NationStates Jolt Archive

Note: This is not who your favorite political figure is. It's who you think was the most influential, i.e., had the greatest impact.

Jesus Christ.

Hitler, perhaps?

Genghis Khan...1 out of every 200 males is a blood relative. It's true, look it up.

KARL MARX!!!

"EVERYONE" used his ideas to support their own cause.

Sir Francis Bacon (http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/bacon/baconbib.htm)

The Grandfather of the New World Order movement

Hitler, perhaps?

Hmm... I wonder what our chances of ending up with facism in Germany anyway would be without Hitler.

Jesus Christ.

Certainly influencial politically, but wouldn't Mohammad be up there as well? And wouldn't Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) beat them both? At least with Mohammad and Gautama we have good records of their direct effects upon people. Jesus's first hand effects are poorly documented by comparison.

Plato.


Homer. (the first one)

How about this one: Confucius. Without Confucius traders would have not been so looked down upon in China, resulting in more trade, resulting in increased exploaration and discovery and use of trade routes with the rest of the world, resulting in the industrial revolution starting in China a hundred years early.

Leonidas king of Sparta.

Played a pivotal role in the eventual defeat of the Persian army. An army that may have otherwise conquered Greece and possibly much of europe.

Mohammed or Machiavelli (sp?).

Genghis Khan...1 out of every 200 males is a blood relative. It's true, look it up.That's something of an over simplification:

A recent study was done to look at the Y chromosomes of 2,123 men across Asia. An astonishing 1 in 12 men shared the same Y chromosome. If this ratio holds up, that would mean 16 million males or 1 out of every 200 living males share this Y chromosome.

Early results indicate that the distant “father” of all these men was from the Mongolia area around 800-1200 years ago. Who could have fathered all of these males? The most obvious candidate is Genghis Khan.Emphasis added. Those are two pretty big ifs.

Personally, I'd vote for Hitler or Charlemagne.

KARL MARX!!!

"EVERYONE" used his ideas to support their own cause.
Marx wasn’t a political figure, he was a social commentator/philosopher.

Marx wasn’t a political figure, he was a social commentator/philosopher.

He was sort of obscure in his own lifetime, but he had to leave Germany because of his political views. He was arrested in Belgium for his political views, he was arrested in Germany for the same. His writings were all political, including an incredibly lousy novel he wrote when 19.

I'd say he counts as a political figure, but a minor one while alive.

Winston Churchill

KHAAAAAAAAAN!

Whichever strongman first got the idea of 'you give me money and I protect you' would be the most influential. It's the idea behind governments and Mafia protection rackets.

Winston Churchill

Not sure I agree with this one. I find it hard to believe that without Churchill the U.K. would have said, "Let's make peace with Hitler and admit to the world that the British Empire is a spent force. After all, German butt tastes good."

Vesa Laukkanen.
You got to love him.

Sir John A. MacDonald.








... What?

Jesus

Emperor Augustus. Came from being moderately rich to the founder of the Roman Empire. Caused the census that fulfilled the messiah prophecy that christians took advantage of. continued the expansion of the empire. But Julius is maybe bigger, or else very close... not sure really.

Not sure I agree with this one. I find it hard to believe that without Churchill the U.K. would have said, "Let's make peace with Hitler and admit to the world that the British Empire is a spent force. After all, German butt tastes good."
But he did understand perhaps more clearly than anyone the need for Britain to get or keep the US and the Soviets on Britain's side, pestering Roosevelt with letters and sending tanks and planes to the Russians and sending troops to Greece, even if in doing so he sold Singapore down the river and ruined the African campaign.

Hammurabi. Made the first recorded rule of law which formed the initial basis of written law in use today.

Hmm... Saladin maybe? Or Karl Marx?

Hey, I am looking to join a little 'faster paced' nation. The one I joined now is slow.......or should I say, no activity. By the way I make a good follower not leader although being a judge is not out of the question as I like being one. :):cool:

Julius Caesar.

Hey, I am looking to join a little 'faster paced' nation. The one I joined now is slow.......or should I say, no activity. By the way I make a good follower not leader although being a judge is not out of the question as I like being one. :):cool:

Yeh, wrong forum methinks.
As for the political figure: Caesar.

Emperor Augustus. Came from being moderately rich to the founder of the Roman Empire. Caused the census that fulfilled the messiah prophecy that christians took advantage of. continued the expansion of the empire. But Julius is maybe bigger, or else very close... not sure really.

Damn straight. Julius was an arse who got too big for his boots. No idea what to do about the collapse of Rome just megalomania. Augustus stabilised the system and led to the world we know today.

Socrates.

Yeah actually, Augustus. He wouldn't have been able to without Julius, but Julius wouldn't have been able to without his father existing, ect...

So, most important thing ever, is the first lifeform to produce offspring.

How about Charlamagne? He unified most of Europe and laid the foundations for future nation-states. Introduced literacy to the masses, the rule of law, and reintroduced the idea that government has a responsibility to its citizens to Europe.

Charles Martels defeating the Musilm army at the Battle of Tours. The defeat of the muslims ensured Europe to stay for the most part Christian and who knows how world history would've turned out if Europe was Muslim. But,, maybe that would fall under most decisive battle.

