Chapter 4
Constantine's Vision: Christianity's Unlikely Triumph
By the third century CE, Christianity faced extinction. Despite growing to approximately six million followers (10% of the Roman Empire's population), Christians endured systematic persecution. Emperor Diocletian had launched a comprehensive assault: destroying churches, burning sacred books, stripping Christians of legal protections, and executing religious leaders.
Christianity's survival seemed impossible, yet its teachings were revolutionizing the ancient world. Unlike other religions that accepted infanticide, slavery, and the worthlessness of human life, Christians taught that all people-regardless of gender, status, or ethnicity-possessed inherent dignity as bearers of God's image. This radical concept would eventually underpin Western notions of human rights and equality.
The pivotal moment came in 312 CE when Constantine, son of a Roman emperor and an innkeeper's daughter, marched toward Rome to claim supreme power. Though outnumbered by his rival Maxentius, Constantine reportedly saw a vision-a flaming cross in the sky with the words "in this sign, you will conquer." He ordered Christian symbols placed on his soldiers' shields and vowed to convert if victorious.
Despite being outnumbered two-to-one, Constantine's forces triumphed at the Milvian Bridge when Maxentius made the critical error of positioning his troops with the Tiber River at their backs. Many enemy soldiers, including Maxentius himself, drowned during the retreat.
True to his vow, Constantine embraced Christianity and declared religious liberty throughout the empire. Whether his conversion was sincere remains debated-he continued some pagan practices and wasn't baptized until near death-but his policies transformed Christianity from a persecuted sect to the empire's dominant faith within a generation.
This religious revolution fundamentally altered Western civilization. Christianity's unique embrace of reason and logic, inherited from Greek philosophy, infused Western culture and stimulated scientific inquiry. Unlike other faiths focused on mysticism, Christianity accepted that faith could work in conjunction with reason, as second-century theologian Clement of Alexandria explained. This devotion to rational inquiry led directly to scientific advancement and technological progress.
Christianity's teachings about free will and human dignity established the foundation for political equality and individual rights. The concept of "natural rights" derived from God rather than human authority, often attributed to Enlightenment thinkers, actually originated in early Christian philosophy. Even the Magna Carta (1215), which limited monarchical power, was deeply rooted in Christian principles of justice and human worth.
Without Constantine's victory and conversion, Christianity might have remained a minor cult, and the Western concepts of individual freedom, liberty, equality, and rule of law might never have developed. As historian Bernard Lewis observed, both Christian and Islamic civilizations share roots in the interaction of three universalist traditions-Jewish, Persian, and Greek-with Christianity serving as the catalyst that unified these influences into Western civilization.
Chapter 5
The Battle That Preserved Christian Europe
By 732 CE, the explosive expansion of Islam had transformed the world with unprecedented speed. In just one century after Muhammad's death, Islamic armies had conquered territories from Pakistan to Portugal, nearly eliminating other religions throughout their domains. After taking Spain, they set their sights on France and beyond.
The Muslim forces had every advantage: unified leadership under the brilliant commander Abd al-Rahman, battle-hardened troops, high morale from a century of unbroken victories, and absolute conviction in their divine mission. They quickly overwhelmed Prince Eudes of Aquitaine, sacking Bordeaux and capturing countless prisoners. As one Arab historian wrote, "That army went through all places like a desolating storm... Everything gave way to their scimetars, which were the robbers of lives."
Europe's last hope rested with Charles Martel, "the hammer" who "breaks and crushes his enemies." Though lacking a standing army, Martel assembled a small force and positioned them tactically on high ground south of Tours, concealing their numbers among trees. When Abd al-Rahman arrived, he found well-prepared defenders in iron armor on advantageous terrain.
On October 25, 732, the full battle erupted. The Muslims mounted fearsome cavalry charges against Martel's phalanx formation, but the Christian line held like a "glacial wall." When Christian forces flanked the Muslim position and attacked their camp, Abd al-Rahman's warriors retreated to defend their families and treasure. During the counterattack, Abd al-Rahman was killed by a javelin. That night, inexplicably, the Muslims abandoned their camp and began a full retreat to Spain.
Though they would launch occasional raids into southern France in subsequent years, never again would they attempt an all-out assault on Christian Europe. By 759, their last foothold in southeast France was recaptured, and the Muslim army never crossed the Pyrenees again.
Martel's victory led to the rise of the Carolingian dynasty, most notably his grandson Charlemagne, who united the Franks and other warring tribes under the Holy Roman Empire. As "Father of Europe," Charlemagne created a common European identity and ushered in a renaissance of art, religion, and culture.
Had Martel been defeated, the consequences would have been profound. As historian Edward Gibbon suggested, "Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Muhammed." The Battle of Poitiers was thus essential to the development of freedom in our modern world, preserving the Christian foundation that would later nurture Western concepts of individual rights and democracy.
