List of forms of government
107-443: An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outposts , and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole ) exercises political control over the peripheries. Within an empire, different populations have different sets of rights and are governed differently. Narrowly defined, an empire
214-549: A clique of military leaders whose goal was the formation of a republic. The German Empire (1871–1918), another "heir to the Holy Roman Empire", arose in 1871. The fall of the western half of the Roman Empire is seen as one of the most pivotal points in all of human history. This event traditionally marks the transition from classical civilization to the birth of Europe. The Roman Empire started to decline at
321-657: A core territory (e.g., Weimar Germany shorn of the German colonial empire (1918–1919), or the Ottoman Empire (1918–1923)). The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after 1918 provides an example of a multi-ethnic superstate broken into constituent nation-oriented states: the republics, kingdoms, and provinces of Austria , Hungary , Transylvania , Croatia , Slovenia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Czechoslovakia , Ruthenia , Galicia , et al . In
428-603: A half centuries until the universal conquest of Qin in 221 BC. The first empire comparable to Rome in organization was the Neo-Assyrian Empire (916–612 BC). The Median Empire was the first empire within the territory of Persia . By the 6th century BC, after having allied with the Babylonians , Scythians and Cimmerians to defeat the Neo-Assyrian Empire , the Medes were able to establish their own empire, which
535-597: A loose, multinational Commonwealth of Nations , while the French colonial empire metamorphosed to a Francophone commonwealth . The same process happened to the Portuguese Empire , which evolved into a Lusophone commonwealth , and to the former territories of the extinct Spanish Empire , which alongside the Lusophone countries of Portugal and Brazil , created an Ibero-American commonwealth . France returned
642-476: A magistrate's authority (usually in a military sense). As the Roman state expanded overseas, the term began to be used to describe Rome's authority over its colonies and client states . Successful generals were often given the title imperator , an honorific roughly meaning "commander". Although historians use the terms "Republic" and "Empire" to identify the periods of Roman history before and after absolute power
749-401: A massacre of civilians. Between 17 and 19 April, a number of high school students were arrested after they had protested against wearing the expensive, government-required school uniforms; an estimated 100 were killed. Emperor Bokassa personally participated in the massacre, where he was reported beating dozens of children to death with his own cane. The massive press coverage which followed
856-477: A new de facto monarchy, but sought to maintain the appearance of a republican government. He and his early successors used the informal titles of augustus and princeps , but over time the title of imperator came to denote the office of (what is now referred to as) " emperor ". The legal systems of France and its former colonies are strongly influenced by Roman law. Similarly, the United States
963-600: A particular political structure . Empires are typically formed from diverse ethnic, national, cultural, and religious components. 'Empire' and 'colonialism' are used to refer to relationships between a powerful state or society versus a less powerful one; Michael W. Doyle has defined empire as "effective control, whether formal or informal, of a subordinated society by an imperial society". Tom Nairn and Paul James define empires as polities that "extend relations of power across territorial spaces over which they have no prior or given legal sovereignty, and where, in one or more of
1070-543: A semantic construction, such as when a ruler assumes the title of "emperor". That polity over which the ruler reigns logically becomes an "empire", despite having no additional territory or hegemony. Examples of this form of empire are the Central African Empire , Mexican Empire , or the Korean Empire proclaimed in 1897 when Korea, far from gaining new territory, was on the verge of being annexed by
1177-472: A single individual (a political boss ), or a group (political bosses). The concept of empire is associated with other such concepts as imperialism , colonialism , and globalization , with imperialism referring to the creation and maintenance of unequal relationships between nations and not necessarily the policy of a state headed by an emperor or empress. Empire is often used as a term to describe overpowering situations causing displeasure. An empire
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#17327800263531284-510: A total population of 100 million people and was the most populous colony under French rule . In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire extended over 13.5 million km (5.2 million sq mi) of land at its height in the 1920s and 1930s with a totaled population of 150 million people. Including metropolitan France,
1391-548: Is detachment of troops stationed at a distance from the main force or formation , usually at a station in a remote or sparsely populated location, positioned to stand guard against unauthorized intrusions and surprise attacks, serving as the first line of defense. The station occupied by such troops, usually a small military base or settlement in an outlying frontier , limit, political boundary or in another country. Outposts can also be called miniature military bases based on size and number of troops it houses. Oldest known use
1498-609: Is a sovereign state whose head of state is an emperor or empress ; but not all states with aggregate territory under the rule of supreme authorities are called empires or are ruled by an emperor; nor have all self-described empires been accepted as such by contemporaries and historians (the Central African Empire , and some Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in early England being examples). There have been "ancient and modern, centralized and decentralized, ultra-brutal and relatively benign" empires. An important distinction has been between land empires made up solely of contiguous territories, such as
