Nanjing Massacre 1937

 

The Nanjing massacre, also called "The Rape of Nanjing" was the mass murder of Nanjing civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China.

Buildup of events that led to the Nanjing massacre _ Towards 1930 Japan was engaged in the search for raw materials to grow its industry. They invaded several provinces  and took over their raw materials. Japan invaded Chinese Province of Manchuria in 1931 and by 1937 November, they had control over large section of China  including Shanghai which was captured in November 1937. After which the Japanese Army advanced towards Nanjing, the then capital.

In fear of loosing it's military forces in the battle, Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek, ordered the removal of nearly all official Chinese troops from the city, leaving it defended by international forces under the control of German citizen John Rabe, founder of international committee for the Nanjing Safety Zone. By December Prince Yasuhiko Asaka was made Japanese Commander in the campaign. 

Japanese troops arrived Nanjing city in December 13th and the bloody massacre began same day. Chinese soldiers were executed in violation of the laws of war. Women and girls were eaoed and gang raped mercilessly, after which they were mutilated and decapitated. Over 30,000 civilians were killed in the massacre.

In early 1938 the massacre were slowly came to an end with two Japanese commanding officers, Iwane Matsui and Isamu Cho being held accountable. They were hanged in 1948.

Prince Awake created a safety zone for Nanjing citizens where they took refuge during the massacre. In January 1938, the Japanese declared that order has been restored in the city and dismantled the safety zone. However killing continued until the first week of february. A puppet government was installed till the end of world war II.

The Japanese government denied the massacre of Nanjing, stating that the rape and killing of civilians never happened, and have never openly apologized for these ills. After the end of world war II, in August 1945, a ceasefire was declared. American troops arrived Chinese soil in Nanjing, particularly to gather evidence of Japanese massacre during the war. However, several incriminating evidence was gathered and burned by the Japanese government before the arrival of American troops.