Through the line of history , we ’ve seen empires climb up and accrue over decennium , centuries and even millennia . If it ’s true that story repeats itself , then perhaps we can learn from the misstep and the achievements of the macrocosm ’s greatest and longest permanent empire .
Empireis a catchy word to specify . While the term is thrown around a peck , it ’s often misuse and wangle a nation ’s political office . The mere definition describes a political building block that exerts ascendancy over another political state [ seed : Davidson ] . essentially , it ’s a country or group of people that control the political decision of another lesser magnate .
The termhegemonyis often used interchangeably with empire , but there are some key difference , just as there are differences between a leader ( albeit an opportunistic loss leader ) and a tough . Hegemony works within an agreed - upon set of international rules , whereas an empire makes and apply the rules . Hegemony refers to dominant influence by one grouping over another curing of groups , rather than by check them.[source : Oxford Bibliographies ] .
What were the longest - live empires in chronicle , and what can we learn from them ? We ’ll take a look at these kingdoms of the past times , how they formed and the factor that eventually led to their declination .
10: Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empiremay have been the first global empirein story . It began in 1415 , when a Portuguese prince , Henry the Navigator , became hypnotized by geographic expedition down the coast of Africa . In 1420 , the Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island of Madeira and sent settler to settle it . This was the first of many lands the empire claimed in its 584 years [ reference : Oxford Reference ] .
AfterWorld War II , decolonization effort began in a number of areas , with many European countries pulling out of their colony around the world . It was n’t until 1999 that Portugal gave up Macau to China , point the final stage of the conglomerate [ source : Landler ] .
The Portuguese Empire was able-bodied to expand because of its first-class weaponry , naval superiority and its ability to rapidly go down up port to patronage spices , slaves , ivory and gold . It also had enough manpower to speedily conquer new peoples and advance acres [ source : Mudge ] . But , like most empires throughout chronicle , the conquered regions eventually sought to reclaim their nation .
The Portuguese Empire crumbled due to several factors include clank with the British Empire in Africa and Republican activists in Portugal , which changed the country to a commonwealth .
9: Ottoman Empire
At the height of its power , theOttoman Empireexpanded into the largest political entity in Europe and western Asia and comprehend a spacious range of cultures , religion and languages . Despite those differences , the empire managed to fly high for 623 years , from 1300 to 1923 [ informant : Gormley ] .
The Ottoman Empire got its beginning as a low Turkish state after the countermine Byzantine Empire disengage from the area . Osman I pushed the boundaries of his empire outwards , leaning on hard judicial , educational and military system , as well as a unparalleled method of transmit might [ informant : BBC ] .
The empire continued to expand , finally takingConstantinoplein 1453 and pushing deeply into European and North African territory . Civil wars in the early 1900s — travel along like a shot by World War I and the Turkish War of Independence — indicate the beginning of the end . At the conclusion of World War I , theTreaty of Sévresdivided up most of the Ottoman Empire . The final nail in the coffin hail after the Turkish War of Independence result in the new Turkish State Department [ source : Gormley ] .
Inflation , rivalry and unemployment are often cite as key factors in the Ottoman Empire ’s demise [ source : BBC ] . Each segment of the monolithic kingdom was culturally and economically divers , and its residents finally wanted to break free .
8: Khmer Empire
Little is have it away about the Khmer Empire ; however , its capital city of Angkor was said to be awe - inspiring , thanks in part to the Angkor Wat , one of the existence ’s largest religious complex , build up by Suryavarman II , around 1122 C.E. The Khmer Empire began in approximately 802 C.E. and go to 1431 . The empire ’s greatest king was Jayavarman VII , who built tabernacle , monuments , main road and hospitals . Six hundred and 30 years later on , in 1432 , it dissolved [ source : Plubins ] .
The mass of what we know about this conglomerate comes from stone mural in the part , as well as firsthand accounts from Chinese diplomat , Zhou Daguan , who traveled to Angkor in 1296 , and published a book on his experiences called " The Customs of Cambodia " [ source : Historyradio ] . Most of its sovereignty was marked by warfare as the Khmer attempted to grow ever larger and capture more territory . Angkor was the master home of nobles in the latter one-half of the empire . Neighboring civilizations fight for ascendency of Angkor when the Khmer ’s business leader begin to wane .
The Thai migration of the 12th-14th centuries C.E. was the decline of the empire . finally , the Thai created their own small kingdoms , and as these realm grew in mightiness , they started to attack imperial territories and took Angkor in 1431 C.E. , which became the end of the Khmer empire . [ root : Plubins ] .
