Editing Preemptive war (section)

===World War II (1939–1945)===
{{See also|World War II|Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|German invasion of Norway}}
Once again, during the course of the even more widespread and lethal World War II, the hope of somehow definitively ending all war, including preemptive war, was seriously discussed. That dialogue ultimately resulted in the establishment of the successor organization to the League, the [[United Nations]] (UN). As with the League, the primary aim and hope of the UN was to prevent all wars, including preemptive wars. Unlike the League, the UN had the United States as a member.

In analyzing the many components of World War II, which one might consider as separate individual wars, the various attacks on previously-neutral countries, and the attacks against Iran and Norway might be considered to have been preemptive wars.

As for the 1940 [[German invasion of Norway]], during the 1946 [[Nuremberg trials]], the German defense argued that Germany had been "compelled to attack [[Norway]] by the need to forestall an Allied invasion and that her action was therefore preemptive."<ref>Myres Smith McDougal, Florentino P. Feliciano, ''The International Law of War: Transnational Coercion and World Public Order" pp. 211, 212</ref> The German defence referred to [[Plan R 4]] and its predecessors. Norway was vital to Germany as a transport route for iron ore from [[Sweden]], a supply that Britain was determined to stop. One adopted British plan was to go through Norway and occupy cities in [[Sweden]].<ref>"COMMAND DECISIONS", CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 2000. [http://www.history.army.mil/books/70-7_0.htm URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230145455/http://www.history.army.mil/books/70-7_0.htm |date=2007-12-30 }} p. 59 "The British plan which was adopted was more modest. While ostensibly intended to bring Allied troops to the Finnish front, it laid its main emphasis on operations in northern Norway and Sweden. The main striking force was to land at Narvik and advance along the railroad to its eastern terminus at Lulea, occupying Kiruna and Gallivare along the way. By late April two Allied brigades were to be established along that line."</ref><ref>"COMMAND DECISIONS", CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 2000. [http://www.history.army.mil/books/70-7_0.htm URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230145455/http://www.history.army.mil/books/70-7_0.htm |date=2007-12-30 }} p. 66, 67 "The British held back two divisions from France, intending to put them into the field in Norway, and planned to expand their force eventually to 100,000 men. The French intended to commit about 50,000. The British and French staffs agreed that the latter half of March would be the best time for going into Norway;"</ref> An Allied invasion was ordered on March 12, and the Germans intercepted radio traffic setting March 14 as deadline for the preparation.<ref>"COMMAND DECISIONS", CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 2000. [http://www.history.army.mil/books/70-7_0.htm URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230145455/http://www.history.army.mil/books/70-7_0.htm |date=2007-12-30 }} p.67,68 "The objectives were to take Narvik, the railroad, and the Swedish ore fields;" "an intercepted radio message setting 14 March as the deadline for preparation of transport groups indicated that the Allied operation was getting under way. But another message, intercepted on the 15th, ordering the submarines to disperse revealed that the peace [in Finland] had disrupted the Allied plan."</ref> Peace in Finland interrupted the Allied plans, but Hitler became rightly convinced that the Allies would try again and ordered Operation [[Weserübung]].

The new Allied plans were [[Operation Wilfred|Wilfred]] and [[Plan R 4]] to provoke a German reaction by laying mines in Norwegian waters, and once Germany showed signs of taking action, Allied forces would occupy [[Narvik]], [[Trondheim]] and [[Bergen]] and launch a raid on [[Stavanger]] to destroy [[Stavanger Airport, Sola|Sola airfield]]. However, "the mines were not laid until the morning of 8 April, by which time the German ships were advancing up the Norwegian coast."<ref>"COMMAND DECISIONS", CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 2000. [http://www.history.army.mil/books/70-7_0.htm URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230145455/http://www.history.army.mil/books/70-7_0.htm |date=2007-12-30 }} p. 68</ref> However, the Nuremberg trials determined that no Allied invasion was imminent and therefore rejected Germany's argument of being entitled to attack Norway.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abanet.org/irr/hr/winter03/lawregulatingresorttoforce.html|title=Law Regulating Resort to Force|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014101219/http://www.abanet.org/irr/hr/winter03/lawregulatingresorttoforce.html|archive-date=2009-10-14}}</ref>

In August 1941, Soviet and British forces jointly [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|invaded Iran]] with the aim of preempting an Axis coup.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tabatabai|first=Ariane M.|title=No conquest, no defeat: Iran's national security strategy|year=2020|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-753460-1|location=New York |page=91}}</ref>