Chapter 6
When the Mongol Horde Turned Back
Five centuries after the Muslims were driven from France, Europe faced an even more devastating threat from the Mongol horde. In just 25 years, the Mongol army had subjugated more lands than Rome conquered in four centuries. Genghis Khan conquered twice as much territory as any other historical figure, creating an empire spanning 12 million square miles from Korea to the Balkans.
The Mongols' military prowess was unmatched. Their cavalry-only army moved with frightening speed, each warrior herding multiple spare horses, attacking across broad fronts to create confusion. They lived off hunting and looting, requiring no supply trains. Their philosophy of warfare valued their own warriors' lives above all else while viewing enemies as completely worthless-mere tools to be used. They herded civilians ahead of armies as human shields and used bodies to fill moats or build ramps to scale walls.
Their brutality was calculated and systematic. At conquered cities, they routinely executed all inhabitants, with death tolls reaching millions. In Hungary, half the population and up to 80 percent of settlements were destroyed. Terror tactics included releasing captives to spread tales of atrocities, frightening subsequent cities into submission.
By 1236, having conquered China and eastern Asia, the Mongols turned toward Europe at a pivotal moment when the Dark Ages were receding and early concepts of individual freedom and representative government were just beginning to emerge. The High Middle Ages (12th-13th centuries) had seen remarkable developments: the compass, mechanical clock, spinning wheel, universities, cathedrals, and expanded horizons. With increased security came demands for rights, culminating in the 1215 Magna Carta, which established constitutional foundations.
The Mongol invasion threatened to extinguish these fragile developments. In 1241, they crushed a hastily assembled army of 30,000 knights from Germany, France, and Poland, killing or capturing 25,000 Europeans. To the south, they surrounded Hungary's powerful army, bombarding them with flaming liquids and gunpowder from catapults-weapons the knights had never seen. Nearly 70,000 knights died, almost Hungary's entire military might.
With Hungary defeated, Vienna lay exposed, followed by Rome, Paris, Cologne, and eventually London. Western Europe seemed destined to fall under the Mongol sword. The Christians of Europe knew they were defenseless-their armies couldn't stop the invaders, and their cities couldn't be defended.
Then, as winter of 1241 settled over Western Europe, everything changed suddenly and unexpectedly. Four thousand miles away, Ogodei, the Great Khan, suddenly died. Shortly after, Genghis Khan's only other surviving son also died. With no obvious heir, a khuriltai (leadership council) was called to choose a new leader.
Mongol royalty immediately returned home to participate in selecting the next khan, along with many officers and leaders. Suddenly leaderless and without direction from their capital, the Mongol army withdrew from Western Europe. They never returned.
Historian Will Durant concluded: "What saved Christianity and Europe was simply the death of Ogadai... Never in history had there been so extensive a devastation-from the Pacific Ocean to the Adriatic and the Baltic Seas."
Had the Mongols conquered Western Europe, emerging values of Western culture-including freedom and capitalism-would have been destroyed in their infancy. European cities would have been razed, eliminating financial centers and great universities. Monasteries, centers of innovation and discovery, would not have survived. The embryonic notions of representative government from Roman and Greek empires would have vanished. Most devastatingly, Europe would have lost its intellectuals, skilled craftsmen, teachers, and leaders upon which all great civilizations are built.
Chapter 7
How the New World Saved the Old
By the late fifteenth century, European civilization stood on the verge of collapse. The church, once the chief source of order and peace, had degenerated "into a vested interest absorbed in self-perpetuation and finance." Corruption was rampant-popes created armies, accumulated vast wealth, sold indulgences and church positions, and lived scandalously immoral lives. During the Great Papal Schism (1378-1417), up to three competing popes existed simultaneously, severely weakening the church's moral authority.
Meanwhile, the Ottoman Empire was expanding relentlessly. After conquering Constantinople in 1453, they pushed into the Balkans, Italy, and Hungary, becoming "the present Terror of the World." Europe's survival against this vastly superior power seemed impossible.
The physical hardships were matched by complete moral collapse. Cruelty, treachery, and corruption infected all levels of society. Sexual immorality was rampant, and a pervasive sense of doom hung over everything. The Nuremberg Chronicle, published in 1493, predicted imminent apocalypse, declaring that "iniquity and evil have increased to the highest pitch."
But just months earlier, Christopher Columbus had returned with news that would transform Europe forever. The discovery of the Americas revitalized the Old World in profound ways beyond mere material gains. While Europe gained unprecedented gold, silver, new foods, timber and furs, the psychological impact proved far more significant. The discovery sparked an explosion of enthusiasm, energy and optimism that lifted Europe from its desperate state.
Europe stopped longing for an imaginary Golden Age in the past and began speculating about one in the future, laying foundations for modern thought. This period of revitalization ultimately created Western philosophy, which later gave birth to the United States and its unprecedented experiment with liberty and self-government.
