I had this weird thought yesterday, that the Eastern Front of World War II was the final huge cultural clash between the successor states of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires:
Western Roman Empire -> Holy Roman Empire -> Prussia -> Germany -> Nazi Germany
Eastern Roman Empire -> Kievan Rus -> Muscovy -> Russia -> Soviet Union
The east was Orthodox, diverse, and had a culture of being the civilization surrounded by barbarians, yet surviving where others couldn't, be they Muslims or capitalists. They had a long tradition but still retained the perceived immortality of believing they had discovered truth and civilization.
The west was Catholic (which later split into modern Catholicism and Protestantism), relatively ethnically uniform and proud of it, and had been battered for years and felt they deserved something from it. They were jealous and hateful of the east. They stood in their ruins, having survived the worst, and now struck back.
The battle between East and West, from the Year of Four Emperors to the Venetians and the Byzantines all the way up to the Nazis and Soviets, and then ended as wars ceased to be about culture and became much more about ideology.
Thoughts?
Western Roman Empire -> Holy Roman Empire -> Prussia -> Germany -> Nazi Germany
Eastern Roman Empire -> Kievan Rus -> Muscovy -> Russia -> Soviet Union
The east was Orthodox, diverse, and had a culture of being the civilization surrounded by barbarians, yet surviving where others couldn't, be they Muslims or capitalists. They had a long tradition but still retained the perceived immortality of believing they had discovered truth and civilization.
The west was Catholic (which later split into modern Catholicism and Protestantism), relatively ethnically uniform and proud of it, and had been battered for years and felt they deserved something from it. They were jealous and hateful of the east. They stood in their ruins, having survived the worst, and now struck back.
The battle between East and West, from the Year of Four Emperors to the Venetians and the Byzantines all the way up to the Nazis and Soviets, and then ended as wars ceased to be about culture and became much more about ideology.
Thoughts?