During the middle ages, the Arabs invaded much of what is now modern day Europe and North Africa. Among the Arabs was one of the most important people of that time. This person was Muhammad. Muhammad would later from what is know as the religion of Islam. Never again would the Western World be the same. Islam would be the cause of the crusades and of future events in the modern world.
As a result of lose of the holy land of Jerusalem to the Islamic Arabs the Christian crusades were formed. The crusades were formed primarily just to take back and defend what was lost during the invasion by the Arabs. Little did the crusaders know that they would eventually be at a constant war with Islam due to the fact that both religions claim Jerusalem as their holy land. As the Christians and Muslims were at a constant war during the early years of Islam, the same thing still goes on even today. Now, the bigger battle over that of the Muslims and their different sects of Islam is still the battle over who is entitled to Jerusalem. However the crusaders did leave a permanent mark that is seen by the modern world today; that mark is their religion that remained in Europe and Africa.
In Europe, an affect of the Crusaders are the many great churches that still remain today. As the crusaders spread Christianity across much of Western Europe, churches were built on a grand scale. Though much of Christianity is dead in Europe a watermark from Christianity still remains. In Jerusalem, parts of Syria, Egypt, and many other near-by Middle-Eastern countries, the battle between Islam and Christianity still exist. Though Islam grew more than Christianity in that area of the world, Christians still remain and some still try to help gain the holy land that they lost to the later religion of Islam. Now more advanced in weaponry, the battle still continues on just as strong, but is often not as noticeable. Along with that is also a battle of the minds, and a battle of ideas.
Countries all over the world are affected by this newer battle over ideas. Crusaders, bringing Christianity back to life after much of the Christian population was converted to Islam later would have the affect on modern minds by spreading Christianity among them. Even though "The Crusaders" do not exist in the modern world, their ideas that they fought for do. Since many Europeans who had been affected by the crusaders, and converted to Christianity during the crusades later spread out into areas in the Eastern United States, the world that we as Americans live in was and is also affected by the crusaders. Small but strong, the ideas spread fast and continued to spread (though not as fast as during the crusades). Islam however, also was brought to our world, but not as much as Christianity because of the fact that Islam is somewhat centralized in the Middle-East.
Overall, the crusaders had a huge affect on the physical, and the mental sides of all people. Weather it be by having something to fight against, for, or just be confused about, the crusades will forever cause a change in ideas among thinking. Along with that will the crusades always have the effect of battle for the holy land by those who think in a Christian way, and will try to regain Jerusalem and the lands around it which are now primarily Muslim lands.
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