What if generations of empires were treated like generations of people?

So elderly Spanish Empire declined as whippersnapper British Empire ascended. And 19th century John Bull mentored young Uncle Sam, who dominated much of the 20th century.

Like that?

So France becomes the overlooked middle child?

The Dutch belong in there somewhere, too, I simplified for brevity.

Nothing would change in the study of history. It’s just another lens through which to look at history. I’m sure it would not take the world of history by storm. In fact, it probably would get lost in the noise, as in “tell me something I don’t know.”

This is what I do when I study history! It’s all a little bit more manageable and easy to understand when you think in terms of individuals rather than big empires. International relationships become more understandable personal relationships and wars are like arguments.

It’s all just human interaction on a large scale anyway.