7: Ethiopian Empire
weigh the length of its normal , we know surprisingly trivial about the sidereal day - to - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. activities of the Ethiopian Empire . Ethiopia and Liberia were the only African powers to resist the European " Scramble for Africa . " The imperium ’s long reign begin around 1270 C.E. , when the Solomonic Dynasty overthrew the Zagwe Dynasty , declaring they possess the right hand to the land ground on a speculate lineage toKing Solomon , switch mightiness to the Habesha people . From there , the dynasty pop off on to become an empire by incorporating new civilisation within Ethiopia under its convention [ generator : New World Encyclopedia ] .
It was n’t until 1896 , when Italy declared war against it that the Ethiopian Empire begin to falter . Ethiopia support off its invaders , but Italy was n’t done . In 1935 , Italian soldier invaded Ethiopia in a war that have words for seven month before Italy was declared victorious . From 1936 until 1941 , Italians ruled over the country [ source : New World Encyclopedia ] .
The Ethiopian kingdom did n’t pull its edge or wash up its resources , as we have seen in premature examples . civic wars put up to its weakened res publica , but in the end it was Italy ’s desire for enlargement that led to Ethiopia ’s fall .
6: Kanem Empire
We recognize precious little about the Kanem Empire and how its people lived . Over meter , its elemental religion became Islam , although the launching of the religion may have brought internal strife in the empire ’s early years . The Kanem Empire was established sometime around 800 C.E. and last until the 1390s . It was located in what is now Chad , Libya and part of Niger [ source : World History Encyclopedia ] .
The empire ’s account is carve up between two different dynasties , the Duguwa and the Sayfawa — the latter being the driving force-out to wreak Islam to the nation . Its expansion go on , include a time period in which the B. B. King declare a holy warfare orjihadagainst all surround tribes [ source : New World Encyclopedia ] .
The military system devised to facilitate the jihad created a governmental system based on genetic magnanimousness , in which soldier were honor with the solid ground they appropriate , which they passed down to their sons . That arrangement result in civil war that weakened the territory and made it vulnerable to attack . Bulala invaders were able to quickly take Njimi in 1396 and finally take control of the entire Kanem Empire [ source : New World Encyclopedia ] .
The lesson of the Kanem Empire is that unpopular decisions can create home engagement , leaving a once powerful people defenseless . It ’s a story repeated throughout account .
5: Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was see as a attempt to uprise the Western Roman Empire . The name , however , come from the fact that while the emperor was pick out by electors , he was crowned by thepopein Rome . The empire lasted from 800 to 1806 C.E. and consist geographically of a great midsection of what is now key Europe , most notably the majority of Germany [ rootage : New World Encyclopedia ] .
The imperium began when Charlemagne was coronate by Pope Leo III . At its prime , the Holy Roman Empire was made up of present - day Germany , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , Luxembourg , the Czech Republic , Austria , Slovenia , Belgium , the Netherlands and large region of modern Poland , France and Italy . After the Thirty Years War in 1648 , the kingdom was fragmented , plant the seed of independence [ source : New World Encyclopedia ] .
In 1792 , France was in the midst of revolt . By 1806 , Napoleon Bonaparte had force the last Holy Roman Emperor , Francis II to abdicate , and the orbit was reorganized as the Confederation of the Rhine [ reference : New World Encyclopedia ] .
Similar to the Ottoman and Portuguese empires , the Holy Roman Empire was made up of various heathenish backgrounds populated with lesser kingdom . at last , the less kingdom ’s desire for independence caused the greater empire to topple .
4: Silla Empire
detail are unelaborated come to the beginning stages of the Silla Empire , but we know by the sixth one C it was a highly complex , lineage - based society where lineage determine everything from the case of clothes one would put on to the size of their house . While this organisation helped the empire ab initio gain land , it would finally leave to its downslope [ source : World History Encyclopedia ] .
The Silla Empire start in 57 B.C.E. and covered what is now South - Eastern Korea . King Bak Hyeokgeose was the first to prevail in the region . Silla continually expanded the imperium , conquering a phone number of kingdoms on the Korean Peninsula . Eventually , a monarchy was take form . [ source : New World Encyclopedia ] . The Chinese Tang Dynasty and the Silla Empire were at warfare in the seventh hundred over the northern land of Goryeo , but the Silla were able-bodied to fend them off [ source : World History Encyclopedia ] .
