Whether a twentieth Century War Was Just and a Holy War.

The first criterion is that of a just cause. In this case, it can be considered that Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia and Poland meets this criterion. Britain saw these invasions not only as a threat to those countries but to the rest of Europe and Britain itself.

Secondly, the war must be started and controlled by a competent and legal authority, suitably the British government. This implies that wars started by small groups or factions with self-interest are unjust and the authority of the government ids required because the whole country is involved. Parliament should approve it because parliament is representing the people.

The war must also be right intention, in this case to avoid the greed and evil nature of Hitler and to promote the fair, democratic rule of Britain and France.

The fourth criterion is that the war must be a last resort; it can be argued that Britain and France tried the Policy of Appeasement. A policy when they stood back and didn’t do anything.  but these methods of averting the war had failed and it became obvious that if they didn’t act, Hitler would take over France and in possibly eventually Britain.

In addition, there must be a reasonable probability of success. This is debatable, as some believe that the British army was not prepared and not as well equipped as the German army. Therefore the probability of success is not as high as the theory demands.

Similarly, the war must only involve military personnel and as few civilians as possible. This is also questionable as bombings took place in areas with high civilian populations, for example Dresden, showing little evidence of commitment to the terms of the Just War Theory.

A ‘Holy War’ is a war involving two different religions or races where one type of race tries to convert the other into their religion. There is little evidence to show that the conflict in 1939 was a ‘Holy War’ as Britain and France were not trying to convert the Germans but were simply acting in self-defence to protect their people. However, there is a religious element in the War, the killings of thousands of Jews by Hitler’s Nazi party shows clear discrimination simply because of people and their  beliefs.

To conclude, in my opinion the Second World War was just as many, if not all of the Just War Theory criterion were met. The war, ending in 1945, does not support the fact that it was a ‘Holy War.’