Religion vs. Nationalism Throughout the Ages
Historians can never agree on anything. Whether it be debating the disappearance of the Anasazi Indians in the west or whether George Washington really did chop down the cherry tree, they always seem to leave us hanging. In the New York Times article "Religion and Nationalism, Historians Trace and Unholy Alliance," four historians debate the fundamental causes of war. Most of the wars in pre-enlightenment Europe were heavily rooted in religious differences but as the world progressed, conflicts became less about religion and more about cultural difference. Historians Anthony Marx, a political science professor at Amherst College, and Linda Colley, a historian at the London School of Economics believe that nationalism "begins with an act
entities in which the sense of a nation had not yet been firmly established. The Edict of Nantes, granting Protestants freedom of religion in France is by far the quintessential law granting religious freedom in France. The same goes for the French Wars on Religion. " Pre-enlightenment Europe was a very turbulent time in the continent's history. Such generalities never encapsulate one hundred percent of the conflicts in the world. This article, although highlighting two different views, reigns true on different outbreaks of war. At the beginning, the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand II wanted to make all of Germany Catholic but the conflict soon turned political when the Spanish wanted tighter control of Belgium but the French and Dutch refused. The Thirty Years War began as a war on religion but ended up becoming a war on politics and nationalism. Conflicts between Catholics and Protestants not were not only happening in the streets but between the governments as well. Historians must always study different events and deliberate causes and effects. " However, most countries masked their political conflict with that of religion.
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