Greek War of Independence The
Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) has sometimes been considered a religious war between Christians and Muslims, especially in its early phase. The Greek Declaration of Independence (issued on 15 January 1822) legitimised the armed rebellion against the
Ottoman Empire in a mix of religious and
nationalist terms: "The war we are waging against the Turks, far from being founded in demagoguery, seditiousness or the selfish interests of any one part of the Greek nation, is a national and holy war (...). It is from these principles of natural rights and desiring to assimilate ourselves with our European Christian brethren, that we have embarked upon our war against the Turks." Scottish writer
Felicia Skene remarked in 1877: "The Greek war of independence has never been called a religious war, and yet it had a better claim to that appellation than many a conflict which has been so named by the chroniclers of the past. It is a significant fact that the standard of revolt was raised by no mere patriot, but by
Germanus, the aged Archbishop of Patras, who came forward, strong in his spiritual dignity (...) to be the first champion in the cause of Hellenic liberty."
Ian Morris (1994) stated that "the uprising in 1821 was mainly a religious war", but that
philhellene Western volunteers joined the war for quite different reasons, namely to 'regenerate' Greece and thereby Europe, motivated by
Romantic ideas about European history and civilisation, and
Orientalist views of Ottoman culture. The
Filiki Eteria, the main organisation driving the rebellion, was split between two groups: one advocated the restoration of the
Byzantine Empire on religious grounds, and to encourage all Christians within Ottoman territory to join the Greek revolutionaries; the other advocated the
Megali Idea, a large Greek nation-state based on shared language rather than religion. This ideology portrayed Japan as a divine protector of Asia against
Western colonialism, framing the war as a sacred crusade to establish a superior moral order. Meanwhile, Buddhism, though less prominent, was adapted by some sects, such as
Nichiren, to support nationalism, reinterpreting texts to align with militaristic goals and promoting the idea that war was a means to purify and spread Japanese values. The Japanese government instrumentalized these beliefs to foster absolute loyalty and sacrifice, integrating them into propaganda and education. Shinto and Buddhist temples were used for ceremonies that glorified fallen soldiers as "
kami" (divine spirits) —like
Yasukuni Shrine—, reinforcing the narrative of a holy war; along with the use of terms like
Kamikaze ('divine wind'). However, this fusion of religion and militarism also created tensions, as some Buddhist leaders criticized the subordination of their doctrine to the state, while
State Shintoism dominated the ideological discourse, consolidating a vision of Japan as a singular nation (
Yamato-gokoro) divinely destined to lead the world. Massacres occurred on both sides. In addition to the Hebron killings of 1929, Palestinians suffered tragic losses in incidents such as the
Deir Yassin massacre, where over 100 Palestinian civilians were killed by
Irgun and
Lehi paramilitaries. Other events, such as the
Tantura and
Lydda massacres and expulsions, remain subjects of historical scrutiny and debate. Likewise, Jewish civilians were killed in retaliatory attacks and military engagements. The cycle of violence left deep scars on both communities and fueled lasting mistrust. In 1947, the UN's decision to
partition the
Mandate of Palestine, led to the creation of the state of Israel and
Jordan, which annexed the
West Bank portion of the mandate, since then, the region has been plagued with
conflict. The 1948 Palestinian exodus also known as the
Nakba (), occurred when
approximately 711,000 to 726,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes, during the
1948 Arab–Israeli War and the
Civil War that preceded it. The exact number of refugees is a matter of dispute, though the number of Palestine refugees and their unsettled descendants registered with UNRWA is more than 4.3 million. The causes remain the subject of fundamental disagreement between Palestinians and Israelis. Both Israelis and Palestinians make ethnic, historical and religious claims to the land. According to Israeli historian
Benny Morris, the 1948 war was seen by some Arab actors as "a war of religion as much as, if not more than, a nationalist war over territory." However, other scholars, including
Avi Shlaim and
Ilan Pappé, have challenged this view, arguing that the conflict was primarily a nationalist struggle driven by competing claims to land, sovereignty, and
survival.
Pakistan and India The
All India Muslim League (AIML) was formed in
Dhaka in 1906 by Muslims who were suspicious of the Hindu-majority
Indian National Congress. They complained that Muslim members did not have the same rights as Hindu members. A number of different scenarios were proposed at various times. This was fuelled by the British policy of "
Divide and Rule", which they tried to bring upon every political situation. Among the first to make the demand for a separate state was the writer/philosopher
Allama Iqbal, who, in his presidential address to the 1930 convention of the Muslim League said that a separate nation for Muslims was essential in an otherwise
Hindu-dominated subcontinent. After the dissolution of the
British Raj in 1947,
British India was partitioned into two new sovereign states—the
Dominion of India and the
Dominion of Pakistan. In the resulting
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, up to 12.5 million people were displaced, with estimates of loss of life varying from several hundred thousand to a million. India emerged as a
secular republic with a
Hindu majority, while Pakistan was established as an
Islamic republic with
Muslim majority population.
Nigerian conflict Inter-ethnic conflict in Nigeria has generally had a religious element. Riots against Igbo in 1953 and in the 1960s in the north were said to have been sparked by religious conflict. The riots against Igbo in the north in 1966 were said to have been inspired by radio reports of mistreatment of Muslims in the south. A military coup d'état led by lower and middle-ranking officers, some of them Igbo, overthrew the NPC-NCNC dominated government. Prime Minister Balewa along with other northern and western government officials were assassinated during the coup. The coup was considered an Igbo plot to overthrow the northern dominated government. A counter-coup was launched by mostly northern troops. Between June and July there was a mass exodus of Ibo from the north and west. Over 1.3 million Ibo fled the neighboring regions in order to escape persecution as anti-Ibo riots increased. The aftermath of the anti-Ibo riots led many to believe that security could only be gained by separating from the North. In the 1980s, serious outbreaks between Christians and Muslims occurred in
Kafanchan in southern
Kaduna State in a border area between the two religions. The
2010 Jos riots saw clashes between Muslim herders against Christian farmers near the volatile city of
Jos, resulting in hundreds of casualties. Officials estimated that 500 people were massacred in night-time raids by rampaging Muslim gangs.
