Rape Of Nanking Book Report

While differing ecomically and politically in their responses to western penetration, Japan and China had similarities in the way of geography. China only allowed Europeans to trade with it in a limited number of ports and cities, which limited the amount of goods Europeans were allowed to transfer overseas. Japan isolated itself as a whole from trade for an entire decade, and when it did open it was cautious towards westerners. Additionally, both were bordered by the ocean at least to a certain extent – Japan was surrounded entirely, being an island, by water, and a large percentage of China’s borders was water. It is because of this that the third similarity arose – both did trade by ocean. China with Britain, simply because it was the easiest, cheapest, and most efficient form of travel between the two, and Japan because there was obviously no choice considering Japan is an island. These geographical similarities arose purely from the coincidence that both were bordered by the ocean, which created the necessity for boats and by the time the opportunity for trade

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.

Throughout The Rape of Nanking, the brutal massacre of thousands of innocent Chinese citizens is brought forth through the invasion of this ancient city taken over by the Imperial Japanese army. Iris Chang illustrates the graphic details of the murder and rape of these victims through the perspectives of different sides of the attack. Chang; furthermore, ties in the mass genocide and destruction displayed throughout the book with the example of the Japanese government’s desperate attempt to cover up the incident and the reluctance of the survivors to discuss it. In addition, the horrifying events of The Rape of Nanking only further motivated an uncontrollable desire for aggression, violence, and imperialism in the Asian community evidently

Words were spreading around that the Japanese had committed numerous brutal actions on their way though China. The Chinese soldiers in Nanking outnumbered the Japanese and had a lot of ammunition but they were very unorganized and poorly led. After four days of fighting, 90,000 Chinese soldiers surrendered and the Japanese thought of this as an act of cowardice and

On December 13, 1937, one of the worst atrocities in history took place generating what the majority of the population in the world is unaware about. Students learn about World War Two almost every year, specifically what happened in Europe while missing what took place in China. When Prince Akaska was the in charge of China in the absence of General Matsui, the Japanese decided to invade the City of Nanking. Nanking, the capital of China, went from being great to ruins in a matter of six weeks. As soon as the Japanese invaded China, about 300,000 soldiers surrendered along with a lot of citizens of Nanking in order to avoid experiencing one of the worst acts ever taken place. Soldiers knew, if they chose to fight, conditions were going to

Around the same time, Japan and China's conflict were growing. In 1931, a railway explosion caused by Japaneses army officers was blamed on Chinese bandits. They then used the event to take over Manchuria in northeastern China. And set up a puppet state there. Following this incident were numerous Excursions and by 1937, war had broken out. During that winter, the Japanese army murdered about 200,000 civilians and Prisoners of War in the area surrounding and within Nanking. HiroHito did not condone the more unpleasant parts of this invasion, but he failed to punish those responsible. HiroHito also allowed the use of chemical warfare and the uprooting of

Nanjing Massacre referred to as “The Rape of Nanking”. In late 1937, over a period of six weeks, imperial Japanese Army forces viciously murdered hundreds of thousands of people – including both soldiers and civilians – in the Chinese city of Nanjing. The horrific events known as the Nanjing Massacre, between 20,000 and 80,000 women were sexually assaulted. Nanjing, then the capital of Nationalist China, was left in ruins, and it would take decades for the city and its citizens to recover from the savage attacks.

Japan’s main objectives of invading China in 1931 were to destroy communism and poses control over neighboring areas on the Asian continent. It was believed such a control was necessary to be able to issue possible military threats and inquire the natural resources needed to insure Japan’s economic independence. “By defeating Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, Japan acquired possession of Russia’s Liaodong Peninsula Leasehold, which she renamed the Kwantung Leased Territory, and the South Manchurian Railroad” (BJorge, 2011). After Korea was captured in 1910, Manchuria was filled with mineral wealth, gorgeous farmland, and potential value as a defensive Korea from both China and Russia. In the

