It is a highly believed theory that the Lord of the Rings series is an allegory for the tragedies that happened in WWI and WWII. The similarities between the two are extremely interesting. How the characters and the scenery paint the image of war stricken Europe leads you to believe that this could be a fact. J.R.R. Tolkien was in fact a soldier in WWI. Even though he did enlist late he still saw some of the gruesome images that happened in the war. He wrote, "Junior officers were being killed off, a dozen a minute.” These gruesome incidents could have possibly led to one of the most famous books in the world.
It could be just a coincidence but the characters in the movie not as individuals but as entire races seem to be based on the separate nations and parties. The Hobbits could represent the French. They were taken over by the orcs who could represent the lower ranked German soldier. The main group of hobbits including Frotto and Sam could represent the French resistance who escape to Britain represented by the elves. The French resistance and Jews were chased by the lower ranked S.S. soldiers, the Uruk-Hai. The city of Minith Tirith has very similar qualities to the Russians and their leader Joseph Stalin. The Ruler of Minith Tirith was not the true king as Joseph Stalin stole power from Trotsky as Denethor was not the true king of the city Aragon was. These little coincidences make this theory very believable.
Two of the biggest character relations for me are the similarities of Adolf Hitler and Sauron and the use of the eagles at the end of the movie. Sauron was an evil ruler who made his own power and killed thousands if not millions. He created the witch kings, who could represent the S.S. leaders, as his loyal servants who do his bidding and patrol the land in search of the ring as the S.S. would run the camps and search for the Jews. But as soon as Sauron’s eye is destroyed representing Hitler’s death everything collapses, the fall of the German empire. Also the use of the Eagles seems to represent the United States. They were not there in the beginning but come out in the end to save Frotto and Sam, the French resistance, and after that all of the orcs and other bad guys die or run away, this seems awful familiar to how the Germans abandoned the concentration camps and many killed themselves.
Although J.R.R. Tolkien denies that one of his greatest works is based on the war, he does admit that the landscape was influenced by it. For some it is easy to believe that the events in the Lord of the Rings could somehow be influenced by the events in WWII. But even if they are not it just makes it that much more interesting to believe it.