1605-464: Is a considerable scope. Many fought to the death to avoid it or to be liberated from it. Imperial conquests and attempts of conquest significantly contributed to the list of wars by death toll . The imperial impact on subjects can be regarded as "little," but only on those subjects who survived the imperial conquest and rule. We cannot ask the inhabitants of Carthage and Masada , for example, whether empire had little impact on their lives. We seldom hear
1712-640: Is a hierarchy of rights and prestige for different groups of people. Josep Colomer distinguished between empires and nation-states in the following way: Many empires were the result of military conquest, incorporating the vanquished states into a political union, but imperial hegemony can be established in other ways. The Athenian Empire , the Roman Empire , and the British Empire developed at least in part under elective auspices. The Empire of Brazil declared itself an empire after separating from
1819-432: Is an aggregate of many separate states or territories under a supreme ruler or oligarchy. This is in contrast to a federation , which is an extensive state voluntarily composed of autonomous states and peoples. An empire is a large polity which rules over territories outside of its original borders. Definitions of what physically and politically constitutes an empire vary. It might be a state affecting imperial policies or
1926-585: Is considered the first great empire in history or the first "world empire". It was overthrown and replaced by the short-lived empire of Alexander the Great . His Empire was succeeded by three Empires ruled by the Diadochi —the Seleucid , Ptolemaic , and Macedonian , which, despite being independent, are called the " Hellenistic Empire" by virtue of their similarities in culture and administration. Meanwhile, in
2033-527: Is from the 16th century "station when on duty, a fixed position or place," 1590s, from French poste "place where one is stationed," Military outposts, most recently referred to as combat outposts (COPs), served as a cornerstone of counterinsurgency doctrine in Iraq and Afghanistan . These permanent or semi-permanent structures, often located in or near populated areas, enabled military forces to secure key lines of communication or infrastructure, secure and co-opt
2140-579: The Akan people of the Ashanti Region , Akanland in modern-day Ghana. The Ashanti (or Asante) were a powerful, militaristic and highly disciplined people in West Africa. Their military power, which came from effective strategy and an early adoption of European firearms , created an empire that stretched from central Akanland (in modern-day Ghana) to present day Benin and Ivory Coast , bordered by
2247-984: The Atlantic : the Han Empire of China, the Kushan Empire , the Parthian Empire of Persia, and the Roman Empire . The collapse of the Han Empire in AD 220 saw China fragmented into the Three Kingdoms , only to be unified once again by the Jin Empire (AD 266–420). The relative weakness of the Jin Empire plunged China into political disunity that would last from AD 304 to AD 589 when the Sui Empire (AD 581–618) reunited China. The Romans were
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#17327800263532354-609: The Austrian Empire or the Russian Empire ; and those created by sea-power, which include territories that are remote from the 'home' country of the empire, such as the Carthaginian Empire or the British Empire . Aside from the more formal usage, the word empire can also refer colloquially to a large-scale business enterprise (e.g. a transnational corporation ), a political organization controlled by
2461-589: The Cape of Good Hope and along the coast of Africa bordering the southeast Indian Ocean, proved ripe opportunities for the continent's Renaissance -era monarchies to establish colonial empires like those of the ancient Romans and Greeks. In the Old World, colonial imperialism was attempted and established on the Canary Islands and Ireland . These conquered lands and people became de jure subordinates of
2568-1003: The Caribbean and the Thirteen Colonies . In 1776, the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies declared itself independent from the British Empire, thus beginning the American Revolution . Britain turned towards Asia, the Pacific, and later Africa, with subsequent exploration and conquests leading to the rise of the Second British Empire (1783–1815), which was followed by the Industrial Revolution and Britain's Imperial Century (1815–1914). It became
2675-538: The Carolingian Empire , the largely Germanic Holy Roman Empire , and the Russian Empire . Yet, these states did not always fit the geographic, political, or military profiles of empires in the modern sense of the word. To legitimise their imperium , these states directly claimed the title of Empire from Rome. The sacrum Romanum imperium (Holy Roman Empire), which lasted from 800 to 1806, claimed to have exclusively comprehended Christian principalities, and
2782-688: The Central African Republic , the French president at the time, Charles de Gaulle , did not want to engage with the new leader, refusing to receive him and calling him a "bloody idiot." After heavy advising from his chief of staff, Jacques Foccart , De Gaulle finally met Bokassa in 1969, three years after he came into power. After Charles De Gaulle died and Georges Pompidou exited office, Valery Giscard d'Estaing took office in 1974. Giscard d'Estaing and Bokassa engaged in correspondence and with Giscard d'Estaing's administration, France and
