Peoples and Empires Combo

PowerPoint: Postings 1&2

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Alexander’s Life: Alexander the Great came excruciatingly close to ruling the entire civilization of his time. He was the son of King Phillip and was taught by the famous philosopher Aristotle and began his military career at the tender age of 18. Once his father had died, Alexander took over the Macedonian army and took over his rivals the Persians. His empire stretched from India to Egypt and by the age of 33 he passed away. It was suggested he had had a fever and was known for heavy drinking so that was why he had passed away so young. No cause of death ever got proven but he lived a fast and outrageous life for that short time.

Who ruled after Alexander the Great? When Alexander died in 323 B.C. his empire surprisingly wasn’t passed to either of his sons or anybody in his family but was divided up between his 4 chief generals. And was referred to as..“The Four Winds of Heaven.”

ALEXANDER’S EMPIRE

CHARLEMAGNE

Charlemagne was another powerful king and ruler in ancient times. He also went by “Charles the Great” because of his admiration for Alexander the Great. He was the King of Franks and Emperor of the Romans till he died in 814. Since he had such an enormous empire, that naturally made him the enemy of the Byzantine Emperor of Constantinople. The neighboring ruler. Charlemagne started the “Carolingian Renaissance” and changed western Europe and the middle ages in all. He later forcibly Christianized the Saxons and set the road for the Ottoman dynasty. In his intense way, he brought western Europe closer together.

“The Great Game”The “Great Game” was hardly mentioned toward the end of the book, but was an interesting topic so I looked into it on Wikipedia. This was about the rivalry of the British Empire vs. the Russian Empire for Central Asia. The British were afraid if they let the Russians take over Afghanistan, it would be a Segway into invading India. The British then continued to take over Afghanistan but were brutally refuted by the natives and had to retreat. The Russians tried to take over but it ended with Abdur Rahman Khan on the throne in Afghanistan, and he agreed to let the British maintain Afghanistan's foreign policy while he consolidated his position on the throne. He managed to suppress internal rebellions with ruthless efficiency and brought much of the country under central control. So in the end the British won this “Great Game.”

The End.