Luther and the Nuke

[Ani_Ibi]

Over the final decades of the 15th and the early decades of the 16th century, the costs for administrating the early medieval state had been rising, in a considerable part due to a transition in warfare that forced rulers/estates to rely on costly artillery and mercenaries instead of (unpaid) knights.

The cannon technology again made improvements in the fortifications of castles and city walls necessary. The partitioning of territories among the sons of a ruler resulted in the creation of new political centers (residences), another source of state expense.

Resentment against an overburdening of the peasants by the feudal lords was widespread; the peasants believed their complaints to be just. In this situation, the publication of Martin Luther’s German translation of the New Testament (1522) and Old Testament (1523) exacerbated the tension.

While most peasants could not read, there were those who could… Martin Luther examined the bible for reference to the sacraments and rejected most of the Catholic sacraments, as well as the practice of celibacy and the institution of monasteries. Peasants examined the bible for reference to the feudal system. link

It’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki month again. Usually we examine this battle in light of Just War Doctrine and the Principle of Double Effect. I would like to look at some different aspects.

We know that America and Japan were both developing nukes. Japan in Tokyo and North Korea.

We can see from the above quote the clash between Luther and his princes on the one hand and the much-put-upon peasants on the other hand.

There are many parallels which can be drawn between this pre-Reformation situation and the pre-nuclear-age situation centuries later. Any thoughts on this?

We have seen in the above quote how advances in weaponry created the political climate from which the Reformation emerged.

What political climate emerged from the achievement of nuclear technology by the Americans? What theology(ies) emerged from this political climate? What political climate and theology would have emerged if the Japanese had achieved nuclear technology first?

I have deliberately asked open-ended questions so that we can have a free discussion on this and maybe learn a few things.

Bushido
Law of Land Warfare

 

[vern_humphrey]

Bushido was a code based on Feudalism – the Tale of the 49 Ronin is a classic treatise on feudalistic virtues.

WWII destroyed much of Japan’s feudalism, and produced a modern nation from the wreckage.

 

[Ani_Ibi]

Bushido was a code based on Feudalism – the Tale of the 49 Ronin is a classic treatise on feudalistic virtues.

WWII destroyed much of Japan’s feudalism, and produced a modern nation from the wreckage.

What ended feudalism in Europe and impelled Europe toward a continent of modern nations?

 

[vern_humphrey]

What ended feudalism in Europe and impelled Europe toward a continent of modern nations?

The rise of the nation-state in Europe ended feudalism. Kings sought more power, and that required suppressing the power of the nobles below them. Henry VII is perhaps the case study – expanding the jurisdiction of his courts at the expense of the baronial courts – a move which paved the way for the power his son, Henry VIII exercised.

 

[Mirdath]

What ended feudalism in Europe and impelled Europe toward a continent of modern nations?

The rise of the middle class, literacy, trade, travel, exploration, and the Reformation. Feudalism is no match for capitalism.

edit: vern’s got a good point too.

 

[Zooey]

What ended feudalism in Europe and impelled Europe toward a continent of modern nations?

At least one deadly blow to feudalism was struck by a wee slip of a French girl by the name of Joan.
All unknowingly, she was a nationalist. Easily one of the first such in European history.

 

[Ani_Ibi]

At least one deadly blow to feudalism was struck by a wee slip of a French girl by the name of Joan.
All unknowingly, she was a nationalist. Easily one of the first such in European history.

So we are off to a slow start which is completely OK since we are groping around for unfamiliar insights. It is safe to say then that, in Europe and in Japan, feudalism went the way of all flesh.

In Europe feudalism apparently had to change because the cost of living (read self-defence) rose beyond the means of feudalism. This transition brought about – among many other things – the Peasant War creating serfs from peasants.

In Japan, when actually did feudalism fall? After the nukes? Or much earlier?

 

[Jennifer_G]

What ended feudalism in Europe and impelled Europe toward a continent of modern nations?

Probably revolutions were the final blow. (Napoleon)

 

[Ani_Ibi]

Probably revolutions were the final blow. (Napoleon)

Yep. Well I have read some straight lines connecting the Peasant War and the French Revolution. I looked for them on the internet and couldn’t find them. But still a case can be made for that. Can you flesh out your thinking on this so we can follow along please? Thank you.

What was the final blow in Japan? And when did it come? Thoughts anyone?

 

[vern_humphrey]

So we are off to a slow start which is completely OK since we are groping around for unfamiliar insights. It is safe to say then that, in Europe and in Japan, feudalism went the way of all flesh.

In Europe feudalism apparently had to change because the cost of living (read self-defence) rose beyond the means of feudalism. This transition brought about – among many other things – the Peasant War creating serfs from peasants.

In Japan, when actually did feudalism fall? After the nukes? Or much earlier?

Japan is complex when viewed through Western eyes.

The Mejii Revolution in the latter half of the 19th Century ended the Bafuku (tent) Government by feudal warlords and created a central government – but in the process bankrupted the peasantry, taxing former landowners into renters. The money went to industrialization and pensioning the Samuri.

At the same time, however, the old traditions continued, with the modernized Army being infused with the Code of Bushido, to the point where the modern government became a sham and the militarists really ran the country. The Kwantung Army, for example, operated virtually free of government control in China.

In many ways, the Japan of 1940 more closely resembled the Japan of 1840 than a modern nation-state.