2889-587: The Dagomba kingdom to the north and Dahomey to the east. Due to the empire's military prowess, sophisticated hierarchy, social stratification and culture, the Ashanti empire had one of the largest historiographies of any indigenous Sub-Saharan African political entity. The Sikh Empire (1799–1849) was established in the Punjab region of India. The empire weakened when its founder, Ranjit Singh , died in 1839,
2996-820: The Dutch Republic . In the 18th century, the Spanish Empire was at its height because of the great mass of goods taken from conquered territory in the Americas (nowadays Mexico , parts of the United States , the Caribbean , most of Central America, and South America) and the Philippines . The British established their first empire (1583–1783) in North America by colonising lands that made up British America , including parts of Canada ,
3103-557: The Empire of Japan , one of the last to use the name officially. Among the last states in the 20th century known as empires in this sense were the Central African Empire, Ethiopia , Vietnam , Manchukuo , Russia , Germany , and Korea. Scholars distinguish empires from nation-states. In an empire, there is a hierarchy whereby one group of people (usually, the metropole) has command over other groups of people, and there
3210-720: The Empire of Nicaea (1204–1261) and the Empire of Trebizond (1204–1461). Constantinople was retaken in 1261 by the Byzantine successor state centered in Nicaea , re-establishing the Byzantine Empire until 1453, by which time the Turkish - Muslim Ottoman Empire (ca. 1300–1918), had conquered most of the region. The Ottoman Empire was a successor of the Abbasid Empire and it was the most powerful empire to succeed
3317-557: The Holy Roman Empire also came together by electing the emperor with votes from member realms through the Imperial election . Stephen Howe writes that with the exception of the Roman, Chinese and "perhaps ancient Egyptian states", early empires seldom survived the death of their founder and were usually limited in scope to conquest and collection of tribute, having little impact on the everyday lives of their subjects. With
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3424-787: The Horn of Africa in the Middle Ages . Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuran Sultanate successfully resisted an Oromo invasion from the west and a Portuguese incursion from the east during the Gaal Madow and the Ajuran-Portuguese wars . Trading routes dating from the ancient and early medieval periods of Somali maritime enterprise were strengthened or re-established, and foreign trade and commerce in
3531-1019: The Latin Empire , the Empire of Nicaea and the Empire of Trebizond before its remaining territory and centre became part of the Ottoman Empire . A similarly persistent concept of empire saw the Mongol Empire become the Khanate of the Golden Horde , the Yuan Empire of China , and the Ilkhanate before resurrection as the Timurid Empire and as the Mughal Empire . After 1945 the Empire of Japan retained its Emperor but lost its colonial possessions and became
3638-528: The Macedonian Empire and Byzantine Empire ) tend to be contiguous areas. The term, on occasion, has been applied to maritime republics or thalassocracies (e.g. the Athenian and British empires ) with looser structures and more scattered territories, often consisting of many islands and other forms of possessions which required the creation and maintenance of a powerful navy. Empires such as
3745-666: The Maurya Empire —a geographically extensive and powerful empire, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC. The empire was founded in 322 BC by Chandragupta Maurya through the help of Chanakya , who rapidly expanded his power westward across central and western India, taking advantage of the disruptions of local powers following the withdrawal by Alexander the Great. By 320 BC, the Maurya Empire had fully occupied northwestern India as well as defeating and conquering
3852-806: The Portuguese Empire in 1822. France has twice transitioned from being called the French Republic to being called the French Empire while it retained an overseas empire. Europeans began applying the designation of "empire" to non-European monarchies, such as the Qing Empire and the Mughal Empire , as well as the Maratha Confederacy , eventually leading to the looser denotations applicable to any political structure meeting their criteria of " imperium ". Some monarchies styled themselves as having greater size, scope, and power than
3959-519: The largest empire in world history, encompassing one quarter of the world's land area and one fifth of its population. The impacts of this period are still prominent in the current age "including widespread use of the English language, belief in Protestant religion, economic globalization, modern precepts of law and order, and representative democracy." The Great Qing Empire of China (1644–1912)
4066-505: The satraps left by Alexander. Under Emperor Ashoka the Great , the Maurya Empire became the first Indian empire to conquer the whole Indian Peninsula — an achievement repeated only twice, by the Gupta and Mughal Empires. In the reign of Ashoka Buddhism spread to become the dominant religion in many parts of the ancient India. In 221 BC, China became an empire when the State of Qin ended
4173-832: The 13th to 15th centuries. In the Southeast Asian mainland, the Hindu-Buddhist Khmer Empire was centered in the city of Angkor and flourished from the 9th to 13th centuries. Following the demise of the Khmer Empire, the Siamese Empire flourished alongside the Burmese and Lan Chang Empires from the 13th through the 18th centuries. In Southeastern and Eastern Europe , during 917, the Eastern Roman Empire , sometimes called
4280-414: The 4th and 5th centuries C.E. due to continual conflict and loss of territory which, in turn, generated loss of revenue from the tax base. There was also the looming presence of the Persians which, at any time, took a large percentage of the fighting force's attention. At the same time the Huns, a nomadic warrior people from the steppes of Asia, are also putting extreme pressure on the German tribes outside of
