World War II as a Just war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

World War II as a Just war - Essay Example The countries were divided into two groups: The Allies and the Axis. Germany, Japan and their allies formed the 'Axis' while US, Britain and its allies as the 'Allies'. This essay would validate this claim that the war fought by the 'Allies' was a just war, by describing the true nature and criteria required to name a war as a 'Just war'. The basis of the 'Just war' is the point that no matter what the circumstances become, the prospect of war certainly means death and slaughter but at a certain point war becomes inevitable. This could be seen since the wars in the olden times. Though the criteria differ in nature but the moral considerations of the war are the same. Under these conditions, a certain criteria should be met before waging any war to make that war a 'Just war'. Just war theory is actually a collection of moral considerations which limits the devastations caused by warfare. This may involve the fair treatment of women and children treatment to maintaining an honorable code of conduct during the war. 'Just war' theory could be subdivided into two sets: The first being the jus ad bellum which actually means right to wage a war and the second being jus in bello which signifies proper conduct during the war. Jus ad bellum and jus in bello are further divided so we would look at them separately. (Coates) Jus ad bellum: The most basic part of jus ad bellum is that any war which would be fought should have a just cause. Just cause actually implies that war must be initiated in order to defend one's country or another country from another violent or oppressive country. The reasons for going to a war must not be to gain material gain, to capture lands or to punish people. The reasons should be humanitarian; a war should only be fought to protect the innocent lives which are in danger and not to put more innocent lives at stake. This is however difficult to determine which side of the conflict has a 'just cause' because every side considers its cause as just. Even though the Nazis are considered to be brutal and murderers, they themselves considered their cause of war just. If we come back to the World War II, we can easily make out that the Allies fought the Axis to put an end to their monstrosities and it was due to their efforts, that many countries, for example Poland and Australia did not fall to t he Nazi regime of Germany. The best example in this regard is the holocaust of the Germans against the Jews which was ended as a result of this war. The Allies therefore had a just cause of fighting because they wanted to put an end to the war provoked by the Axis. Another important part of the jus ad bellum is the 'just intention' which means that the intentions behind going to a war should be just. This is often confused with the 'just cause' concept because both speak of the aims and goals of a war but the basic difference between the two is that a war may be fought with a 'just cause' but not with a 'just intention'. This could be illustrated by the example that to attack a country in order to put an end to the oppressive government is a 'just cause' but by toppling that government if the intention is to form a government which is inclined towards the attacker country is not considered a 'just intention