Burckhardt's conflict

Professor Jacob Burckhardt taught history at the University of Basel, Switzerland, in the last half of the 19th Century. During his lifetime, Burckhardt witnessed the Revolution of 1848, the unification of Germany and Italy, and the Franco-Prussian War. While he quietly lectured, the Ottoman Empire precariously held sway over much of modern-day Europe.

Some of Burckhardt's lectures may be found in two fine books: Reflections on History and Judgments on History and Historians.

In Reflections on History, Burckhardt discusses the conflict between the "three great powers," the State, the Religion, and the Culture. Burckhardt does not advocate the primacy of any one power in a society or civilization. Simply, Burckhardt analyzes the inherent conflict when one power gains mastery, while the other powers are held in check.

Burckhardt teaches us about the two centuries of bloody confict in Europe to end the Church's mastery over society. Burckhardt harshly criticized Christianity and Judaism.

Burckhardt tells us: "Islam has only one form of polity, of necessity despotic, the consummation of power, secular, priestly, and theocratic...." (Reflections on History)

Burckhardt continues: "While Islam of its very nature brings a certain barbarism in its train ... the gradual extermination of the subject people, creating a satanic pride in the victors, who came to display their utter contempt for human life...." (Reflections on History)

Moreover, Burckhardt tell us: "The strongest proof of real, extremely despotic power in Islam is the fact that it has been able to invalidate, in such large measure, the entire history (customs, religion, previous way of looking at things, earlier imagination) of the peoples converted to it." (Judgment on History and Historians)

Today, in our on-going struggles in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the gathering menace of a nuclear-armed Iran, Burckhardt's harsh criticisms of Islam would not be welcomed by our insular pundits, editorialists, and politicians.