Wwii: the Good War?
US History: Surv Since 1877 The Good War? Many Historians call World War II “The Good War. ” The Second World war consumed every corner of the globe, pitting the world’s biggest powers against each other. There were two sides the Axis powers and the Allied Powers. The Axis included many Germany, Japan, and Italy. The Allied powers included the Soviet Union, United States, British Empire, China, and France to name a few. World War II was caused by several things. One was the Treaty of Versailles which Germany could not afford to pay.
In turn they empowered a man who vowed to rip up the treaty. Two other reason were the failure of appeasement and the failure of the league of Nations. There are many reasons why people think that World War II was “The Good War,” Paul Fussell gives a good account on the subject. A Good War, A Just War, A Moral: Fussell’s accounts simply show that these terms are simply not possible for the teenage kid being shipped off to fight in the war at the tender ages of 18, 19, 20, or even 17. For American troops, the first unpleasant act in their active and dangerous participation in what has been misleadingly termed the Good War was throwing up in the transport conveying them to the United Kingdom (Fussell pg. 15). ” Fussell references to how the war is misnamed “The Good War” here. He suggests how can the war be good when we are putting these young boys in situations were they are throwing up out of fear. The fear is not the only problem, the men ate terrible food twice a day standing up while the officers ate at white linen tables with nice cutlery and better food.
This was not the firs blow to his morale though. In training, many draftees were greeted with the letters R. T. C. which the draftee quickly learned meant replacement training center (pg. 95). Many thoughts would enter the draftees head after reading those letters, “Why, he wondered, were so many hundred of thousands of drafted boys needed as replacements? For whom or what? Was the army expecting that many deaths or incapacitating wounds (Fussell pg. 95). ” He soon learned that the answer was yes which as you can imagination was quite demoralizing and does not condescend to “The Good War” idea.
Another Concept that Fussel used to support his motion that World War II wasn’t the good war everyone was talking about; was disproving the idea that only the germans spared innocent life’s. He talks about the measures that the Allied forces used to protect the german assumption that the FUSAG was going to attack at Pas De Calais (Fussell pg. 32). “To move troops and reserves quickly to this fancied battlefield, Hitler would have to use railways, railway stations, and alas, railway towns, where many French civilians were killed (Fussell pg. 32). The allies bombed many french railroad structures and in the process killed many innocent citizens. The innocent killing of civilians could not relate to World War II being called the “The Good War. ” If World War II, was “The Good War” then why was there so much desertion. Relating back to one of the problems I mentioned earlier, one of the main causes of desertion was fear. “Many GIs were so scared that they required special attention. Says an American woman who worked with the Red Cross, “Just before they went across to France, belts and ties were removed from some of these young men.
They were very, very young (Fussell pg. 108). ” Fussell tells of a battle in france, where a fresh battalion arrived to relive a unit that was battered from fighting and many of the men had been killed. Their bodies not yet been removed, but were laid out neatly just behind the foxholes and decently covered with pine boughs (Fussell pg. 107). When the reinforcements say this, they instantly disappeared only to show up many months later. How can World War II be “The Good War” when young men are disbanding out of pure fear.
World War II may be being fought for a just reason. Hitler is clearly an uncontrollable menace who needs to be put down. On the other hand, World War II cant be “The Good War” that many historians claim it to be. Just as Fussell suggests a war can’t be good when we are sending our teenage young men in extreme situations which cause them to vomit out of fear. Also how can a war be good when we are taking the lives of innocent civilians. In the end, World War is not “The Good War” that many suggest it to be.
