When European nations went to war in the name of God

A worshipper holds a wooden relic reputed to be part of Jesus's manger, upon arrival at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Israel. November 30, 2019. [Reuters]

Reckless pursuit of glory by superpowers echoes through chapters of history, bringing memories of follies that have cost millions of lives. Some of these mistakes are executed in the name of God and democracy.

There are cries of desperation from frightened Ukrainians fleeing Vladimir Putin’s aerial and ground bombardment. They are caught up in Russia’s quest to reclaim the land it believes was lost when Ukraine was granted independence after the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991.

The current invasion, according to Putin, is aimed to unite Russia and Ukraine. If this sounds stranger, a more ridiculous reason was used by Russia to invade Crimea 157 years ago.

How else would one describe Greek and Latin monks exchanging blows in the church of the Holy Sepulchre for keys to a door in a holy church in Jerusalem degenerating into a global conflict sucking in Russia, Britain, France, and Turkey? How can a dispute so trivial over who should access the place where baby Jesus was born degenerate into a war where over 60,000 soldiers would fight in Europe and kill 650,000 people?  

Bizarre as it sounds the dispute of keys to the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where Jesus was born and cradled in the manger, created a row over the right to repair the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It led to the war, British author AN Wilson says.

These squabbles which took place in 1852 were heightened by who between the Catholics and the Orthodox Christians had the right to preside over the tomb of the Virgin Mary in Gethsemane.

Lord Malmesbury, British Foreign Secretary in 1852, described as sad fighting for privileges in a spot where Jesus proclaimed peace.

The war was so ridiculous that the combatants who did not share a neighbour had to look for a theater where their troops could fight. The theater then, just as it is now in the proximity of Crimea. A lot of water has passed under the bridge, the Ottoman empire is gone, Russia is no longer the empire it once was and neither the Napoleonic France nor German the powers they once were. But still, all these superpowers are now mobilizing and once again, Eastern Europe is a war zone.

Putin has warned everybody of dire consequences should they stand in the way of Russia’s quest for her lost glory. In the last war, there was no outright winner. The world is watching whether Putin will prevail where Czar Nicholas I faltered.