The Greatest Nation in the World EVER was....

[FirstSunday33ad]

Great Britain,

spread civilization, democracy, the rule of law, order and good manners where ever they went. When the days of Empire came to a close, they closed up shop and left behind The Commonwealth - one of the planets more respectable and prestigious world bodies.

All this from a tiny island of only a few score million is an amazing accomplishment and makes Britain the world's greatest nation.

[TheOneAndOnly]

Great Britain,

spread civilization, democracy, the rule of law, order and good manners where ever they went. When the days of Empire came to a close, they closed up shop and left behind The Commonwealth - one of the planets more respectable and prestigious world bodies.

All this from a tiny island of only a few score million is an amazing accomplishment and makes Britain the world's greatest nation.

I agree whole heartedly. But then again I am English. As long as we beat the French I don't care whether we're the best ever.

[JonAdams]

Great Britain,

spread civilization, democracy, the rule of law, order and good manners where ever they went. When the days of Empire came to a close, they closed up shop and left behind The Commonwealth - one of the planets more respectable and prestigious world bodies.

All this from a tiny island of only a few score million is an amazing accomplishment and makes Britain the world's greatest nation.

Oh wait, are you being serious?

The actions of the Britsh Empire can be nicely summed in three easy to follow steps:
Enter country,
Strip country of all useful resources,
Leave.

But yeah, we did have the worlds largest ever Empire so .

As long as we beat the French I don't care whether we're the best ever.

On this I am forced to concur .

Jonathan.

[wfaber]

An old saying:

"The sun never sets on the British Empire."

That's because God couldn't trust it in the dark.

[TheOneAndOnly]

The actions of the Britsh Empire can be nicely summed in three easy to follow steps:
Enter country,
Strip country of all useful resources,
Leave.

That's really not the case. In Africa, maybe. We did plunder and abuse the indigeonous inhabitants, and we didn't really leave and stable nations behind, save for South Africa, which wasn't exactly something to be proud of. Yes, the rape of Africa wasn't exactly Britain's finest hour.
However, the Empire created long lasting, impartial legal systems with well-defined personal and property rights in the majority of the nations we left behind (including America). Iraq, for example had a perfectly sufficient legal system to put Saddam on trial after he was captured. This system was still based on the old British colonial one we left behind decades ago.
Britain created scores of successful nations: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Singapore, Pakistan - sort of, Cyprus, Malta, Hong Kong -OK not strictly a nation, Ireland.
What other nation could claim this? Or to have it's indigenous language being the most widely spoken (as a second language) language in the world.
Britain created the largest empire ever (bigger than the French). In India we ended centuries of internecine rivalries and united the country. True we eventally abused it, but look at what we left - 2 successful, well 1 and a half successful countries(India and Pakistan, not to mention Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. And the less said about Burma the better.
It is amazing how little bllod was spilt in the creation of the empire. In the conquest of India, which wasn't really a conquest - it was the instatment of Imperial rule instead of the domination of the East India Company, which ruled parts of India - there were very few significant battles. Plassay is the only one that comes to mind.

[JonAdams]

That's really not the case. In Africa, maybe. We did plunder and abuse the indigeonous inhabitants, and we didn't really leave and stable nations behind, save for South Africa, which wasn't exactly something to be proud of. Yes, the rape of Africa wasn't exactly Britain's finest hour.

That's one way to put it .

Britain created scores of successful nations: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Singapore, Pakistan - sort of, Cyprus, Malta, Hong Kong -OK not strictly a nation, Ireland.

Ireland... wasn't that there already?

And the less said about Burma the better.

Well, I think the more said about Burma the better but that's another issue entirely...

It is amazing how little bllod was spilt in the creation of the empire. In the conquest of India, which wasn't really a conquest - it was the instatment of Imperial rule instead of the domination of the East India Company, which ruled parts of India - there were very few significant battles. Plassay is the only one that comes to mind.

If you insist... I will admit my knowledge of our Empire is not particularly thorough so I can't really comment on this but I very much doubt our occupation was as benign as you seem to be suggesting.

Jonathan.

[Darth Executor]

My vote goes to the roman empire, for the amazing technological and social advances of its time. Oh, and I thought the mongols had the largest empire, not britain.

[Durthorin]

Greatest nation? Hmmm, Greece. Greek thought has been the foundation of western civilization. For such a small nation it has had a lasting an permanent effect on all of western civilization.

[Arnold]

Hands down the USA is the greatest country ever. It is thanks to America that the world does not speak German and Japanese or Russian. And it is because of the US that the world will not speak Arabic in the future.

Every free country on the planet owes a debt of gratitude to the USA for either preserving their freedom or allowing their freedom to develop.

[NeilUnreal]

The Greatest Nation in the World EVER was...

The Duchy of Grand Fenwick.

-Neil

[studyhound]

Hands down the USA is the greatest country ever. It is thanks to America that the world does not speak German and Japanese or Russian. And it is because of the US that the world will not speak Arabic in the future.

Every free country on the planet owes a debt of gratitude to the USA for either preserving their freedom or allowing their freedom to develop.

Anyway, the greatest nation ever, Greece who gave us the foundation of government, science, art, history, literature, and architecture. Followed closely by the Roman empire who preserved the Greek culture, and also the Holy Roman empire who spread the Greek/Roman culture.

[Darth Executor]

Hands down the USA is the greatest country ever. It is thanks to America that the world does not speak German and Japanese or Russian. And it is because of the US that the world will not speak Arabic in the future.

Every free country on the planet owes a debt of gratitude to the USA for either preserving their freedom or allowing their freedom to develop.

Riiight. And the USA can thank every free country for filing its pockets after they destroyed their economies with war while the USA waited until the last minute to care.

[Arnold]

Riiight. And the USA can thank every free country for filing its pockets after they destroyed their economies with war while the USA waited until the last minute to care.

I am not sure who the "its", "they" and "their" are in your comment.

[James Peter]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to weigh in on the Greek side if we are talking about nations and including the Classical ones. The Hellenisation of the world was probably the key event in (secular) history. You could argue against it though on the basis that the British Empire effected a much largely area geographically.

As for the USA being the reason that the Allies won WW2 - no. That honour belongs to the USSR. As usual the USA waited until its own interests were directly threatened and so we should hardly be grateful for that. At least Britain and France defended Poland even though it in no way at all benefited them.

Was the USA the principal reason that we aren't speaking Russian? I'm not convinced. We (the Allies) traded the freedom of millions across Europe in return for our own peace and security. As for the future, the USA is the biggest threat to world peace rather than its strongest guardian.

[Arnold]

As for the USA being the reason that the Allies won WW2 - no. That honour belongs to the USSR. As usual the USA waited until its own interests were directly threatened and so we should hardly be grateful for that. At least Britain and France defended Poland even though it in no way at all benefited them.

Was the USA the principal reason that we aren't speaking Russian? I'm not convinced. We (the Allies) traded the freedom of millions across Europe in return for our own peace and security. As for the future, the USA is the biggest threat to world peace rather than its strongest guardian.

to borrow an expression...