Nanjing Massacre Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nanjing Massacre - Term Paper Example This unprecedented catastrophe called Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanking, was a living hell for its victims and until present time it a symbol of Japanese militarism in World War II. Western nations for some time were not acknowledging Nanjing’s tragedy. There were several political factors that have contributed to it. The Japanese government downplayed the degree of its militaristic advances during World War II immediately after the war, while both Chinese govern-ments purposefully neglected the incident as they focused on establish ¬ing their political and economic strength, which required a sound relationship with Japan. The U.S. government valued Japan's position as a strategic ally during the Cold War more than the need for justice. Such political complications led each country to circumvent the issues of Nanking. (Li, Fei-Fei, xxiii) HISTORIC BACKGROUND After the incident on the railroad in the city of Mukden in September 1931, Japan, blaming Chinese nationalists for that explosion, began the invasion of Manchuria, China. Since that time several major battles between Japanese military forces Chinese army were raged, such as battle in Shanghai (1932), Great Wall (1933). To solve the situation, some agreements were settled between China and Japan which somewhat defused the situation near Manchuria. At that time China was engulfed into the Civil War and therefore was not able to considerably oppose Japanese invasion. An important incident happened in China in December of 1936, known as Xi'an Incident, when former warlord of Manchuria was suddenly arrested and kidnapped. This incident led the Nationalists and the Communists to form an united front against Japan in 1937. It is then that an all out defense against Japanese military started, at least formally. China had the largest army in the world at the time, but most of the Chinese arm y was not trained and poorly equipped, with some troops armed mainly with swords and hand grenades. Only few corps had anti-tank weaponry. 7 July 1937 a battle between Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army happened. This battle is often signify the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Shortly after that Japan extensively invaded mainland China and captured major Chinese cities. Some Chinese still remember Marco Polo Bridge Incident and Mukden as days of national humiliation. Japanese military forces had planned to conquer China in just three months, but in August of 1937 it faced strong resistance and had many casualties in the Battle of Shanghai, a very bloody hand-to-hand combat. Some historians believe that this situation contributed to the psychological conditions of the Japanese soldiers to later be so grueling cruel in Nanjing. The Japanese had captured Shanghai only by mid-November with the help of fleet and Air Force. The casual ties were so heavy that General Staff Headquarters in Tokyo decided not to expand the war. By that time the morale of the troops were very low. As the Japanese army grew closer to Nanjing, Chinese civilians fled the city. Chinese military themselves were destroying anything in the city that might be of value to the Japanese army – many buildings in the city, forest and entire villages around Nanjing were burnt to the ground. NANJING MASSACRE On December 7, the Japanese army came close to the city walls of Nanjing. They dropped leaflets into the city, requesting the surrender of Nanjing within 24 hours and promising mercy to innocent civilians.