Was the Second World War a Just War Or a Holy War? Essay Example

There are myriads of factors that are considered when the discussion of the nature of the Second World War. It is an open discourse to determine whether the war was a just war or a holy war. In Thomass book just war theory encompasses five criteria, which any conflict fulfills to be considered a Just War. First, there must be started, but the authority of the nation or the state controls it because the aftermath of the war typically involves the people and of the whole country, thus their views should be considered and discussed in the house of the legislature. In the Second World War, the government of British decided to declare war on Germany because Germanys aggression towards the weaker European countries increased. Thus, the Second World War fulfills the first criterion since the government was the authority of the federal state and considered the necessity to declare the war for the protection of European people.

Second, the just war theory of Thomas states that unless there is a Just cause for the outbreak of the war, the war is not justified, and those attacked must deserve it. In the same breath, the Second World War satisfied the condition to be labeled a holy war because France and Britain declared the war Germany on 2nd September, 1939since Hitlers inversion Poland and Czechoslovakia were considered a threat not only to France and Britain but also to the whole of Europe.

The third criterion according to the theory of Thomas, states that the war that is started must be fought to promote a right course as well as avoiding evil so that justice and peace must be restored after the war. The perspective of the Second World War is justified that France and Britain declared war on Germany with an intention to curtail Hitlers unjust exploitation over her neighbors such as Czechoslovakia and Poland. The war aimed to stop him from his wicked mission of concurring Europe and to put millions of civilians lives in danger due to destruction. The war was started with protection and safety measures with the aim of blocking Hitlers aggression so that peace could be maintained afterward.

Additionally, the war should be the last option to resort to when all other ways have been exploited and all of the registered failure to solve the situation. Apparently, before the declaration of the war on Germany, France, and Britain followed the Appeasement policy and settled for reasonable demands for Germany to prevent the oncoming war, but Hitler blatantly disregarded their effort to negotiate a peaceful settlement. They realized that Hitler's inversion would not stop and perhaps they were the next target. His acts of aggression became one of the reasons that compelled Britain and France to consider the war as just and declared it on Germany.

The theory clarifies that most of the wars aims are supposed to be fulfilled and often, the good that is gained by the victors ought to be greater than the controversy that led to the outcome of the war. This stance, however, was not the case of the Second World War. Czechoslovakia and Germany finally surrendered while the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing and, maiming over six million people. It is thus evident that the main aim of the war of restoring peace was not fulfilled as a great number of civilians were killed and left homeless. On the other hand, the war had some religious purposes in the latter stages of the war as over six million Jews suffered in the hand of the Nazi, which discriminately, had divergent views based on Hitlers prejudices to the Jewish community.