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In history, there have been many powers in Europe that like to attack cities, which has caused continuous disasters in the region. It was also the birthplace of two world wars, but it was in this place that wars occurred frequently. In an area full of powerful nations, the smallest country in the world, the Vatican, rarely exists. How small is it? Only 0.44 square kilometers, equivalent to the size of Tiananmen Square in my country. Moreover, the country is completely surrounded by Italy.
What’s even more surprising is that although the Vatican is a small country, it has a huge influence both in the past and in the present. In the past, the Vatican (called the “Papal State” at the time) controlled the voice of the entire Western Europe when its power was at its peak; now it is also one of the most influential countries in the world, having an impact on the spiritual life of one billion people. As for many modern countries, they all respect it. So, how was the Vatican born? Why hasn’t it been annexed by other countries?
The population is only over 600 people. In Europe, where there are many powerful countries, why can the Vatican succeed in ordering countries such as Germany, France and Britain?
The full name of the Vatican is “Vatican City State”. It is located on the Vatican Heights in the northwest corner of Rome. It covers an area of 0.44 square kilometers and has a permanent population of about 600 people, mostly clergy. Including bishops, priests, and nuns. In addition to the permanent population, there are about 3,000 ordinary workers there. They are the main labor force in the Vatican, but they do not live in the Vatican City.
The predecessor of the Vatican is the famous Papal State in the Middle Ages. It has an effective control area of 40,000 square kilometers. At that time, it was one of the few regional powers on the Italian Peninsula. It appeared Let’s start with the ancient Roman Empire in European history.
The ancient Roman Empire was a large empire that spanned Europe, Asia, and Africa, centered on the Mediterranean Sea, and controlled approximately 5 million square kilometers of land in its heyday. After the advent of Christianity, the Roman Empire found that Christianity’s doctrine of advocating people to endure pain was very in line with its own ruling interests, so it respected Christianity as the state religion and determined its basic doctrines.
In 395 AD, the Roman emperor split the empire into two sons and implemented the division of east and west, which was called the “Western Roman Empire” and the “Eastern Roman Empire” in history. In 476 AD, due to foreign invasion, the Western Roman Empire fell, and Western Europe entered a period of barbarian rule. Catholicism is the only branch of the five archbishops of Christianity in the Western Roman Empire. At that time, Catholicism declared with great fanfare that it was the successor of St. Peter (the early leader of Christianity) and was qualified to lead the Christian church. Moreover, Catholicism has also been recognized by foreigners.
However, at the time the Italian peninsula was in a state of division, the Catholic Church’s survival was facing serious foreign challenges, and the pope’s personal safety was also threatened, so the weak pope sought External gangHelp, coincides with the fact that the Frankish kingdom, which covers most of the territory of Western Europe, is in a stage of infighting and seizing the throne.
Catholicism has a huge influence in Western Europe. The Pope and one of the Frankish princes, Pepin III, conspired to cooperate and crown him in the name of God to help him win Throne. In order to repay the Pope and improve the authority of the Pope, Pepin III personally led troops to attack the Italian peninsula, and then successfully occupied Rome and its surrounding areas.
In 756 AD, Piping III gave the recovered Rome and its surrounding areas to the Catholic Pope. This is the famous historical event in ancient Europe, the “Piping Earth Offering”. The Catholic Pope has the power of religious and secular management in one fell swoop, established the Papal State in central Italy, and continued to grow. The Papal State fixed its capital in Rome and built a castle called “Vatican Palace”. The popes lived in the Vatican Palace
By the 18th century, the territory of the Papal State reached its peak, becoming the religious center of Western Europe and one of the most important political forces in the Italian peninsula. Since Western Europe has never had a unified power, the church is dominated by a single family in Western Europe, and finally became a power that surpasses the countries of Western Europe.
In the Eastern Roman Empire, the emperor ruled the church, while in Western Europe, the pope ruled the king. At that time, there was still such a story: the pope expelled the Franconian emperor Henry IV’s membership, the emperorThe emperor prayed for forgiveness and walked to Rome on a snowy day to ask the Pope for sin.
