Britain and the World Wars

William Haines
March 16, 2010

I guess I just have to work this thing out of my system -- namely why Britain lost its position as the Eve nation in the providence of God. As an assiduous reader of the Principle will know, there is a providential significance attributed to the world wars of the twentieth century namely that they were Satan's final fling of the dice to achieve world dominion based on his vision of how things should be. Pitted against the countries that sought to implement this vision were the Allies led by the English-speaking world.

So if we turn to WWI, Britain went to war with Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire mostly due to a treaty to defend France if she was attacked. Now, there are a few British historians who think this was a mistake as Britain could have come to an arrangement with Germany allowing it to dominate the continent while Britain, protected by its navy, continued with its empire. This in Principle discourse would have meant 'giving in to Satan's temptation.' Britain did not and in 1914 became embroiled in a European war again, this time to prevent Germany from dominating the continent. (The last one had been to prevent France under Napoleon from ruling Europe).

After the war, Britain followed its traditional policy of supporting independence for the smaller countries, and liberalism and democracy where ever possible. The cost for Britain and its empire was considerable -- 1,100,000 killed, over 2 million wounded and $35 billion spent. Normally in wars the victor ends up richer and more powerful. But the First World War was a Pyrrhic victory leaving the UK culturally and economically weakened. But from a providential perspective the Allies, on God's side, made the condition of indemnity and paid the price for the messiah to be born. Maybe that should be added to all the war memorials? Lest we forget. I guess those who lost their lives in this cause, who were mostly good Christians, can look down from the spiritual world and feel that their sacrifice had a meaning beyond what they could possibly have imagined.

Turning to WWII, again Britain became involved out of its own free will. Hitler did not want war with Britain as, for racial reasons, he saw her as a natural ally. Instead his search for Lebensraum was to be satisfied by going East, exterminating the Slavs and repopulating their lands with Germans. But Britain committed itself to the preservation of Poland and so when Hitler invaded Poland, Britain declared war on Germany. Again, there were influential elements in British society that admired Hitler and wanted to find an accommodation with Germany. But again Britain overcame the temptation to keep to itself, preserve its empire and make the necessary compromises with Nazi Germany. So Britain overcame 'Satan's temptation' and sacrificed itself to defeat fascism and again liberate the nations of Europe. Of course this was something Britain and the empire could not do single handedly and in the later stages of the war the Soviet Union, and still later the United States, became involved making the ultimate victory possible.

As after the Great War, Britain did not benefit economically but instead was left economically bankrupt as much of its imperial wealth had been 'sold' or 'mortgaged' to pay for the war. The national debt stood at 250% of GDP and took 50 years to pay off, mostly to the US. But, was this huge sacrifice of blood and treasure worth it? It did not benefit the UK directly. In many ways we won the war but lost the peace and are now a minor power. Still, the English-speaking world brought a hopefully long lasting peace to Europe through fostering the development of stable liberal democratic institutions on the continent. Also, from the providential point of view, the nations on God's side made the condition of indemnity necessary to restore the ideal world, a world of freedom and democracy, creating the environment where God's three blessings could be realized. This of course included the liberation of Korea from Japanese domination and thus created the environment for the messiah to be able to start his mission. Again, if the men and women who gave their lives in the Second World War know this, I am sure they will feel that they served their country, not only by preserving its freedom and independence, but also by giving their lives so that Britain could fulfill its mission as the Eve nation in the providence of God, making the condition of indemnity necessary for the messiah to start his mission.

So, to come back to the rather difficult question of Philip -- why did Britain lose its position as Eve nation, a position it had held since the time of Jesus? Well, I asked Reverend Yoo and he told me what I had heard before. God did not transfer the position of Eve nation from Britain to Japan. It was Father himself who prayed and asked God to make Japan the Eve nation. He obviously had his reasons such as wanting to love and restore the enemy nation. Does it make any difference one might ask? Maybe not. Maybe it makes no difference whether a country is labeled the 'Eve nation' or not. Or maybe it does. If Father is who he claims to be, maybe God listens to him and maybe such things are an invisible reality. Maybe it means that the blessing, grace and responsibility that goes with having such a providential role is transferred from one country to another. Is this why God's grace appears to have left Britain so that the churches are now empty? If that is the case, what is one to say to the men and women who gave their lives, paying the indemnity so that God's providence for the Lord of the Second Advent could happen?