world history--the atrocities committed by the Germans and Japanese during World War II?

Question

Compare and contrast the atrocities committed by the Germans and Japanese during World War II. Include elements of the Holocaust, geocide towards China, propaganda, totalitarianism, and political leadership.

Answer 1

Why should I? I don't have a History Assignment due Monday.

Answer 2

You just cant compare atrocities - you have to look at who was responsibile and the policies that both Germany and Japan took towards their conquered territories.

With the Germans, nazi racial ideology combined with 'lebensraum' or living space. The Germans needed to demonise those races that they deemed to be 'undermenschen' or 'sub-human' by classifying them as enemies of the reich - to be hunted and exterminated.

The Japanese were different - the crimes committed by the Japanese in China and throughout South East Asia were driven not only by the elites, but by cultural aspects - the bushido code - a warrior conquering ethic. The Japanese held in complete contempt those people that were weak or cowardly.

The Japanese also went into South East Asia claiming that they were liberating Asians from Western colonialism. Like the Nazis who claimed that they were uniting those German minorities who had been separated from Germany under the Treaty of Versailles

Where the Nazi leadership was political leadership driven by the National Socialist party and their ideology, the Japanese Government was the Emperor of Japan, the royal family and the Imperial Japanese Government - dominated by the military that strove for the Greatness of Japan and her Emperor.

One of the elements in common about the German and Japanese expansion is that they used the perceived weaknesses of the Western powers to carry out their invasions - but at the same time cried foul claiming that the Western powers were in some ways limiting them from becoming equal powers.

Where the Nazis had the death camps at Auschwitz etc and made killing people a factory process, Japanese soldiers and commanders took turns at the Nanjing Massacre to see how many heads they could cut off their chinese victims or enjoyed sticking bamboo poles into women's vaginas.

You cant compare these inhuman animals for their acts.

Answer 3

Dude, heavy question but great one!
I started to answer this question at first because I love that shows intellect, but there is so much there. You could write a book.
So I will basically say that I blame the Germans more as they the benefit of a christian society that would not commit the crimes they did. Hilter removed that all, along with those who disagree. His propaganda was to keep the German people thinking they were winning until we were in Berlin. He was no good as a leader (lucky he was sleeping on D-Day) but had a fantastic ability to keep the people enraptured by his every word. He may have been a failed painter, but he truly was a phenomenal orator.
As for Japan, they committed some atrocities that seem horrible to us. One of those is the beheading of POW's. By their thinking, they were giving the people honourable deaths. By ours it was animalistic. The Japanese were difficult as their entire code of life was different than that of the west. They even tried to go by the rules of war and announce to us that they were declaring war on the US. But through idiotic mess ups the proclamation came about 30 minutes after the attack on Pearl Harbour. As for the Battan death march, that was unforgivable which is why we gave them two gifts in August 1945.

Answer 4

As for the Japanese, let's not forget biological warfare units 731 and 100. These units carried out biological experiments on live human specimens. Untold numbers of Chinese were killed through live dissections and vivisections, etc. Only recently have the Japanese admitted to live dissections of American pilots shot down in 1945. The number of Chinese purposely infected with the plague was in the tens of thousands (probably much more). Japanese had numerous plans in the works for infecting the U.S. west coast population with bubonic plague and anthrax by 1945. The Japanese were given a pass on their war crimes by the U.S for the following reason..."The value to the U.S. of Japanese BW data is of such importance to national security as to far outweigh the value accruing from war crimes' prosecution."
More recently the Chinese have been demanding that the Japanese give account for these past crimes.

Answer 5

All parties committed atrocities during the war, certainly including the Americans.

Answer 6

Compare and contrast? What should we contrast? Sound like a Blue Book exam. Contrast between German and Japanese?

Answer 7

In many ways they were similar. Both tested weapons and diseases on human subjects. Both conducted "medical" experiments on living patients.

But in Germany, they were methodically trying to wipe out certain peoples. The Japanese were not, they simply didn't care if the people were wiped out along they way. But they were not deliberately trying to.

Answer 8

Germans- Holocaust which includes killing Jews, Catholics, Gypsies, Poles, those who disagreed with him, etc...
Japanese- rape of Manchuria (killing thousands upon thousands of Chinese), POWs, nurses, women and children of islands they conquered, etc..
Germany- Single leader who was a great speaker, made Jews look as if WWI was their fault.
Japan- a figure head of an emperor, miltary counsol, empirical visions
hope this helps you

Answer 9

drop it, old news let us all learn from our past not re live it. that means all of us, peace be to all nations. and until we stop bringing up the past it will never happen. all this hatred in the word today is the past. I lost a lot of my freinds and family in the conflicts even those after the ww2. and what I have learnt is people do not want peace, we always bring up the past.