Will the Real Oppressor Please Stand Up?

27-06-2025

This essay is written as a personal reflection on humanity's inability to uphold true justice. It is a call for self-examination and ethical courage - in a world where no one can claim full innocence. Not even I.

And it came to pass that the Emperor, considering himself the purest among men, entered the Court of Accountability. His voice sounded like trumpet blasts:
"My people have been wronged! Let me open the treasury, that reparation may be made!"

But he who sternly pointed his finger at the peoples of other lands had forgotten that his own hands, too, were stained with the dust of injustice.

"You all," he cried, "are guilty of slavery and plagues of the ages - pay with generous hand!"

Then an old man stepped forth from the crowd and spoke:
"But where is your purse, O Emperor, and where your robe of righteousness? Were you yourself not also a tool in the chain of injustice?"

And the Emperor reached for his belt - but found neither pouch nor purse. He looked downward and noticed: his body was naked. And true judgment stood before him, as clear as a mirror, from which one cannot escape oneself.

And the people held their tongues, for those who eagerly point at another's guilt must first face their own.

Time for a history lesson - and some reflection.

Empire/Power

Regions

Period

Led by

Victims ±

Remarks

British Empire 

Worldwide 

16th–20th century 

Elizabeth I, Victoria

10–35 million 

Transatlantic slavery, colonial wars, famines 

Mongol Empire 

Asia, Eastern Europe 

13th–14th century 

Genghis Khan 

20–60 million 

Slavery, mass destruction, deportations 

Ottoman Empire 

Middle East, Balkans, North Africa 

1299–1922 

Osman I, Suleiman the Magnificent 

1–5 million 

Slavery via Balkans & Africa, jihad, sharia 

Islamic Caliphates 

Middle East, North Africa, Spain 

7th–13th century 

Abu Bakr, Umar Ibn al-Khattab

1–5 million 

Slavery sanctioned under Islamic law 

Roman Empire 

Europe, North Africa, Middle East 

27 BC–476 AD 

Augustus, Trajan 

1–5 million 

Slavery as foundation of economy 

Spanish Empire 

Americas, Philippines, Europe 

15th–19th century 

Charles V, Philip II 

10–20 million 

Slavery, indigenous mortality 

Portuguese Empire 

Brazil, Africa, Asia 

15th–20th century 

Henry the Navigator 

1–5 million 

Early transatlantic slave trade 

French Empires 

Africa, Asia, Americas 

17th–20th century 

Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis XIV 

1–5 million 

Slavery in colonies 

Dutch Empire 

Indonesia, Suriname, Caribbean 

17th–20th century 

Jan Pieterszoon Coen 

1–4 million 

VOC/WIC slavery and plantations 

Russian Empire / USSR 

Eurasia 

16th–20th century 

Peter the Great, Stalin 

20–40 million 

Slavery, serfdom, Gulags 

Persian Empires 

Iran, Mesopotamia, Egypt 

From 6th century BC 

Cyrus the Great, Darius 

1–2 million 

Slavery (relatively mild) 

Chinese Empires 

East Asia 

2000+ years 

Qin Shi Huang, Kublai Khan 

10–30 million 

Slavery, serfdom, forced labor 

Macedonian Empire 

Greece to India 

4th century BC 

Alexander the Great 

1–2 million 

Slavery as war loot 

Japanese Empire 

East Asia, Pacific 

19th–20th century 

Emperor Hirohito 

6–20 million 

Slavery, forced labor, comfort women 

Incas 

Andes 

13th–16th century 

Pachacuti–Atahualpa 

1–2 million 

Slavery, Mita system (forced labor) 

Aztecs 

Central Mexico 

14th–16th century 

Moctezuma II 

1–2 million 

Slavery and human sacrifice 

Assyrians 

Mesopotamia 

2000–600 BC 

Tiglath-Pileser III, Ashurbanipal

0.5–1 million 

Slavery, brutal military empire 

Babylonians 

Southern Mesopotamia 

1800–500 BC 

Hammurabi, Nebuchadnezzar 

Unknown 

Slavery codified in law 

Hittites 

Anatolia (Turkey) 

1600–1200 BC 

Suppiluliuma I 

Unknown 

Enslaved war captives 

Zulus 

Southern Africa 

19th century 

Shaka Zulu 

1–2 million 

Slavery, Mfecane (ethnic cleansing), domination of rivals 

Songhai 

West Africa 

15th–16th century 

Sonni Ali, Askia Muhammad 

Unknown 

Slavery as trade commodity 

Ayyubids 

Egypt, Syria, Palestine 

12th century 

Saladin (Salah-ad-Din)

Unknown 

Slavery permitted, regulated 

Belgian Empire 

Congo (Congo Free State) 

1885–1908 (private rule) 

Leopold II

10–15 million

Slavery, forced labor, amputations, rubber terror 

German Empire 

Germany, Africa, Oceania 

1871–1918 

Wilhelm I & II, Bismarck 

1–2 million 

Slavery, Herero genocide, forced labor 

Third Reich  Germany

Europe, North Africa (temporarily) 

1933–1945 

Adolf Hitler 

40–70 million 

Mass slavery, Holocaust, labor camps 

United States 

North America, Pacific, Caribbean, Latin America, Middle East 

18th–21st century 

George Washington to George W. Bush 

10–30 million 

Slavery until 1865, westward expansion (Manifest Destiny), wars (Mexico, the Philippines, Iraq), economic and military hegemony, annexations of Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Texas (1845) — followed by the incorporation of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and more. (That is the historical weight behind the Mexican saying: 'We didn't cross the border — the border crossed us.')" 

