Justification of War
Tristan Thurlow
Is War Ever Justified?
War is one of the most terrible things the human race has invented. It sends more people to their death than anything else we force upon ourselves. Voltaire once said, “It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished, unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” This portrays the true irony of war, so many would say war is never justified. Many, perhaps even the majority of wars are not. However, never is a very strong word, and I do not think it is right to say that not a single war has ever been justified. To understand if war is justified, we must look at the motives for going to war. These motives can be nearly anything. In the past wars were often fought for personal gain, or to reclaim what they thought was theirs. Take for example the crusades. The crusades were a series of nine wars spanning over 200 years and claiming 200,000 lives. They were fought in an attempt to reclaim the holy land from people that had every right they did to have it. This kind of war, one that took so many lives and wedged such a deep hatred between the two sides that it is still palpable today, can never be justified. However, many other wars have started for other reasons. These reasons are more just than that of the crusades and much more acceptable. If we look at WW2 for example, it was a war fought do to the Genocide Hitler was carrying out. This is surely justifiable war, a war to stop this kind of unethical behavior must be. From the point of view of the English, it was an entirely justifiable decision. At this point you might think the answer to the question is yes, war can be justified. However, if one considers the point of view of the Germans, who started the war, this war was in no way right. None of their decisions can be justified; they left the British with no choice but to wage war, by invading Poland. The Nazis were waging war for power, killing millions of people just for a small
Is War Ever Justified?
War is one of the most terrible things the human race has invented. It sends more people to their death than anything else we force upon ourselves. Voltaire once said, “It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished, unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” This portrays the true irony of war, so many would say war is never justified. Many, perhaps even the majority of wars are not. However, never is a very strong word, and I do not think it is right to say that not a single war has ever been justified. To understand if war is justified, we must look at the motives for going to war. These motives can be nearly anything. In the past wars were often fought for personal gain, or to reclaim what they thought was theirs. Take for example the crusades. The crusades were a series of nine wars spanning over 200 years and claiming 200,000 lives. They were fought in an attempt to reclaim the holy land from people that had every right they did to have it. This kind of war, one that took so many lives and wedged such a deep hatred between the two sides that it is still palpable today, can never be justified. However, many other wars have started for other reasons. These reasons are more just than that of the crusades and much more acceptable. If we look at WW2 for example, it was a war fought do to the Genocide Hitler was carrying out. This is surely justifiable war, a war to stop this kind of unethical behavior must be. From the point of view of the English, it was an entirely justifiable decision. At this point you might think the answer to the question is yes, war can be justified. However, if one considers the point of view of the Germans, who started the war, this war was in no way right. None of their decisions can be justified; they left the British with no choice but to wage war, by invading Poland. The Nazis were waging war for power, killing millions of people just for a small