The End of the World

     Most religions have apocalyptic scenarios in their doctrines. None of the world empires of the past have existed at their zenith of influence and might forever and inevitably succumb to change whether internally, externally, or an alloy of those changes. An unique comparative analysis can be examined when comparing the eschatological hope-fears of the Christian Byzantium Empire and the enthusiastic vigor of the newer Islamic forces.
     An extension of the historical Roman Empire, Byzantium, with its capital of Constantinople, remained strong well into the tenth century if at only a shadow of its former power. The Judeo-Christian belief system upon which the Eastern Roman Empire was founded under Constantine took the promise of Jesus' return "soon" seriously and strove to set up a Christian world empire to begin Jesus' Millennial Reign on earth. This belief motivated the Byzantine's to expand and conquer, especially the areas around Jericho and the Holy Land.
     However, the quick rise of the fundamentally oppositional Islamic power immediately and dramatically reduced the dominating capabilities of the Byzantines. The Byzantine Empire was not unfamiliar with the tides of fortune having long weathered bankruptcy, civil unrest, plague, and military defeat. Initially, even as the empire's strength waned, hope burgeoned, especially in the outskirts of Constantinople's provinces. A variety of groups and belief systems viewed their Roman-founded empire as immortal as the phoenix that must suffer defeat to be renewed to full prominence again.

Overall there seemed to be a fairly popular train of thought that imperial redemption and renewal would start on the outskirts of the Byzantine Commonwealth and be consummated in Constantinople and/or Jerusalem. At least in part this tendency could be explained by the belief that the empire itself needed a renewal, its sacred vitality no longer strong enough to guarantee the empire's triumphant universalism. The power of renewal could no longer be found within Constantinople but outside of it. The shift of focus. of imperial sacred geography from the imperial center to the periphery sought to restore the vitality of mythical Byzantium through the inversion of established canons of imperial sacred space. In the situation in which the imperial center lost its strength, once-peripheral parts of the empire claimed this strength for themselves, positioning themselves as legitimate successors of Constantinople.¹

            1  Alexei Sivertsev. Judaism and Imperial Ideology in Late Antiquity (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University

               Press, 2011), 214.

     As the years wore on without providing a great return of Byzantine might, defeatism set into the culture, and the once proud armies of the Eastern Roman Empire called upon the Franks for military aid. The mighty Christian empire was set to fall.

     On the other side of the spectrum, the new Muslim armies expanded furiously with their own religious urgency in conquering the world because of the basic teaching's of Muhammad warning that the world would end and God would judge all.

What drove Muhammad and his armies to conquer is a subject of deepest controversy . . . it is clear that the common Late Antique themes of universalism and apocalypticism shaped both his message and his method. A significant portion of the Qur'an addresses the Apocalypse (the Last Day, the Overwhelming Event) when God the righteous judge would return and set the whole world to right. Believers were enjoined to a Holy War to prepare themselves and the world for the impending day of reckoning. Muhammad's last recorded speech admonished that 'Muslims should fight all men until they say "There is no god but God."' The goal seems to have been to build a universal righteous community - a melding of Late Antique monotheism with dynamics drawn from deep in the Age of Ancient Empires.²

           2 Eric Cline and Mark Graham. Ancient Empires: From Mesopotamia to the Rise of Islam (Cambridge, UK:
             Cambridge University Press, 2007), 330.

     Byzantium Christendom and the Islamic Empire had the end of the world to spur their conquests; thus, both sides of a centuries long war struggled to convert the world before the end. These two mighty empires used religion to mutual self-destruction.
     In the case of Byzantium, European Crusaders did as much to destroy Constantinople as the Islamic forces. Centuries of war, contraction of governed land by church officials, and reduced tax revenue wore out the Eastern Roman Empire. The Islamic armies fractured under diverging sects and local governors over their vast holdings. Essentially both empires crippled themselves enough for an outside force to have the final impact. The Arab-based Muslim world shifted as Asian Turks took the reigns of the empire, and the Byzantines eventually fell to these Islamic-modified Turks as well.
     In the end both regimes got what they long expected though perhaps neither side predicted the "apocalypse" to be of their empire, not the world. However and whenever man's world ends has been the focus of legends, tales, and religions for millenia. Since we can neither know the day of our own death nor the death of the world, strive to do all you can in the time given to consistently carry out your beliefs and improve upon the world that we do have for as long as we have it.


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Agatha Tyche

Fulfillment

     Only since the onset of the Industrial Revolution has the definition of a nation been considered. A kingdom, empire, duchy, or baronage had centuries of political significance and meaning, but as the common man gained a voice, the identity of the political unit and means of governance changed. Nationalism is a political ideology that attaches member citizens to a nation. During the inconclusive, gory republican revolution in France, individualism took hold of popular imagination. When pseudo-monarchical dictatorship under Napoleon ended the revolution and spurred French armies to invade much of continental Europe, this new, political nationalism spread from its cradle to the enormously diverse tribes, clans, and people groups throughout Europe.
     As the nations of Europe stoked the furnaces of the industrial revolution, historic military rivalries escalated as means of production and population rose. As material wealth increased dramatically in no time at all, these citizen-nations jostled each other over bragging rights. To encapsulate the essence of these views, no matter the state of your people's heritage, you should be proud of your language, religion, and culture. Nationalism is national pride; pride goeth before a fall.
     Nationalism seemed fulfilling. The industrial revolution's wealth and technological adaptations allowed Europe to conquer the world as the Imperial Age took hold of even smaller nations, notably Belgium. At the height of its glory, Europe took slight from any perceived offenses by competing nations, and as the web of inter-national alliances bound Europe together, war was unavoidable.

     As European nations descended into a total war of attrition, colonial populations were called forth to man the war front. Despite the large death tolls, troops from the colonies returned home with their own ideas of nationalism and self-determination. As the infrastructure for maintaining colonies was shelled into the mud of continental Europe, independence movements began in to push back against their oppressive overlords. The major effects of the Great War were to inspire nationalist movements in the colonies and to set the motivation for World War II.
     Just as the War to End All Wars crippled industrial production in Europe that weakened imperial powers, WWII decimated Europe to such an extent that the two decades following saw a nearly complete disassembling of imperial powers.
     Nationalism spurred European nations to reach the epitome of global domination while providing the decimation that destroyed their basis of power.
"Fulfillment" means that Europe was satisfied in their pride, strength, wealth, and might, ever proud of their developments and accomplishments. However, fulfillment also means a conclusion of a promise or prediction, and in that way Europe both fulfilled its desire of world conquest while completing the prophecy of pride.
     Wealth, technology, and cultural perceptions do not a great country make. People make a nation great. Love is stronger than hate. If a nation's people are fueled by hate and fear, they will never succeed, never be satisfied, and never feel safe.

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Agatha Tyche