Britain without a shadow of doubt. It may have been influenced by others to an extent but it is the birthplace of representative democracy, capitalism and, by extension, industry. It has not done everything right and not all of its influences were positive but without it the world would be a poorer and far less free place so rule Britania and G-d save the Queen!
greece,because it had a great influence on renaissance which was the fundament of today society.
VaguelyTagged
My only quibble with picking an ancient nation is that it doesn't really have as big an impact on places outside Europe/the Near East as a modern nation might.
Take China and India for example; they didn't really experience the European renaissance, and their societies even today aren't based on Greco-Roman ideals.
The Roman Empire has to be at the top of the list. A lot of things from our society came from their ideas. Now if we only had those gladiator games. :x :P
In Europe I would say Roman Empire and then later the British Empire. Aside from those twoit's a bit more vague and perhaps less meaningful foruswesterners. I have little or no knowledge about Africa (Zulu and Ancient Egypt, but that's all) or America (prior to European influence), but for Asia I would say the mongol tribes and the nations/dynasties that would eventually become China. This is especially due to their technological advances, farbeyondwhat medieval Europecould cook up at the time.
What is the most influential nation ever? Consider how their cultures affect life today. id say its China or Rome
LastCaveMan
Neither of those really influenced modern civilisation as China's traditional culture is now dominated by western culture and the Romans only had any influence as their discoveries were brought back to western europe by the arabians. I think it's between France, Spain and UK/England.
Whichever "country" was in power in the Middle East during the Crusades. Without them, Europe wouldn't have discovered science, mathematics, philosophy, astronomy or medicine. Or coffee.
Whichever "country" was in power in the Middle East during the Crusades. Without them, Europe wouldn't have discovered science, mathematics, philosophy, astronomy or medicine. Or coffee.
foxhound_fox
And without the last bit, those within the science, math, and medical professions wouldn't be able to start their day :P
What is the most influential nation ever? Consider how their cultures affect life today. id say its China or Rome
markop2003
Neither of those really influenced modern civilisation as China's traditional culture is now dominated by western culture and the Romans only had any influence as their discoveries were brought back to western europe by the arabians. I think it's between France, Spain and UK/England. lol you say china and Rome are disqualified because they did not influence modern civilisation but then you say it is between France Spain and England, if youre going off of modern influence then the only correct answer is the united states, i disqualified them because they have only had a modern impact.
Historically I would say Mesopotamia. Sumerians were the very first people to create a society. Without them, we would have no ways of writting, no beliefs, no trade, etc. They started it all.
In today's world, America, England, China, Japan and Russia have the most influence I think.
for the ancient world it's Greece, Rome was a greek/hellenistic society anway. For the modern world it's the UK, hands down. the UK made revolutionary advances in industry, agriculture, and science. people like; Lilburne, Milton, Newton, Hobbes, Bacon, Locke, Hume, Smith, Wilkes, Hutcheson, Paine, Byron, and Darwin. Movements and ideas like free market economy, civil liberty, habeas corpus, empiricism, radicalism, dissent, and rule of law, all originated in 17th-18th century UK
i dont see them as doing anything that would not have otherwise been done, but i do give them props for being one of the first to settle in what was a great location at the time.
i dont see them as doing anything that would not have otherwise been done mywalletsgone
Same can be said for many nation's/empires achievements. They still get the credit though.
depends on who is handing out the credit, note i did not choose the UK(GB, England, whatever who ever wants to call it) either. the Portuguese contributed more than the British empire with just the innovations they made in ship rutters, and those innovations were eclipsed by move-able type, i chose my states based on their impact to thought, not because of individual achievements. now before i get flamed to hell and back that is just the criteria i used to judge who is what in this thread and by what metrics other users choose are also fine by me.
i dont see them as doing anything that would not have otherwise been done surrealnumber5
Same can be said for many nation's/empires achievements. They still get the credit though.
depends on who is handing out the credit, note i did not choose the UK(GB, England, whatever who ever wants to call it) either. the Portuguese contributed more than the British empire with just the innovations they made in ship rutters, and those innovations were eclipsed by move-able type, i chose my states based on their impact to thought, not because of individual achievements. now before i get flamed to hell and back that is just the criteria i used to judge who is what in this thread and by what metrics other users choose are also fine by me.
That's fair enough I guess. Although, the Portuguese owed a lot to the Vikings influence in terms of ship building. After all they were the first Europeans to ever sail to North America, 500 years before anyone.
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