Within a span of six weeks, about three hundred thousand men and women were either killed or raped in Nanking, China. ( Katsuichi 3). After not surrendering, the Japanese attacked various parts of China in 1937, where they then decided to go to the back then capital Nanking, or Nanjing. “Japanese soldiers swept into the city [...] the next two months [...] murder, rape and killing” ( Nanking Massacre Encyclopedia Gale). The Japanese army made an assault on the Nanking walls from multiple directions. The streets were filled with bodies of men, women, kids, and even elderly people. The air was filled with the smell of blood. (Chang 24) The Japanese destroyed the town, and did what they had to do, which was to strike fear across the world through Nanking. Japan was power hungry, so they showed other countries what they were capable of doing. The Japanese used the Rape of Nanking to strike fear and gain control throughout China and the world by leaving Nanking in ruins, raping women, and killing people.
Scarring and brutally killing people was a way the Japanese wanted to show what they are capable of doing for power. Many were killed, in fact “between 250,000 and 300,000 people were killed” (Scarred by History:Rape of Nanking BBC). The Japanese created pits where they would kill people in, and put dead bodies in. Sometimes, at the pits, they would have head cutting competitions to see who would cut the most heads in a certain time. (Katsuichi 22) The head cutting competition showed that Japan did not and would not have any sympathy for anyone. They made sure nobody could escape by bayoneting the gates, and they also tied people they had not kill yet to houses. Sometimes soldiers would randomly fire at people beca...
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...gelow, et al. Vol. 3: Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 1999. 272-277. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. Tojo was part of the rape for Nanking. He talks about how brutal the Japnese were towards the Chinese, and how they destroyed many cites and many villages throughout China. He was the chief staff of the Kawangtung Army. He agrees that the Rape of Nanking was one of the Japanese’s worst attack. Tojo explains how the Chinese tried to fight the Japanese off, but the Japanese had a strong army and was updated with technology at the time. They used bayonets, guns, poison, etc to hurt and kill everyone in Nanking. Tojo explains that there were bodies everywhere, everywhere you went you saw bodies lying around, of all kinds including many women and children. Tojo now is veteran of the Japanese, he had many positions of fighting when he was in the Japanese army.
When most American people think of Germany, they think of sports cars made for the autobahn, sauerkraut, Adolf Hitler, and the Holocaust. Compared to Germany, when most American people think of Japan they think of sushi, Godzilla movies, Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. World War II was such a significant event in history that almost 70 years after it came to an end, today’s younger generations often associate former Axis controlled countries with the war. People around the world are filled with disgust and immense hate when they hear the name Hitler, mainly because of his leadership under the Holocaust; which was the discriminatory mass genocide of 11-17 million people, the vast majority of which were European Jews. Hirohito, former Emperor of Japan, should strike a similar bell with people when they hear his name because Japan carried out genocide on Chinese civilians and soldiers in World War II. Japan’s attack on the Chinese city of Nanking, was one of the most atrocious events in history. This event has been named both the Nanking Massacre and the Rape of Nanking. The torturous, violent techniques used by the Japanese army upon Chinese civilians and soldiers including dehumanizing them, addicting them to drugs, and other perverse and violent acts, are some of the most grosteque methods ever recorded that could only be thought of by sadistic Japanese soldiers. The events committed by the Japanese army in Nanking, are equally as disgusting as the acts that Nazi Germany committed and should become a major topic involved with World War II in the future, despite the lack of light shed on it in the past for various reasons.
