• huf [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    haha, robert e lee, man famous mainly for losing. oh yes, he sure had a great effect.

    the people who torpedoed reconstruction and created jim crow had a much greater effect, ffs.

    • LaughingLion [any, any]@hexbear.net
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      1 month ago

      Funny he is considered more influential than his counterpart and I don’t mean any generals in the union. By counterpart, of course, I mean none other than the brother of Jesus Christ himself, Hong Xiquan, leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

      You see, while we were having our quaint little civil war over here in the “new world” back in China they were having their own. Our boy Hong here claimed himself to be the younger brother of Christ and formed his own little Kingdom under the noses of the Qing dynasty. While we were suffering casualties in the mere 100s of thousands, they were dying by the millions. Wikipedia lists the total KILLED (not even wounded, mind you) as 20-30 million people and I’ve seen sources that estimate it as high as 50 million. Oh, and this rebellion lasted twice as long as the American Civil War and was happening as the American Civil War was also happening.

      I’ve never met a fellow American who knew about this, either. We literally stroke ourselves off like we are the center of everything when something 30-50 times as wild is happening on the other side of the world.

      • huf [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        1 month ago

        wasnt it this rebellion that broke the qing so badly (even though they managed to put it down) that it became possible to overthrow them and start on the road to mao?

        • LaughingLion [any, any]@hexbear.net
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          1 month ago

          I guess you could look at it this way. Though, this was happening exactly during the Second Opium War. Basically, exactly during the period in which the west was trying to destroy China through opium import. Which broke which?