inadequate, i want the unification of the entire world under one government, as soon as possible, but thats another story...
one mans freedom fighter is another mans terrorist.
I think unity is a good thing, you seem to think its a bad thing, very well, lets take a tour through empires made by military force.
The roman empire, seems like a good place to start, as pointed out by others they achieved their empire through conquest and genocide, the people conquered of course rebelled, it naturally took a couple of generations before they completely forgot about any other way of life except under the romans. Recall also the golden age of Rome happened after Caesar ousted the senate.
So what happened after it fell? Europe was plunged into a dark age which took around a 1000 years to crawl out of. Vast amount of knowledge was lost and superstition became the norm. i don't know about you but but any place where people only bathe once a year has got to stink at least.
So where did the vast amounts knowledge come from to boast Europe out of the dark ages?
A portion of it came from a military campaign called the crusades, the purpose of which was genocide of a race in order to gain access to eternal paradise. The Europeans lost but they still gained quite a bit of knowledge in military and other matters, it was also a great trade booster.
Another chuck of knowledge came from, the sacking of Constantinople by its suppose allies. The loot eventually found its way to Italy and gave the Renaissance thinkers a vast amount of information lost by the wayward western half of the roman empire.
Recently China's rise has also been compared to Germany's rise. Bismark is the key figure here, through political trickery and a war against France he united Prussia, and turn it into a powerful Germany. So powerful it forced France and Britain forgo yet another decade long war and join forces.
Napoleon united Europe again through military conquest, people rose up against him. But his empire fell to external influences, and his own mistakes, not internal discord. Nevertheless the Napoleonic code was a major achievement containing much of the knowledge won through the bloody days of the French revolution.
So in my opinion Canada, Austria and New Zealand disuniting from their respective empires is inherently by itself a bad thing, the fact that they turned out well is good for them, be proud.
So should the Confederacy have been allowed to separate from the Union? After all the president didn't even get 50% of the popular votes, hell every south state electoral college voted against him.
(switches to best angry orator voice)
“we are fighting for our independence, who is that upstart Lincoln think he is? Making a law against secession. It clearly shows how our majority system is superior to their two party system. It doesn't matter that they have 4 times the manpower, and 3 times the industry, we'll get our good friends the British and the French to help us out they need our cotton. Never mind the fact that we fought for freedom against them a century ago, and how they burned down D.C some 50 years ago. We are fighting for freedom and our natural rights, including the ownership of slaves, no that is above natural it is divine right as clearly indicated by manifest destiny.”
(returns to normal)
also note that according to wiki,
"
The Confederacy's failure to fully use its advantages in guerrilla warfare against Union communication and transportation infrastructure. However, as Lee warned, the Union was ready for large-scale guerilla warfare with tactics it had perfected in Missouri. It would herd hundreds of thousands of Confederate civilians into concentration camps, burn the houses and barns, kill the livestock, and send massive cavalry units to shoot everyone seen outside the camps. The new strategy would destroy most of the guerrillas, lead to terrible suffering among the incarcerated families, and permanently damage the economy of affected areas. Unlike the Russians who used scorched earth against Napoleon, the Confederates were less willing to see their families and communities destroyed.
"
So back to topic Qin Shi was a truly great ruler as his empire reunited itself fairly quickly after his death, while most other leaders empires soon fall back into their previous warring states.
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