The Rape of Nanking

Answer this question to the best of your ability:

Japan believed it was forced into the war with the United States because Franklin Roosevelt insisted that Japan

a.  withdraw from the Dutch East Indies.

b. leave China.

c. renew its trade with America.

d. break its treaty of nonaggression with Germany.

The correct answer is. . .b.  Did you get it right? 

There is a bigger story behind this multiple choice question.  In 1937, Japanese troops stormed the capital of the Republic of China, (present day) Nanjing in the conquest to take control of China in order to expand its empire's borders and declare itself the superior race. 

First, the soldiers dropped leaflets all over Nanking asking their surrender.  When they delayed, the soldiers marched into the city from all directions, raping, looting, and usually killing innocent citizens. They broke into almost every house and store in the once-prosperous city and destroyed everything.

An estimated 20,000 women were raped (including the elderly and children).  The women were often killed after the rape.  Chinese soldiers fought back to the best of their ability, but were forced to retreat.  In total, it was estimated that 50,000 to 300,000 people died.

 One Japanese newspaper (Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun) article from the time recounted how two soldiers participated in a contest of who could kill 100 people first using only a sword before the capture of Nanking.  The paper reported it like it was a sporting event that for the country to tune into, but obviously not all Japanese citizens supported the conquest.

By the time the Unites States found out about the rape of Nanking, they already had sanctions against Japan (Japanese occupation of Indochina [present day Vietnam, when Japanese prevented imports of arms and fuel]) and it was one of the events that spurred FDR to enact the Japanese oil embargo in 1941.  

It was a holocaust that went mostly unignored in American historical accounts that usually focused on the atrocities of Hitler.  The massacre of Nanking is an example of how certain political events go unnoticed because of the geographical distance and cultural differences between countries, but it doesn't excuse the US policy of Japanese-American internment camps that would happen a few years later.

For more information, read Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking 

Sources:

Mr. Stewart's practice test

http://www.history.com/topics/nanjing-massacre 

http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/nanking.htm