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 …show more content…
The bombings killed almost 200,000 Japanese civilians, some of which were not killed by the initial explosions but died afterwards of radiation sickness and severe flash burns. Many feel that Japan did not deserve the bombings and if any country deserved it, it should have been Nazi Germany because of the mass torture and murder they committed. Japan certainly doesn’t come to mind to many when it comes to the disgusting, discriminatory acts against humanity in World War II. Growing up in the American school system, children are mostly taught of the events surrounding the Holocaust and not of the atrocious war crimes committed by the Japanese army. Anyone who is knowledgeable of the acts of Nazi Germany, would be shocked if they learned that there was a memorial in modern-day Germany dedicated to those who fought in the war as well as those who committed those infamous acts in the concentration camps. The same should go to an individual aware of what the Japanese did, as there is a World War II memorial in Tokyo that has the names of those who perished while serving Japan. Not that the Japenese shouldn’t honor their fallen soldiers, but that the memorial, the Yasukuni Shrine, includes the names of soldiers who lost their lives during the Nanking Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking. The Nanjing Massacre, or the romanisation spelling being Nanking, was the Japanese invasion and occupation of then capital of the
1. The bombings killed 129,000-246,000 people in total over two to four months. The Japanese army managed to kill over 300,000 people in a single city over a span of just over a month. People really shouldn't be calling the bombings truculent when Japan's allies, the nazis, started the Holocaust and committed genocide .2. The US even gave Japan a chance to surrender before the bombs were dropped by issuing the Potsdam declaration which stated that if they didn’t surrender, Japan would face “prompt and utter destruction”. Japan did not surrender so they had to face the consequence. The US could have just dropped the bombs without any warning, but they decided to give Japan a chance to surrender first. This shows that the US were not inhumane in the bombings of Hiroshima and
Apart from my view that the bombings were unnecessary, I would also like to highlight the aftermath of both bombings, which is the massive collateral damage recorded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a devastating destruction that can never be erased in Japan’s
World War II is often remembered for the terrible treatment of minority groups all across the globe. While the most famous example during this time is the Holocaust, many forget about the Japanese internment camps in the United States.
The relevance that the event still has on today’s society can be seen when Japan’s senior vice-minister for Economy Tadahiro Matsushita stated “Japan had caused tremendous damage and suffering to people of many countries, which was a cause of deep remorse and a heartfelt apology”.
Not only is this recurring in history but in even further discombobulates the truth.. During World War II, Germans were propagandized into believing that not only are they superior, but that the Jews were responsible for the mega depression that occurred in Germany. Not only did they believe this, but it gave them a cause to fight for, something to rally by. If it hadn’t been for the U.S., this essay might be a lot further from the truth, and it might be in German. But the U.S. did decide to enter the war because they saw the truth; the fascist dictatorship that could very well country the entire globe if not stopped. Americans realized not only what was going on in Germany was absolutely horrible and that its causes were wrong, but it needed to be stopped. Certain perspectives can distort people's interpretation of the truth to fit what they believe. Everything written is somewhat biased to an extent. The truth is there, but hard to
German narratives on the holocaust have changed since 1945 propelled by debates during that time along with political developments and distance from historical events. The German population tends to focus on their fate as to idolize their society’s behavior during the holocaust era. Germany’s students have trouble connecting German history to the holocaust.
The bombings of American battleships at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii by the Japanese in 1941 led the United States into multiple wars that were underway in Asia and then later in Europe for almost a decade. In 1931 the Imperial Army of Japan started a program of expansion and conquest that eventually reached from the far north of China down to the tropical jungles of Indochina. The United States were always against the aggressiveness of Japan’s military. A couple years later in 1933, Adolf Hitler gained dictatorial power in Germany and was determined to rebuild his country. He decided that this would require the elimination of the Jews, to which he referred to as “parasites”, of the nation. He also decided to put any “inferior human materials”,
Hitler is baraling in, leaving the citizens blind to the ugly truth behind a broken Nation. Since World War II was a tough time for people who lived during this time period, people who lived during this time faced challenges such as death, Nazi occupation of Germany, and discrimination. As a problem for all ages and races, Death was a problem that was almost inescapable, even for those who were innocent. If you were Jewish and living in or around Germany you could be pummeled out of nowhere for no apparent reason. Although that may have been bad enough, Jews who lived in concentration camps faced a greater challenge, being randomly selected and shot, starving to death, or even sickness. As the Nazi occupation on Germany and neighboring nations
As a result, only the bombing of Nagasaki an Hiroshima became highlighted in history and engrained into the memory of the public, while the Nanking massacre, which Chang describes as the Forgotten Holocaust in the subtitle of her book, became lost in history. Japanese people who sought justice for Nanking were silenced by death threats, burying the event more. On the other hand, Germany, regarding the Holocaust, put the blame on not only the army, but also their own government. The German government focused on their government’s indirect participation in the atrocities that ensued in the Holocaust- taking full responsibility for what happened.
There are multiple different evils, which vary that inherent in the atomic bombings of Japan. On the level of humanity, the pain, death, and suffering that were involved, was horrendous and appalling. But in a majority of those “evils”, Nagasaki and Hiroshima do not stand alone. In terms of annihilation of both property and lives, the bombings are on an equal term with the intense ordinary bombings of such cities like Dresden and Tokyo. As Lester Bernstein states in Document F, “The day was August 6, 1945. I was a G.I. who had weathered the war in Europe and now awaited my place in the storming of Japan’s home islands,” this shows that the bombings were not just aiming for one specific place but was going to keep going, keep going with a reason of course. If these horrendous acts were going to be considered outside the situation of war, they would certainly be taken as a great moral act of evil. It doesn’t take one great imagination to see that the components of evil that is within the conditions of World War II.
People still argue over this topic due to the permanent damage it caused to the people of japan, most of whom were innocent, burt the japanese knew about it but thought we were lying and scoffed at the idea of the complete obliteration of their provinces, both of which were massive military and industrial parts of japan.
It’s dreadful to even think of the Hiroshima bombings, but if the outcome and benefits are thought of, it is not as
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States should be remembered as an unnecessary tragedy, because of the massive number of casualties, also the U.S had alternative motives to bombing Japan than saving American lives.
The Rape of Nanking is an historical event in China’s history that explains some of the tension between Chinese and Japanese relations today. This is an event that the Japanese, U.S, and Chinese governments tried to erase for various political reasons. It wasn’t until after World War II that the Rape of Nanking was brought to the surface. It is estimated that the number of deaths were between 250,000 and 350,000 people, many were woman and children. The number of women raped was around 20,000.
World War II was a very violent and hostile time for the entire world. Countries like Japan and China were gravely affected by the catastrophes that ensued during this time, and are continuing to grapple with its effects on a personal and institutional level. This has ultimately effected the ways in which younger generations have come to understand this influential period in history while teachings of the “facts,” representation, and recollections of World War II in the public school systems vary, as misunderstandings and clashing of ideas still exist even almost a decade later.