The story that best reflects the power of the Pope is the Crusade. The cross is a symbol of Christianity. Everyone who participates in the expedition wears a “ten” sign, so it is called a “crusader.”
At that time, Jerusalem, which was originally a Catholic holy place, fell into the hands of Islam. In order to regain the lost land, the Catholic Church carried out up to 9 campaigns. In a series of campaigns, the Pope’s power reached its peak, breaking through the capital of East Rome, Constantinople, and trampling the former master under his feet. The Crusaders established dozens of troops in the areas they occupied. Crusader country.
The papal state is prosperous and declining. Why does Italy not annex it?
As the power of the Catholic Church has become more and more powerful, the Catholic Church has embarked on a path of decay and decline. All classes in Europe are very dissatisfied. The religious reform movement in Europe began to take place vigorously. Germany and France reformed Christianity and established Protestantism; the Church of England declared independence from Roman Catholicism… The sphere of influence of the Pope has gradually shrunk to the point where it can only maintain a Papal state centered on Rome.
In the 19th century, the awakening of modern European national consciousness further suppressed the pope’s living space. Under the leadership of national heroes, Italy launched a reunification movement. In 1870, Italy seized Rome, the Papal state. Being annexed, the Pope was forced to retreat to the Vatican Palace in the northwest corner of Rome, but did not succumb. Considering that the Papal State is recognized by all countries and the Pope is sacred and inviolable, Italy did not use coercive means to force him to abdicate.
After that, successive popes called themselves “prisoners of the Vatican”, not only hated the Kingdom of Italy, but even prohibited believers from participating in public office in the Kingdom of Italy. After a stalemate for nearly 60 years, in 1929, Italian Prime Minister Mussolini finally reached an agreement with the Pope. According to the content of the agreement, the Pope officially recognized the demise of the Papal State, but established the Vatican City State to retain the dignity of the state and the Pope. Italy also recognizes the Vatican as a sovereign state, and sovereignty belongs to the Pope.
Although as a small country, the Vatican’s influence in European countries is not as good as before, but being far away from the secular has allowed the Catholic Emperor to regain the recognition of more believers and their spirit And moral influence have a huge impact. At the same time, the Vatican also gave birth to many well-known popes, such as the current Pope Francis, who is known for his benevolence and piety. During his tenure, the relationship between my country and the Vatican has also improved. Today, Catholics have spread all over the world, with a total number of more than 1 billion people, and the Vatican has become the residence of the Pope, the supreme leader of the Catholic Church.
The Vatican also has many unique national characteristics, such as the entire countryIt has many magnificent and exquisite buildings, including the world’s largest church, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pope’s Palace, the Vatican Library, and museums.
Because the Vatican is too small in size, the institutions of many countries have to be arranged in the city of Rome outside the country. This has an interesting phenomenon-the Italian presence The local embassy is located in Italy’s own country.
Although the population is only more than 600 people, the Vatican also has its own military forces, including the Swiss Guard and the Vatican Gendarmerie. Among them, the Swiss Guard has approximately 110 people are responsible for the security work of important people; the number of gendarmerie is about 130 people, responsible for the social order, traffic control, criminal investigation and general police work in the Vatican City.
Some people may say that if the country is not engaged in production, what about life? The Vatican has neither industry, agriculture, nor natural resources. The supply of daily necessities comes mainly from Italy. Due to the Catholic Faith Center, the Vatican has huge commercial development value. Now the country’s income mainly depends on tourism, stamps, real estate rentals, donations from the faithful, and the profits of the Vatican Bank. The local people are also very wealthy, with a per capita GDP of 95,000 US dollars, ranking fifth in the world.
After years of development and reserves, the Vatican now also holds a lot of wealth, in North America, Many European countries have tens of billions of U.S. dollars in investment, their capital has penetrated into many economic sectors in Italy, and they have more than 10 billion U.S. dollars in foreign exchange reserves, including gold.
Looking at it now, although the location of the small country Vatican is very embarrassing, it can survive so well and long without leaving the “siege” of Italy. If other countries dare To annex this country, it is bound to cross the hurdle of Italy, but it is obviously not cost-effective to do so!
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