Who is better, Ukraine or Vatican?

Vatican is a very unique country in the world: among the 195 independent sovereign countries recognized by the United Nations, it has the smallest territory and the smallest population. The Vatican has a land area of only 0.44 square kilometers and a population of less than 1000. The Vatican is a country with a religious leadership system: the head of state of the Vatican is the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. In the history of Europe, the Pope not only firmly ruled people's spiritual world, but also had so much power that he could even depose secular monarchs. /kloc-after the 0/5th century, the Renaissance and the Religious Reform appeared in European countries.

With the change of political and economic structure in Europe, the nation-state gradually replaced the feudal fiefdom state, and the degree of Pope's intervention in the secular political life of various countries became smaller and smaller in this process, until it finally approached zero. 1870 After the Italian army entered Rome, the Vatican lost its secular power. After losing secular power, the Pope lived in seclusion in the Vatican as a Catholic leader. 1929 February 1 1 Mussolini, then head of state of Italy, signed the Rutland Treaty with the Pope, winning the support of the Catholic world: formally recognizing the Vatican as a sovereign state.

How much presence and influence will a tiny place like the Vatican have in the world? During the Tehran Conference, Churchill suggested Stalin to consider the influence of the Pope in postwar Eastern Europe. After a moment of meditation, Stalin asked, "How many divisions does the Pope have?" In fact, the Vatican's total armed forces are only 1 10 Swiss Guards and 130 Vatican Gendarmerie. The two armies add up to only 240 people, and the number of posts in a standard division is usually more than 10 thousand.

In fact, Stalin asked the Pope how many companies might be more suitable, because the total national strength of the Vatican is about two companies. To put it bluntly, even sending people from two villages can easily win this tiny country without strategic depth. But the reality is that no national leader in his right mind would have the idea of attacking the Vatican. Although the United States has waged wars all over the world, it will never play tricks on the Vatican. Russia can intervene in the Syrian war and the Ukrainian war, but Russia will not play the Vatican's idea.

Italy, the Vatican's neighbor, is weaker than the two military powers, the United States and Russia. However, as one of the seven industrial powers in the West, it is easy for others to win the Vatican, not to mention that all the Vatican's territory is surrounded by Italy. If Italy wants to win the Vatican, it doesn't need to send regular troops, just send police to take over security. But the United States, Russia, Italy and even any big country in the world have never played the Vatican's idea.

This is because attacking the Vatican is not worth the candle. What can I get by taking such a small place as the Vatican? The benefits of attacking the Vatican are far from enough to offset the costs. All the land in the Vatican is surrounded by Italy. This means that whoever wants to attack the Vatican must first try to pass through Italian territory. The Vatican's special geographical position is similar to that of Mongolia, and it is surrounded by China and Russian territories. You might as well imagine who will attack Mongolia.

If anyone wants to attack Mongolia, it will first cause a violation of Sino-Russian territory. No country in the world is so bold. Similarly, an invasion of the Vatican requires a war with Italy first. Although Italy played a role in World War II, it does not mean that Italy will not resist when it is invaded at home. After all, Italy is one of the seven industrial powers in the west, not to mention the support of the whole NATO behind Italy. So attacking the Vatican needs to risk war with Italy and even the whole NATO.

So what if Italy wants to attack the Vatican itself? The papal state, the predecessor of the Vatican, is inextricably linked with Italy in history. It was Italy that signed the Rutland Treaty with the Pope in 1929, recognizing the Vatican's status as an independent sovereign state. After the Vatican became an independent sovereign state from 65438 to 0929, it still maintained a very special relationship with Italy. Vatican is a small country with almost no industry and agriculture. The Vatican's economic sources mainly include tourism, real estate leasing, bank profits, religious donations and other channels.

Although the Vatican is a fairly rich country, food and other necessities cannot be produced by itself. For a long time, the daily necessities of Vatican residents have been supplied by Italy. Although the Vatican issues its own currency, it is common with the Italian lira. This shows that the Vatican and Italy are inextricably linked in geography, history, economy and culture, not to mention that Italy is not crazy enough to openly do the right thing with the Pope.

As a country directly ruled by the Pope, the Vatican is regarded as the holy city of Catholicism. Catholicism has more than one billion followers in the world (about one sixth of the global population). Although developed countries in Europe and America have already implemented the system of separation of church and state, Catholicism still has great influence in civil society in Europe and America. Who would want to take the risk of being hostile to one sixth of the world's population and occupy a tiny place with no strategic value? Therefore, Britain, France, the United States, Russia and many other world powers will give the Vatican corresponding respect and establish formal diplomatic relations with it.

As of July, 20021,the Vatican has established diplomatic relations with 183 countries, regions and international organizations. The Vatican also has close economic contacts with these countries: the Vatican's gold reserves exceed $654.38+000 billion, and it owns about $600 million in stocks, bonds and real estate in many European and American countries. Vatican Bank has business relations with more than 200 banks all over the world. In this way, in addition to religion, the Vatican also tied itself with the interests of European and American countries through financial instruments, so the developed countries in Europe and America naturally became the protectors of the Vatican.

In a sense, the Vatican, a tiny place, has the same important influence as the United States, China and Russia in the world. Of course, some people may disagree with this-Stalin, for example, was quite dissatisfied with the Vatican. In fact, the Vatican's influence in international affairs is one million times its size. Small countries like the Vatican usually don't have much presence and influence in the world, but the Vatican is an exception among a bunch of small countries.

As a country directly ruled by the Pope, the Vatican has an extraordinary influence on a global scale. Of course, religious factors are generally hidden in international politics. After all, the core factor that determines the relationship between countries lies in their national interests, not their religious beliefs and ideologies. At that time, from the perspective of realistic international politics, Stalin naturally paid more attention to the hard power of the country in politics, economy and military affairs, while relatively ignoring the influence of the country in religion and culture.

Of course, religious factors will not have a decisive impact on international relations, but the subtle influence has always existed. Although the Vatican is a tiny place, its subtle influence in the world cannot be ignored by any country. At the same time, the Vatican is also very aware of its own strength, so it will not take the initiative to go to war with other countries. Keeping the Vatican will not pose any substantial threat to the interests of all countries, but taking the Vatican risks becoming an enemy of NATO and Catholics all over the world.

Since winning the Vatican will not have much benefit, but it still needs to take such a big risk, then the big countries naturally lack interest in winning the Vatican. The Vatican not only survived the game of great powers, but also played a special role in the international arena. Vatican is not only the holy city of Catholicism, but also the capital of art: St. Peter's Cathedral, St. Peter's Cathedral and Sistine Chapel are all representative architectural works in the world. The works of Botticelli, bernini, Raphael and Michelangelo are treasured in these buildings.