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Crimes Against Humanity?
Was the aggression
demonstrated by the Japanese
justification for use of the atomic
bomb?
Feudal Japan• Japan had a long history of rule by
samurai who operated under the bushido (“way of the warrior”) code
- demanded loyalty, unquestioning, obedience, and suicidal bravery in battle• This mentality stayed long after actual samurai
control ended, including the 1930’s idea that Japan’s future would require “total war,” the unity of the military and industry.
Bushido Code in WWII
• Military recruits were taught that officers were infallible (made no mistakes) and an officer’s commands were as an order from the emperor himself.
• Japanese recruits were brutally trained and subject to physical violence for even minor mistakes
Bushido Code in WWII
• Anyone’s surrender was deeply dishonorable• Japanese didn’t care for or understand the
Western idea of surrender or lack of shame at wanting to preserve life when fighting no longer served a purpose
• Surrender turned a soldier into a non-entity and cause you to be treated worse than an animal
Bushido Code in WWII
• Japanese officers knew that their cultural teachings of respect for authority, fear of exclusion, and loss of face would keep troops in line and stop them from asking questions
• General officers brutalized prisoners and made camp conditions horrible.
Bushido Code in WWII
• Japanese officers called the Geneva Conventions the “coward’s code.”
Treaty of Versailles
• Japan had a good relationship with the West before WWII
• When discriminated against at the Treaty of Versailles and rebuffed when they asked for an amendment about equality be added to the treaty, hard feelings developed
Divinity of the Emperor
• Declared divine - a direct descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu – in 1890
• As a living god, the emperor was due honor and complete obedience
• This was taught in schools, at home, and in the media
• The use of the emperor allowed Japan to become a totalitarian state
Racial Superiority
• Japanese believed they were racially superior to others; people of other cultures were seen as less than human
• Believed they had the right to rule all of Asia and even the world
Racial Superiority
“By 1941, [the Japanese] were ready to take on the white world in war, and they truly did not care anymore what the white man thought of them. They had torn the Geneva Convention to pieces. White men could go to hell, and the Japanese would be the ones to send them there.”
-Gavan DawesPrisoners of the Japanese
Statistics
• Estimates of the number of people killed – most who were non-combatants – by the Japanese military between the mid-1930’s and 1945 is estimated to be as high as 20 million
• Only 4% of Allied prisoners in German hands died, while 25% of those captured by the Japanese died
End of the War in the Pacific
What steps did the Allies take to overcome the
Japanese and why didn’t the Japanese take the chances
offered?
After the Islands
• As early as 1942, the U. S. began firebombing Japanese cities
• Bombing in Japan became easier once the Allies recaptured islands in the Pacific
• In 1944, strategic bombing of Tokyo and civilians began
• A single early bombing raid killed nearly 88,000 people, injured 41,000, and over a million were left homeless
Closing In
• Widespread destruction and high casualty rates from months of raids caused many Japanese to doubt the military’s ability to defend the country
• After V-E Day, the Soviets closed in on Japan from the West as the U. S. closed in from the East
Opportunities Not Taken
• In July 1945, the Potsdam Declaration was made by the Allies, demanding Japan’s surrender and warning that the country would be devastated if the war continued
• Japan rejected the demands two days later
Opportunities Not Taken
• Hiroshima was bombed on August 6th
• Fatalities were as high as 230,000; 171,000 homeless
• Truman announces the bombing to the U. S. and warns of more to come
• Japan begins talks with Allies about surrender
Opportunities Not Taken
• Nagasaki bombed on August 9th • Japan agreed to surrender if the emperor got
to keep his position. UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER was restated; third bomb prepared as negotiations stalled
• After a series of conventional bombings, the Japanese agree to unconditional surrender on August 14th
Peace Treaty
• Japan had to pay reparations to Allies• Its military and industry were restricted• Territories invaded by Japan were returned or
redistributed• Japanese war criminals were put on trial/
executed• China was not invited to attend the peace
talks
Occupied Japan
• U. S. occupied Japan for six years to eliminate Japan’s war potential and to Westernize the country