4387-449: The 9th century and early 10th century under Prince Boris I and Simeon I, when its early Christianization in 864 allowed it to develop into the cultural and literary center of Slavic Europe , as well as one of the largest states in Europe, thus the period is considered the Golden Age of medieval Bulgarian culture . Major events included the development of the Cyrillic script at the Preslav Literary School , declared official in 893, and
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4494-560: The Abbasi empires at the time, as well as one of the most powerful empires in the world. They became the successors after the Abbasid Empire fell from the Mongols (Hülegü Khan). The Ottoman Empire centered on modern day Turkey, dominated the eastern Mediterranean, overthrew the Byzantine Empire to claim Constantinople and it would start battering at Austria and Malta, which were countries that were key to central and to south-west Europe respectively — mainly for their geographical location. The reason these occurrences of batterings were so important
4601-401: The Athenian-dominated Delian League . Furthermore, empires can expand by both land and sea. Stephen Howe notes that empires by land can be characterized by expansion over terrain, "extending directly outwards from the original frontier" while an empire by sea can be characterized by colonial expansion and empire building "by an increasingly powerful navy". However, sometimes an empire is only
4708-401: The Byzantine Empire, was forced to recognize the Imperial title of Bulgarian ruler Simeon the Great , who were then called Tsar , the first ruler to hold that precise imperial title. The Bulgarian Empire , established in the region in 680–681, remained a major power in Southeast Europe until its fall in the late 14th century. Bulgaria gradually reached its cultural and territorial apogee in
4815-530: The Central African Empire became close allies. When Bokassa declared that he was going to be hosting a coronation for himself as the emperor of the new Central African Empire, many of the novelties that attributed to the luxurious event came from France. This included an imperial crown as well as a golden throne in the shape of an eagle. After various allegations against Bokassa including the beating of school children as well as cannibalism, France intervened with two operations that sought to remove Bokassa from office,
4922-419: The Central African Republic and replaced it with the Central African Revolutionary Council. On 4 December 1976, at the ruling MESAN party congress, Bokassa instituted a new constitution, converted back to Roman Catholicism after briefly converting to Islam earlier in the year, and declared the country to be a monarchy. He had himself crowned Emperor of Central Africa on 4 December 1977. Bokassa's full title
5029-440: The French territory of Kwang-Chou-Wan to China in 1946. The British gave Hong Kong back to China in 1997 after 150 years of rule. The Portuguese territory of Macau reverted to China in 1999. Macau and Hong Kong did not become part of the provincial structure of China; they have autonomous systems of government as Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China . Outpost (military) A military outpost
5136-471: The Holy Roman Empire, a German re-constitution of the Roman Empire , metamorphosed into various political structures (i.e., federalism), and eventually, under Habsburg rule, re-constituted itself in 1804 as the Austrian Empire , an empire of much different politics and scope, which in turn became the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. The Roman Empire, perennially reborn, also lived on as the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) – temporarily splitting into
5243-417: The Libyan leader. Operation Barracuda entailed French soldiers entering the country while Bokassa was on a trip to Libya and instating David Dacko , who had been exiled to Paris, as the new leader. France cut off all humanitarian aid for media presence and then later sent French troops into Bangui , the nation's capital, to install David Dacko as the new leader. Dacko stayed in a hotel in France, where he
5350-415: The Pacific to the Adriatic and Baltic Seas. The emergence of the Pax Mongolica had significantly eased trade and commerce across Asia. The Safavid Empire of Iran was also founded. The Islamic gunpowder empires started to develop from the 15th century. In the Indian subcontinent , the Delhi Sultanate conquered most of the Indian peninsula and spread Islam across it. It later disintegrated with
5457-475: The Roman frontier, which gave the German tribes no other choice, geographically, but to move into Roman territory. At this point, without increased funding, the Roman army could no longer effectively defend its borders against major waves of Germanic tribes. This inability is illustrated by the crushing defeat at Adrianople in 378 C.E. and, later, the Crossing of the Rhine in 406 C.E. In time, an empire may change from one political entity to another. For example,
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#17327800263535564-415: The State of Japan . Despite the semantic reference to imperial power, Japan is a de jure constitutional monarchy , with a homogeneous population of 127 million people that is 98.5 percent ethnic Japanese, making it one of the largest nation-states. An autocratic empire can become a republic (e.g., the Central African Empire in 1979), or it can become a republic with its imperial dominions reduced to
5671-451: The aftermath of World War I the Russian Empire also broke up and became reduced to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) before re-forming as the USSR (1922–1991) – sometimes seen as the core of a Soviet Empire . The latter also disintegrated in 1989–91. After the Second World War (1939–1945), the deconstruction of colonial empires quickened and became commonly known as decolonisation . The British Empire evolved into