It is quite worth noting that the Rape of Nanking did take place in a military expansion into China (Chang, The Rape of Nanking:The Forgotten Holocaust of WWII, 1998). The “atrocities” committed in China by the Japanese are described to be unique to them, however if when looked at from a non-biased angle, it is clear that the action of the Japanese are no different to the behaviour shown in many other imperialistic campaigns showing the indiscriminate murder, rape and looting not to be trademark of the Japanese. When out of context of re-existing racial aggression in Asia, the Nanking Massacre would become “a mere accident” of military operations and has been shown by the Chinese to be exactly that, most prominently in 500 page history of army operation in the first 7 months of conflict (Thomas). This hence shows how the removal of political context can be used to produce skewed interpretations and is commonly found among the works of learned historians. It has been suggested by Hata Ikuhitko that if the Chinese had simply surrender like the British at Singapore, then the massacre would not have occurred or not at all. But it is documented in both Chinese and Japanese texts that the Chinese did not easily give up Nanking and a massive conflict had taken place before the Japanese occupation (Ikuhiko). By placing the Japanese aggression in context, aggression seen toward the Chinese seems almost natural and in addition, shows that China’s claim that the attack was “unprovoked” can only be accepted if no background to the event had occurred. By politicising the whole Nanking Massacre, the Chinese have taken the Massacre out of context and hence have the moral high ground in any political or economical discussion (Eykholt, Yoshida, & Yang, 2000). And hence shows the benefit and motivation for the Chinese to bring the whole ordeal out of

The Rape of Nanjing took place on December 13th, 1937. Japan invaded China with two navy fleets and an army that has already entered the cities of Zhongshan and Pacific Gates. For six weeks the navy fleets and army commit atrocities to innocent people of China. Some of the atrocities committed were mass execution, raping, looting, and burning.

This Incident was caused on July 7 of 1937 when Japanese Private Shimura Kikujiro went missing. The Japanese did an unexpected role call really late into the night, and realized the Private was missing. The Private, along with other Japanese, were suppose to be doing their exercise by the bridge. This bridge was an important transportation that connects Beijing, Tianjin and Taiyuan together. When the Private was found missing, the Japanese excused the Chinese into kidnapping Private Shimura. The excuse was actually a misunderstanding for the Private Shimura actually need to use the restroom and sneak into the woods. The Private didn’t made back in time for the role call which led to this terrible incident. The Chinese never had a good relationship with the Japanese since the occupation of Manchuria, so this misunderstanding ignited anger and shots rang out. John Rabe concluded, on his first page, this incident to be the beginning of Japanese aggression against China, the goal of which was to subjugate the entire land and its people. And other words, the start of the Second Sino-Japanese

Sometimes known as the beginning of World War II, the Second Sino-Japanese War is regarded as a significant event in the growth of Japan before World War II. Millions died, both Chinese and Japanese, civilians and soldiers alike. The Chinese nationalist and communist governments adjoined for the time and fought off the Japanese, and many Japanese-Chinese affairs occurred. Japan eventually surrendered the land to the Chinese, and no payoff was made. The Second Sino-Japanese War was an overall fruitless and unjustified attempt at land gain by the Japanese Empire.

For more than a century, China and Japan have had conflict after conflict, from the first Sino-Japanese war between the Qing Empire and the Empire of Japan then the second Sino-Japanese war nearly 50 years later. The conflict between these two countries stems from fights over territory to constant scrutinization between the two because of cultural differences and what I believe has begun to exhibit signs of cultural incompetence.

Nanjing is the former capital of China. During this time, Japan was attempting to take over the entire nation of China. Japan had developed a plan to take over all of China in a span of just three months, starting with the invasion of Beijing. What the Japanese weren’t expecting was for China to put down a fight. With frustration arising and their plan falling apart, the Japanese decided to take over China’s capital, Nanjing. During the Battle of Shangai, Japanese army forces proved their dominance over the Chinese and took over in November. Following the Japanses victory at Shangai, 50,000 Japanese soldiers began their march to China’s capital: Nanking. Although the Japanese were greatly outnumbered, they fought to the death, entering the city on December 13, 1937. They were ordered to “kill all captives,” leading to 90,000 Chinese soldiers surrendering (The History Place, 2000).

The Nanjing Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was a gruesome event where Japanese soldiers committed rape and murder upon the residents of Nanjing, China, over a six week period. Despite official records being destroyed by Japanese soldiers, it is estimated that over 200,000 Nanjing civilians lost their lives, and another were victims in the 20,000 cases of reported rape. The massacre placed a large amount of strain on the relationship between Japan and China, which continues to play a role even today. Whilst, China has expressed anger multiple times at past events, however, we find that Japan has taken a different approach in the past. The 1982 Japan textbook controversy is one example, as to how the nation reacted to the wrongdoings of their soldiers. The Japanese Government did not state the full extent, if any, of the Nanjing