Just War Theory

A detailed Summary of Just War Theory

In a time of war, it is often times hard to think about anything but the problem at hand.

People don't even stop to think if resorting to war is the right thing to do or not. However, two

Christian leaders who were known as, Ambrose of Milan and Augustine of Hippo came up with

the idea of the just war theory, St. Thomas Aquinas supported their theory. This theory is a

determining factor or whether or not a war is "just" or "unjust." There are seven criteria in which

a war has to fit in order to be deemed just. The seven are, Just Cause, Competent Authority,

Comparative Justice, Right Intention, Last Resort, Probability of Success, and Proportionality.

World War 1 and World War 2 are two examples or war where a person could try to answer the

questions in order to find out if it fall under the just war category. In this paper, it is discussed

whether or not French involvement in World War 2 would be considered the right action, by

Is there Just Cause? Yes, historically, the danger of the war to France was very real.

Ever since the fall of Napoleon, France has fallen as country, militarily and politically. "In order

to take on countries as strong and powerful as Germany and I

Is there Comparative justice? If France were to stick their nose in the business of it's

Is there right intention? Of course, what country doesn't try to peacefully talk things out

Countries like Great Britain (United Kingdom) did just that, they helped to support France in its

people were more involved with the war than any leader could have been. In a war, it's often

the U.S. also stayed neutral until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. So in the end, France had the right

government and the people, volunteering for military duty and so on, it wasn't just the

the leader at this time, and for a free France, he was declared the first important base of growth

Is there competent authority? No, Nazi Germany began its invasion on France in 1940,

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theoretically, the danger is also real, seeing as how the theory deals with the ethical justification

hands of many irresponsible people, like Hitler and Mussolini. But, in the end, no country had

countries would have learned the lesson, but in the end, it was the good guys that triumphed.

been taken, who knows where this world would have gone. People would think after WWI,

country until later, they are also taking a risk there as well.

harbors for no apparent reason. In the end, all the actions taken were very fair. If action had not

Approximate Word count = 973
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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