“Historians estimate that the Japanese murdered between 200,000 and 430,000 Chinese, including the 90,000 POWS, in what became known as the Rape of Nanking”(pg77) Over 430,000 Chinese are killing in the city named Nanjing. Even after knowing about the Rape of Nanking, Louie and the other crewmen of Superman, still fought and bombed Japanese occupied island, risking capture if shot down. “He folded Phil’s shirt, pressed it to the wounds, then tied the other T-shirts around his head.” (104) Louie is using phil’s shirt as a
In 1937, Japan started a war against China, in search of more resources to expand its empire. In 1941, during World War II, Japan attacked America which is when the Allies (Australia, Britain etc.) then declared war on Japan. Before long the Japanese started extending their territory closer and closer to Australia and started taking surrendering troops into concentration camps where they were starved, diseased and beaten. When they were captured, one survivor reports that they were told
Japan killed millions in World War II we killed under 100,000 in the dropping of the bombs. “More than 46 million people died in World War II. The Japanese, alone, may have killed 17 million. So why have so many focused so intently on the 80,000 who died at Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945?”(Benson). Atomic bombs destroyed parts of Japan and took out the population of cities; however, the Japanese took the lives of enough people to fill to the population of South Dakota; 17 times.
The Rape of Nanking uses Nanjing Massacre as the core and analyzes the holocaust from the national perspective of China, Japan and Western countries; it also analyzes this piece of history that has been distorted for half of the century. The book is divided into two parts; the author starts the first part by explaining the Japanese bushido spirit and how it was forced to open the country to others, from the Meiji Restoration to enhancing the troops; from tasting the sweetens of external expansion to the depression of international exclusion; from the earthquake disaster to the economic crisis and then expanded its military and the reasons to invade China; it explains how the Japanese soldiers were divided into three groups and invaded Nanjing and when they got there how did they killed the Chinese soldiers and citizens and raped the Chinese ladies and she also mentions the matter of comfort women to bring in the issue and analyzes the motivation for the massacre. Nanking was in great chaos at that time and even the infants could not escape from the disaster. Chang also analyzes the Chinese tragic massacre scene by showing how the...
The Japanese captured thousands of American soldiers and held them in Japanese camps. The Japanese held prisoners of war in horrible camps throughout Japan, forced them to work in horrendous conditions, and treated them inhumanely. The living
Despite having the horrific Nanking Massacre occur 70 years ago, its history is barely buried like many of the dead were at the time. The Nanking Massacre (also known as the Rape of Nanking) occurred as a part of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, which would then become part of World War II. This war involved the Republic of China defending against the invading Japanese forces. Unfortunately, China was weakened due to a civil war between the Communists and the Nationalists, so it was easily invaded. The Nanking Massacre shows the negative elements of Human Nature and should be taught in schools because it portrays the brutality of the Japanese in Asia.
Revenge also played a role in the decision to bomb Japan. The Japanese were not following the Geneva Convention in regards to treatment of prisoners of war. This document says that prisoners are not to be put through torture of physical or psychological nature. The Japanese refused to comply that and would decapitate American prisoners, or shove bamboo shoots under their fingernails. The American government also wanted revenge for the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
While years pass by and the times change, history, nevertheless unimportant, is continually being made. The more important events are recovered and documented, and artifacts from the time span are conserved. These kinds of incidents, deserving of occupying space in textbooks and in valuable time throughout history courses around the globe, are reviewed time and time again, with the purpose that these kinds of occurrences should never be ignored as well as decades to come, may have a window into the past. However, it appears as though a few incidents are outlined and glorified, forcing some others under the rug, to be long forgotten, while the periods of time change. The Rape of Nanking is certainly one such type of situation. Even though discussed in books and courses, the Rape of Nanking is briefly reviewed as well as ignored, making those curious, with an imperfect understanding on the forgotten Holocaust of World War I. Iris Chang’s raid into China in December of 1937, reveals a ruthless massacre which years afterwards has developed high essential questions not just concerning imperial Japanese militarism but yet the psychology of killers, torturers, and rapists.
