Talk:List of major empires

message: I thought it was important to add the legacy bit as these empires, having grown from a commercial impulse from the very beginning, laid the foundations of today's globalisation.  Rob  7-1-06
Now when I look at a globe, I do not see the distance in longitude from Egypt and Greece in the West to India in the East spanning anywhere near half the circumference of the globe.  So for that reason I must question why Persia, Macedonia, and Rome are listed as "Global" empires on this article.  ፈቃደ (ውይይት) 13:38, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Ah.  Just as I suspected, the bit about Persia being the first "global Empire" was added in by user Zmmz, solely to prop up his edits at the article about Babylon (the city) where he is repeatedly insisting to the point of 10xRR that Persia was the world's first global empire.  I see that once this is undone, the article does a good job of explaining why these were NOT global.  Sorry for any confusion. ፈቃደ (ውይይት) 13:44, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Global

message: *Dutch East India Company - founded 1602
*British East India Company - founded 1600
**Our article says - "the [British East India] Company was founded as The Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies by a coterie of enterprising and influential businessmen, who obtained the Crown's charter for exclusive permission to trade in the East Indies for a period of fifteen years. The Company had 125 shareholders, and a capital of £72,000."
***How does that make the Dutch East India Company the first joint stock company? Jooler 13:40, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: [[joint stock company]]

message: Does the Russian Empire really belong? Doesn't "global" mean "worldwide"? Controlling a large contiguous area may not be enough. It did rule huge parts of Europe and Asia, and Alaska in North America. But what about the Pacific Ocean islands, South America, and Africa? I think this article is too loose with the definition of "global". Very few empires qualify as global empires, I believe. SamEV 06:27, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Good, persuasive points, Provocateur. SamEV 23:58, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

text: It seems as though the basis of inclusion in the list of "Early Empires" was based upon spanning multiple continents; note that the Inca Empire is not listed.  Nor is the Empire of Japan listed.  I would imagine that this is the reason the Russian Empire / Soviet Union is in the list because it spanned Europe, Asia, and North America.
I must say that including Germany sets the bar pretty low anyway.  It ought to go before any of the other ones mentioned.--❨Ṩtruthious ℬandersnatch❩ 10:27, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Russian Empire? Loose article?

message: This article as zero references.  What is the basis for these claims?
*The essential criterion demands that, when navigating around the world, the longest trip between the empire's possessions be half of the circumference of the planet
*Global" is therefore a function of longitude, not of latitude
*Nations such as ancient Egypt, the Aztec Empire, the Roman Empire, the Incan Empire, and China could in one sense be considered early superpowers, but not global empires.
*The Persian Empire under the Achaemenids is often considered the first early superpower
The Red Hat of Pat Ferrick t 17:34, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I've removed the definition of global, which appears to have been in the article from day one in some shape or form.  It is totally unsourced, and it seems to me, utterly arbitrary to attempt to define it mathematically.  What is important is to mention the empires that historians, by consensus, refer to as global.  Not some synthesis and original research conducted by Wikipedians, however well intentioned.  The Red Hat of Pat Ferrick t 15:41, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  References 

message: In 1898, the U.S. annexed the former Spanish colonies of the Philippines which had became independent in 1946, and the U.S. a year before (1945) annexed the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa which was returned to Japan in 1972. Political analysis, along with newspaper reporters at these times, coined the term "American Empire" to depict the U.S. after acquiring territory on the other side of the world in the Eastern Pacific. + Mike D 26 (talk) 06:46, 2 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  United States: the "American Empire"?