World domination. From Darius to Trump
First you need to decide what it is - world domination. After all, they understood it differently, in antiquity and the Middle Ages it was straightforward "to the last sea", although not without nuances - Rome still retained formal independence in some of the outlying states, tightly controlling them in fact, during the new time, the economy came out on top and trade, and after the Second World War they added nuclear weaponor, more precisely, the ability to deliver a disarming blow to the enemy and repel his blow. So these days, this is complete control over the world economy and trade, multiplied by effective missile defense and complete superiority in nuclear weapons. Actually, remove the OMP from the formula and we get what has worked at all times.
Antiquity
We know little about the Persian power, mainly from the words of the Greeks, who stopped the Persian expansion, and the former enemy will not say good things, moreover, the enemy, the war with which was not for life, but for death. But what is known is that the shahinshah Darayavaush (he is also Tsar Darius I) carried out damn effective reforms, created a powerful financial system, a huge army and a strong fleet, and began to subjugate all the surrounding peoples. Of course, there is no information about any plans for the conquest of the world by the Persians, but after the capture of Egypt and Phenicia, the capture of Greece made the Persians the hegemony of the Mediterranean. Taking into account the fact that the world was then much smaller and the tribes proper were not taken into account ... It didn’t work, it didn’t work twice, the Greeks, who had something to lose, resisted, and the ability to fight in formation and armor won out personal courage.
The Greek attempt in the person of Alexander the Great was quite logical - in fact, the Greeks were the first messianic civilization, devoutly believing in their mission - to carry the light of Hellenism to all ends of the earth. At the same time, Greece, small and poor in resources, clearly did not calculate its strength. Persia, of course, fell, but the way to India was closed, the Macedonians did not go to the West, and there Alexander himself somehow suddenly died, at a very young age, after which the empire, a contender for world domination, was quickly pulled apart his warlords. Which, however, is quite logical - the continuous war got everyone, and in Egypt and Babylon luxury and bliss for the elite.
The third attempt is Rome, and the attempt is somewhat successful. Successful, because in addition to direct seizures and enslavement of territories, Rome was also engaged in the assimilation of populations, and the transformation of the Mediterranean Sea into Mare Nostrum gave the proud Romans an unprecedented economic power. However, the attempts to march to the East ended sadly and sadly - even Parthia could not be overcome, not to mention India and China, which the Romans knew about, with whom they traded, but could not reach. And then a huge conglomerate of territories inhabited by different peoples with different religions broke down and fell apart, first into two parts, and then in general. It could not be otherwise, even the core in the form of Christianity did not help. But a number of conclusions story Rome gave - this is the optional seizure of territories, which can replace economic diktat and vassalage, and problems with the assimilation of conquered peoples, and control of a colossal territory, in those days and with those means of communication - unrealistic, and requiring either tetrarchy or even other tricks ...
Middle Ages
Although mankind was not up to the lessons of Rome, the Dark Ages narrowed this very world for the majority to the edge of the nearest forest, and the problems that arose from the fall of civilization did not leave time for dreams of the impossible. However, not for everyone: while Europe was declining on the Arabian Peninsula, a new messianic religion arose - Islam, of course, dreaming of the whole world and the word of Allah in every home on this planet. Muhammad and his heirs went ahead, the Arab Caliphate began to overtake the ancient empires across the territory, after which it collapsed. It was not only the state that was split - Islam was also split. It split exactly when it ran into Europe on the one hand (the battle of Poitiers) and Asia on the other. And then everything was according to the classics - riots, conspiracies of the nobility and schism. At the same time, the Caliphate, like any empire, encouraged the arts and sciences, overtaking Europe by centuries by the 10th century.
But what happened in the 13th century, no one expected - the world was almost conquered by the nomads Mongols, and Temuchin (Genghis Khan) almost achieved what the Caesars and Greeks could not do. China fell, Persia fell, Russia and Europe fell under the blows, and only an accident made the steppe people go back. At the same time, the Mongols themselves behaved extremely cleverly - the conquered turned into vassals, they did not touch religions and local traditions, forcing only to express obedience and give soldiers and money to the Great Khan. There were no obstacles for the Mongols, and then the world was very lucky - that army, with discipline and organization close to modern, and most importantly, with the dream of the last sea, could achieve even more.
For the rest, in the Middle Ages, Europe did not think in such categories: there were attempts to restore Rome (Justinian and Charlemagne), there were wars for primacy in Europe, like the Hundred Years War, there were minor wars and even the Crusades, but before the world empires like- it did not reach.