5778-416: The arrival of the Europeans. Inca had gradually conquered the whole of the settled Andean world as far south as today Santiago in Chile. In Oceania , the Tonga Empire was a lonely empire that existed from the Late Middle Ages to the Modern period. In the 15th century, Castile ( Spain ) landing in the so-called " New World " (first, the Americas, and later Australia), along with Portuguese travels around
5885-484: The beginning of European invasion in India, the empire was weakened by Nader Shah 's invasion. The Mysore Empire was soon established by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan , who allied with Napoleon Bonaparte . Other independent empires were also established, such as those ruled by the Nawabs of Bengal and Nizam of Hyderabad . In the pre-Columbian Americas, two Empires were prominent—the Azteca in Mesoamerica and Inca in Peru. Both existed for several generations before
5992-418: The chaotic Warring States period through its conquest of the other six states , starting the Qin Empire (221–207 BC). Its sovereign adopted the new title of Huangdi (皇帝), which is translated in English as "Emperor". The Qin Empire is known for the construction of the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Army , as well as the standardization of currency, weights, measures and writing system. It laid
6099-428: The coastal provinces flourished with ships sailing to and coming from many kingdoms and empires in East Asia , South Asia , Southeast Asia , Europe , Middle East , North Africa and East Africa . In the 7th century, Maritime Southeast Asia witnessed the rise of a Buddhist thallasocracy, the Srivijaya Empire , which thrived for 600 years and was succeeded by the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit Empire that ruled from
6206-441: The countries never stopped bartering with each other. These epochal clashes between civilizations profoundly shaped many people's thinking back then, and continues to do so in the present day. Modern hatred against Muslim communities in South-Eastern Europe, mainly in Bosnia and Kosovo, has often been articulated in terms of seeing them as unwelcome residues of this imperialism: in short, as Turks. Moreover, Eastern Orthodox imperialism
6313-413: The country of Egypt. The Akkadian Empire , established by Sargon of Akkad (24th century BC), was an early all-Mesopotamian empire which spread into Anatolia, the Levant and Ancient Iran. This imperial achievement was repeated by Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria and Hammurabi of Babylon in the 19th and 18th centuries BC. In the 15th century BC, the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt , ruled by Thutmose III ,
6420-499: The country's budget and all of France's aid for that year. Bokassa justified his actions by claiming that creating a monarchy would help Central Africa "stand out" from the rest of the continent, and earn the world's respect. Despite invitations, no foreign leaders attended the event. Many thought Bokassa was insane and compared his egotistical extravagance with that of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin . By January 1979, French support for Bokassa had eroded after riots in Bangui led to
6527-511: The deaths of the students opened the way for a successful coup which saw French troops in Operation Barracuda restore former president David Dacko to power while Bokassa was away in Libya meeting with Gaddafi on 20 September 1979. Bokassa's overthrow by the French government was called "France's last colonial expedition" by veteran French diplomat and regime change architect Jacques Foccart . François Mitterrand refused to have France intervene in this manner again. Operation Barracuda began
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#17327800263536634-438: The domains of economics, politics, and culture, they gain some measure of extensive hegemony over those spaces to extract or accrue value". Rein Taagepera has defined an empire as "any relatively large sovereign political entity whose components are not sovereign". The terrestrial empire's maritime analogue is the thalassocracy , an empire composed of islands and coasts which are accessible to its terrestrial homeland, such as
6741-424: The efforts of the ninth-century Holy Roman Emperors (i.e., the Ottonians ) to establish central control. Voltaire's "nor an empire" observation applies to its late period. In 1204, after the Fourth Crusade conquered Constantinople , the crusaders established a Latin Empire (1204–1261) in that city, while the defeated Byzantine Empire's descendants established two smaller, short-lived empires in Asia Minor :
6848-434: The empire fell to the British after the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849. During the same period, the Maratha Empire (also known as the Maratha Confederacy) was a Hindu state located in present-day India. It existed from 1674 to 1818, and at its peak, the empire's territories covered much of Southern Asia. The empire was founded and consolidated by Shivaji. After the death of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, it expanded greatly under
6955-419: The empire, rather than de facto imperial territories and subjects. Such subjugation often elicited "client-state" resentment that the empire unwisely ignored, leading to the collapse of the European colonial imperial system in the late 19th through the mid-20th century. Portuguese discovery of Newfoundland in the New World gave way to many expeditions led by England (later Britain ), Spain , France , and
7062-667: The empire. The aristocracies that ruled them were often more cosmopolitan and broad-minded than their nationalistic successors. There are two main ways to establish and maintain an imperial political structure : (i) as a territorial empire of direct conquest and control with force or (ii) as a coercive, hegemonic empire of indirect conquest and control with power. The former method provides greater tribute and direct political control, yet limits further expansion because it absorbs military forces to fixed garrisons. The latter method provides less tribute and indirect control, but avails military forces for further expansion. Territorial empires (e.g.
