The Rape of Nanking is a book that has detailed accounts of the horrific events of 1937 in Nanking after the Japanese invaded and slaughtered, raped, mutilated, and tortured Chinese. Iris Chang refers to the Rape of Nanking by calling it the ‘forgotten Holocaust’ and draws a connection to the World War II victims. The Rape of Nanking isn’t discussed very much due to the survivors who feel greatly humiliated by the event and the Japanese try to hide this part of history. Chang tells the tales of not only the viewpoint of the Chinese, but also from the Japanese and Westerners perspective view as well. It is interesting to note that only those at Nanking have been documented which provides most of the information for this book. No one can quarrel…
Evacuation of Singapore on 13 Feb, 1942 alongside the Women and children boarding ships, clutching toys, waving goodbye. Women and children fleeing from the city that was about to be invaded by a conquering army. “It is hard to believe from their happy smiles that they are soon to be the victims of history’s worst – and least known – massacre” (p 30) = Reinforces the innocence and vulnerability of the women and children. This comment foreshadows the terrible events in the play. It also hints at the great arrogance of the British Empire which blindly believed in its own superiority.…
In The Rape of Nanking, Iris Chang clearing outlines the perceptions of both the Japanese and the victims of the Nanking Massacre, also known as a Holocaust of the Second World War. It is important to understand the different stories that every country can tell about the events that unfolded during World War II, one of the controversial ones being the Nanking Massacre. Chang’s main purpose of writing this book is to provide a reminder of the cruel acts that extended to the Chinese prisoners of war by the Nipponese army, where torture, rape, stabbing, drowning, shooting and sometimes torching were some of the acts they were forced to endure. The book is structured into three main parts. The first is a narration the events of the Nanking Massacre,…
The Rape of Nanking occurred in just a few weeks late in 1937 to early…
The book “War Without Mercy” is a study of the wartime attitudes between the Japanese and American forces against one another, by John W. Dower. The book is divided into four parts: Enemies, The War in Western Eyes, The War in Japanese Eyes, and Epilogue. Each section plays a vital role in the book, that without any of these, the book would change entirely.…
The Nanking genocide happened because of an intense hatred between the Chinese and the Japanese. During the Nanking genocide around 40,000 to 300,000 people died during the Nanking genocide. This genocide happened over a period of 6 weeks starting December 13, 1937. It was very obvious that the Nanking genocide was devastating.…
The “Rape of Nanking” or the “Nanking Massacre” was a genocide that occurred from late 1937 to January 1938. Japanese forces, led by Iwame Matsui, invaded the Chinese city of Nanking, destroying it almost completely. The Japanese killed and raped at least tens of thousands of Chinese civilians, looting markets in the process. The soldiers were ordered by their commanders to attack any and all Chinese people, and the soldiers enthusiastically complied with…
In December of 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army overtook China's capital, Nanking and slaughtered 300,000 Chinese civilians. The Japanese army raped and looted hundred of thousands of people using inhumane and barbaric methods. This event is referred to today as one of the worst atrocities during WWII in the Asian theatre. The actions led by the Japanese exemplified China's weak military as well as their insufficient government, allowing for other countries to take advantage of later opening China into spheres of influence. Due to the Nanking Massacre, China culturally became more ethnocentric, politically decimated any friendly relationships with the Japanese, and became economically isolated. The invasion of Nanking began when the Japanese Imperial Army marched into Shanghai; the Japanese expected the battle of Shanghai to be quick and effortless, even stating…
The Nanking Atrocity is a contentious historical event in world history. The two countries in which it involved, China and Japan, both argue vehemently about what events actually occurred and those that have been fabricated. In August of 1937 the Japanese army began their invasion of China’s capital, Shanghai. By mid-November they had conquered the city and they began their march towards the city of Nanking, the capital of Chiang Kai-shek’s regime. This city, however, would not be able to resist the Japanese army and would also fall shortly after Shanghai. After numerous air raids on the city, Japanese troops invaded the walls of Nanking on December 13th and established military control over the city. In the subsequent weeks, horrendous…
