What Happened During The Invasion Of Nanking

The Rape of Nanking, the brutal massacre of thousands of innocent Chinese citizens is started because of the invasion in Nanking by the Japanese army. “Known as the forgotten Holocaust of World War 2” (Tsao)., the crimes committed are just as disturbing as the acts the Nazi Germans did to the captives such as torture and mass murder. The Japaneses actions are hardly recognized and are forgotten due to the Japanese trying to erase it from their history. What happened during the invasion of Nanking? Throughout the invasion of Nanking, the Japanese began taking over the city, operated mass destruction, performed disturbing war crimes, and felt no sympathy for anyone. Following a bloody victory for a labor and anti-imperialist movement in Shanghai,
Matsui Iwane, the commanding general, ordered there to be mass destruction. The soldiers were determined to destroy the city. The Japanese looted and burned at least one third of Nankings buildings. “They never had any guilt about looting Chinese property” (Tsao). When the soldiers looted, instead of picking up what they stole, the Japanese impressed Chinese citizens to carry it for them. Food was the number one priority when it came to looting for valuables. Lieutenant General Nakajima Kesago wrote “Supervising the privates wouldn’t be of much help since, to my surprise, even high-ranking officers are candidly being thieves” (Table of Contents: The Nanking Massacre on WordPress.com). “Following the invasion, China was left in ruins and took decades to recover from the destruction the Japanese imposed on the city” (History.com
The majority of the civilians are peaceful except they lack the knowledge deliberately covered up by the government. The soldiers who committed crimes were normal people before the abomination to people. This has to do with Japan’s Samurai culture. Samurai culture was established early in history and flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries during the Warring States period. They employed homeless and jobless wanderers who pledged absolute loyalty and would fight to death. If a Samurai warrior could not finish his mission or was defeated in battle, the shame the warrior would posses would cause them to commit suicide. Anyone who would not hesitate to kill themselves would not hesitate to be brutal to victims they were ordered to kill. This was the culture behind the Japanese aggression and atrocities. The Samurai convince the people to be loyal to the government in hopes to return to past glory. The Japanese thought they were the superior race. Most Japanese do not know about their war history because it has been erased from their textbooks. Japan portrays itself as a victim of World War 2, being the only country to suffer from the Atomic bomb, rather than a perpetrator of horrible war crimes”