Without the New World's discovery, the Ottoman Empire might have overrun all of Europe and eventually discovered the Americas themselves, establishing Muslim control across the Western Hemisphere. Christianity might have survived only in isolated pockets, and the Reformation and Renaissance might never have occurred. The moral and political philosophy that gave birth to Western concepts of freedom, individual rights, and equality might never have developed.
Chapter 8
The Battle of Britain: Democracy's Last Stand
In summer 1940, Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany. France had fallen, and most of continental Europe was under Hitler's control. The only thing preventing a German invasion of Britain was the Royal Air Force, which faced the world's largest and most advanced air force.
Despite Britain's precarious position, the nation had laid groundwork for defense through Sir Hugh Dowding's appointment to Fighter Command. In four years, Dowding transformed Britain's defensive capabilities by introducing two new fighter aircraft (Spitfires and Hurricanes), incorporating radar technology, creating central aircraft control, and devising a strategy to bleed the Luftwaffe dry.
Understanding his limited resources, Dowding created a central command center where young airmen and airwomen tracked enemy formations and directed British fighters for precise interceptions. His strategy was attrition-not winning outright but avoiding defeat long enough to forestall invasion until autumn weather made it impossible.
Dowding's supreme resource was his "chicks"-roughly one thousand pilots of Fighter Command. These brave young men, with an average replacement pilot age of only seventeen by late summer, were hopelessly outnumbered. By battle's end, one-third would be dead, severely wounded, or missing.
The battle reached its climax on September 15, when Goring ordered another massive attack with 250 aircraft. Instead of his usual pinprick tactics, Dowding ordered a full-scale response, holding nothing back. The Germans were shocked to encounter wave after wave of Spitfires and Hurricanes-far more than intelligence had led them to believe remained. By day's end, the RAF had shot down 60 German aircraft while losing only 26 fighters. The next day, Hitler indefinitely postponed Operation Sea Lion. The Battle of Britain had been won.
The implications were enormous. Unable to invade Britain, Hitler turned against the Soviet Union, sacrificing his army and prolonging the war until America entered after Pearl Harbor. If Britain had accepted Hitler's peace offer or lost the Battle of Britain, the mainland would have been conquered. Without Britain as a staging ground, America's ability to enter the European war would have been severely compromised. The Germans could have controlled the Atlantic with Britain's navy, developed long-range bombers to strike America's east coast, and completed their nuclear program unhindered.
As Churchill famously declared, "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few." These "Few"-roughly a thousand RAF pilots-created what one scholar described as "the single greatest event in world political history," preserving democracy when it faced extinction.
Chapter 9
The Fragility of Freedom
Freedom is not mankind's natural state but rather an extraordinary exception that emerged through specific historical developments. Of the estimated 100-110 billion people who've ever lived, fewer than 5 percent experienced true freedom-a "historical curiosity" that may prove temporary. This stark reality becomes even more striking when we consider that most of human civilization has been dominated by various forms of autocratic rule, from ancient monarchies to modern dictatorships.
Yale professor Robert Dahl identified only twenty-two stable democracies older than fifty years, highlighting freedom's extraordinary fragility throughout human history. From 1783 until 1828, the United States stood entirely alone as the only free republic. Though waves of freedom have swept across nations since then, they've often been followed by receding tides of tyranny. The 20th century alone witnessed the rise and fall of numerous democracies, with countries like Germany, Spain, and Chile experiencing periods of democracy followed by authoritarian rule, only to later return to democratic governance.
The seven pivotal events examined in this book-the Assyrians' unexpected withdrawal from Judah, Greek victory over Persians, Constantine's conversion to Christianity, defeat of Islamic armies at Poitiers, the Mongols' failure to conquer Europe, discovery of the New World, and Britain's stand against Nazi Germany-created the foundation for modern freedom. Each event represented a crucial turning point where history could have taken a radically different path. For instance, had the Greeks fallen to Persia at Marathon, the concepts of democracy and individual rights might never have developed. Similarly, if Britain had succumbed to Nazi Germany in 1940, the entire course of modern democracy would have been altered dramatically.
Professor Walter Williams warns this "historical curiosity" might be temporary, with mankind possibly reverting to its traditional state of "arbitrary control and abuse." Recent global trends support this concern, with democracy facing new challenges from rising authoritarianism, technological surveillance, and economic inequality. The rarity of freedom is matched only by its fragility-if we fail to appreciate the delicate nature of those singular events that created our enlightened era, tyranny may once again become the norm, reducing liberty to nothing but a memory.
The fundamental question remains: Do we still want these freedoms, will we work to claim them, and fight to preserve the miracle of freedom? This question becomes increasingly urgent as we witness the erosion of democratic norms in established democracies and the emergence of sophisticated new forms of authoritarianism. The future of the entire world may depend on our answer, as each generation must actively choose to maintain and defend the freedoms inherited from their predecessors. Historical evidence suggests that freedom, once lost, may take centuries to regain, if ever.
