What Country Has The Most Interesting History?

[Saras]

Classic UR.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


That's too Euro-centric. If you look at the entire world, Europe was just a backwater spot, until 1800's or so.

You're about three to four centuries too late, Urb.


Even ignoring the discovery/rediscovery of the Americas by the Vikings and the Spanish, the Scandinavian peninsula was part of a trading network stretching from India to Newfoundland in the times of the Vikings.

The Romans had traded directly with India, indirectly with the states in modern day Viet Nam and in China, and established a trading post near modern day Malindi in East Africa, well before Zheng He briefly stopped there.

The English and Portuguese both established embassies with the Safavid Empire, who had hopes of using either power against the Ottomans, and had enjoyed the hospitality of the Moghul Emperors.

The Dutch had created a series of strategically sited trading posts from Brazil to Indonesia to Formosa to Japan.

The Moghuls and the Ming and the Manchu all wanted Western technology- from automata to clocks to guns.

By the end of the 17th Century, Europe was leading the world in theoretical science and with minor exceptions (porcelain for instance) in the applied sciences.

A backwater? Well maybe if you're a self-satisfied Ming or Manchu 'Son of Heaven' who hasn't kept up on what's happening in the world outside Asia....

[Sikander]

Originally posted by JimmyCracksCorn
...
Me personally, I don't find white men spending massive sums of money to blow themselves up all that interesting anymore... it gets old. There's far more interesting things in this world.

Oh cmon Jimmy, it's still good for a laugh.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by JimmyCracksCorn


True, but to take the argument further... the reason why aborginal and native North American groups were so conservationist and balanced with nature is precisely because they were so reckless when they first arrived... tens of thousands of years ago. I don't think that takes away from their particular view of their place in nature later on.

Why were they well on the way to hunting the buffalo to extinction before whites gave them a helping hand then? Face it, like most if not all people Indians learn things the hard way, and often have to relearn things that they don't have personal experiences of. How much of the post mammoth regret do you think survived in Indian culture until modern times?

They molded what whites thought of as wilderness to support the animals and plants which benefited them, and they naturally saw the whites as disrupting the environment which they had shaped and made, much as early farmers must have been aghast as nomadic herders grazed their herds on newly planted crops. Like anyone they were well aware of the land which they worked on every day and were sensitive to changes on it which would make their lives difficult or impossible. Like almost anyone who has lived in recent memory they have no idea what land not influenced by humanity even looks like.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
Most boring history would be China, Russia, and Japan

I was just coming back to see if anyone mentioned Russia. I think it's pretty interesting.

[Arrian]

I wouldn't call Russian history boring. Depressing, though...

-Arrian

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Arrian
I wouldn't call Russian history boring. Depressing, though...

-Arrian

A Pole is granted three wishes by a genie.


Lech says to the genie-

" I would like for the Golden Horde to come and ravage Poland."


The genie looks at him, somewhat puzzled, but grants him his wish.

Accordingly the Golden Horde come, rape, pillage, burn and generally behave in a most unneighbourly fashion.


"And for your second wish?"


Lech ponders, a pensive look appears....


" I would like for the Uighurs to come and ravage Poland."

The genie is taken aback-

" Are you sure, oh master? For the Golden Horde have only just returned to their homelands, after much wanton destruction...."


Lech is unperturbed, and commands the genie to carry out his wishes.

And so much misery, theft, cruel rapine and torture and murder visit the plains of Poland once again.


The nomads depart, and the genie returns to Lech, expecting a request for riches, eternal life, beautiful women, the latest in customized horse drawn vehicles...

But Lech has a strangely familiar request.


" Now genie, for my last wish, I would like for the Mongol hordes to come and wreak havoc on the kingdom of Poland."

The genie is much taken aback; he has never had three such wishes before.

" Are you sure master? You could have mountains of gold, jewels from all the lands of the world, a great kingdom to rule...."


"No, genie, " says Lech, " I know what I want."

And so with an air of weary resignation, the genie carries out Lech's final wish- the fierce, remorseless Mongol horsemen slaughter and rape and subjugate and ravage, Poland is left a smoking depopulated ruin.

Lech's face is animated by a broad grin. The genie is perplexed.

" Before I leave I must know- why did you wish for these nomad hordes to come and destroy your country, killing your family and friends ?"


Lech replies:

" Oh, that's simple- they had to cross Russia twice."

[Ecthy]

what is so interesting about Chinese history?

the average interesting-ness counts of course, so amount is not an argument and Germany has to offer the most.

[axi]

The person I'm referring to is IIona Staller aka Cicciolina.

Quite an interesting bit of history, since she was an agent of the Stasi...

[GePap]

I will go with area, not "country", and hence chose the Levant as having the most interesting history.

Least interesting certainly New Zealand.

[Drogue]

Most interesting per square whatever-you-measure-in of land - England
Most interesting nation - England, possibly France and China too
Most interesting area that is now a nation - England, France, China, Germany, Italy.

[muxec]

Empire Earth

[GePap]

Why does England lead? Its dynastic issues are no more weird and whacky than say Egypt's, which had 20 + dynasties. Its revolts and civil wars are not unique-in terms of a home of western ideas, France and Italy and Germany all have an equal amount....

I really don't get the anglomania (except this is an english speaking board filled with Britons and their 'offspring', Americans and Aussies...)

[Arrian]

I really don't get the anglomania (except this is an english speaking board filled with Britons and their 'offspring', Americans and Aussies...)

And there you have it. The Brits have a lot of surviving source material, and a goodly portion of us can read it in our native language.

And even so, it's pretty cool

-Arrian

[Immortal Wombat]

Originally posted by GePap
Why does England lead? Its dynastic issues are no more weird and whacky than say Egypt's, which had 20 + dynasties. Its revolts and civil wars are not unique-in terms of a home of western ideas, France and Italy and Germany all have an equal amount....

Probably because Britain is much more easy to define at any period in history. It's the stuff on that island there. Because of its relative isolation, you can follow the train of history without so many population drifts, invading armies and whatnot. And our empire was better.