Why have armies so seldom intervened in the politics of European Essay

Why have armies so seldom intervened in the politics of European countries in recent years Why have they so often intervened in the politics of countries in sub-Saharan Africa - Essay Example challenges principles of sovereignty made 300 years back with the Treaty of Westphalia that set an example for modern Europe ending a century of destruction and war. Under this treaty, highest authority belonged to the ruler and no appeal for justice could be made after the ruler’s verdict. The religion or principles of the ruler had to be followed by the subjects, Pope in the case of medieval Europe. This rule proved its worth in putting an end to confessional wars and each state was given the right to all internal affairs without interference. The negative aspect of this treaty was the formations of dictator governments on the name of sovereignty where all power vested in the hands of government officials or in majority cases just one person. This category of dictatorship was practiced in 19th century by leaders such as Bismarck, Emmanuel Victor and Garibaldi and others (STEPAN, 2012). Among all regulations one right was given to the ruler to call for war. This sovereignty right was only given to powerful European nations and was never extended to areas and places outside Europe. This power of declaring war within nations lay under the hands of governments. None had the right to speak and interfere when a European leader declares war and conquers parts of African or Asian territories for the sake of civilization, humanitarian or modernism. In the 19th century the concept of nations states spread and with it the idea of national sovereignty extended to other territories (ALONSO, 2011). Back in the 20th century, the Nazi regime in Germany raised a number of challenges and questions to the belief of nation’s sovereignty. With the principle of non-interference nations allowed Nazis to practice their activities that became the cause of genocides and massive killings with destructions. It was only when the Nazis threatened Europe’s domination; forces within Europe stood up to defend the cause. The debates on recent intervention in Bosnia and Iraq raise the same