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Nankin
The background

The Second World War began in Asia!. Japan's military dictators had long viewed China as the main outlet for their imperial and expansionist ambitions (for an overview, see Saburo Ienaga, The Pacific War 1931-1945)!. Japanese forces invaded and occupied Manchuria in northeast China in 1931, setting up the puppet state of Manchukuo!. After the manufactured "Marco Polo Bridge Incident" of July 1937, the Japanese launched a fullscale invasion of China, capturing Shanghai on 12 November and the imperial capital, Nanjing, on 13 December!. Numerous atrocities were committed en route to Nanjing, but they could not compare with the epic carnage and destruction the Japanese unleashed on the defenseless city after Chinese forces abandoned it to the enemy!.

http://www!.gendercide!.org/case_nanking!.h!.!.!.

The Japanese invasion of China immediately before and during World War II lasted from the early 1930's to 1945!. During this dark period in modern Asian history, the Japanese military machine was motivated by an uncontrollable desire for aggression, expansion and imperialism!. The brutalities and atrocities committed by the Japanese military in China and elsewhere in Asia finally ended with destruction on Japanese soil -- the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, 1945!. The victims of the Japanese militarists' aggression included the innocent and peace-loving peoples of China, Korea, the Philippines, other south east Asian countries, United States, and Japan herself!.

In the past forty-five years, China and other countries have allowed the Japanese war crimes to be forgotten!. In fact, the only constant reminders of the victims of World War II in Asia were the events commemorating the Japanese who were killed by the atomic bomb dropped by the United States!. The young generations, Chinese and Japanese alike, are not kept informed about the consequences of imperialist militarism!.

During this time, the Japanese Ministry of Education distorted the facts of World War II in their history textbooks, the government glorified convicted Class A war criminals as national heroes, and high ranking Japanese officials publicly denied the occurrence of the Nanking Massacre, one of the most infamous atrocities committed by the Japanese armies in China!.

This pamphlet is an attempt to raise awareness on an issue -- the history behind the bombing of Hiroshima -- where proper attention is long overdue!. Although this pamphlet is far from an exhaustive research on the subject, we hope to provide the readers with some basic information on a few pertinent topics:

The constant reminders of the atrocities of Germany's Nazi regime is now recognized as a major preventive measure against the revival of Nazism in Germany, and the annual commemoration of the victims of Hiroshima provides a strong basis for the resistance to the dangerous escalation of nuclear weapons!. By preparing this pamphlet, we hope to help initiate a long term movement to bring attention to the war crimes committed by the Japanese militarists during World War II, and, by doing so, to unite with peace-loving people of all nationalities to prevent the resurgence of militarism anywhere in the world!.

http://www!.cnd!.org/njmassacre/nj!.html

Japan causes
The Treaty of Versailles gave Japan German territories in the Pacific, but Japan was not satisfied because it wanted to expand into China!. Japan was also angered by the peacemaker's failure to endorse the principle of the equality of all races!. The Japanese government wanted to expand into a Nipponese empire in the Pacific, extending into China and Australia!.

To achieve its goals of expanding and gaining more land and natural resources for the Japanese people, Japan took over Manchuria, the northern part of China!. Japan had the same expansion goals as Germany, so Japan agreed to join an alliance with Germany!.

http://www!.freewebz!.com/wwtwoproject/the!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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For Japan, World War II started in the early 1930s with their invasion of Manchuria!. The Japanese wanted their own Asian empire and saw no reason why Europeans should rule Asia!. As a historical note, before World War II, Asians did not think European militaries could be defeated!. After World War II, and the demonstration by Japan that European armies could not only be defeated but humiliated, Europeans found it very difficult to resume rule of their former colonies!.

The United States was opposed to growing Japanese influence in the world as it threatened our colonial holdings in Asia as well as other European holdings!. The US was very vocal in their opposition to the invasion of Manchuria!.

A number of experts believe that Japan decided to attack the US shortly after American political leaders threatened to cut off oil and metal supplies if Japan did not withdraw from Manchuria!. Because Japan is an island nation with few natural resources and because, in the 1930s, Japan received much of its raw materials from the United States, the threat from the United States was serious!. Japan could either withdraw from Manchuria, which for a nation obsessed with pride would be unthinkable, or they could face the US cut off of raw materials, which would cripple their economy!. Or, they could attack Dutch, British, French and American colonies in Asia and seize the raw materials!.

The third option, going on the offensive, meant Japan needed to remove forces that could oppose it!. Japan and the Soviet Union (the two countries had fought a war over Korea in 1905 and a short, undeclared war on the border between Manchuria and Russia in the early 1930s) agreed to a peace treaty!. Both nations needed the treaty, which allowed Russia to move troops from the Manchurian border west to battle Germany and freed Japan from a threat through China and Manchuria!.

The French, who had a major colony in Indochina, were pursuaded by the Germans, who had conquered France in 1940 and installed the Vichy government, to cooperate with Japan in their Asian colonies!.

The English had major garrisons in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore as well major naval forces led by the Prince of Wales!. However, Japanese attacks, launched soon after their attack on Pearl Harbor, quickly overwhelmed the garrisons in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore and sunk most of the British navy in the area!. That, combined with the very real threat of German attack in Europe, effectively eliminated the British in Asia, although Australian and New Zealand forces continued to fight in the area!.

That left the United States Pacific Fleet and garrison in the Philippines!. The Philippines were taken by an invasion launched simultaniously with the attack on Pearl Harbor!. The United States had withdrawn the Pacific Fleet to Pearl Harbor anticipating a Japanese offensive in Asia but thinking that the Japanese could never launch a long-range attack on Pearl Harbor, that such an undertaking might be possible for a European navy such as the British or German navies, but not for an inferior Asian people!. (BTW, the one benefit of the attack on Pearl Harbor is that it should have destroyed our racist attitudes toward Asians!. The attack was a very well-planned and well-executed attack!.)

Japanese planners where hoping quick strikes against the Philippines and Pearl Harbor would knock the United States out of the war!. They knew that a long-term war against the US would be difficult to win!. The fact that Japan, with military commitments throughout Asia, could not follow up on their attack on Pearl Harbor with a Hawaiian landing probably doomed the chances of this working!. Because the Japanese were unable to take the Hawaiian Islands, the United States was able to use the islands as a forward base!. also, many of the ships sunk in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor were refloated, repaired and recrewed!. The attack also missed US carriers, which were out at sea!. So, while it was an impressive victory, Pearl Harbor was not the knockout blow the Japanese were seeking to deliver!.

BTW, the Japanese did not intend to bomb Pearl Harbor without a declaration of war!. The Japanese government sent a coded message instructing its ambassador to inform the United States that Japan had declared war about 30 mintues to an hour prior to the Pearl Harbor attack!. The ambassador had difficulty decoding the dispatch and was not able to deliver the declaration of war until about an hour after the attack!.!.!.!.

The Rape of Nanking!.!.!.

Not to make light of this, but sometimes commanders lose control of their armies!. This is particularly true when the victorious army detests the citizens of the defeated army!. And, the Japanese detested the Chinese!. For months, Japanese commanders allowed their soliders to do as they pleased in Nanking, raping and killing Chinese women and children!. It was an army out of control!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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