The Battle of Nanjing, also known as the Rape of Nanjing was a particularly horrific battle during World War II from December 9, 1937 to January 31, 1938. After World War I, Japan was suffering crucial economic complications. Due to the fact that America was experiencing the Stock Market crash, they were not purchasing any goods from the Japanese and business was deteriorating. They started to demand more territory, and they were bothered by the fact that countries were investing more in China. The Japanese viewed China as a threat, and they assassinated Chang Esolin, and blew up one of their own railways that was located in southern Manchuria on September 18, 1931. Not only did they blow up the railway, but also they then murdered Chinese guards and contrived a story that made the Chinese look atrocious. This then gave the Japanese a justification to obtain Manchuria, and rename it Manchukuo. Chinese were maddened by this action, and a group of Japanese Buddhist Priests was besieged by a Shanghai mob. One of the priests was murdered, and Japanese immediately reciprocated this action by bombing the city of Shanghai. The bombing killed thousands of civilians, and exasperated the Chinese so deeply that it provoked a full-blown war with the Japanese.
caused concern for the general public. The fingers of dead Japanese's soldiers were allege to
When 1937 arrived, Japanese soldiers raided China’s capital of Nanking and began to mass murder citizens. A sole leader of the Japanese Imperial Army was non-existent. There were many of people in power such as generals who allowed these behaviors to occur. Baron Koki Hirota, Foreign minister at the time, proceeded to do nothing while being well aware of the Japanese’s persecution of the Chinese. These unsympathetic murders of those who were thought to be Chinese soldiers as well as woman, children and elderly. This massacre lasted between the 1937 and 1938. Within this time 300,000 Chinese citizens were viciously killed. This genocide is called Rape of Nanking because of raping the woman before killing them. Most likely this group was selected because the second world war happened in Asia. This was significant because a country was able to kill half the population of another. I believe the reason of this Genocide was for Japan to take advantage of China while expand Japan. Most likely the Japanese wished to exterminate China’s entire population.
The Rape of Nanking, also known as the Nanking Massacre was a six week period when mass numbers of Chinese men and woman were killed by the Japanese. Embarrassed by the lack of effort in the war with China in Shanghai, the Japanese looked for revenge and finally were able to win the battle. The Japanese moved toward the city of Nanjing also known as Nanking and invaded it for approximately six months. Even though the people of Nanjing outnumbered the 50,000 Japanese, they were not as masterful in warfare as their opponents. Chinese soldiers were forced to surrender to the Japanese and the massacre began in which around 300,000 people died and 20,000 women were raped. The Japanese leaders had different methods of killing that were instructed to the soldiers. However, the prisoners of this “City of Blood” soon found their liberation and their justice was served.
...ned to police because of fear of being harmed, so the exact number is hard to tell. Most GI’s did not care for the Japanese because they had won the war and thought everything around them were spoils of the war that they had every right to indulge in. Lots of numeric figures and testimonies of actual rapes are prevalent in this chapter. Tanaka in the final chapter talks about how during the occupation the Allied forces forced the Japanese to “voluntarily” setup services to adhere to their men. The Recreation and Amusement Association was created to provide sexual and recreational entertainment to the Allied forces occupying Japan. These services included not only comfort houses but beer halls, restaurants for officers, billiard clubs, and dance halls like cabaret. The Allied forces did not want to seem as bad guys by forcing Japan to do these things. So they used blackmail in order to get what they want. By mere suggestion, the Allied forces hinted that their stay would be shorter if the Japanese gave them what they wanted. It is ironic how setting up comfort houses ended up backfiring against the Japanese as their own citizens were now being exploited due to occupation by force.
Japan's attacking China in 1937 is a crime against humanity. On July 7, 1937, Japan attacked Beijing using a missing soldier as an excuse, without no official declaration to war against China. On December 13, 1937, Japan started a series of massacre in Nanking, which resulted in a casualty of 300,000. During the three-month-long massacre, Japanese army kill for pure fun, and their crime include brutal rape of innocent women, beheading civilians as competition, and murder newborn babies. Unit 731 of Japanese army used Chinese people as human test subjects to develop chemical weapon to win the war. They performed amputation and poison gas test on innocent Chinese civilians. When the war reached stalemate, and Japanese troops suffered from hunger, they kill war prisoners and eat the bodies. Japanese officers forced Chinese women to be "comfort lady" for the troops. While the name sounded great, reality was that these "comfort ladies" ended up raped by Japanese soldiers over and over again until death. (Yoshimi 146) These were all crime against h...