Essay about Nanking Massacre

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Nanking Massacre 1. 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. 2. In the past forty-five years, …show more content…
On the same day, December 13th, 1937, Nanking fell to the Japanese. In the next six weeks, the Japanese committed the infamous Nanking Massacre, or the Rape of Nanking, during which an estimated 300,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed, and 20,000 women were raped. 8. During the Nanking Massacre, the Japanese committed a litany of atrocities against innocent civilians, including mass execution, raping, looting, and burning. It is impossible to keep a detailed account of all of these crimes. However, from the scale and the nature of these crimes as documented by survivors and the diaries of the Japanese militarists, the chilling evidence of this historical tragedy is indisputable. 9. On December 13th, a large number of refugees tried to escape from the Japanese by trying to cross the Yangtze River. They were trapped on the east bank because no transportation was available; many of them tried to swim across the river. Meanwhile, the Japanese arrived and fired at the people on the shore and in the river. A Japanese soldier reported that the next day he saw an uncountable number of dead bodies of adults and children covering the whole river. He estimated that more than 50,000 people were killed at this tragic incident of the Nanking massacre. 10. When the Japanese troops first entered the city on the 13th, the streets were crowded with more than 100,000 refugees or injured Chinese soldiers. The Japanese relentlessly fired at these people.