A century ofcivil waramong richly - rate fellowship as well as the conquered realm doomed the empire . finally , in 935 C.E. it abdicated power and became part of the new country of Goryeo , the same realm it was at warfare with in the seventh 100 [ generator : New World Encyclopedia ] .
historiographer do n’t have it away the precise circumstances that led to the demise of the Silla Empire , but it ’s generally held that neighboring nations were dysphoric with the realm ’s remain enlargement across the Korean Peninsula . Theories suggest a smaller , dominate class may have fought back to gain reign .
3: Republic of Venice
The pride of the Venetian Empire was its massivenaval fleet , which enabled its rapid elaboration across Europe and the Mediterranean , finally conquer historically important city such as Cyprus and Crete . The Venetian ’s rule for over 1,000 years , from the late seventh C to 1797 C.E. It commence when a accumulation of lagune communities joined together for mutual defense against the Lombards , Huns and other steppe people as the force of the Byzantine Empire dwindled in northern Italy . The empire go through several important changes , but systematically expanded across what is now known as the Republic of Venice , finally war with — among others — the Turks and the Ottoman Empire [ source : New World Encyclopedia ] .
An copiousness of wars bequeath the Venetian Empire with little in the way of defenses . The city of Piedmont fell to France , and Napoleon Bonaparte seize parts of the imperium . Venice was take under Napoleon ’s rule in 1797 [ source : New World Encyclopedia ] .
The Republic of Venice is a classic deterrent example of an empire stretch its borders so far that it could n’t properly protect its capital . Unlike other empires , it wasn’tcivil warthat led to its dying , but warfare with its neighbors . The extremely see Venetian naval fleet , which had once been on the offence , was stretched too thin to defend its own empire .
2: Kush Empire
The Kush Empire wave from 1069 B.C.E. to around 350 C.E. in what is now known as the Republic of Sudan . Over the course of its long chronicle , not much is known about the exact details of its government ; however , there is evidence of monarchies during the late eld . Still , the Kush maintain power over several smaller nation in the area and carry off to keep up tycoon in the area while flourish south to conquer lands with a resource they relied on , tone . Its thriftiness was intemperately dependent on tradingironand gold [ beginning : World History Encyclopedia ] .
Some evidence suggests the conglomerate came under attack from desert tribes , but other scholars mull over the district ’s overdependence on the iron thriftiness lead to disforestation , ram its the great unwashed to disperse when they ran out of timberland involve to burn to forge the branding iron . [ source : BBC ] .
Other conglomerate conk out because they tap their own citizenry or neighboring state , but thedeforestationtheory suggests the Kingdom of Kush fell because it destroyed its own land . Its rise and its fall were associate to the same industry [ reservoir : World History Encyclopedia ] .
1: Roman/Eastern Roman Empire
The Roman Empire traverse several dissimilar era , but essentially last from 27 B.C.E. to 1453 C.E. — a opulent total of 1,480 years . The republic that preceded it was brought down by civil wars , which led to the naming ofJulius Caesarasdictator[source : World History Encyclopedia ] .
The imperium inflate across modern day Italy and much of the Mediterranean region . It had much strength , but Emperor Diocletian introduced one central factor control long - lasting success in the third century . He determined that two conscientious objector - emperor could handle authority and ease thestressof monumental elaboration , laying the foundation for the eventual Western and Eastern Roman Empires [ source : World History Encyclopedia ] .
The Western Roman Empire dissolved in 476 C.E. , when Germanic forces sicken and removed Romulus Augustulus from the seat of emperor . The Eastern Roman Empire continued to flourish after 476 C.E. , hail to be known more commonly by present day historian as the Byzantine Empire [ root : World History Encyclopedia ] .
Social turmoil and pestis further weakened the Byzantine Empire . Combined with growing fermentation within the empire , the pest and social upheaval , the empire ultimately fell when the Ottoman Empire took Constantinople in 1453 C.E. [ source : World History Encyclopedia ] .
Despite Diocletian ’s cobalt - emperor scheme that doubtless extended the life span of the Roman Empire , it met the same fate as other ruling powers whose monumental expansion and varying ethnicities eventually demanded reign .
These imperium were the longest - lasting in history , yet each of them had weak item . Whether it was the exploitation of land or the great unwashed , no conglomerate has been able-bodied to restrain social ferment make by class , unemployment or lack of resource .
