The four beasts of Daniel 7

The four beasts of Daniel 7 were identified from 1877 onward as four successive Gentile world powers: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. During Russell's presidency, the fourth beast represented the Roman Empire, while its distinctive little horn was associated with the Papacy. The identification of the four empires remained stable through 1917. From 1921 to 1928, Rutherford-era publications emphasized the fourth beast as a governing system combining professional politicians, great financiers, and ecclesiastical leaders, with the Papacy dominating this arrangement and its formation dated to 539 C.E. A decisive reversal occurred in 1933, when the identification of the little horn with the pope was explicitly rejected and replaced with the Anglo-American imperialistic system. The four beasts were also explained as successive manifestations of Satan's visible organization, a position reaffirmed in 1941. During Knorr's presidency, publications from 1958 through 1976 continued identifying the four beasts with Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, while tracing the fourth beast through Rome's successor kingdoms and identifying the little horn with the British Empire and its development into the Anglo-American dual world power. Spain, the Netherlands, and France were identified as the three horns displaced by this power. Publications during Franz's presidency from 1977 through 1990 repeated these identifications and clarified that the ten horns represented all the kingdoms resulting from Rome's dissolution. In 1999, under the Governing Body, Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy! retained the same four world powers and Anglo-American little horn, adding detailed explanations of the historical features of each beast and the little horn's opposition to the holy ones. Verified interpretive statements were found in every presidency; no presidency was without evidence.