I'm struggling to think of any great empire that was brought to its knees due to... | Hacker News

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		jcranmer on Nov 18, 2019 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: Coffee may have hastened the Ottoman Empire’s demi... I'm struggling to think of any great empire that was brought to its knees due to the introduction of something novel.

murderfs on Nov 18, 2019 [–]

Opium and the Qing.

jcranmer on Nov 18, 2019 | | [–]

The Qing Empire wasn't destroyed because of the opium, it was rather defeated by the militarily superior coalition of Europeans.

aganame on Nov 18, 2019 | | [–]

Also coffee was introduced to China in late 19th century...

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