Nanjing Massacre Essay

The 1937-1938 Nanjing Massacre:
The forgotten Holocaust

“WHEN PURPLE MOUNTAIN BURNS, NANJING IS LOST”
(old Chinese adage)

Introduction

More than 80 years have passed since the horrific historical events known as the Nanjing Massacre. The period of terror and destruction occurred in Nanjing is undoubtedly among the worst in the history of modern warfare. This tremendous episode remained largely unknown or vaguely known for so long in particular in the Western countries and only in the 1990s exploded with such force, generating controversial debate and emotions. No one could fathom the overall extent of the terror. Chinese and International Scholars consider the Nanjing Massacre one of the most dreadful atrocities and the worst depravity

The temporary disappearance became a pretext for Japan to launch an attack on the city of Beijing followed by a full-scale invasion of Northern China. The Chinese Army’s ill equipment favoured the quick Japanese military advance southwards to Shanghai. After the conquest of the “Chinese New York”, the Japanese army marched northwest towards the Nationalist capital of China, Nanjing, where Chiang Kaishek’s Government was located. Their intention was both to occupy strategic locations and to demonstrate their superiority over the Chinese Nationalists “[a] force they considered pernicious and alien to their vision of East Asia’s future.” The siege of the Chinese cities required various months of bloody fighting, more than what they

The raids continued until December 13, when four divisions of the Japanese army and two navy fleets on the Yangtze River hungry of revenge, sex and goods invaded the City, which immediately fell into the hands of the Japanese army. The city was in disarray and the population was forced to hide in shelters, refuges, basements and trenches. The Japanese army behaved like a barbarian horde, animated by the heightened desire to desecrate Nanjing, proving their dominance and exhibiting their honour and