The Wendish Crusade: Holy War or Political Ambition in the Baltic Frontier?

For centuries, the Polabian Slavs lived in their ancestral homeland around the Elbe River, in what is today Germany. Following their age-old traditional lifestyle, they excelled as largely peaceful herders, pastoralists and farmers whose lives embodied simplicity. Their home stretched from the north, on the coasts of the frigid Baltic Sea, and all the way to the south, where it slowly merged with the realms of Moravians, the Czechs, and other neighboring Slavic tribes. But to the west lay the Germans and the Danes, staunch Catholics and always hungry for expansion. They hated the Slavs for their ancient Pagan beliefs, and the rich resources that lay in their lands. And for that, they always wanted to rule them. At first, they tried to convert them to Christianity peacefully. When they failed, however, they resorted to war. Can that war be justified in modern times? Was it driven by simple greed and ambition, or something more profound?