Serbian Empire 

Balkans (Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania) 

12th–14th century 

Stefan Dušan 

Unknown 

Slavery, serfdom 

Akkadian Empire 

Mesopotamia 

ca. 2334–2154 BC 

Sargon of Akkad 

Unknown 

Slavery, first known empire 

Egyptian Empire 

Egypt, Nubia, Levant 

ca. 2686–1070 BC 

Ramses II, Thutmose II 

Unknown 

Slavery, monumental construction using forced labor 

Byzantine Empire 

Eastern Roman Empire 

330–1453 

Justinian I, Heraclius 

1–2 million 

Slavery, "Christian" empire, heir to Rome 

Mughal Empire 

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh 

1526–1857 

Babur, Akbar the Great 

1–5 million 

Slavery, Islamic empire with cultural flourish 

Timurid Empire 

Central Asia, Persia, India 

14th–15th century 

Tamerlane (Timur) 

7–17 million 

Slavery, violent conquests 

Sassanid Empire 

Iran, Mesopotamia 

224–651 

Shapur I, Khosrow I 

Unknown 

Slavery, last major pre-Islamic Persian empire

Khmer Empire 

Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam 

802–1431 

Jayavarman II 

Unknown 

Slavery, forced labor 

Tibetan Empire 

Tibet, Central Asia 

7th–9th century 

Songtsen Gampo 

Unknown 

Slavery, religious empire with brief expansion 

Habsburg Empire 

Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Balkans 

1526–1918 (peak) 

Charles V, Maria Theresa, Franz Joseph I 

1–2 million 

Colonial slavery, oppression, serfdom, Catholic absolutism 

Vikings / Norse Kingdoms 

Northern Europe, England, Iceland, Russia 

8th–11th century 

Ragnar Lodbrok, Harald Bluetooth 

Unknown 

Large-scale slavery, pillaging, deportations

Italian Colonial Empire 

Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia 

1882–1943 

Mussolini, Victor Emmanuel III 

0.5–1 million 

Slavery, forced labor, gas attacks, concentration camps 

And the list goes on…

Note: Mesopotamia (modern-day: Iraq, parts of Syria, Iran, Turkey, Kuwait)

  • Iraq — the core of ancient Mesopotamia (Babylon, Ur, Nineveh)

  • Syria (northeast) — border region influenced by Assyrians and Akkadians

  • Iran (southwest) — especially Khuzestan region (Elamites, Mesopotamian influence)

  • Turkey (southeast) — source of Tigris and Euphrates

  • Kuwait — southern edge of ancient Sumer

Other historical regions:

  • Ottoman Empire: Turkey, Greece, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Balkans, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia

  • Roman Empire: Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Britain, Greece, Turkey, North Africa, Middle East

  • Aztecs: Mexico

  • Khmer Empire: Cambodia, parts of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam

  • Songhai: Mali, Niger, Nigeria

  • Zulus: South Africa

  • Babylonians, Hittites, Akkadians: Iraq, Turkey, Syria

  • Byzantine Empire: Turkey, Greece, Balkans

  • Mughal Empire: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh

  • Macedonian Empire: Greece, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, India

  • Vikings / Norse: Scandinavia, Iceland, England, Ireland, Russia

So - how far have we really come after all these centuries?
We still live on a planet where in parts of Africa, albino children are mutilated or killed because so-called "witch doctors" believe their body parts possess magical powers. In Afghanistan, religious zealots behead mannequins in shop windows - because even a doll's face is seen as sinful. In countries like Indonesia, tons of plastic are dumped into rivers and oceans as if water were a magical landfill without consequences. And world leaders still host climate summits while flying in with private jets - as if aviation isn't part of the problem.

Slavery still exists - in the form of forced labor, child labor, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and modern debt bondage. It wears a different mask, speaks another tongue, but its essence is unchanged: dehumanization of others for personal gain.

Today, people are no longer shipped across oceans in chains - but are confined in factories, brothels, plantations, and households - often hidden in plain sight. Our clothes, electronics, and food sometimes bear the stains of invisible slavery.

Civilization? It doesn't exist.
Not as long as we are unwilling to sacrifice for it - but quick to pass the cost on to the child sewing our garments, the laborer picking our cheap fruit and the animal suffering for a full fridge or fast snack.

True civilization doesn't ask for comfort, but for conscience.
Not for beautiful words, but for brave choices.

We refuse to trade ease for discipline, hate for compassion, profit for justice, speed for care.
We want the fruits of civilization — without watering its roots.
We praise freedom - as long as it's our own.
We abhor injustice - as long as we don't have to give up comfort for it.

Time for a course correction

Empires have come and gone - by swords, slavery, and crusades. But there was one voice that led no army, annexed no land, and built no empire - yet touched billions of hearts.

Jesus of Nazareth, the only man without sin, left a world-changing legacy without ever drawing a sword or invading a nation. His message traveled further than the borders of any empire - because it rested not on violence, but on love, mercy, and nonviolence.

Rulers throughout history have misused his name to justify wars, establish colonies, or oppress others - completely contrary to his teachings.
Christ called for repentance, not occupation.

Empire/Power

Regions 

Period 

Led by 

Victims 

Remarks 

Kingdom of God 

Judea/Galilee (Roman province), global (influence) 

1st century AD 

Jesus of Nazareth 

None (himself a victim of state violence) 

No slavery, preached love for the other. No conquests — yet reached billions through compassion, forgiveness, and inner transformation. 

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