The Ten Most Important Figures in Europe's History

[Ferran]

That could be indeed a laborious list to make, that's why I think it would be interesting to know which personalities would you choose for it, what criterion should be used for the purpose... etc.

So in order to encourage you to start with it, I will take the list of ArteHistoria's most important world's history figures [edit: actually, they meant "protagonists" or "most outstanding personages", nevertheless thread's title will be kept], but excluding all the non-Europeans, which is as follows:

Alexander the Great (396 BC-323 BC)



Octavius Augustus (63 BC-14)



Charlemagne (742-814)



Louis IX of France (1215-1270)



Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)



Charles I of Spain (1500-1558)



Louis XIV of France (1638-1715)



Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)



Victoria of the United Kingdom (1819-1901)



Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)



Mijail Gorbachov (1931-)

[Youenn]

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)

I am not National Socialist but I think Adoph Hitler would have the better role. Alexander the Great, Louis XIV and other personalities didn't have any ideals, just imperialist vision.
Anyway, Napoleon is surely the worst.

[Gil]

Explain to me the difference between the Great Empire of France (as envisioned by Napoleon) and the Third Reich (as envisioned by Adof hitler) and please back it up with historical data. Seriously I'm not doubting he had an impact on European history I doubt he had the "better role" or that he was the only one with "ideals"...

[Menydh]

Originally Posted by Youenn

I am not National Socialist but I think Adoph Hitler would have the better role. Alexander the Great, Louis XIV and other personalities didn't have any ideals, just imperialist vision.

Hitler had an imperialist vision.

And let's not forget that the chaotic times which we are living come as a result of WWII. Indirectly as a result of the mismanagement and miscalculations of a megalomaniac visionary.

[Errigal]

Originally Posted by Mynydd

Hitler had an imperialist vision.

And let's not forget that the chaotic times which we are living come as a result of WWII. Indirectly as a result of the mismanagement and miscalculations of a megalomaniac visionary.

Exactly. The irony is that Hitler's idea that one country can use force to transform neighbouring states, subjugate locals and expand its living area is being carried out at this hour by the Third Reich's most famous victims. The student has clearly become the master.

[vascongado]

I think that list seems correct, though I believe that would fail to include Felipe II of Spain.

About Hitler, I agree with Mynnyd and A Few Acres of Snow.

[Truth-Finder]

Thore Hund's criteria are good to take in account.

Anyway, that kind of ranking depends on the point of view you adopt:


Personally, I'd put over the 10 most important figures
1-the sumerian whe ever invented the wheel
2-The one on hte neolithic times who got the idea of domesticating Cats/dogs as they are good company
3-The minoan who conceived the first urban watering systems . I cannot stand without my daily shower specially during this hot summer!
4-Archimedes
5-Hippocrates for giving start to the western medecine
6-Aristoteles
7-Thomas Edison (or rather his predecessor Joseph Swan) because I presently cannot conceive life withouth electric light
8-Alessandro Vlta because his voltaic battery is on the basis of the further developments in electricity
9-Alexander Graham Bell (all though I hate when the phone rings at work every minute, on the other applications fields I foud it quite useful )
10-Henry Dunant for his foundation of the INTL Red Cross (ridiculously copied by the mosleem monkeys and their INTL RED CRESCENT MOON

[Laocoon]

Me too, I'd chose more "humanist" characters, well I mean, those who made humanity higher and gave a meaning to their life and to ours.

If I were to make a list, it'd share some of yours SoT.

1 - Wheel inventor(s)
2 - Agriculture : crop culture
3 - Breeding : those who domesticated wild animals and cattle
4 - Medecine : Hypocrates, Ambroise Paré
5 - Architecture : arch inventor
6 - Navigation : veil inventor
7 - Photography : Nicéphore Niepce (our society is full of images)
8 - Cinema : Auguste and Louis Lumière (usefull for propagandists)
9 - Printing : Gutenberg
10 - Electricity : Volta, Edison

11 - Music : the man or the men who discovered they could play music with stones, wood or empty bones!

[Sergius]

well, all of these anonymous inventors don't really count, do they? it's more fair to ascribe, say, the invention of the wheel to tradition than one person, I believe. some people just happen to be at the right time and place, and, being a genius or not, come up with the round wheels to replace the old square ones.

[Laocoon]

Originally Posted by Slavni

Nikola Tesla?

Of course.

[Truth-Finder]

Originally Posted by Duchemin

Of course.

Nikola Tesla of course!!!
The greatest of all inventors IMO and if I'm not wrong, a victim of Edison's rapacity
How sad that he died in poverty

[Youenn]

Originally Posted by Mynydd

Hitler had an imperialist vision.

I didn't say the contrary.

I don't agree with him on all points but Hitler was for a natural order whereas Napoleon propagated the progressism and emancipated the Jews in Europe.

Originally Posted by Mynydd

And let's not forget that the chaotic times which we are living come as a result of WWII. Indirectly as a result of the mismanagement and miscalculations of a megalomaniac visionary.

Reject all evils of the ground on Hitler is easy. And if all came from the French revolution which broke the natural order ? My chouan ancestors would have fought better if they saw the present situation...

[Ferran]

Uh, now that the thread is resurrected I would like to make a correction.

The source of this list didn't exactly spoke about "most important figures", which would have been very relative by the way, but about "protagonists" or "most outstanding personages". My apologies for the confusion.

[Caesar Princeps]

I would dare to say:
Caius Iulius Caesar: enlarger and founder of Roman Empire;
Saulus of Tharsus (St. Paul): who brought Christianism to Europe;
Charle Magne: he started the building of Medieval Europe;
Bernard de Clairvaux: he contributed to reform Church, preached the Crusades and founded the Templars;
Cristoforo Colombo: he started oceanic voyages, giving start to expansion and colonialism;
Martin Luther: he gave way to a new vision of Christianism, and broke in two European religious unity.
Napoleone Bonaparte: he widespred French Revolution and sowed the seeds of modernist nationalisms.
Karl Marx: the effects of his theories have became so terribly widespread...
Henry Ford: the inventor of consumism and mass capitalism.
Adolf Hitler: he stands as an unavoidable figure in last century's history;

[Sergius]

What about Lenin? Without Lenin, Marx's theories may never have come into practice, not just in Russia, but in all Marxist ruled countries throughout history.

[Caesar Princeps]

Originally Posted by Ljubomir

What about Lenin? Without Lenin, Marx's theories may never have come into practice, not just in Russia, but in all Marxist ruled countries throughout history.

Well, I preferred theorist and ideologist, because it is likely that such ideas would have found as well other men to put them into practise.
In my opinion, Russian Revolution would have taken place without Lenin too. There were other important leaders, for example Trotsky, who is said to have been potentially more terrible than Stalin himself. In fact, having just ten places, it was difficult to choose.
If I were permitted to choose 11-20 position, I'd say:
Alexander the Great, Attila, Francesco d'Assisi, Domingo de Guzman, Ignatius of Loyola, Louis XIV, Peter the Great, Lenin, Stalin, Churchill.