In the latter portion of the book of Alma we discover a fairly lengthy and detailed
account of some wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites. These conflicts seem to
envelop the energies of both the Nephites and the Lamanites. The account tells of the
aggressive Lamanite forces taking Nephite cities and the Nephites' valiant attempts to
resist those assaults and retake enemy-possessed cities. Considering several key aspects
of these ancient conflicts, we observe many profound parallels to the two world wars that
ravaged our own century.
In the first major conflict, related in chapters 43 and 44, the Lamanites, whose intention it was to "establish a kingdom unto themselves over all the land" ended up reluctantly making a "covenant of peace." (Alma 43:29; 44:14.) The Nephites had brought them to a situation in which they had no other alternative but to be cut down to the earth. (43:19.) This was also the case in World War I. The Axis powers, headed by Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm (who was fighting for control over Europe) were finally forced to sign an armistice. One of those contracts resulted in the disarmament of Germany(1)--resembling the way Lamanites were required to "deliver up [their] weapons of war...." (44:14,20.)
Under a new leadership, the Lamanites later broke their promise "that they never
would come to war again against [the Nephites]." (Alma 44:19,20.)
Like an echo of the Lamanite's fickleness, Germany breached the many pacts of peace that
were signed following the first World War,(2) and they
began sweeping the continent again under Hitler.
The next major conflict between the Nephites and Lamanites, described in Alma chapters 46 through 62, seems to correspond remarkably to World War II.(3)
One characteristic likeness is that there were two major fronts in the Nephite-Lamanite conflicts,(4) just as there were two major fronts in World War II: the Pacific, where the Allies faced the Japanese, and Europe, where they stood against Hitler and Mussolini. In both cases these fronts formed and then faded somewhat independent of one another.
Looking at the Book of Mormon account in more detail reveals comparisons to certain characteristic military tactics used during World War II. For example, we see reflected a form of Hitler's blitzkrieg when the Lamanite armies swiftly took one Nephite city after another, "all of which were strongly fortified," before finally being checked by the Nephite armies. (Alma 51:23-32.)
A leading role in the World War II drama was played by Adolf Hitler. Finding a parallel for him in the Book of Mormon saga is not at all difficult. In fact, if we had to choose one character from the entire Nephite record that best matched this frenzied fanatic, we wouldn't have to audition long to come up with Amalickiah.
Amalickiah was a "man of many flattering words...." (Alma 46:10.)(5) "By his fraud and by the assistance of his cunning servants, he obtained the kingdom...of the Lamanites." (47:35.)(6) He "sought also to reign over all the land..., the Nephites as well as the Lamanites." (48:2.) He "led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to destroy the church of God,(7) and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them...." (46:10.) Two chief Nephite military generals, Mormon and Teancum, considered that Amalickiah (and Ammoron, his successor/brother) "had been the cause of this great and lasting war...." (62:35; 54:5.)
Another important characteristic of the second World War was that victory over the Axis powers ultimately hinged on the strength contributed by the United States. Here we find a provocative parallel in Book of Mormon history. The pivotal factor which enabled the Nephites to triumph over the Lamanites was finally rallying the necessary support of men and provisions from the city of Zarahemla. (Alma 58:32,34; 59:12,13; 62:11-38.)
Until the city of Zarahemla was attacked(8) and the patriotic spirit reinstalled (Alma 62:7,9,10), those Nephites fighting for freedom in other locations "suffered exceedingly great sufferings; yea, even hunger, thirst, and fatigue, and all manner of afflictions of every kind" (60:3). Being "surrounded by security," those in Zarahemla "[sat] in idleness, while there [were] thousands round about in the borders of the land who [were] falling by the sword, yea, wounded and bleeding." (60:19,22.)(9) How applicable is this to the United States, who did not rally her full strength to the cause until after Pearl Harbor? And what about France and Great Britain who also did not readily render the requested assistance to the countries that called upon them for help until they themselves were caught in the crisis?
The Nephites who were on the battle fronts "looked up to [those in Zarahemla] for protection..., [and] placed [them] in a situation that [they] might have succored them, yea, [they] might have sent armies unto them, to have strengthened them, and have saved thousands of them from falling by the sword." (Alma 60:8.) This was a common theme during World War II. Nations in distress called almost in vain upon stronger nations for help. How applicable is Pahoran's rebuke to the modern nations who "withheld [their] provisions"? (60:9.) He said, "...Ye ought to have stirred yourselves more diligently for the welfare and the freedom of this people; but behold, ye have neglected them insomuch that the blood of thousands shall come upon your heads for vengeance." (60:10,12.) Unsettling though it may be, considering the degree of similarity between the ancient and the modern circumstances, can we ignore what Pahoran said? Was our reluctant country also guilty of "this great iniquity"? (61:18.)
Looking closer, we find an even darker side of this Nephite-Lamanite war. The greatest and most destructive enemies of freedom did not come from the ranks of the Lamanites, but they were full-blooded Nephites "who had rebelled against their country and also their God." (Alma 62:2.)
At first the Lamanites "feared to go to battle against the Nephites lest they should lose their lives." (47:2.) It was Amalickiah, a Nephite, who turned "the hearts of the Lamanites against the people of Nephi." (48:1.)
Adding to the Nephites' problems with intrigue, certain Nephites arose who called themselves "king-men." They "were desirous that the law should be altered in a manner to overthrow the free government..., and they were supported by those who sought power and authority over the people." (51:5,8.) These king-men in Zarahemla were responsible for that city's withholding their provisions and for daunting their freemen. (61:4.)