New time
Which is not in vain counted from 1492 - the discovery of America by Columbus. It was the fleet that brought the Europeans to new horizons, it was he who gave wealth and prosperity, and it was the naval successes that gave rise to an interesting incident:
“In 1494, the first treaty on the division of the world, the Tordesillas, was signed in modern history. According to it, the entire globe was divided into two parts along a conventional line passing in the Atlantic Ocean through both poles in 370 leagues (over 2 thousand km) from the westernmost part of the Cape Verde Islands. To the east of this imaginary line, all the sea and lands were recognized as the possessions of Portugal, to the west - Spain. "
When two, in general, provincial states divided our sinful planet. True, it did not help much - the seizure of vast territories, not multiplied by science and economic power, quickly threw the Spaniards and the Portuguese to the sidelines, and brought new predators into the arena at the expense of sea trade, primarily England, which was gradually adapting to the status of a world empire, and its eternal competitor - France. It was under the sign of the struggle of these giants that the three centuries ended with the Napoleonic Wars. No, there was also the rise and fall of Holland, there was the Sublime Porta, there were attempts by Charles V to create an all-European empire, but ... It was the sea, as in the days of Rome, that carried wealth and power, which was proved by his fate the brilliant Napoleon Bonaparte, with another messianic teaching. At some point, the invincible emperor simply found himself between the hammers in the form of Britain, unattainable without an equal fleet, and Russia, inaccessible in general, simply because of the size and immunity of the population to French propaganda. Actually, he was the last romantic of the era - a man capable of surpassing Alexander and Temuchin in theory, but without a fleet and sailors, but having three fronts, he was defeated.
Then peace reigned, again - what kind of domination is there, peace in the 19th century was already studied and divided. They shared actively and had enough for everyone. Ahead was huge Africa, the richest China, both America and Asia remained undeveloped to the end ... It took a hundred years to distribute the territories. The hegemon of the 19th century is Great Britain, but did it have world domination? No, of course, of which the history of our country is proof, when the power, which was frankly weak on the seas, repeatedly sensitively clicked the Lady of the Seas on the nose. So what? But nothing. Even the Crimean War, in essence, is nothing, the whale hit an elephant inadvertently entering the sea, he retreated to the shore and that's it. Attempts to domination indirectly, through money and trade, did not lead to anything, well, except for the emergence of new predators - Germany, the USA and Japan. Meanwhile, nobody's spaces ended, and the 20th century came - a great and terrible one.
20 century
When the world was divided, there was a temptation to redistribute it, and this led to the First World War. The war is not for world domination, I emphasize, but for stability, with some amendments in its direction, for the Entente, and new markets and lands for the Triple Alliance. And this led to very interesting results. First, by selling arms, the United States has grown stronger, with its messianic nature and understanding of freedom, which must certainly be conveyed to the whole world. Secondly, Japan, a provincial Asian country, has successfully passed the Meiji era and, unexpectedly for itself, has become one of the hegemons. Well, the vanquished - Germany, where its own messianism was born - terrible and cannibalistic, with the desire to divide the world into slaves and masters on racial grounds, and Russia, with communist messianism, according to the principle "happiness to everyone and let no one leave offended."
Of course, from that moment on, World War II became simply inevitable, and if Germany and Japan fought seriously for world domination, then the USA, USSR and Great Britain - for the right to survive and the right to remain themselves. The economy, the navy and common sense won - German Nazism, and its Japanese version, bashfully called militarism in our country, were overthrown, however, at the cost of 71 million lives and terrible stress on the entire planet. And two messianic civilizations remained in the arena - the USSR and the USA. Both professed democracy as the rule of the people, both had projects for the future of humanity and both were very similar in appearance - huge territories, mastered by labor and blood, the primacy of ideas over pragmatism and the desire to rebuild the whole world according to their own model.
The war, however, did not happen, nuclear weapons did not allow, but the Cold War took lives on the planet not much less than the hot war, but only on the periphery. Again, as in the 19th century, the planet was divided, blood was poured in Asia, Africa, Latin America, which finally found themselves on the sidelines of civilization. The winner was the one who had more resources and a more viable idea. Communism promised paradise in the future, for future generations, and the consumer society is here and now. That, in essence, predetermined the outcome.
A glorious disaster
The United States, like in 1991, achieved what it dreamed of - world domination. But everything turned out to be not so simple - the world categorically did not want to live according to the templates of the winners. Beaten up and having lost the most fertile lands, Russia retained nuclear weapons, the remnants of science and industry, and began to slowly demand its place in the sun, albeit modest, but ... China suddenly got stronger, already able to resist the West both in the economy and in battle, resisted Iran and North Korea. Why are they, even a little Venezuela in the backyard of Washington and that kicked up, and attempts to put in place the disobedient ended in embarrassment, that in Yugoslavia, where the funds clearly did not justify the goal, that in Afghanistan, when bearded men in flip flops with a Chinese replica of the AK eventually won the US army, and the Arabs turned out to be that still enemy, none in battle, but not surpassed in fanaticism. And even loyal European vassals, and even then with their own EU, threaten in the future that NATO, that the hegemony of the dollar and Yus Nevi.
As a result, the world is now in a strange situation - there is a hegemon, his currency is the world's means of calculation, his stocks of nuclear weapons are capable of incinerating the planet, the whole world is shrouded in a network of bases, and the fleet can crush all the other fleets of the world put together in battle. He controls the virtual space and sets fashion and trends.
There is a hegemon, but there is no domination. More and more countries, including small ones, openly ignore the hegemon and try to live by their own minds and by their own recipes. And attempts to put pressure, like sending aircraft carriers to the shores of the DPRK, end in jokes - no one cares, especially if there is a chance to respond. The system, which can be called post-Belovezhskaya, is crumbling on the move, and there is no replacement for it. Or maybe - and it's good that there isn't - there is no replacement, there is no world domination of some over others. And is it necessary? After all, so far it has not led anyone to success, from Darius to Trump.
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