Why don't empires last forever?

Question

From the Egyptian empire, to the Greek, to the Roman Empire, to the French Empire, to the British Empire. . All of these well-known long empires has stayed for about centuries to milleniums, but why haven't they lasted forever? These individual empires in their time period was the most superior and advance power in the world, but somehow their power soon declined. What is because of laziness, foreign immigration, lack of compensation, internal turmoil, or is all of these choices?

Answer 1

There is no single answer that explains the end of all empires, and answers applicable to the end of ancient empires are not applicable to the end of more recent ones. Here are common reasons for the end of earlier empires:

-- Many empires were founded by strong, resolute (and often brutal) individuals. Once these individuals died, the empires frequently collapsed shortly afterward.

-- Alternately, an empire could be forged by a militaristic, power-seeking population who gain continually increasing power over a span of years, in the process sometimes swallowing up empires that are older, more static, and/or possibly less militaristic. But such empires eventually reach a point after repeated conquests where they themselves attained a maximum extent and became static; after generations of complacency they became vulnerable to conquest by new populations of power-seekers. For example, the Byzantine and Persian empires were overcome by the rise of the Arabs, which in turn (along with what remained of the Byzantine empire) eventually overcome by the rise of the Turks.

-- A repeated theme, especially in Asian dynastic empires, was that once established, a new dynasty would grant tax exemptions to favored individuals, especially in the (possibly new) aristocracy. Over time, more and more tax exemptions were granted, continually decreasing the tax base and making it more and more difficult for the dynasty to finance itself. Combined with the next cause left it ripe for conquest either by another person or group who established a new dynasty (so that the cycle began again), or by a multitude of groups leading to a breakup of the empire.

-- Most empires in history have been monarchies. The accidents of heredity could produce a series of weak and/or corrupt rulers, leaving the empire vulnerable to conquest.

-- Sometimes just the fortunes of war -- the winning side in battle between two apparently equal powers becoming the new empire, replacing the loser.

-- The end of the French and British empires was due primarily to changing moral attitudes about self-determination and colonial exploitation, especially beginning after World War II. This might also have changed the status of at least some colonies from financial boon to the colonizing country to financial burden.

Answer 2

First, let's not be silly and assume you were referring to the US, as some posters have done. The US is globally dominant, but not an empire in the traditional sense. There are very few countries in which the US can "force" a political or legal outcome the way that Britain or Rome could. That said, the US is subject to the same factors that affect everyone else. These include:

-collapsing economies
-civil war
-resistance from colonies
-technological holdups (either the empire's technology is not advanced enough to maintain the status quo, or someone else gets competing technology)
-public opinion within the empire against colonialism
-pressure from a new power
-pressure from waves of migrants (here I'm talking about large-scale, multi-century migrations, as experienced by Rome)

Most of these factors come under the bigger banner of "the world is not static". Societies evolve. New ideas come forth. Priorities change. Empires are too inflexible to be able to deal with these things in perpetuity.

Answer 3

Nothing lasts for ever. America's world dominance will be taken over by the Chinese within the next 50 years.

Answer 4

Their economies go downhill, and somebody takes their place.

Answer 5

None of them had a "W" as their leader.
GWB the best of the best.
Wait till you see who's next in line.

Answer 6

There are many factors that cause the collapse of an empire. All of the conditions that you listed above are could account for the destruction of many empires. Another factor could just be because another empire B could rise to power and become more powerful than empire A. "Survival of the fittest."