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Empires, Essentially, Create Order. In Their Absence, You Don't End Up With Lots Of Happy, Little Nation-states Full Of People Sitting Around Campfires Singing John Lennon's "imagine." What You End Up With Is Civil War, Anarchy.

Why Did The Germans And Japanese Keep Fighting After 1943 When Every Rational Hope Of Victory Had Disappeared?

All Empires Have Depended On Local Legitimacy And Local Collaboration; They Are Not Based Primarily On Coercion. An Imperial Rule That Relies Wholly On Coercion Can't Endure. It's Too Expensive.

The Law Of Unintended Consequences Is The Only Real Law Of History.

In The Old Days It Would Have Been A Relatively Simple Matter To Have Checked Hitler's Territorial Ambitions. All You'd Have Needed Would Have Been The 1914 Combination Of Britain, France And Russia. Indeed, If Such An Alliance Had Acted Decisively To Defend Czechoslovakia In 1938, Hitler Might Even Have Been Overthrown By His Own Military. But It Was Not To Be.