Summary: The Rape Of Nanning

The Chinese and the Japanese had been feuding over territory, raw materials and resources, and influence for decades. This feud eventually lead to the Japanese Invasion of China, which is also known as the Second Sino-Japanese War. The causes of this war can be traced all the way back to the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. The Japanese emerged as the victor of the war over China; making them the great power to come out of eastern Asia. While, China lost influence, land, and became weaker due to foreign imperialism coming out of Europe. This allowed Japan to believe that they could keep taking from China, which they did for a large stretch of time with little to no resistance. This spread of influence really started to ramp up in the 1930s.

The Rape of Nanking was a mass murder committed by the Japanese on the Chinese soldiers and, mainly, civilians who were in or around Nanjing. Although, the war overall was very brutal, this particular event was especially brutal; Chinese civilians and soldiers were mutilated, raped, and tortured while the Japanese occupied Nanjing. Almost or over 300,000 chinese people were killed during this mass murder and mass rape. Although it was such a large-scale and brutal event, it is often forgotten by many and not recognized like something like the Holocaust. This systematic murder occurred in only about six weeks, from when Japanese forces first captured Nanjing up until the Japanese forced all the remaining refugees in the Safety Zone to return home

The Chinese decided to launch their very first counterattack against the Japanese in early 1940. But, due to the better equipment and military strategies, the Japanese were able to defeat the Chinese counterattack. “Afterwards Chiang could not risk any more all-out offensive campaigns given the poorly trained, under-equipped, and disorganized state of his armies and opposition to his leadership both within the Kuomintang and in China in general.” (Wikipedia). Due to the increased Chinese morale from the defensive victories caused the soldiers to bolster up. The Japanese were also starting to fight a two-front war in the Pacific and in Asia. This caused the Japanese to focus on sending troops into the more urgent war in the Pacific (Britannica). This pretty much marked the end of the war between China and Japan; after their defeat in WWII, the Japanese were forced to make peace with