Fall of the Hittite Empire
Around 1180 BC the Hittite capital Hattusa was destroyed and abandoned, ending the empire that had ruled much of Anatolia and northern Syria. Only smaller Neo-Hittite states survived in the aftermath.
Verisoph story dossier
Falls of nations
How states and empires end: from the Bronze Age collapse and the sack of Rome to Saigon 1975 and Kabul 2021.
How states and empires end: from the Bronze Age collapse and the sack of Rome to Saigon 1975 and Kabul 2021.
68 newly added in the last 14 days
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Late Bronze Age Collapse
Around 1177 BC a wave of destruction toppled the Mycenaean, Hittite, and other palace states across the eastern Mediterranean and Near East. Cities were burned and abandoned, and several writing systems and trade networks disappeared.
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Fall of the Kingdom of Israel
In 722 BC the Assyrian empire captured Samaria and ended the northern Kingdom of Israel. Much of its population was deported, and the region became an Assyrian province.
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Fall of Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire
On 10 August 612 BC a coalition of Medes and Babylonians stormed and sacked Nineveh, the Assyrian capital. The victory broke Assyrian power, and the empire ceased to exist within a few years.
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Fall of the Kingdom of Judah
Around 586 BC the Neo-Babylonian army under Nebuchadnezzar II captured Jerusalem, destroyed the First Temple, and ended the Kingdom of Judah. Much of the population was exiled to Babylon.
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Fall of the Lydian Kingdom
Around 546 BC Cyrus the Great defeated King Croesus and captured the Lydian capital Sardis. Lydia, one of the wealthiest states of Anatolia, became a Persian province.
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Fall of Babylon to Cyrus the Great
On 12 October 539 BC the Persian army of Cyrus the Great entered Babylon, ending the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The city was taken with little fighting and absorbed into the Achaemenid realm.
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Fall of the Achaemenid Empire
In 330 BC the armies of Alexander the Great overran the Persian heartland, and the last Achaemenid king, Darius III, was killed by his own officers. The empire that had ruled from the Aegean to the Indus came to an end.
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Fall of the Maurya Empire
Around 185 BC the last Mauryan emperor was killed by his general Pushyamitra Shunga, who founded a new dynasty. The empire that had once unified most of the Indian subcontinent dissolved into smaller states.
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Fall of the Kingdom of Macedon
At the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC the Roman legions crushed the Macedonian army of King Perseus. The Antigonid monarchy was abolished, and Macedon was broken up and later annexed by Rome.
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Destruction of Carthage
In 146 BC Roman forces ended the Third Punic War by storming and razing Carthage. The city was destroyed, its people enslaved, and its territory became the Roman province of Africa.
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End of Ptolemaic Egypt
In 30 BC, after defeat at Actium, Cleopatra VII took her own life and Octavian annexed Egypt. The death of the last Ptolemaic ruler ended three centuries of Greek dynastic rule over Egypt.
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End of the Roman Republic
On 16 January 27 BC the Senate granted Octavian the title Augustus, confirming his sole authority over the Roman state. The move marked the effective end of the Republic and the beginning of imperial rule.
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Destruction of Jerusalem and Fall of Judea
In 70 CE Roman legions under Titus captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple, ending the First Jewish-Roman War. The Judean commonwealth was crushed and its people scattered.
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Fall of the Han Dynasty
In 220 CE the last Han emperor abdicated in favor of the warlord Cao Pi, ending four centuries of Han rule. China fragmented into the rival states of the Three Kingdoms period.
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Kingdom of Kush at Meroe Collapses
Around 350 CE the Nubian Kingdom of Kush, centered on Meroe, declined and was raided by the Kingdom of Aksum. The long-lived African state faded, and its capital was largely abandoned.
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Sack of Rome by Alaric
On 24 August 410 CE the Visigoths under Alaric captured and sacked the city of Rome. It was the first time in nearly 800 years that Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy, a shock felt across the Roman world.
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Fall of the Sasanian Empire
In 651 CE the last Sasanian king, Yazdegerd III, was killed while fleeing the Arab conquest. The fall ended the Persian empire and brought Iran under Muslim rule.
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Fall of the Visigothic Kingdom
In 711 CE an Umayyad army defeated and killed the Visigothic king Roderic near the Guadalete River. Muslim forces swept across most of the Iberian Peninsula, ending the Visigothic kingdom.
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Fall of the Umayyad Caliphate
In 750 CE the Abbasid revolution defeated the Umayyad army at the Battle of the Zab and overthrew the ruling dynasty. The Abbasids massacred the Umayyad family and moved the center of the caliphate eastward.
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Classic Maya Collapse
Around 900 CE many of the great Maya cities of the southern lowlands were abandoned and their dynasties ended. Monument building stopped and populations declined sharply across the region.
