The Qin dynasty was the first dynasty to unify the Warring States, which had been at war for many years. By the mid third century B.C., Qin had secured itself as the most powerful state in the region and had taken over as the leaders of the region. (1)(2)
The first emperor of the Qin dynasty was Qin Shi Huangdi. He was known as a ruthless ruler but he was also wise and knew how to keep a country intact and how to keep power.(1) He wanted to live forever, because according to him, the Gods had chosen him, making him partially invincible. He asked his medics to find a way of truly making him invincible, and to make him live forever. After him, Huhai became emperor. Huhai was the son of the previous emperor, Huangdi, and it has been thought to be curious that emperor Huangdi died while traveling with Huhai. After Huhai's death, Zi Ying became emperor. (1)(4)
The Qin dynasty is known to have made numerous achievements in its 52 year reign, most of these advances taking place in the time of emperor Huangdi. The Qin emperor made the first Great Wall, which was later destroyed and rebuilt by the Ming dynasty. The Qin dynasty also unified china after defeating the other warring states, made a legalist government under the emperor and standardized the written and spoken language of
China. The dynasty also made achievements which helped the everyday people. They standardized the length of axle's and wheels, standardized currency, and found alternative ways of farming which would help the everyday people. One achievement that does 
not look good on the Qin dynasty was the fact that they banned the ideas of Confucius. They were able to burn and suppress the ideologists who would study Confucius and revolt against the government. (1)(2)(4)The Qin dynasty fell because of corruption and greed in the government. When the first emperor died, his youngest son, Huhai, tampered with the will and took power, while also sentencing his brother to death. But, one of the generals took power and made the emperor his puppet. This was the main cause of the fall of the Qin empire.(4)
During the time of the Qin Dynasty, one leader making an impact in another part of the world was Hannibal Barca. He was a Carthaginian who lead a large army through France and into Italy to battle the Romans. He was intent on destroying Rome, which was Carthage's main enemy. His role in this war was so great that the romans called the war "The war against Hannibal". Hannibal freed Gaul (France) from the Roman army and also helped the Celtics, who in turn agreed to assist Hannibal is destroying the Roman Army. (3)Bibliography:
- http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china/qin.html
- http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/qind/hd_qind.htm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Punic_War
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Dynasty