7169-417: The end of the reign of the last of the Five Good Emperors , Marcus Aurelius in 161–180 A.D. There is still a debate over the cause of the fall of one of the largest empires in history. Piganiol argues that the Roman Empire under its authority can be described as "a period of terror", holding its imperial system accountable for its failure. Another theory blames the rise of Christianity as the cause, arguing that
7276-402: The establishment of the Bengal , Gujarat , and Bahmani Sultanate . In the 16th century, the Mughal Empire was founded by Timur and Genghis Khan 's direct descendant Babur . His successors such Humayun , Akbar , Jahangir and Shah Jahan extended the empire. In the 17th century, Aurangzeb expanded the Mughal Empire , controlling most of the South Asia through Sharia , which became
7383-411: The establishment of the liturgy in Old Church Slavonic , also called Old Bulgarian . At the time, in the Medieval West , the title "empire" had a specific technical meaning that was exclusively applied to states that considered themselves the heirs and successors of the Roman Empire. Among these were the "Byzantine Empire", which was the actual continuation of the Eastern portion of the Roman Empire ,
7490-535: The exception of Rome, the periods of dissolution following imperial falls were equally short. Successor states seldom outlived their founders and disappeared in the next and often larger empire. Some empires, like the Neo-Babylonian , Median and Lydian were outright conquered by a larger empire. The historical pattern was not a simple rise-and-fall cycle; rather it was rise, fall, and greater rise, or as Raoul Naroll put it, "expanding pulsation." Empires were limited in scope to conquest, as Howe observed, but conquest
7597-517: The final one being Operation Barracuda . Valéry Giscard d'Estaing became the President of France in May 1974, where his relationship with Bokassa was more interactive than previous administrations. During his first visit to the country in 1970, Bokassa presented him with diamonds and ivory carvings. Giscard advised Bokassa to avoid a ceremony on the scale of Napoleon due to the Central African Empire's financial situation; however, though Bokassa ignored Giscard d'Estaing's warning, Giscard d'Estaing
7704-500: The first people to invent and embody the concept of "empire" in their two mandates: to wage war and to make and execute laws. They were the most extensive Western empire until the early modern period , and left a lasting impact on European society. Many languages, cultural values, religious institutions, political divisions, urban centers, and legal systems can trace their origins to the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire governed and rested on exploitative actions. They took slaves and money from
7811-679: The foundation for China's first golden age, the Han Empire (202 BC–AD 9, AD 25–220). The Han Empire expanded into Central Asia and established trade through the Silk Road . Confucianism was, for the first time, adopted as an official state ideology. During the reign of the Emperor Wu of Han , the Xiongnu were pacified. By this time, only four empires stretched between the Pacific and
7918-573: The night of 20 September and ended early the next morning. An undercover commando squad from the French intelligence agency SDECE , joined by the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment led by Colonel Brancion-Rouge, landed by Transall C-160 , and managed to secure Bangui M'Poko International Airport . Upon arrival of two more transport aircraft, a message was sent to Colonel Degenne to come in with eight Puma helicopters and Transall aircraft, which took off from N'Djaména military airport in neighbouring Chad . By 12:30 p.m. on September 21, 1979,
8025-582: The only main rival during the early 19th century. From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire ’s total area at its peak in 1680 was over 10 million km (3.9 million sq mi), the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire . It had many possessions around the world, mainly in the Americas , Asia and Africa . At its peak in 1750, French India had an area of 1.5 million km and
8132-411: The peripheries to support the imperial center. However, the absolute reliance on conquered peoples to carry out the empire's fortune, sustain wealth, and fight wars would ultimately lead to the collapse of the Roman Empire. The Romans were strong believers in what they called their "civilizing mission". This term was legitimized and justified by writers like Cicero who wrote that only under Roman rule could
8239-487: The populace, assist the government in restoring essential services, and force insurgents to operate elsewhere. Combat outposts were almost unanimously described in positive terms by defense analysts and military officers as a means through which to carry out its counterinsurgency efforts. This military -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Central African Empire The Central African Empire ( French : Empire centrafricain )
8346-867: The post-classical period include the Sui Empire (581–618), the Great Liao Empire , the Song Empire , the Western Xia Empire (1038–1227), the Great Jin Empire (1115–1234), the Western Liao Empire (1124–1218), the Great Yuan Empire (1271–1368), and the Great Ming Empire (1368–1644). During this period, Japan and Korea underwent voluntary Sinicization . The Sui, Tang and Song empires had
8453-557: The pro-French Dacko proclaimed the fall of the Central African Empire. David Dacko remained president until he was overthrown on September 1, 1981, by General André Kolingba . Bokassa died on November 3, 1996, in the Central African Republic. In 2009, Jean-Serge Bokassa , who was seven years old when the Emperor was overthrown, stated his father's reign was "indefensible". When Jean-Bédel Bokassa took control of
