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Subject: Most Powerful Military of All Time in Terms of Global Percentage
Aeb4ever    1/13/2006 1:20:45 AM
What was the most powerful military of all time in terms of global share of military power? For example, the USA is currently ranked at having about 53% of total naval power. I am referring in terms of all branches vs the world. My votes would be either the Mongols at height, Romans at height, English at height, USA after WWII, or USA after Cold War. Can’t make a guess at each countries percentage though. Fell free to add your own list or make a guess at the percentages of mine.
 
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The Lizard King    RE:Most Powerful Military of All Time in Terms of Global Percentage    1/13/2006 1:35:28 PM
"are you serious about the romans conquering advanced nations?" GF, please tell me how many years Britain was part of the Roman Empire.
 
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The Lizard King    RE:Most Powerful Military of All Time in Terms of Global Percentage    1/13/2006 1:36:11 PM
"World War II.... " what history books are you reading? what parts of their empire did they lose? unlike the french who tried to hold onto the last vestiges of their colonies - the brits gave their larger colonies independance and fundamentally kept the links intact without costing them in maintenance." WW II broke the British Backs.
 
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The Lizard King    RE:Most Powerful Military of All Time in Terms of Global Percentage    1/13/2006 1:37:59 PM
"Canada, Sth Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India were the wealthiest of any of the acquired colonies of the european powers." Wealthiest yes, hardest to conquer, no... I do not consider the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Plantation to be a great invasion force.
 
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The Lizard King    RE:Most Powerful Military of All Time in Terms of Global Percentage    1/13/2006 1:40:01 PM
I wouldn't confuse the Pilgrims landing on Plymonth Rock with the Allies landing on Normandy...
 
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gf0012-aust    RE:Spirit of 76 -- gf   1/13/2006 1:40:54 PM
"---I'd say they didnt lose to a single military loss. But a series of events the most significant in my opinion being the American Revolution which was a military defeat." my point is - and what appears to be a spectacular lack of knowledge on history by some of the other arguments presented as a riposte, is that there is an unawareness that the British Empire is virtually the only empire in history that is not dismembered through conquest of the governing nation. every other nation that has undertaken conquest through acquisition - and has by association created an empire via extra real estate - has lost in on a baton change of conflict. the brits bankrupted - and even then they contributed more than their share of blood in both WW1 and WW2. If britain didn't have the support of her empire she would possibly have folded early in ww2. as it was, it was industrial capacity. military capacity from canada, sth africa, india, australia, new zealand, parts of africa that helped provide oxygen. the germans (and god knows why they're used as an example) had none of that empire base. using the germans as an empire is ludicrous imo, they walked into paris twice, but they never held it - and all of their military successes were encapsulated into theatre events - neither WW2 or WW2 military victories translated into an expansion of the nation beyond the duration of military engagement. (in fact she shrunk as a result of reparations every time - not exactly the sign of a victorious empire builder) the brits lost an american colony, but it far from dismembered the british empire - and it certainly never diminished their position as the pre-eminent naval power for almost 300 years. the example of loss of the brit empire was also indicated as being WW2 - and that demonstrates a complete paucity of knowledge about modern history. br britain lost nothing due to ww2 via conflict. she lost it in 1947 when she formally "bankrupted" and was unable to step in to provide support greece through her troubles. that was the first clear example that she'd been militarily and somewhat politically neutered.
 
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gf0012-aust    RE:Most Powerful Military of All Time in Terms of Global Percentage    1/13/2006 1:44:38 PM
"GF, please tell me how many years Britain was part of the Roman Empire. " Britain at the time of Roman conquest was a hodge podge of collective tribes - we're not talking about an Arthurian kingdom here.. they were variations of what the saxons and teutons were. Unco-ordinated local tribes. Look at the history books.
 
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The Lizard King    RE:Spirit of 76 -- gf   1/13/2006 1:44:44 PM
"the example of loss of the brit empire was also indicated as being WW2 - and that demonstrates a complete paucity of knowledge about modern history. br britain lost nothing due to ww2 via conflict. she lost it in 1947 when she formally "bankrupted" and was unable to step in to provide support greece through her troubles. that was the first clear example that she'd been militarily and somewhat politically neutered." Really, and what would Britain have looked like 1947 if World War 2 never happened.
 
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gf0012-aust    RE:Most Powerful Military of All Time in Terms of Global Percentage    1/13/2006 1:48:02 PM
"WW II broke the British Backs. " yes it did, but they did not lose their empire to military conquest - which is the whole point here. unlike all the other empire nominess (apart from the US - and politically the US is loathe to accept the title of "empire" as it harks back to a colonial tag), the rest did lose their empires due to a military baton change.
 
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gf0012-aust    RE:Most Powerful Military of All Time in Terms of Global Percentage    1/13/2006 1:49:42 PM
"WW II broke the British Backs. " yes it did, but they did not lose their empire to military conquest - which is the whole point here. unlike all the other empire nominess (apart from the US - and politically the US is loathe to accept the title of "empire" as it harks back to a colonial tag), the rest did lose their empires due to a military baton change.
 
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gf0012-aust    RE:Most Powerful Military of All Time in Terms of Global Percentage    1/13/2006 1:53:55 PM
"Wealthiest yes, hardest to conquer, no... I do not consider the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Plantation to be a great invasion force. " so why would you consider greek states conquering neighbouring states as an example of imperial power? you seem to be confused about empire - it's not about conquest - it's about acquisition and retention. if you consider that the pilgrim landings are not legitimate measures of inclusion in an overall empire 0 then you better revisit nearly all of the other nominess. greece, rome, persia, baylon, carthage - all created empires by population osmosis as well as by military conquest.
 
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