dec 13, 1937 - Nanjing Massacre
Description:
Over a six-week episode, Imperial Japanese Army troops brutally murdered hundreds of thousands of people, both soldiers and civilians of the then Chinese capital city, Nanjing. These events are known as the Nanjing Massacre and the Rape of Nanjing, as approximately 300,000 people died and between 20,000 and 80,000 women were sexually assaulted.
Causes
1. Japanese Expansionism was a main reason for the Nanjing Massacre. Japan wanted to dominate China and control their abundance of raw minerals. When the Chinese people started to fight back this was the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
2. The Japanese troops had already controlled Shanghai and had surrounded the city of Nanjing. They gave the Chinese civilians the chance to surrender, but when they did not, the Japanese started bombing the city. The mass killing and raping soon followed.
Effects
1. After the six-week period, Nanjing was completely destroyed and took years to rebuild. Although it has been many years since the atrocities in Nanjing, the people of China still do not trust the Japanese people and hold a strong sense of bitterness towards Japan today.
2. The Japanese Government had a tight control over the news media during this time and most of the world, including parts of Japan, did not know about the truth of the Nanjing Massacre or other crimes committed by Japanese Military Forces. It was not until after the war, that the truth of the Nanjing Massacre was first revealed to the world.
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