Emperor Hirohito

In December of 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded Nanking, China. They killed 300,00 out of the 600,000 people in China’s capital city. The six-week rampage by the Japanese is now known as the Rape of Nanking and the single worst atrocity during WWII era in either the European or Pacific theaters of the war.

Kaiser Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia. A man that would come to be ridiculed and blamed for things perhaps out of his control, he was nonetheless one of the more prominent figures during the events of World War I. He showed very open enjoyment at his title, which would be used against him. Naturally, due to the ramifications of World War I, he was banned, and sought refuge in the Netherlands. His early life is an interesting affair, but his political career is clearly the focus of his life, not that you’d gloss over the story of his exile.

Hirohito was the emperor of Japan from 1926 all the way until the died in 1989. During his time in power Japan attacked all of its neighbors, became allies with Nazi Germany, and attacked Pearl Harbor. Hirohito went to schools for the children of nobility when he was younger. He wasn't raised by his parents but by a retired vice-admiral and a imperial attendant. Hirohito survived assassination attempts and married Princess Nagako. He had 7 children with her. Hirohito officially became emperor when his dad died in December of 1926. he chose the name Showa as his reign name which means

The invasion of Manchuria was a pivotal point leading towards the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as the build- up of the tension between America and Japan. The minor engagement between the Chinese and Japanese troops conclusively led to undeclared war between the two nations. With China torn apart by revolution in the 1920s, Japan 's militarists viewed China, and in particular, its resource-rich northern

The Japanese Imperial Army, which occupied Nanjing in 1937, committed numerous heinous crimes. Including acts such as rape, arson, looting, and murder. They did however try to persuade that the executions of the Chinese were only combatant, this period holds an event called the Nanjing Massacre for a reason. They targeted innocent Chinese citizens, young children, and women. During this horrific event, around … people lost their lives. Many Japanese today still do not acknowledge this fact however. (BBC – Nanjing Massacre)

President Roosevelt was in office during most of the war, and was re-elected into office in 1944. He dropped his former Vice-President, and chose Harry Truman, a U.S. Senator, to be his Vice-President. Unfortunately, Roosevelt’s health was declining fast, and only a few months after being sworn into office, he passed away. Harry Truman was sworn into office on April 12, 1945. He was left with great important decisions to be made for America, including how to end the war with Japan. And on August 6, 1945 the first ever atomic bomb (Little Boy), a bomb that continuously splits atoms creating a chain of energy, was dropped on Hiroshima, killing over a hundred-thousand Japanese civilians. Another atomic bomb (Fat Man) was dropped on August 9, 1945, over Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands of people. This lead to Japan’s surrender to the U.S., which ended the war.

Nanking was not the only place of Japanese Army atrocities. Nanking held the distinction of allowing foreigners to witness and survive the atrocities. I learned from the story that the Japanese Army would take drastic measures to eliminate a people, to systematically use every means available to eliminate your enemy, people that may not have been involved, people that got in your way and people you just took pleasure in killing. To even invite fellow military personnel who were not even involved to come and watch as if it is some side show. A sick pride in performing your duties.To knowingly kill people in many different possible ways, who are just scared and frightened, just to entertain yourself.

A person cannot be punished if they did not want to participate. This creates another factor in Hirohito’s prominence post World War two was the image built up in around him that he was just an “unwilling puppet “influenced, manipulated, and excluded by high military officials that he was in fear of. Whether or not his depiction was accurate is still speculated today. This is less of a concern for this paper. Instead the focus is to show examples of this depiction and infer how it kept Hirohito in the public eye. The imagery of the “docile Emperor” can be seen long before World War Two. An example of this image is article entitled “New Emperor of Japan” written by Advocate of peace through Justice in 1927, when Hirohito first ascended to the throne, described him as “modest”, “gentle”, “retiring by nature, and “a lover of peace and simplicity”.

But one time, a Calvary of Mongolians crossed the border of Manchuria to find some grass to feed their horses. The Japanese attacked the small unit, and drove the Mongols out. Then the Mongolian unit brought an army into Manchuria, but this time Japan was not able to defend against them. The Mongolians, with the Soviets, were too strong for the Japanese to defeat them and the Japanese got surrounded. Eight officers were killed along with ninety-seven soldiers, and one officer was wounded along with thirty-three soldiers on May 28. (Young) The Japanese were miserably defeated by the Soviet Union, but that did not convince the Japanese to stop attacking.

1. The Nanking Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, lasted six weeks. It started on December 13th, 1937, the day the Japanese invaded and captured Nanking, which is now the city of Nanjing. During this period, the Imperial Japanese Army killed civilians and injured Chinese soldier. There are no official death tolls but there is an estimate of 200 000 to 400 000 deaths. There were 20 000 to 80 000 women raped. Once one of China’s most modern and prosperous cities, the industrial city of Nanking took decades to recover from the devastation it experienced.

Even though Japan and Europe were miles and miles away from each other, during the Feudal time, it almost seemed like they were neighbors. Each had its own interpretation of the many ideas they shared. Feudal Europe and Feudal Japan were similar as much as they were different, whether it was the codes that the warriors followed or what they wore to battle, the role of women, or even the weak figurehead kings. Both Feudal Europe and Feudal Japan had a certain code that the warriors had to follow, however there were several differences in it.

Knowing this Japanese poured into Nanking.” (Chang) When the troops arrived to Nanking, they occupied businesses, banks, warehouses and much more all while shooting innocent people during the process.

and economical unrest was rising in many countries.Tensions were at an all time high since resources were scarce to come by.

The Japanese did not also cause physical damage to the citizens of Nanking but also to Nanking itself. They looted all the storehouses and seized virtually everything from the civilians. They also organized the burning of buildings in the city. After they set fire to buildings using either gasoline or some other flammable chemical, they hid, waited and killed people who came to extinguish the fire. Numerous people were killed from this specific

Beyond this they forced many Chinese natives to commit horrible inhumane acts, such as public incestous displays, burning each other alive as entertainment, self torture, and the humiliation of loved ones, especially regarding the paterfamilia, beheading, public humiliations, and more ruthless acts. ("Massacre and Memory, History and Humanity:." A Discussion on Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.) All of these and more were commonplace for the city of Nanking as it slowly crumbled from a city of life and knowledge to a perfectly painted replication of the possible evils committed by man. All this was lead by the Japanese emperor Konoe Fumimaro whom tried multiple times to stop the conflicts prior to Nanking Massacre. As he stated, “He declared that he sought to realize social and international righteousness and to alleviate internal friction and discord.”, (Hayashi, Shigeru. "Konoe Fumimaro." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.) but shortly into his campaign of peace his cabinet fell, along with his wanted treaties and visions of the end of conflict. This didn't fall through because at the time the cabinets in which he wanted to acquire were plagued with separations and state affairs.