In Peter Li’s academic journal article, “Hirohito’s War Crimes Responsibility: The Unrepentant Emperor,” Li challenges the common belief that Japanese Emperor Hirohito had little to no part in the war crimes committed by the Japanese military during his reign from 1926-1989 (The 25 Most Evil People in History). Li incorporates other authors’ opinions on the complex emperor to show the differing views of Emperor Hirohito as well as analyzes his true involvement in the Japanese endeavors during World War II.…
The late Iris Chang hoped that her work “THE RAPE OF NANKING” would lead to an official Japanese apology for the atrocities Japanese troops committed in Nanking in 1937. Chang’s well-intentioned attempt to secure a Japanese apology for the Nanking atrocities is meaningless because many of the perpetrators and victims are now dead. Thus, a Japanese apology would be an empty gesture that has no meaning. "We will probably never know exactly what news Hirohito received about Nanking as the massacre was happening," she writes, " but the record suggests that he was exceptionally pleased by it" (p. 179).…
The treatment of Australian POW’s, particularly under the Japanese, in WW2 was horrifying, and is considered one of the greatest war atrocities Australia has ever seen. This essay will showcase the ___ treatment of POW’s in Changi, Singapore, and along the construction of the Burma –Thailand railway line as well as mentioning the experiences of those in Europe and the experience of POW civilians and nurses. All those who interred during WWII faced harsh conditions, and their experiences has significantly impacted Australian history.…
From 1937 through 1938, China had been a victim of not only many deaths, but rape and brutal torture as well. In the midst of heavy fighting, Japanese would still find time to, once a city was captured, take advantage of all that came with it. For example, Chiang was captured mid December and is known for being witness to the worst barbarity of the war. Japanese soldiers were turned loose to murder, rape, steal goods, and burn at will. It is one things to hear about horror going on, but it does not compare to seeing up close and personal as to what happened. When rabe was writing about his travel around the city he says, “It is not until we tour the city that we learn the extent of destruction. We come across corpses…
More often that not, conflict occurs between the powerful and the powerless. For those cases that fall under this condition, it typically began with an imbalance of equality, two sides fighting for superiority or just to maintain their own survival. Bruce Beresford’s Paradise road exposes this very distinction but the ones who hold the power and those who don’t, i.e. the supposedly superior Japanese soldiers who are keeping a watch of the women in the Prisoner of War camp. Those Japanese soldiers treat the western women horribly just for the mere fact theat they are who they are – caucasian women. The women who are unfortunate enough to be stuck in this situation have to go through traumatising experiences. They are beaten up brutally – generally for no particular reason, starved for a long period of time, having to face misogynistic behaviours of the Japanese, and most of all, they have no say whatsoever in in response to this degradation. However, this imbalance of power is not only distinct between the Japanese and the women but also between the Japanese themselves. For instance, the interpreter of the colonel is subtly seen the be against what the Japanese are doing and their treatment towards the women. However, he has no power against those higher-ranked soldiers and there is…
Conflict can be a manipulating force that transforms those in power to uncontrollable variables beyond our imagination of moral humanity. It is the powerless that are called to rapidly adapt process and calculate these changes in order to survive. In a conflict change is inevitable for both parties involved; we are all somehow affected and shaped by conflict. In the film “Paradise Road” this concept of powerful versus the powerless is explored through the way in which the Prisoners of war were unpredictably ambushed by the Japanese which ultimately forced the women to change their ways and unite as one, instead of a group of multicultural imprisoned individuals. The women were oblivious to their capture and had the expectation to be treated with the basic human rights stated under the Geneva Convention, although their expectations were forced changed when they were faced with the harsh conditions of Sumatra. This “unexpected ambush” could almost fall under the category of Guerrilla warfare which refers to conflicts by small groups which use military tactics such as raids and the ‘element of surprise’ with extraordinary mobility to harass a vulnerable target. This form of warfare was also experienced in a more modern scenario between the years of 1975-1979 within the civil wars of Cambodia, where the peasant civilians formed a “piece group” known as the Khmer Rouge, which unexpectedly changed into a “lower class” army out to anyone who was in the “upper-class society” or who had an…