8560-703: The rule of the Peshwas. In 1761, the Maratha army lost the Third Battle of Panipat, which halted the expansion of the empire. Later, the empire was divided into a confederacy of states which, in 1818, were lost to the British during the Anglo-Maratha wars . France was a dominant empire possessing many colonies in various locations around the world. During Louis XIV 's long reign, from 1643 to 1715, France
8667-483: The second largest in the world (the first being the British Empire). The Empire of Brazil (1822–1889) was the only South American modern monarchy, established by the heir of the Portuguese Empire as an independent nation eventually became an emerging international power. The new country was huge but sparsely populated and ethnically diverse. In 1889 the monarchy was overthrown in a sudden coup d'état led by
8774-484: The spread of certain Christian ideals caused internal weakness of the military and state. In his book The Fall of the Roman Empire , Peter Heather contends that there are many factors, including issues of money and manpower, which produce military limitations and culminate in the Roman army's inability to effectively repel invading barbarians at the frontier. The Western Roman economy was already stretched to its limit in
8881-509: The subject states to strengthen the imperial structure; others opted for multicultural and cosmopolitan policies. Cultures generated by empires could have notable effects that outlasted the empire itself. Most histories of empires have been hostile, especially if the authors were promoting nationalism. Stephen Howe, although himself hostile, listed positive qualities: the guaranteed stability, security, and legal order for their subjects. They tried to minimize ethnic and religious antagonism inside
8988-528: The term " Persian Empire " came to denote the Iranian imperial states established at different historical periods of pre– Islamic and post–Islamic Persia . In East Asia , various Chinese empires (or dynasties ) dominated the political, economic and cultural landscapes during this era, the most powerful of which was probably the Tang Empire (618–690, 705–907). Other influential Chinese empires during
9095-432: The territorial, politico-military, and economic facts support. As a consequence, some monarchs assumed the title of " emperor " (or its corresponding translation, tsar , empereur , kaiser , shah etc.) and renamed their states as "The Empire of ...". Empires were seen as an expanding power, administration, ideas and beliefs followed by cultural habits from place to place. Some empires tended to impose their culture on
9202-455: The thirteenth century, Genghis Khan expanded the Mongol Empire to be the largest contiguous empire in the world. However, within two generations, the empire was separated into four discrete khanates under Genghis Khan's grandsons. One of them, Kublai Khan , conquered China and established the Yuan dynasty with the imperial capital at Beijing . One family ruled the whole Eurasian land mass from
9309-524: The total amount of land under French sovereignty reached 13.5 million km (5.2 million sq mi) at the time, which is 10.0% of the Earth's total land area. The total area of the French colonial empire, with the first (mainly in the Americas and Asia) and second (mainly in Africa and Asia), the French colonial empires combined, reached 24 million km (9.3 million sq mi),
9416-403: The views of subject populations. And another classical Roman patriot, Lucan confessed that "words cannot express how bitterly we are hated" by subject peoples. The earliest known empire appeared in southern Egypt sometime around 3200 BC. Southern Egypt was divided by three kingdoms each centered on a powerful city. Hierapolis conquered the other two cities over two centuries, and later grew into
9523-522: The voices of subject peoples because history is mostly written by winners. The imperial sources tend to ignore or reduce the resistance by subdued states. But one rich primary source of the subject population is the Hebrew Prophetic books . The hatred towards the ruling empires expressed in this source makes impression of an impact more serious than estimated by Howe. A classical writer and adherent of empire, Orosius explicitly preferred to avoid
9630-584: The western Mediterranean the Empires of Carthage and Rome began their rise. Having decisively defeated Carthage in 202 BC, Rome defeated Macedonia in 200 BC and the Seleucids in 190–189 BC to establish an all-Mediterranean Empire. The Seleucid Empire broke apart and its former eastern part was absorbed by the Parthian Empire . In 30 BC Rome annexed Ptolemaic Egypt. In India during the Axial Age appeared
9737-546: The world flourish and prosper. This ideology, that was envisioned to bring a new world order, was eventually spread across the Mediterranean world and beyond. People started to build houses like Romans, eat the same food, wear the same clothes and engage in the same games. Even rights of citizenship and authority to rule were granted to people not born within Roman territory. The Latin word imperium derives from imperare , meaning "to command", and originally referred to
9844-474: The world's largest economy and leading manufacturing power with a nominal GDP that valued a quarter of world GDP, superior than the combination of Europe 's GDP. It has been estimated that the Mughal emperors controlled an unprecedented one-fourth of the world's entire economy and was home to one-fourth of the world's population at the time. After the death of Aurangzeb, which marks the end of the medieval India and
9951-640: The world's largest economy and were the most technologically advanced during their time; the Great Yuan Empire was the world's ninth largest empire by total land area; while the Great Ming Empire is famous for the seven maritime expeditions led by Zheng He . The Ajuran Sultanate was a Somali empire in the medieval times that dominated the Indian Ocean trade. It was a Somali Muslim sultanate that ruled over large parts of
