Most short-lived Empires in history?

Most short-lived Empires

 

1)Empire of China (1915–16)

 

It lasted from when Yuan Shikai, the first formal president of the Republic of China, and leader of the Beiyang Army, the most powerful warlord faction in China at the time, declared himself emperor and reestablished the imperial court, even styling himself a regnal name.

Toward the end of the empire’s three month duration, widespread revolts broke out in rejection of Yuan’s ambitions to reinstate monarchy and Yuan Shikai died of uremia.

 

2)The Second Mexican Empire lasted all of four years

It all began with the active foreign policy of French Emperor Napoleon III, who had grand plans for French leadership in Latin America. Unfortunately, the United States was a serious regional power with the strength to back up the Monroe Doctrine. Then, the American Civil War broke out in spring of 1861. Napoleon was quick to capitalize, landing troops at the port of Veracruz before the war was over on the pretext of collecting a large debt owed to the French government. Over the next years, France made steady gains, occupying much of Mexico and reaching the capital in 1863.

French forces bombard the fort of Puebla on the road to Mexico City

With this victory, a puppet government was established under the name of the Mexican Empire. The next year, the Austrian prince Maximilian was invited to be crowned as emperor of what was supposed to be the first state in France’s new American sphere of influence. However, forces loyal to the old Mexican Republic remained stubborn in their resistance and the war dragged on through the end of the American Civil War. The newly reunified United States immediately made it clear that it would not tolerate continued French meddling in Mexico, prompting a complete withdrawal by autumn of 1866. Without French support, the Imperial army was ineffectual. Through the following year, Mexico’s republicans were relentless, capturing Maximilian just before spring’s conclusion. He was executed on June 19, after ruling for just three years.

 

3)Sur dynasty (1540–1556).

It was established by Sher Shah Suri, a powerful general who served under the Mughal dynasty during the era of Humayun (the son of the founder of the Mughal dynasty, Babur). He managed to defeat the Mughal Emperor and establish himself as the founder of the Sur dynasty. Eventually Humayun would win back his empire by the help of the Safavids in neighbouring Iran, but despite the short duration of the Sur dynasty, it left a lasting legacy by weeding out corruption from its realms, instituting a professional and effective bureaucracy to manage the vast extent of the empire, and pacifying the situation among the rulers (who were Muslims) and the indigenous people (who were largely Hindu). Humayun would soon die after conquering the Sur dynasty and re-establishing the Mughal line to the throne in Delhi, but his successor Akbar would consolidate India based on the works and reforms carried out by the Suri Sultans.

 

 

4)Empire of Harshavardhana

The Empire of Harshavardhana, or Harsha’s empire, didn’t last too long after the emperor’s death - succession wars between his sons destroyed what Harsha had achieved over the course of his life. Thanks to the eminent historians of India, not much is known about how long it took for the empire to actually disintegrate, so the general consensus is that it died with Harsha in 647.

After his death, his capital, Kanauj was the city of contention between the regional powers for the next few centuries. The Rashtrakuta kingdom centred around Nashik in modern day Maharashtra, the Pratihara kingdom centered around Gujarat and the Pala kingdom of Bengal all tried their best to control Harhsa’s capital, and with it, the legitimacy to elevate themselves to the next empire.

5)The Danish North Sea Empire:

(North Sea Empire)

It lasted for less than twenty years in the beginning of the 11th century (1016–1035) and was entirely the creation of Knut the Great, king of Denmark.

Knut managed, through great cunning, to extend his already towering power-based, from Scandinavia to England and took practical control of not only the Norse-dominated areas of Eastern England (Danelaw), but essentially the whole of England, and pacified all of its Empire’s neighbors.

However, having conquered England, he pretty much lost real interest regarding Denmark and his empire crumbled soon after his death, when his two sons son lost control over Norway, and died in England. In 1042, England slipped out of Danish control for the last time. It would not be the end of Denmark as an empire (see: Danish Estonia + Danish colonial empire + Denmark–Norway), but it was for sure the end of the North Sea Empire.