Buddhist uprising During the rule of the Catholic
Ngo Dinh Diem in
South Vietnam, the discrimination against the majority Buddhist population generated the growth of Buddhist institutions as they sought to participate in national politics and gain better treatment. The
Buddhist Uprising of 1966 was a period of civil and military unrest in
South Vietnam, largely focused in the
I Corps area in the north of the country in central Vietnam. In a country where the Buddhist majority was estimated to be between 70 and 90 percent, Diem ruled with a strong religious bias. As a member of the
Catholic Vietnamese minority, he pursued pro-Catholic policies that antagonized many Buddhists.
Chinese conflict , the capital of the Pingnan Sultanate in
Yunnan, from the set
Victory over the Muslims The
Dungan revolt (1862–1877) and
Panthay Rebellion (1856–1873) by the
Hui were also set off by racial antagonism and class warfare, rather than the mistaken assumption that it was all due to Islam that the rebellions broke out. During the Dungan revolt fighting broke out between
Uyghurs and Hui. In 1936, after Sheng Shicai
expelled 20,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Qinghai, the Hui led by General
Ma Bufang massacred their fellow Muslims, the
Kazakhs, until there were only 135 of them left. Tensions with Uyghurs and Hui arose because Qing and Republican Chinese authorities used Hui troops and officials to dominate the Uyghurs and crush Uyghur revolts. Xinjiang's Hui population increased by over 520 percent between 1940 and 1982, an average annual growth rate of 4.4 percent, while the Uyghur population only grew by 1.7 percent. This dramatic increase in the Hui population led inevitably to significant tensions between the Hui and Uyghur Muslim populations. Some old Uyghurs in
Kashgar remember that the Hui army at the
Battle of Kashgar (1934) massacred 2,000 to 8,000 Uyghurs, which caused tension as more Hui moved into Kashgar from other parts of China. Some Hui criticize
Uyghur separatism, and generally do not want to get involved in conflicts in other countries over Islam for fear of being perceived as radical. Hui and Uyghur live apart from each other, praying separately and attending different mosques.
Lebanese Civil War There is no consensus among scholars on what triggered the
Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990). However, the militarization of the
Palestinian refugee population, along with the arrival of the
PLO guerrilla forces, sparked an
arms race for the different
Lebanese political factions. However, the conflict played out along three religious lines:
Sunni Muslim,
Christian Lebanese and
Shiite Muslim,
Druze are considered among Shiite Muslims. It has been argued that the antecedents of the war can be traced back to the conflicts and political compromises reached after the end of Lebanon's administration by the
Ottoman Empire. The
Cold War had a powerful disintegrative effect on Lebanon, which was closely linked to the
polarization that preceded the
1958 political crisis. During the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, an exodus of
Palestinian refugees, who
fled the fighting or were expelled from their homes, arrived in Lebanon. Palestinians came to play a very important role in future Lebanese civil conflicts, and the establishment of Israel radically changed the local environment in which Lebanon found itself. Lebanon was promised independence, which was achieved on 22 November 1943.
Free French troops, who had invaded Lebanon in 1941 to rid Beirut of the
Vichy French forces, left the country in 1946. The Christians assumed power over the country and its economy. A confessional Parliament was created in which Muslims and Christians were given quotas of seats. As well, the president was to be a Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of Parliament a Shia Muslim. In March 1991, Parliament passed an
amnesty law that pardoned all political crimes prior to its enactment. The amnesty was not extended to crimes perpetrated against foreign diplomats or certain crimes referred by the cabinet to the Higher Judicial Council. In May 1991, the militias (with the important exception of
Hezbollah) were dissolved, and the
Lebanese Armed Forces began slowly to rebuild themselves as Lebanon's only major non-sectarian institution. Some violence still occurred. In late December 1991 a car bomb (estimated to carry 220 pounds of TNT) exploded in the Muslim neighborhood of
Basta. At least 30 people were killed, and 120 wounded, including former Prime Minister
Shafik Wazzan, who was riding in a bulletproof car.
Iran–Iraq War soldiers during the Iran-Iraq War In the case of the
Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), the new
revolutionary government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran generally described the conflict as a religious war, and used the narrative of
jihad to recruit, mobilise and motivate its troops. On the other hand, justifications from the
Saddam Hussein-led
Ba'athist Iraq were mostly framed in terms of a supposed Persian–Arab historical enmity, and Iraq-centred
Arab nationalism (including support for
Arab separatism in Khuzestan). Traditional religious symbols were used during the wars. Notably, foreign Muslim volunteers came to Bosnia to wage
jihad and were thus known as "
Bosnian mujahideen". Although some news media and some scholars at the time and in the aftermath often described the conflicts as
nationalist or ethnic in nature. Some scholars have stated that they "were not religious wars", but acknowledged that "religion played an important role in the wars" and "did often serve as the motivating and integrating factor for justifying military attacks".
Sudanese Civil War The
Second Sudanese Civil War from 1983 to 2005 has been described as an
ethnoreligious conflict where the Muslim central government's pursuits to impose sharia law on non-Muslim southerners led to violence, and eventually to the civil war. The war resulted in the independence of
South Sudan six years after the war ended. Sudan is majority-Muslim and South Sudan is majority-Christian. == Timeline ==