Histroy of empire collapses.

Originally posted by STANG
The USSR collapsed because of over expenditure on it's military. The same could happen to other countries.

Whilst I agree that the USSR under Gorbachev realised that they could not sustain military spending the USSR would not have collapsed if the people there had not wanted it to. This was also true of the British empire, which evolved into the Commonwealth. The US 'empire' (as you see it - although they really don't have one) is in a different position.

When I was discussing the USSR with friends as a student over 20 years ago I said that it would be impossible for the soviets to sustain their regime for a lot longer because the people would 'demand' the material wealth that they would see abroad in the future. In the past they were unaware of this, but with the advent of satellite TV and the internet they can see it every day. This is the reason why China will go the same way in the end.

Originally posted by flexmore
history has seen many empires.
these empires have done a variety of nasty things and temporarily benefitted.
my question is:
[b]were the empires held accountable for their misdeeds when they collapsed?

(my question is not intende ...[text shortened]... tick strictly to history and learn what has happened in the past.)[/b]

How exactly do you define an Empire? The whole concept of an "Empire" is a modern word attached to a historic situation in order for us to understand that particular phenomenom. An Empire does not neccessariyl exist in the past, but is a modern reconstruction of a particular socio-political arrangement within a given geographical region. There is no precedent to assume that just becasue something is assigned the title "Empire" that it conforms to any given predetermined model - especially one that has negative connatations.

Also, one could equally ask: Were these "Empires" rightly acknowledged for the benefits that they passed on to their "subjects"?