10 greatest countries in history

[VELISARIOS]

Do you agree with the following link?

http://www.ideagrove.com/blog/2006/0...istory-of.html

[Pauli]

Interesting link, I do agree partially with this comment:

[I]The Spanish and Dutch were both big maritime powers that preceded the the Brits, but the Brits did it better.

The Spaniards also lose points for the Inquisition, and the Dutch lose points for colonizing South Africa -- making them effectively responsible for apartheid.[/I]

When I say partially, so I do not entirely agree with this very general remark.
Indeed, the Spanish and Dutch were bigger maritime powers than the Brits. The Dutch have discovered some of the early commercial sea routes which were for both parties fruitfull.
They failed due to the pirates of the seas who kept on seizing the Dutch commercial ships. These pirates mainly being the Portuguese and the Spanish. They failed not because of malconstruction of the ships, but they were not able to recover from the financial impact this piracy had.

In general, I believe it is save to say that history has been crual for some populations. I don't agree with what the Spaniards did, I don't agree with all actions of the Dutch. Nevertheless, they brought many things to our society of which we still profit today.

The country I do miss on the list for sure is France! France's history has been incredibly influential to our nowadays lifes.

[Tazz]

"great" isn't a.. well.. great word to use.. i mean.. it could mean so many things.. how do you decide which aspects to look at when youre talking about how "great" a country is? There are..
*counts*
*gives up*
Well.. MANY countries in the world all so different.. it just doesn't work this way.. and the article takes completely random points into consideration.. they should stick to one aspect otherwise you really can't judge.

Or maybe I didnt read the article well enough O_o

[Walnut]

The only one that I have a fundamental problem with is Chad. I don't see how supposedly being the site of a biological process, the evolution of humans, can necessarily be credited to the nation. That wasn't something that the people did, it's something that happened to them.

Other than that I would probably go with that top ten.... give or take.

[jBirch]

You're really talking civilisations here...

India, China, Rome, Greece, Ethiopia/Abyssinia, Mongolia, Norseland, Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia

There is a distinct bias for western ideals on that list. I wouldn't put the US or the UK on that list if I weren't going to include Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, and most particularly France. I would group all of those western countries as being Roman. I also miss Russia, Japan and the Ottoman Empire.

Arguably, both Russia and Japan are offshoots of China. The Turks are Roman.

If you're talking modern countries then the US, Russia, Germany and Japan all deserve to be on that list.

And I love this quote:

"the U.S. is Canada's geological b itch. We're bigger, we're on top and if you look at Ontario, we're pounding you in the arse!"

James.

[VELISARIOS]

You're really talking civilisations here...

India, China, Rome, Greece, Ethiopia/Abyssinia, Mongolia, Norseland, Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia

There is a distinct bias for western ideals on that list. I wouldn't put the US or the UK on that list if I weren't going to include Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, and most particularly France. I would group all of those western countries as being Roman. I also miss Russia, Japan and the Ottoman Empire.

Arguably, both Russia and Japan are offshoots of China. The Turks are Roman.

If you're talking modern countries then the US, Russia, Germany and Japan all deserve to be on that list.

And I love this quote:

"the U.S. is Canada's geological b itch. We're bigger, we're on top and if you look at Ontario, we're pounding you in the arse!"

James.

I think that USA is in the list, is is the number 3.

Whta gives the imperial Japan in the world exept the slautery of their natives and afterwards the slautery of Koreans and Chiness?
The Ottomans what give in civilization exept a reign of terror in Balkans and in all Europe, and for destruction of the Arab kingdoms?
So why must be in the list?

The Turks are Romans? what is this a new joke?!

[secretly]

Arguably, both Russia and Japan are offshoots of China.

You're joking, right?

[Aqua_volans]

The idea of democracy came from athens... not from where they mentioned...

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!


Let´s look at the other end of the spectrum!

Which ten current countries/dominions/areas somewhat legally comparable to real countries do you think have affected their surroundings the least? Which, if they were to magically disappear, would cause the least disruption?

To make it harder, only count countries which have at least 1 million inhabitants!

My list by continent:
Europe: Slovakia
Asia: Macau
Africa: Several to choose from!
North/Carribean America: Belize
South America: Paraguay
Oceania: Papua New Guinea


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[KD5MDK]

Why would Slovakia affect their surroundings less than Montengro?

[KD5MDK]

The idea of democracy came from athens... not from where they mentioned...

The implementation however required almost total reinvention courtesy of Germanic tribal customs developing into the British Government, and a radical reconstruction carried out by independent political theoriests which gave rise to the American Republic. There's very little in common between Athenian Democracy and what we have now.

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Why would Slovakia affect their surroundings less than Montengro?

Well, Montenegro has a population of 635,000, less than than the 1 million - totally arbitrary - cutoff that I set. Otherwise, Liechtenstein would be an even better contender to this title!


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[KD5MDK]

I did manage to overlook that restriction, indeed. However, how about Denmark? As far as I can tell the country survives entirely off of LEGO exports. Losing those would be sad to be sure, but think of the greater ease of navigation between the Baltic and North seas!

[TrainingDummy]

I did manage to overlook that restriction, indeed. However, how about Denmark? As far as I can tell the country survives entirely off of LEGO exports. Losing those would be sad to be sure, but think of the greater ease of navigation between the Baltic and North seas!

They should just make Lego bridges between the island. The Danish would insantly become the awesomest country in the world until some 6-year-old took them apart.

[Zilverzmurfen]

I did manage to overlook that restriction, indeed. However, how about Denmark? As far as I can tell the country survives entirely off of LEGO exports. Losing those would be sad to be sure, but think of the greater ease of navigation between the Baltic and North seas!

You're forgetting the loss of Carlsberg beer...


Oh, and did you know that the Danish flag 'Dannebrogen' is the oldest national flag in the world?

[/history lesson]

[fencingfrog]

lol, i agree that italy is the best!

[Catal]

The idea of democracy came from athens... not from where they mentioned...

It's being credited to the country, not the city-state. Athens was in Greece, so Greece gets the credit.

[Inquartata]

Considering how mutable borders have been over the millenia, not to mention the way countries themselves have risen and perished, that doesn't really seem like the best way to do it...

Would advances made in Moorish Spain in the 10th century be credited to Spain, or to Syria, to the Caliphate of which the Moorish Emirate was nominal subject? Some notable events in Jerusalem during the Crusades---credited to Israel? "Palestine"? Judea? The Kingdom of Jerusalem? Such paradoxes abound.

[Catal]

Considering how mutable borders have been over the millenia, not to mention the way countries themselves have risen and perished, that doesn't really seem like the best way to do it...

Would advances made in Moorish Spain in the 10th century be credited to Spain, or to Syria, to the Caliphate of which the Moorish Emirate was nominal subject? Some notable events in Jerusalem during the Crusades---credited to Israel? "Palestine"? Judea? The Kingdom of Jerusalem? Such paradoxes abound.

I dunno, man. Maybe, you should take it up with the people that made the list.

[jBirch]

You're joking, right?

No. Look at ancient history. The Mongols invaded both several times and likely the Mongol tribes were exiles from China. Japan certainly was settled by China way back in the day and then isolated from then on.

So, you could say that Russia and Japan are offshoots of China in that respect (ie// the people of China moved outwards into Russia and Japan and created them, they then diverged over history). A lot like you could argue that the US comes from Britain and Britain comes from Norseland.

James.