Free Republic

Much of human history has been defined by the actions of around 50 to 70 empires that once ruled large swathes of people across vast chunks of the globe. Each of these empires, whether large or small, for ill or for good, has influenced world history. It’s hard to say which has had the greatest impact on society — it is, after all, somewhat subjective and hard to measure — but some have undeniably shaped the course of human history, forever and irrevocably. Here are six such empires, from the mighty Persians to the globe-spanning British. Persian EmpireAround 550 BCE,...

It is wrong to think that Mongol-Tatars invaded Russia as a single state, because the state actually formed as a response to the invasion, to resist and overthrow it. It was Peter the Great who formally ended Russia’s tributes to the Khans. Knyaz’ Yaroslav II of Vladimir was poisoned by Güyük Khan’s wife. At the age of 67, Knyaz’ Mikhail of Chernigov was executed in the capital of the Golden Horde (Mongol khaganate) for refusing to worship Mongol idols. Knyaz’ Mikhail of Tver had his heart ripped out in the same capital, the chronicle says. The Russian population was forced...

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is attempting to erase the Mongol emperor Genghis Khan from Chinese history according to a report this weekend by human rights magazine Bitter Winter. Genghis Khan founded the Mongolian Empire in 1206. It was the largest contiguous land empire in world history at its peak, spanning roughly nine million square miles of territory from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Danube River in the west. During Genghis Khan’s reign, the Mongolian Empire posed a serious challenge to China’s powerful Jin dynasty.