History Which nation (Or People) has had the greatest affect on World History?

[Pugwash 0]

Just out of pure interest this one. The front runners must surely be Rome or Great Britain (I'm using nation and peoples very loosely here) but do other countries have a rightful claim, is that too euro-centric? Also what are the honorable mentions?

[Isaac 45]

Russians. 

[Scandypandy 78]

The answers to this are very contextual, depending on how you calculate it.
In regards to World History, as in history/events in the context of the impact worldwide then the answers WILL seem Eurocentric as in terms of a global scale Europeans take the cake.

The British, French and Spanish probably take the cake in Europe itself; most of the German "impact" could be considered to be centred in Europe.
In regards to ancient civilisations you obviously have the Romans and then your origins of civilisations/society in asia and what is now north africa/the middle east, however their "world history" impact is limited I suppose since the argument "well it all started there" is a bit null.

So, yeah.
I'd say Britain-France, with Spain jogging along nicely too.

Note that Empire Size or might doesn't necessarily reflect "biggest affect on World History" since we're talking on who affected the world, not just who was influential and had a legacy which spread.
Germany's closest claim would probably be Gutenberg's Printing etc, I suppose, but Britain and France outrun everyone else; Britain for their exploration, empire, industrial revolution etc and France for Charlemagne and the Revolution and all that guff.

I can't really pick France or Britain over one another because of the broad nature of the question.

[Shrek 0]

France,by far.

 

Mainly because of the Revolution,but before the 19th century,French was what English is now,in terms of usage of the language.

France was the birthplace of so many different ideas that in my opinion it's not even close.

 

From the caves of early humans,to Feudalism,the Revolution (the start of modern society and the world as we know it),etc.

 

Britain would be a not so close second,mainly due to the Industrial Revolution. However,it would have happened even without Britain,in Netherlands and Belgium.

[WaterPolo 89]

Spanish is actually the second most spoken language in the World. Right behind Chinese.

[Pew Pew You're Dead 39]

9 hours ago, WaterPolo said:

Spanish is actually the second most spoken language in the World. Right behind Chinese.

Spanish is the second biggest NATIVE language, English is the second biggest language, followed by Hindu, THEN Spainish.