Certainly long before the Louisiana purchase, and other westward expansion. Russia is less of a prison of nations that the US is.

      • GreenTeaRedFlag [any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        :downbear: it's authority came from the pope, making it holy and Roman, and it was composed of several conquered territories, making it an empire. Stop quoting Voltaire and grow up.

        • Sphere [he/him, they/them]
          ·
          2 years ago

          it’s authority came from the pope, making it holy

          Lmao ok, I guess holding the same office as Alexander VI makes one holy

          • GreenTeaRedFlag [any]
            ·
            2 years ago

            "Holy" in the sense that the US is a "democracy." Formal religion decides what is and isn't holy, and stares decide what to call their style of government.

          • GreenTeaRedFlag [any]
            ·
            2 years ago

            "I just put up a quote many people take seriously and believe with no indication that I didn't mean it. Do better."

            nothing in the post indicates this was a joke and I don't know you. Also, what's the relevance of the joke? That Germany was mentioned?

            • viva_la_juche [they/them, any]
              ·
              edit-2
              2 years ago

              there really was no reason to for the reddit bro energy either tbh, you jumped straight to being an asshole based on what exactly? Their post also indicates nothing more than at worst that theyd fallen for a common misconception that is often repeated without attribution to voltaire, its a pretty big leap of logic to ascribe anything malicious in it that would warrant being a jerk about it. Also lots of "jokes" on the internet esp are literally just "this is a thing that exists, remember?" Just off top i remember it being quoted as referential joke on QI once if memory serves

              • GreenTeaRedFlag [any]
                ·
                2 years ago

                Didn't get too mad in my initial response, just explained why the joke was wrong. Only got aggressive after the other poster started name-calling and said I didn't get the joke.

                • viva_la_juche [they/them, any]
                  ·
                  2 years ago

                  You’re very first comment to them was childishly obnoxious and not comradely behavior for a completely innocuous comment.

            • BynarsAreOk [none/use name]
              ·
              2 years ago

              Fucking debatebro shit right here. This isn't reddit, I don't even read fucking reddit enough to keep track of the shit they say. I was honestly thinking about gamers(paradox shit) and territory when that came to my mind.

              Gee you could have made your point about the problem with it without trying to be smartass and being personal. But hey I guess I apparently need to do better next time I pick a random quote from historical figures on a thread everyone is making jokes about countries.

              As for the relevance I suggest you open a map next time.

              • GreenTeaRedFlag [any]
                ·
                2 years ago

                Yeah actually, do better than picking a random quote. And what map are you looking at with HRE on it?

          • GreenTeaRedFlag [any]
            ·
            2 years ago

            Spanish royal house wasn't coronated by the pope, Charlemagne was.

        • CyborgMarx [any, any]
          ·
          2 years ago

          it’s authority came from the pope

          Let's pretend the reformation never happened

          • GreenTeaRedFlag [any]
            ·
            2 years ago

            HRE starts with Charlemagne, gets its name when the pope declared him emperor.

            • CyborgMarx [any, any]
              ·
              2 years ago

              Sure let’s just ignore the last 400 years of its history because some Frankish larper wanted to be called Caesar

              • GreenTeaRedFlag [any]
                ·
                2 years ago

                It's name originated with him and the pope, and they didn't do a renaming after the fact so that's still why it was called that.

        • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Pffft, everyone knows the real Holy Roman Empire was the Byzantines. The HRE was just a bunch of German Papists larping as Romans.