Rape of Nanking (Case Study Sample)

Rape of Nanking
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Rape of Nanking
The rape of Nanking or the Nanjing massacre is a horrific murder of Nanking residents by the Japanese army. On December 13, 1937, the Japanese army force troop invaded Nanking, the then-China capital city. The motive of the invasion was the ideology that Japan had to educate and transform China by killing its citizens to pursue a greater East Asia Co-prosperity under the government of Japan.[Yoshida, Takashi. The making of the" Rape of Nanking": history and memory in Japan, China, and the United States. Oxford University Press, 2006.]
China and Japan had been at war for five months, from the 2nd Sino-Japanese War on July 7, 1937, until the invasion of Nanking on December 13, 1937. The genocide occurrence resulted in massive deaths.[Kinney, Damien. "Rediscovering a massacre: The filmic legacy of Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking." Continuum 26, no. 1 (2012): 11-23.]
At the beginning of the Rape of Nanking, China indeed organized a resistance movement against the Japanese. Chang Kai-shek ordered the movement to stop the Japanese movement to the south from Manchuria. As a result, the yellow river was blocked to divert its flow.
Japanese are held accountable for the genocide since it was a crime they committed against humanity; it was regarded as the same as the planned Nazi genocide. The genocide that the Japanese committed was considered a symbol of evil that remained in people's minds up to date. Since that day, China has been struggling to get justice for the horrific incident. However, the Rape of Nanking didn't receive much attention at all. Unlike other countries that paid substantial money to the countries affected, Japan only paid one billion. Similarly, a large sum of those responsible for the incident was missing from the trial.[Askew, David. "The Nanjing Incident: Recent Research and Trends." electronic journal of contemporary Japanese studies (2002).]
There has been no history for less than good relation between China and Japan since the two has been good neighbors. Before then, China influenced Japanese culture in terms of religion, writing system, civilization, and the policies followed by the people. However, China has always had tension that slowly grew to the invasion in 1937. China supported the Silla Kingdom in an attempt to take over the Baekje kingdom. In return, Baekje and Japan united to fight against the Silla Kingdom. Unfortunately, Baekje and Japan lost the battle, making Japan vulnerable to an invasion.[Maier, Charles S. The Nanjing Massacre in history and historiography. Vol. 2. Univ of California Press, 2000.]
The Japanese act emphasized cultural vice and political ideas, which amplified the crisis that led to the genocide. Japanese soldiers weren't relatively modern, but they were trying to shun away from the traditional ways of living. Hence, they were part of a "transitioning society." The sudden change could have been the reason why their anger got provoked. Consequently, Japanese citizens have been held to strict discipline since childhood, which was enforced inhumanly. Therefore, this might be a way of releasing their anger. Another factor that contributed to the genocide is that the country also encouraged the evil act. As a result, the criminals were not held accountable for their behavior.[Wakabayashi, Bob Tadashi, ed. The Nanking Atrocity, 1937-1938: Complicating the Picture. Berghahn Books, 2017.]
Foreigners played a significant role during the Japanese control in the city. They formed a committee known