10058-872: Was ancient Africa 's major force upon incorporating Nubia and the ancient city-states of the Levant . c. 1500 BC in China rose the Shang Empire which was succeeded by the Zhou Empire c. 1100 BC . Both equalled or surpassed in territory their contemporary Near Eastern empires such as the Middle Assyrian Empire , Hittite Empire , Egyptian Empire and those of the Mitanni and Elamites . The Zhou Empire dissolved in 770 BC into feudal multi-state system which lasted for five and
10165-873: Was "Emperor of Central Africa by the Will of the Central African People, United within the National Political Party, the MESAN" and used the style "His Imperial Majesty". His regalia, lavish coronation ceremony, and regime were largely inspired by Napoleon , who had converted the French First Republic into the First French Empire . The coronation ceremony was estimated to cost his country roughly US$ 20,000,000 ( XAF 12,230,000,000,00 in modern values), one-third of
10272-569: Was assumed by Augustus , the Romans themselves continued to refer to their government as the Res publica , meaning "public affair". On the other hand, the concept of imperium Romanum , as in, the authority of the Romans, is attested since the 2nd century BC. The modern concepts of "Empire" and "Emperor" did not appear until several centuries later, long after the fall of Rome in the West. Augustus established
10379-537: Was because the Ottomans were Muslim, and the rest of Europe was Christian, so there was a sense of religious fighting going on. This was not just a rivalry of East and West but a rivalry between Christians and Muslims. Both the Christians and Muslims had alliances with other countries, and they had problems in them as well. The flows of trade and of cultural influences across the supposed great divide never ceased, so
10486-590: Was crucial to the subsequent birth of the nationalistic concept of zhonghua minzu . The empire reached its peak during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor , after which the empire entered a period of prolonged decline, culminating in its collapse as a result of the Xinhai Revolution . The Ashanti Empire (or Confederacy), also Asanteman (1701–1896), was a West African state of the Ashanti ,
10593-416: Was established on 4 December 1976 when the then-President of the Central African Republic , Jean-Bédel Bokassa , declared himself Emperor of Central Africa . The empire would fall less than three years later when French and Central African forces overthrew Bokassa and re-established the Central African Republic on 21 September 1979. In September 1976, President Jean-Bédel Bokassa dissolved the government of
10700-551: Was founded on a model inspired by the Roman Republic , with upper and lower legislative assemblies, and executive power vested in a single individual, the president. The president, as "commander-in-chief" of the armed forces, reflects the ancient Roman titles imperator princeps . The Roman Catholic Church , founded in the early Imperial Period, spread across Europe, first by the activities of Christian evangelists, and later by official imperial promulgation. In Western Asia ,
10807-562: Was later called "Diamondgate" or the Diamonds Affair scandal which contributed to Giscard d'Estaing losing the presidency in the 1981 elections . Operation Barracuda was initiated in 1979 after the death of several school children after a protest that was shut down with many students imprisoned in Ngaraba. France severed ties with Bokassa, and began to plan his excommunication when the emperor began working with Muammar Gaddafi ,
10914-575: Was not re-established until the coronation of Ivan the Terrible as Emperor of Russia in 1547. Likewise, with the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), the Austrian Empire (1804–1867) emerged reconstituted as the Empire of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918), having "inherited" the imperium of Central and Western Europe from the losers of said wars. In
11021-453: Was only nominally a discrete imperial state. The Holy Roman Empire was not always centrally-governed, as it had neither core nor peripheral territories, and was not governed by a central, politico-military elite. Hence, Voltaire 's remark that the Holy Roman Empire "was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire" is accurate to the degree that it ignores German rule over Italian, French, Provençal, Polish, Flemish, Dutch, and Bohemian populations, and
11128-645: Was the fourth largest empire in world history by total land area, and laid the foundation for the modern territorial claims of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China . Apart from having direct control over much of East Asia, the empire also exerted domination over other states through the Chinese tributary system . The multiethnic and multicultural nature of the Great Qing Empire
11235-529: Was the first to congratulate Bokassa on the transition to Empire. Their relationship made news on 10 October 1979 when a newspaper named the Le Canard enchaîné broke a story about Bokassa giving thirty carats of diamonds to Giscard d'Estaing and accused him of giving Giscard d'Estaing a plethora of gifts on his visits to the empire. These included elephant tusks, ivory carved objects as well as precious stones estimated to be worth one million francs. This scandal
11342-557: Was the largest of its day and lasted for about sixty years. The Axial Age (mid-First Millennium BC) witnessed unprecedented imperial expansion in the Indo-Mediterranean region and China. The successful and extensive Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC), also known as the first Persian Empire, covered Mesopotamia , Egypt , parts of Greece , Thrace , the Middle East , much of Central Asia , and North-Western India . It
11449-594: Was the leading European power as Europe's most populous, richest and powerful country. The Empire of the French (1804–1814), also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire , was also the dominant power of much of continental Europe. It ruled over 90 million people and was the sole power in Europe if not the world; Britain was
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