EMPIRES IN THE DUST: An Amazon Guide by Philip W. Henry
From the Greeks, Romans, and Mongols to the British, Russians, Dutch and Belgians, man has thirsted for Empire. According to historians, an Empire signifies a geographic area under another�s control, not a political determination. All empires have met the same end: expansion; over-reaching; extinction. A good exampled is the Austro-Hungarian Empire. For 600 years it ruled a quasi-holy empire as "Holy Roman Emperors," until inbreeding, suicide and assassination destroyed it. The last Habpsburg Emperor of Spain, Charles II, had the famous "Hapsburg Jaw," his tongue was too large for his mouth, he was deveopmentally disabled; bald, and impotent. Analysis of his DNA shows he had the genetic components of the incestous offspring of brother and sister. The Austrian Hapsburgs fared no better: Emperor Franz Joseph's son, Crown Prince Rudolf, killed himself and his mistress at a hunting lodge in Mayerling in 1889, precipitating a crisis in succession that led to the assassination of Grand Duke Ferndinand in Sarajevo in 1914 that started World War I. The British Empire had several incarnations...usually beginning as trading companies (The Hudson's Bay Company, the British East India Company. Events like the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857 led to the imposition of direct British Rule under "The Raj" and led by the Empress of India, Victoria. Generally, Empires aren't conquered from without, but collapse of their own weight,intertia, and inattention to domestic affairs. (Which is why the wise men who created the United States referred to "all enemies, foreign and domestic.") A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev (The New Cold War History) Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West
Byzantium: "The Second Rome The Byzantine Empire is largely, and unjustly, neglected in history courses. From the division of the Roman Empire into East and West, the Byzantines created their own culture, preserved that of the past, and provided an important continuity between antiquity and the modern world. Byzantium: The Decline and Fall Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World
The Mongols and Ottomans In the Thirteenth Century the Mongols controlled the largest empire in the world. Later, the Ottoman Empire controlled much of the Middle East and what later became Turkey... The Ottoman Empire folded with the Armistice of WWI
The Rim of the World; The Cradle of Civilization; The Balkans Some parts of the world...ususally where the United States is militarily involved...have been at the center of empire building for centuries. Afghanistan was targeted by Alexander the Great, the Russians, the British, and the US. Iran was the center of the Persian Empire... later becoming part of the Soviet sphere of influence..a monarchy led by the Shah of Iran and supported by the US CIA .and a fundamentalist theocracy. The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (Kodansha Globe)
, The Dutch, The Portuguese, The First British Empire The Dutch founded a sea-borne empire including Indonesia, parts of the Caribbean, New York, and South Africa. The Portuguese mariners braved the unknown edges of the world and extended their influence to India (Goa); Southeast Asia (Macao) and South America (Brazil). Belgium, France, and Italy entered the empire-building business, with colonies in The Congo, Algeria, and Ethiopia, respectively.
Russia; Gorbachev, Glasnost; Putin Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has emerged as a power on the world scene. It has also experienced political and ideological repression, torture, and assassination under President Putin. Alexander "Sasha" Litvenenko, the former KGB agent, was poisoned by the KGB in London, and journalist Anna Politikovskya was assassinated outside her apartment on Oct 7, 2006: Putin's birthday.
