Sauron vs Morgoth who did More to Counter the Free Peoples?

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

One thing you don't mention is that Morgoth's domain was absurdly small. I have a composite map tucked away which matches the Blue Mountains and the islands off Eriador to the Beleriand map; the distance from Thangorodrim to the mouths of Sirion is about the distance from Minas Tirith to Edoras. Even at its greatest extent, Morgoth's 'empire' was only the size of Gondor. Compare that to Sauron, who at one point ruled over literally everything in mainland Middle-earth that wasn't named Lindon, and you see how absurd it is to even compare the two.

I agree that Sauron's empire was bigger, but isn't it fair to say that Morgoth did rule over the lands of Men in the East for all intents and purposes? He was simply unable to leverage them into a military force with which to crush the Noldor – unlike Sauron at the end of the Third Age against the Free Peoples of course, which is another point in Sauron's favour.

I think it's also worth bearing in mind that much of Sauron's power derived from exploiting corruption already engendered by Melkor (albeit not by "Morgoth").