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Collapse of the Tang Dynasty
In 907 CE the warlord Zhu Wen forced the last Tang emperor to abdicate, ending nearly three centuries of Tang rule. China broke apart into the rival regimes of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
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Fall of the Fatimid Caliphate
In 1171 Saladin abolished the Fatimid caliphate in Egypt after the death of its last caliph. Egypt returned to Sunni rule and became the base of Saladin's Ayyubid dynasty.
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Fall of the Khwarazmian Empire
Between 1219 and 1221 the Mongols under Genghis Khan destroyed the Khwarazmian Empire that ruled Central Asia and Persia. Great cities such as Samarkand and Urgench were sacked and their populations slaughtered.
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Mongol Sack of Kiev
also in Russia, the USSR, and Ukraine
In December 1240 the Mongols captured and destroyed Kiev, the chief city of the Rus. The sack broke the power of Kievan Rus and placed its lands under Mongol overlordship.
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Fall of Baghdad and the Abbasid Caliphate
On 10 February 1258 the Mongols under Hulagu Khan took Baghdad and soon killed the last Abbasid caliph. The sack ended the caliphate and is often seen as the close of the Islamic Golden Age.
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Fall of the Song Dynasty
At the naval Battle of Yamen on 19 March 1279 the Mongols destroyed the last Song fleet, and the boy emperor died. The victory completed the Mongol conquest of China under the Yuan dynasty.
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Fall of Acre and the Crusader Kingdom
In May 1291 the Mamluks captured Acre, the last major stronghold of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Its fall ended nearly two centuries of Crusader states in the Holy Land.
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Fall of the Second Bulgarian Empire
By 1396 the Ottomans had conquered the remaining Bulgarian lands after taking the capital Tarnovo. The Second Bulgarian Empire ended, and Bulgaria remained under Ottoman rule for centuries.
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Fall of Great Zimbabwe
Around 1450 the city of Great Zimbabwe was largely abandoned as its power and trade declined. The stone-built capital of a wealthy southern African state gave way to successor kingdoms.
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Fall of Granada
On 2 January 1492 the Nasrid ruler Boabdil surrendered Granada to the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. The fall of the last Muslim state in Iberia completed the Reconquista.
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Fall of Tenochtitlan
also in Hinges of history
Hernan Cortes, with indigenous allies and after a devastating smallpox epidemic, captures the Aztec capital. The conquest opens the Americas to Spanish colonial rule and centuries of European domination.
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Fall of the Kingdom of Hungary at Mohacs
At the Battle of Mohacs on 29 August 1526 the Ottomans destroyed the Hungarian army and killed King Louis II. The medieval Kingdom of Hungary collapsed and was later partitioned.
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Fall of the Inca Empire
In 1533 Spanish conquistadors under Francisco Pizarro executed the captured emperor Atahualpa and seized the Inca capital Cusco. The conquest broke the largest empire of the Americas.
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Fall of the Vijayanagara Empire
At the Battle of Talikota on 23 January 1565 a coalition of Deccan sultanates defeated Vijayanagara and killed its regent. The capital was sacked and destroyed, and the empire never recovered.
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Fall of the Songhai Empire
At the Battle of Tondibi on 13 March 1591 a Moroccan army with firearms routed the much larger Songhai force. The defeat shattered West Africa's largest empire, and no successor state matched its power.
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Fall of the Ming Dynasty
On 25 April 1644 the last Ming emperor hanged himself as rebel forces entered Beijing. Manchu armies soon took the capital and founded the Qing dynasty, ending Ming rule.
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Fall of the Safavid Empire
On 23 October 1722, after a long siege, the Safavid shah surrendered his capital Isfahan to invading Afghan forces. The collapse ended effective Safavid rule over Persia.
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Fall of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
In April 1767 a Burmese army captured and burned the Siamese capital Ayutthaya after a long siege. The centuries-old kingdom fell, though a new Siamese state soon rose under Taksin.
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Partitions of Poland
also in Russia, the USSR, and Ukraine
Between 1772 and 1795 Russia, Prussia, and Austria divided the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth among themselves in three partitions. By 1795 Poland had vanished from the map for over a century.
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Fall of the Kingdom of Mysore
On 4 May 1799 British and allied forces stormed Seringapatam and killed Tipu Sultan. The victory ended independent Mysore and extended British power over southern India.
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End of the Holy Roman Empire
On 6 August 1806 Francis II abdicated the imperial crown under pressure from Napoleon, dissolving the Holy Roman Empire. The thousand-year framework of German states came to an end.
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Fall of the First French Empire
After defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon abdicated a second time on 22 June 1815. His fall ended the First French Empire and restored the Bourbon monarchy.
