@lockeproposal and anyone else who cares to chip in.
When did Europe forget that Islam was at war with it?
If you would have a look at this? You'll see that the Muslims tear apart and consume the classical world with a series of relentless battles. They didn't save that knowledge for us, they took it from us and then bits of it leaked back centuries later. Look at the waves of attacks hitting what is now Italy for example, that would have disrupted any attempts of the remnants of Rome that may have risen again. What if without the Islamic attacks a Nuovo Roma may have happened within a couple of centuries?
If you would have a look at [this](https://youtu.be/c7y2LRcf4kc)? You'll see that the Muslims tear apart and consume the classical world with a series of relentless battles. They didn't save that knowledge for us, they took it from us and then bits of it leaked back centuries later. Look at the waves of attacks hitting what is now Italy for example, that would have disrupted any attempts of the remnants of Rome that may have risen again. What if without the Islamic attacks a Nuovo Roma may have happened within a couple of centuries?
Sure they did, but that's what happened everywhere back then. It is also important to note the makeup of European armies. During those times, national armies were not really a thing, and big armies weren't a thing either. European armies were small and split up between various different noblemen and such. That is the reason we got completely fucked by the Mongols out of nowhere, because nobody had large armies and it took a lot for them to organise and agree to fight together. Muslim armies were far better at organisation, at first because they were nomadic forces, and later because their armies were more centralised than European ones.
Rome's influence waned entirely because of Rome. In fact, if Rome governed itself better, the church would not have had anywhere near the amount of influence they ended up having. When the Romans vanished, the church became the government. Whilst the church did use a religious angle to whip up armies from different countries, I would argue that the expansion from Muslim countries during that time had a lot more to do with expansion for the empire's sake, rather than being religiously motivated. The church had to use a religious excuse to get the armies together because of the makeup of the forces in Europe, Muslim leaders did not because the armies were already there.
Sure they did, but that's what happened everywhere back then. It is also important to note the makeup of European armies. During those times, national armies were not really a thing, and big armies weren't a thing either. European armies were small and split up between various different noblemen and such. That is the reason we got completely fucked by the Mongols out of nowhere, because nobody had large armies and it took a lot for them to organise and agree to fight together. Muslim armies were far better at organisation, at first because they were nomadic forces, and later because their armies were more centralised than European ones.
Rome's influence waned entirely because of Rome. In fact, if Rome governed itself better, the church would not have had anywhere near the amount of influence they ended up having. When the Romans vanished, the church became the government. Whilst the church did use a religious angle to whip up armies from different countries, I would argue that the expansion from Muslim countries during that time had a lot more to do with expansion for the empire's sake, rather than being religiously motivated. The church had to use a religious excuse to get the armies together because of the makeup of the forces in Europe, Muslim leaders did not because the armies were already there.
Well, if you take it back far enough, Europe was at war with Islamic countries for centuries. As a result of our interaction with the Muslim world, we actually gained quite a lot. Technology and medicine that had been forgotten during the dark ages became available to Europe again after our interaction with Islamic countries, because they had it and we didn't. This played a part in several very important inventions over the next few centuries, like the printing press, which ultimately began to remove power from the church because it was the first time people could read religious texts for themselves instead of hearing it from the church. We also established trade with Islamic countries after the wars had begun to die down, which helped to catapult us into the renaissance.
So after all of this time, the situation on our side has become skewed. In this period of history, we broke through and the kebab didn't. It isn't a question of religion in Europe anymore, it isn't even a question of nationalism anymore. But it is in the Islamic world. It isn't that people don't recognise that there is a certain level of hostility that exists in Islamic countries, it's just that we have progressed beyond the point where that hostility is valid in any way to us, it is alien. In my opinion, this will work itself out over time. The problems that Europe has at the moment is nothing even remotely close to the ones we had in the past, so it is better to just carry on with business as usual and let it all play out.