Comparing The Rwandan Genocide And The Rape Of Nanjing

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The Rwandan Genocide and the Rape of Nanjing are two of the most devastating massacres in history. While they have a few similarities, overall they couldn’t be more different. The main cause for both of these wars was a struggle for power, which is a common similarity amongst many other devastating attacks. However, the reactions to these genocides were quite different in several ways. The Rwandan Genocide was between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes of Rwanda, Africa. It was a relatively short massacre, lasting around 100 days. However, it had an extraordinarily high death toll of around 800,000. It began in April of 1994, and ended in July of the same year. It was a vicious battle for power, where the Tutsi decided to display their might over the …show more content…

They murdered those they had raped and many more that dared to walk the streets. In fact, the Japanese soldiers had a contest to see who could kill a hundred people first. They couldn’t figure out who won, so their conclusion was to hold another contest to get to a hundred and fifty people. But in addition to physically harming the people of China, they also destroyed their homes and workplaces by lighting them on fire. Around a third of the buildings in Nanking were destroyed by the soldiers. Finally, the massacre ended when the Japanese had deemed that they had “restored order” in the city. The soldiers retreated and China was left to face their demolished city and spirits. However, after World War II ended and Japan surrendered, China got a small amount of closure for the many people they had lost. Japanese officials were put on trial for their heinous crimes and many of them were indicted. China had lost a great deal in this conflict, and in the years to come, the generation that reflected upon the past constructed memorials dedicated to the people that lost their …show more content…

The Nanking Massacre is still a sore subject for both countries to talk about, and is still a point of tension between them. Some Chinese citizens still don’t trust Japan, and Japan refuses to address their wrongdoing in the matter. Unlike the unending tension between the two countries of China and Japan. In the years after the massacre in Africa, Rwanda faced the daunting challenge of peace. Instead of fighting, they spent their time rebuilding their country and the bonds between the two groups. Millions of people had fled from the country to avoid the crossfire of the mass murder, and slowly but surely, many of those that had left came back to the land they were from. In conclusion, while both massacres were born from a desire for power and an exercise of control, one ended in relative peace while the other in underlying contention. The Hutu and Tutsi sought a more diplomatic solution and ended up desiring their prior unity. Whereas the Japanese and Chinese people were still withholding their own personal opinions on the matter and refused to address the

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