The+Rape+of+Nanking

The Rape of Nanking (Nanjing Massacre) //By Eric M //

 The Rape of Nanking or also known as the Nanjing Massacre was a mass murder and war rape performed by the Japanese on their invasion through China. The Japanese had already seized and annexed the Manchurian region and the Jehol province in China, but they were awaiting a pretext to invade the rest of China. The Japanese had a lot of confidence on their invasion through China and even bragged they would conquer all of China in less than three months. Chinese forces in Shanghai put up surprisingly stiff resistence, slowing down the Japanese strategy, dragging the fighting on into fall. The delay infuriated the Japanese. In July of 1937, tensions rose between Japan and China’s troops in the city of Peking (now known as Bejing). The troops exchanged fire after engaging in military exercises on occupied Chinese territory.  The Imperial Japanese army used this incident as their pretext to begin heavy warfare. They escalated their invasion tactics by embarking on a gruesome trail on murder, rape and looting that shocked the civilized world at the time; although now largely forgotten in Western countries. The Imperial army continued to murder 300,000 out of the 600,000 civilians and soldier in the city. Their first concern was to eliminate any threat from the 90,000 Chinese soldiers who surrendered. To the Japanese, surrender was an “unthinkable act of cowardice and the ultimate violation of the rigid code of military honor drilled into them from childhood onward”. Thus they looked upon Chinese POWs as less than human beings, and unworthy of life. As a way of toughening the Japanese army for future battles, the soldiers were encouraged by their superiors to inflict as much pain and suffering as possible and to eradicate any civilized notions of mercy. Documented video and still photographs show young Japanese soldiers smiling in the midst of decapitating POWs or bayonet practice on them. Some of the Chinese POWs were simply mowed down by machine-gun fire while others were tied-up, soaked with gasoline and burned alive.  After the manslaughter of the POWs, the Japanese turned their attention to the women and children of Nanking. The animalistic hunt showed no mercy as old women over the age of 70 as well as girls younger than 8 were taken off to be sexually abused. 40,000 to 60,000 females were gang-raped then stabbed to death by bayonet or shot so they could never bear witness. The rape of family members and random acts of murder occurred as soldiers fired shots into the air of panicked crowds, killing indiscriminately.  When the period of unprecedented violence came to a close, the Japanese eased off somewhat and settles in for the duration of the war. Many of the Japanese soldiers became hooked on highly addictive narcotics supplied by the military. An estimated 50,000 Japanese became addicted to heroin through the invasion of China.

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