any other nation, and we were enjoying a period of prosperity.

Geopolitically and at home, we were untainted by the loss in Viet Nam and the Watergate scandals. Overall, there was a feeling that we could do anything we wanted, at home or abroad. Remember, this country was now being led by the generation that won World War II.

True, by the time of the Reagan buildup in the 1980s, we had more overall firepower; but relative to the Soviet Union, and after the above events (including a humiliating hostage crisis), our overall influence was weaker.

My .02

 

[Sayounara]

British were the strongest. USA isn't all too strong especially with so many other powers

 

[willemvanoranje]

speaking of reviving dead threads....

 

[TedJackson]

The British had a globe-spanning empire in the 1700's (including a large part of North America) gained (mainly) by conquest. The only other contender is modern US (aiming for global cultural victory ).

Ted

 

[Sayounara]

Originally posted by willemvanoranje
speaking of reviving dead threads....

I'll revive more Axis threads later

 

[allhailIndia]

It would have to be a toss up between Victorian Britain and Rome under Hadrian. It is very hard to decide between the two.

 

[puglover]

Clinton was the high point of the USA? Please!

 

[allhailIndia]

Although the US enjoyed great economic strength under Bill Clinton, it was not exactly a great Empire like the Romans or Great Britain under Victoria

 

[marshal zhukov]

The US is powerful but as incredibly powerful as some of the past Empires.
And eventhough Russia is poor the US would have a horrible time beating Russia in a war for example, and even a worse time fighting the European Union ( unlikely of course).
That means that although the US is powerful is not powerful enough to face the world or whoever stands in their way.

 

[Bifrost]

The question was "the most powerful nation" , not a country.
But well, since all the posters have enumerated countries, I'd vote for Russian Empire of the second half of XVIII.

 

[marshal zhukov]

Russian Empire? in the second half of the XVIII?
Russia wasn't very industrialized in the second half. It is population was poor still struggling to end the the servitude of the peasantry.
Didn't Russia lose a war in the 1860's, and another one in 1905, that doesn't seem to be the record of powerful nation.

 

[Mongoloid Cow]

This poll seems to be comparing ancient orange pygmy monkeys with fire-breathing llamas, and then asking to pick out the one which eats the more termites.

They were from different times and different worlds and it is all relative to the world they knew of. You can't pick out the most powerful.

I'd rather keep my intelligence and not answer this one.

 

[Bifrost]

Russian Empire? in the second half of the XVIII?
Russia wasn't very industrialized in the second half. It is population was poor still struggling to end the the servitude of the peasantry.
Didn't Russia lose a war in the 1860's, and another one in 1905, that doesn't seem to be the record of powerful nation.

YES! Russian Empire in the late XVIII century!
Err.. You must have thought that "XVIII" was "19", unfortunately it's not. I was talking about eighteen sentury - around 1760-1790 in this period Russian army defeated Friedrich, captured Berlin, politically destroyed Prussia. Before that time - in the first half of eighteen sentury - Russian army defeated the mighty Swedes led by the brave Carl XII - the best army of Europe of that time. Besides in the beginning of nineteenth century Russian Empire had the largest territory in its history. Russian explorers built new settlements in Alaska and established colonies on the West coast of California and Canada. The second half of eighteen sentury was the dawn of science and culture in Russian empire, it reached the top of its might and power.

 

[Xen]

even a worse time fighting the European Union
-marshal zhukov, talking about A Euro-American war

Oh please!, the European Union's "rapid reaction force" isnt very rapid, or much of a force....

 

[Kryten]

Originally posted by Xen
Oh please!, the European Union's "rapid reaction force" isnt very rapid, or much of a force....

This is quite true.
The fact is that America in the early 21st century has without doubt the greatest military & technological might that this planet has ever seen.
But the question before us is, "The Most Powerful Nation On Earth....Ever".

We Civ players are dictators, every one of us.
We don't worry too much about the effect a war would have on the economy....
We don't have to worry about keeping our allies happy....
We don't have to worry about the United Nations....
We don't have to worry about public opinion....
We don't have to worry about re-election....
An American President does.

Also, like Mongoloid Cow stated, you have to look at each nation's relative power within their own time period, i.e. compaired to their historical contempories.

And as powerful as the modern American military machine is today, they have LESS military freedom to do what they want than say the Romans had.

In fact, even the Romans had some limitations.
You couldn't go to war with a neighbour without the Senate's approval, and every Roman Empereor had to worry about giving too many troops to a general in case he rebelled and marched on Rome!

Sooooo.....who was "The Most Powerful Nation On Earth....Ever"?
I would say it was.....the Mongols under Gengis Khan!
They had the ability to beat any of their contempories....
They didn't have to worry about public opinion.....
They didn't need a political excuse to attack their neighbours....
They didn't have an economy to worry about....
Whatever the Great Khan said, they did.
Even America today cannot do all this!

 

[JonathanValjean]

What an interesting, thought-provoking question! Since one of your qualifications was "in its time period," i.e. power in relation to its contemporaries, I chose Rome under Trajan. If the main criterion were to be the greatest overall economic might in history, I would vote for 1999 USA, before the economic downturn occurred.

 

[John Wayne USA]

2 big empires not in: Imperial Spain and Nazi Germany.

Spain - First Global empire in world history. Would not have voted for it, but surely it deserved a nomination

Nazi Germany - Sure it was real short, but after the conquest of France in 1940, Europe was for the taking, but Hitler blew it and we all know the rest...........

(Dont feel bad though, people always nitpick my polls, so I guess I should pass the favor )

And finally I voted for the Roman Empire. As much as I love the US, I really dont like considering it an Empire and you have to go with durability.

People say the US has been around for 200+ years vs. Romans' 1000+ years but thats deceiving........

The US has only been a true world power until about 100-120 years ago, and only undisputed #1 power since sometime around WWII............

You cant compare that with the thousand plus years of Rome or the centuries of Empire with English, Spanish, and even Mongols.......

Edit - Its crazy to suggest that Rome "conquered the world", even though I voted for them, lets be realistic here!

Rome never even conquered all of Europe at its greatest height much less Africa, Asia, or the Americas. The beauty of Rome was that it was able to control vast areas for so long while bringing relative peace and prosperity to her people.

 

[polymath]

I would say the British Empire, for sheer size. An absolute behemoth.

 

[HAND]

The British Empire - Its influence was world wide- its Empire was world wide.
The British Gun boat diplomacy was more effective than American cruise missile diplomacy is today!