Religion has been an ever-present catalyst of civil wars and regime changes in the history of European politics. The Holy Grail crusades and the Hitler's crusade against Jews are two good examples to show how religion and politics are sometimes unrecognizable in the political landscape of Europe. But after the world wars, in the era of industrialization in the previous century, religion appeared less influential. There were many social scientists who predicted a gradual slow death of religion amidst the growing influence of scientific belief and mechanical modernization. But it was just wishful thinking, as religion had become a more potent force to engineer political changes in Europe during the last decades of the twenty-first century.
The fervent anti-Jew activism of Hitler was a highly influential factor in European history, the effect of which still resonates in the political bullrings of many European parliaments even after six decades. In that count, there are many people who label Nazism as a religion, but thankfully a failed one. Another noteworthy effect of religion in European politics is the Irish civil war. With a close scrutiny, one can find that the fundamental problem between the two sides is that of religion. It is a case of religious problem, that is the struggle for supremacy between Catholicon Christianity and Protestant Christianity, spilling over to the politics of a region. Many lives had been lost until the relative calm of recent years in Ireland and England.
The civil war and the resultant split during the nineties in former Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia were also a final result of what had begun as a religious unrest. Balkanization (the term refers to the formation of several small countries in what was known formerly as the Balkan region, which comprised Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia) is a result of a bloody strife between two dominant religions of the region. This can also be considered as another case study on the influence of religion in the political milieu of Europe.
The most recent and ongoing case of religious matters overlapping with political matters is what is known as the issue of Islam fundamentalism. This is an issue that has gripped the whole world, not just the European countries. During the last decade, there has been an increased animosity between Islam and the dominant religion of a particular region. Often these religious skirmishes intensify to become street fights.
Especially after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in United States, the image of Islam in the eyes of European governments has changed over time. There were bomb blasts in London and Madrid. Also, several European countries like United Kingdom and France were accused of helping the alleged US propaganda of isolating Islam in the global context. These example all show that religion is a dominant factor controlling the political changes in Europe.
Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author.
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