Today we will try to understand what an empire is. We often use this term in the modern world, but it had a completely different meaning in antiquity. And also consider examples of empires that once existed on our earth.
Some terminology
Most often today they use this term in a figurative sense. What is an empire for modern man? This is a giant monopoly, which controls an entire industry of any activity. She dictates her own rules, sets her own prices, and, as they say, destroys competitors even in the bud. There are many examples - the newspaper empire, the hotel empire, the empire in the world of sportswear.
What is empire for historians? This is a political entity, a superstate, which includes various peoples, countries, and communities. They are united either by religion, or ideology, or ethnic attributes, or economics, or by force. Often, such a state included colonies.
It has the main city - the so-called capital of the empire, in which the monarch lives, called the emperor. All power is concentrated in his hands, he independently decides all questions about war and peace, about the life and death of his subjects, relying on a powerful bureaucratic apparatus.
Types of Empire
So, what is an empire, we figured out, now try to determine what types of empire it is.
- Ancient: Egyptian, Persian, Roman, Celestial, etc. The characteristic features for them were the monarch's sole, often theocratic power.
- Colonial: Spanish, British, French, Dutch. These are state entities that arose as a result of the seizure by one country of foreign lands. Their center was the metropolis, and control was rigid centralized.
- Traditional: German, Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, Japanese. These are multilevel state complexes with a single economic space, army, ideological center.
By the middle of the twentieth century, almost all empires that existed in the world either broke up into separate states or fundamentally changed their character.
Holy Roman Empire
This is the most famous empire of all times and peoples, whose possessions extended to most of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Its beginning was the Roman Republic, and the time frame is determined by the interval from 27 BC. e. to 476, before its collapse, it was divided into Western and Eastern parts. The West ceased to exist very soon, while the East, with its center in Constantinople, lasted another millennium.
The legacy of this public entity is hard to overestimate. The rulers of the empire laid hundreds of cities, built roads and aqueducts. The Romans brought to light the concepts of "law", "justice", "senate", they created a huge and invincible army, in which cruel discipline reigned. Her military exploits are still legendary. But the influence on art and its development can be omitted altogether - it is obvious. The center of Christianity, the Vatican, is still located in the Eternal City.
The Byzantine Empire considered themselves the heirs of the once grandiose power , both French empires led by Napoleon the First and Napoleon the Third, Germany on the forehead with Bismarck and Hitler, claimed the title of Emperor Mussolini. Ivan the Terrible declared Moscow the Third Rome, using Byzantine regalia.
The unofficial emblem of the state was a golden eagle, the flag of the empire as such was absent. There were only banners used by the troops.
British empire
It is considered the largest in territory of all empires that have ever existed. It was called a country where the sun never sets, since the possessions of the British crown were scattered throughout the globe. It is to many colonies that the English language owes to the fact that it has become practically international.
It is amazing how a small island state could turn into a huge empire! But the fact remains: starting with the colonization of America, England seized land in Australia, Africa, Australia and Oceania, Asia.
The laws of the empire were not severe, often the monopoly took care of the development of colonies and infrastructure. However, ship, legal and economic standards were arranged according to the British model. In many ways, the economy worked for the benefit of the metropolis.
The British successfully used the Roman principle of separation and power, so they could hold the reins of government for a long time in their hands, simultaneously fighting with other contenders for world domination - France, Spain, Holland. Every student knows the flag of the empire today: this is the so-called Union Jack. It looks like a blue cloth with a straight red cross in a white border and two oblique crosses superimposed on each other, white and red.
The British Empire officially ceased to exist in 1949, but so far the United Commonwealth, into which it has transformed, has a certain influence.
the Russian Empire
Starting with the small Moscow principality and then the kingdom, the Russian Empire lasted from 1721 to 1917. The great reformer Peter the Great, who built a new capital in the north, laid the foundation for just such a state system. Constantly waging wars for the expansion of its possessions, the crown slowly established life in the occupied territories. The composition of the empire was, as expected, multinational: Poland, Ukraine, Karelia, Ingria, Estonia, Livonia, Crimea, Belarus, Alaska, Bessarabia, Azerbaijan, Georgia ... The Bolshevik revolution known as the October Revolution ended in it. Recently, however, much has been said about the restoration of the monarchy in the country.
Summarize
So, we know that an empire is one country that has spread its influence over large territories. Since today not a single one of them remains, we can safely say that these are remnants of the past. Therefore, attempts by anyone to restore any of them are a matter of no prospect. This is a mistake that can bring a lot of grief to the initiator himself and to all those around him.