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Dissolution of Gran Colombia
By 1831 the union of Gran Colombia had broken apart into Venezuela, New Granada, and Ecuador. Regional rivalries and the death of Simon Bolivar ended his vision of a single large republic.
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End of the Mughal Empire
After the failed Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British deposed and exiled the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II. The dynasty ended and the British Crown took direct control of India.
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Fall of the Second French Empire
After Napoleon III was captured at Sedan, the Second French Empire fell and a republic was proclaimed on 4 September 1870. The collapse came in the middle of the Franco-Prussian War.
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Fall of the Zulu Kingdom
At the Battle of Ulundi on 4 July 1879 British forces defeated the Zulu army and burned the royal capital. The victory ended the independent Zulu Kingdom of southern Africa.
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Fall of the Kingdom of Hawaii
On 17 January 1893 a group of American and European settlers, backed by U.S. Marines, overthrew Queen Liliuokalani. The coup ended the Hawaiian monarchy, and the islands were later annexed by the United States.
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Fall of the Merina Kingdom
In 1897 France abolished the Merina monarchy and exiled Queen Ranavalona III. Madagascar was made a French colony, ending the island's main precolonial state.
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Fall of the Kingdom of Benin
In February 1897 a British expedition captured and looted Benin City, exiling its oba. The punitive raid ended the independent Kingdom of Benin in present-day Nigeria.
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Fall of the Ashanti Empire
In 1902 Britain annexed the Ashanti lands after crushing the last major resistance. The powerful West African empire, centered on Kumasi, lost its independence.
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Fall of the Sokoto Caliphate
In March 1903 British forces captured the city of Sokoto and defeated its ruler. The conquest ended the Sokoto Caliphate, one of the largest states in nineteenth-century Africa.
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Fall of the Korean Empire
On 29 August 1910 Japan formally annexed Korea, ending the Korean Empire and the long Joseon dynasty. Korea remained under Japanese colonial rule until 1945.
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Fall of the Qing Dynasty
On 12 February 1912 the child emperor Puyi abdicated, ending the Qing dynasty and more than two thousand years of imperial rule in China. The Republic of China took its place.
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Collapse of the Russian Empire
On 15 March 1917 Tsar Nicholas II abdicated during the February Revolution, ending Romanov rule and the Russian Empire. A provisional government took power before the Bolsheviks seized control later that year.
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Dissolution of Austria-Hungary
In November 1918, as World War I ended, the Habsburg monarchy collapsed and Austria-Hungary broke apart. Several new nation-states emerged from its former territories.
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Fall of the German Empire
On 9 November 1918 revolution forced Kaiser Wilhelm II from power, and a republic was proclaimed. The German Empire ended just before the armistice that closed World War I.
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Fall of the Ottoman Empire
On 1 November 1922 the Grand National Assembly abolished the Ottoman sultanate, deposing Mehmed VI. The move ended an empire that had lasted more than six centuries.
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Fall of the Kingdom of Egypt
On 18 June 1953, following the 1952 military coup, Egypt was declared a republic and the monarchy abolished. The Muhammad Ali dynasty that had ruled since the early nineteenth century came to an end.
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Fall of the Kingdom of Iraq
On 14 July 1958 army officers overthrew and killed King Faisal II, ending the Hashemite monarchy of Iraq. A republic was declared in its place.
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Fall of the Kingdom of Libya
On 1 September 1969 a group of officers led by Muammar Gaddafi overthrew King Idris in a bloodless coup. The Libyan monarchy was abolished and replaced by a republic.
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End of the Greek Monarchy
On 1 June 1973 the ruling military junta abolished the Greek monarchy and declared a republic. A 1974 referendum after the junta fell confirmed the end of the crown.
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Fall of the Ethiopian Monarchy
On 12 September 1974 the military Derg deposed Emperor Haile Selassie, ending a monarchy that traced its roots back many centuries. Ethiopia became a military-ruled state.
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Fall of Saigon and South Vietnam
On 30 April 1975 North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon, ending the Republic of Vietnam. The fall closed the Vietnam War and led to the unification of the country under communist rule.
the fall of Saigon (April 1975)
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
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End of East Germany
On 3 October 1990 East Germany was dissolved and its territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany. Reunification ended the separate communist German state.
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Breakup of Yugoslavia
In 1991 and 1992 Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Macedonia broke away, and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia dissolved amid war. The multiethnic federation fractured into separate states.
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Dissolution of Czechoslovakia
On 1 January 1993 Czechoslovakia split peacefully into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The event became known as the Velvet Divorce for its calm, negotiated character.
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Fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
On 15 August 2021 the Taliban entered Kabul as the government collapsed and the president fled. The fall ended the Western-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
Further reading
- The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers Paul Kennedy 1987 cited in 1
Change log
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