Conscies and the 2nd World War

[Nearly Sane]

Pretty much me

https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/battles-of-conscience-from-the-second-world-war-revealed-1-4852292

[SteveH]

If I'd been born 25-30 years earlier than I was, which'd've made me old enough to fight in WW2, I'd've probably done what many men of that gnerstion did: signed Dick Sheppard's peace pledge in1935, and in 1939 struggled with my conscience for a year or so and then joined up in 1940, on the grounds that the Nazis just had to be stopped, and by then the only way to stop them was war. WW2 was just about the only war in histroy that was justified.

[ProfessorDavey]

If I'd been born 25-30 years earlier than I was, which'd've made me old enough to fight in WW2, I'd've probably done what many men of that gnerstion did: signed Dick Sheppard's peace pledge in1935, and in 1939 struggled with my conscience for a year or so and then joined up in 1940, on the grounds that the Nazis just had to be stopped, and by then the only way to stop them was war. WW2 was just about the only war in histroy that was justified.

It certainly was justified due to the Nazi atrocities. However I'm not clear at what point it really became clear that the Nazi posed this kind of threat rather than just posing an expansionist threat that might involve invading the UK.

Certainly in 1940 the threat seemed to be the old fashioned 'they might invade us' - I don't believe at this point there was much discussion about the justification of war being to prevent genocide rather than to prevent invasion and loss of sovereignty.

In hindsight we know that winning the war meant preventing more genocide but I don't think that was how it was being justified in 1940.

[SteveH]

Good point - maybe I was using too much hindsight. The holocaust was only just getting started in 1940, and anyway wasn't widely known about until after the war. However, what was widely known about the cruelty of the Nazi regime was probably enough to justify the war.