Therefore, a traitorous Nephite started the war, and other treasonous Nephites withheld the city of Zarahemla's men and provisions essential for fighting that war once it was started.
Did modern history produce such sedition? Were American citizens of high status involved in planning or precipitating the war? Modern prophets have indicated that this was the case.(10) What about those charismatic orators who so effectively kept U.S. sentiment against helping the cause of freedom once the war began--were any of them involved in shadowy plots?(11) Did World War II unsheathe such a paradoxical double-edged sword?
Pahoran's summary of the Book of Mormon conflict seems to capsulize not only the ancient but the modern conflict as well. He said, "...Behold, now the Lamanites are coming upon us, taking possession of our land, and they are murdering our people with the sword, yea, our women and our children, and also carrying them away captive, causing them that they should suffer all manner of afflictions, and this because of the great wickedness of those who are seeking for power and authority, yea, even those king-men." (Alma 60:17.) He also made this sobering analysis: "...Were it not for the wickedness which first commenced at our head, we could have withstood our enemies that they could have gained no power over us." (60:15.)
Fortunately, the war did finally come to an end. Notwithstanding "the murders, and
contentions, and dissensions, and all manner of iniquity..., for the righteous'
sake, yea, because of the prayers of the righteous, [the Nephites] were spared." (Alma 62:40.) Once the arsenal of freedom--in both the ancient and the
modern instance--was rallied to the cause, the tyrants were overturned and "there was
once more peace established...." (62:42.)
Reading about the conditions following this extensive Nephite-Lamanite war, we see that these years also hold several parallels to the situation following the second World War. First, in both cases, "because of the exceedingly great length of the war...many [people] had become hardened, and many had become softened." (62:41.) Second, the record states, "They did establish again the church of God, throughout all the land." (Alma 62:46.) In like fashion, immediately following the War, Elder Ezra Taft Benson was directed by the First Presidency to administer relief to the battered Saints in the war-torn European countries and to set the Church in order there.(12) Third, Moroni's fortification of "those parts of the land which were most vulnerable" seems to match the way since World War II, United States troops have been placed in allied countries world-wide, being augmented in areas that are most vulnerable. (62:42.) Fourth, the Nephite prosperity that followed the ancient war reflects that which followed World War II: they "began to multiply and to wax exceedingly strong again in the land; and they began to grow exceedingly rich." (62:48.)
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Endnotes:
1. Thomas A. Bailey, The American Spirit, Fourth Edition, D.C. Heath and Company, Lexington, MA, 1978, p. 721.
2. The Kellogg-Briand Pact, for example, which was signed by several nations including Germany, outlawed war except in self-defense, making aggressive war a crime. (Robert A. Divine, The Reluctant Belligerent, John Wiley & Sons, N.Y. 1965, p. 2,16.)
3. Alma 49 tells of a small battle, but this skirmish could be considered a part of the prolonged war that followed.
4. The first front began basically with Lamanite offensive described in Alma 51:26-28. The successful recapture by the Nephite forces of the cities taken during this offensive is described in Alma 52 and was performed by Moroni along with Teancum and Lehi. The second front involved the Lamanite offensive briefly summarized in Alma 56:13,14. The Nephite recapture of these lost cities was accomplished by Helaman along with Antipus, Gid, and Teomner, and the account of its culmination is in Alma 58.
5. Hitler developed an aptitude for "demagogic, almost hypnotic, oratory." (Peter Young, World War 1939-1945, C. Tinling & Co. Ltd., London, 1966, p. 9.)
6. Hitler shrewdly transformed the German's views of his political system from repugnance to toleration and finally to endorsement.
7. Though Hitler did not fight against any particular religion, his massacre of the Jews and his corruption of many men in the process does bear resemblance to what Amalickiah did.
8. The attack itself is what is being compared, not the Japanese' involvement in the attack.
9. With the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean between the U.S. and the European and Asian fronts, respectively, the Americans were not too worried about either force threatening them on their own soil. As the war progressed, and this became a more real possibility, a common sentiment was to let the enemy incur the expense of transporting their forces across the ocean. (See Charles Lindbergh's speech in New York Times, April 24, 1941, p. 12. Quoted in American Spirit, p. 825-826.)
10. David O. McKay, J. Reuben Clark, Ezra Taft Benson, along with other of the Brethren, have spoken firmly against what they called the Communist/Socialist conspiracy. Studying some of the books these prophets have recommended reveals that this conspiracy was heavily behind both World Wars. (See, for example, None Dare Call it Conspiracy by Gary Allen or The Naked Communist by Cleon Skousen.)
11. Whether they plotted to do so or not, such speakers played into the Axis' plans by keeping the U.S. out of the conflict as long as possible. (For an example of some of the rhetoric used, see the speech made by Charles Lindbergh in New York Times, April 24, 1941, p. 12.)
12. (Sheri L. Dew, Ezra Taft Benson: A Bibliography, Deseret Book, 1987, p. 197.) We might also note that a similar restorative effort was made (but on a smaller scale) after the first World War. It is comparable to what followed the first Nephite-Lamanite conflict mentioned above. The record states, "It became expedient that the word of God should be declared among them, yea and that a regulation should be made throughout the church." (Alma 45:21,22.)
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