On the inspiration of Augustus. Without his actions, Charlemange would have had nothing to work from, and in his enviroment, needed it.

But Socrates does rock hard.

Stanislav Petrov - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

That's a good one

Certainly Genghis Khan..

Flavius Aetius perhaps. He helped to defeat Attila the Hun at the Battle of Chalons, another battle of great importance.

It has to be either Caesar Augustus, Constantine, Charlemagne, or Genghis Khan.

I like the Petrov one... he really did save the world, and he's so little known... So he's my number 2.

Not sure I agree with this one. I find it hard to believe that without Churchill the U.K. would have said, "Let's make peace with Hitler and admit to the world that the British Empire is a spent force. After all, German butt tastes good."
But for Churchill, Lord Halifax would have been PM, and part of the way through the war he did start saying that Britain should sue for peace.

William I perhaps. If only because the best suggestions have been made.

William the Conqueror. The Battle of Hastings became a watershed moment in British history and perhaps more.

But for Churchill, Lord Halifax would have been PM, and part of the way through the war he did start saying that Britain should sue for peace.

William I perhaps. If only because the best suggestions have been made.

Indeed. With people like Londonderry and Lloyd George, as well as many of the upper classes, appeasement most likely would have turned into peace. Chamberlain might have tried to stop it, but his political reliability was in tatters by that time.

Stanislav Petrov - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

Holy shit.
I had no idea. He's awesome.

Sir John A. MacDonald.
... What?

Hahahahahah! I'd say Brown was more important politically then MacDonald, in terms of Canadian history. Johnny did well, but, he's not a number one.


Who'd I call number one?
I don't know. I'll have to think.

Moses.

Abraham. He was the first to say there was only one god. That's who all the three great religions trace their origins to,

the guy who invented the wheel OR the person who discovered fire.

Sir John A. MacDonald.








... What?
pffft. Pierre Trudeau was more influential than MacDonald...and did a lot more too.

Abraham. He was the first to say there was only one god.

I think Akhenaten got there before him.

EDIT: or possibly not, the dates for Abraham are so vague and contradictory it is impossible to say.

I think Akhenaten got there before him.

By about a thousand years, I think.

ME.:mad:

Jesus

pffft. Pierre Trudeau was more influential than MacDonald...and did a lot more too.

MacDonald confederated the country, purchased Rupert's Land, built a railroad across the continent, and created the NorthWest mounted police which eventually became the RCMP. His vision essentially forged Canada.
Canada as we know it, wouldn't exist without his leadership, at least it would have taken longer, and we'd probably have a more fractured political landscape.

While Trudeau repatriated the constitution (you know, the one MacDonald had the Queen sign in the first place), he also created a vast legacy of national debt. Oh, and he did a pirouette behind the Queen.

If you're talking about influence, MacDonald wins that dust-up, hands down.

I would have to say that the most influencial is the ones that started it all. I would have to say that Abraham was the best answer. Abraham made the belief of one god. That made Jesus, the son of god very influencial. Which made Charles Martel fight to protect chirtianity in europe which paved the way for Charlemange's influences possible....etc.

the guy who invented the wheel OR the person who discovered fire.yeah, also Johannes Gutenberg who is widely accepted as the inventor of the printing press...after all the freedom that printed information brought to society changed the world forever...it's political in the sense that it allowed for the exploration and expansion of ideas, it certainly made mass propoganda much easier

I would have to say that the most influencial is the ones that started it all. I would have to say that Abraham was the best answer. Abraham made the belief of one god. That made Jesus, the son of god very influencial. Which made Charles Martel fight to protect chirtianity in europe which paved the way for Charlemange's influences possible....etc.

I believe Akhenaton was the first monotheist.

I don't think it's fair to call someone like Jesus Christ the most influential political figure in history. Jesus Christ wasn't even interested in politics or anything, he was just used by people who WERE interested in politics later on. He was not a political figure.

Anyway, I'd say Julius Caesar, because he united all of Western Europe under Roman rule, which inevitably paved the way for Modern Europe. One might say Augustus Caesar, but I disagree with that: Octavian never actually did anything with Rome, while Julius did.

Would have to be pretty early.

Themistocles of Athens, Alexander the Great, Emperor Augustus, Karl Martell, Charlemagne, various Kings, Napoleon and Bismarck all come to mind, for Europe alone.

I don't think it's fair to call someone like Jesus Christ the most influential political figure in history. Jesus Christ wasn't even interested in politics or anything, he was just used by people who WERE interested in politics later on. He was not a political figure.

Anyway, I'd say Julius Caesar, because he united all of Western Europe under Roman rule, which inevitably paved the way for Modern Europe. One might say Augustus Caesar, but I disagree with that: Octavian never actually did anything with Rome, while Julius did.

While I agree with your honourable nod to Caesar, you can't dismiss Octavian. He was the first real emperor after all, and in addition to conquering Egypt, virtually transformed the City of Rome within his own lifetime.

Marx wasn’t a political figure, he was a social commentator/philosopher.

Why did you go for Marx. Do you actually think Jesus is a politcial figure.

I would say that not one person, but a group of people would be the most influential. That being the early followers of Jesus Christ, who set the basis for many wars, the Crusades, and the Dark Ages.