The British Empire, I think, had been the greatest; its influence is still observable. Look at the overseas territories Britain still has today.
However, I would say that if it weren't for the Spanish Empire, I think circumnavigation would be discovered in a later time and there would not have an early proof that the Earth had always been round.
Nope that was for the destroyers but the Brits bought a lot of stuff on credit that they only paid in the 90's. They also provided for free the tech for radar, sonar and jet engines as well as other advanced tech for the Americans to mass produce.
@Alessus I know that... i wasn't asking about the listed options. I was wondering why it wasn't listed. I just don't know the name of the empire... like weebtrash said, i just voted other.
If you mean bigger by economy, US is still the largest economy, although China is expected to surpass them soon, if you mean bigger in land mass then Russia is still larger in land mass.
Qing China - Overthrew the previous Ming dynasty and ruled over the Celestial Empire for a few centuries. Decided not to embrace the industrial revolution and then fell behind in infrastructure and economy. Got blown the hell out in opium wars by the British Empire.
People's Republic of China - whilst a communist state it oddly has nationalism which makes China even stronger and unified under the Party, standards of living there are not that expensive but it's very polluted if you go to the big cities like Beijing. China when the PRC took over was less developed than Africa and then now is the second largest economy. China today whilst being communist serves it's people well. Mao Zedong however, is another story. At the start it seemed not so bad but then he did stupid shit like Four pests campaign
and killed many Chinese people, Deng Xiaoping is probably the greatest Chinese leader, his reforms to the economy of China is the reason it's so rich today.
Most Helpful Opinions