[hanamizu]

It’s OK, the Japs did it, and they’re good guys, ... now.

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People forget, or were never taught, that we as a nation hated the Japanese much more than the Germans during WWII. The horrors of the Holocaust were pretty much unknown to the public until the war in Europe was pretty much over.

The Germans on the Western front pretty much followed the rules on the treatment of P.O.W.s including American P.O.W.s. The Japanese bragged about beheading P.O.W.s and subjected them to unimaginable cruelty.

But how the Japanese treated the Chinese has not been forgotten by the Chinese and their level of brutality easily matched the horrors inflicted by the Nazis on their victims.

[Navy Patriot]

Thanks for the accurate and more detailed comments, usually they are glossed over.

[alternatives?]

“But how the Japanese treated the Chinese has not been forgotten by the Chinese and their level of brutality easily matched the horrors inflicted by the Nazis on their victims.”

Think of the horrors currently being inflicted on the Chinese by the Chinese. Under our current trajectory are we really far behind?

[Reily]

It’s interesting that during the Russo-Japanese War & the few encounters with the Central Powers (Germans mostly!) in China & South Pacific during WWI Japan was very chivalrous in its behavior toward POWS. This was so much the case, that the international community positively commented on it.

What happened to change that?

I’ve read several psycho-historical articles on it. None of them seem persuasive. Thoughts?

[DesertRhino]

During the Rape of Nanking, even actual German Nazis at the German embassy were disgusted by what they were seeing.

[Seruzawa]

It was the Rape of Nanking that precipitated the oil and steel embargos. Many of Japan’s cruelties were known. It was so bad that even a Nazi German businessman there in Nanking helped shield Chinese.

[abigkahuna]

for the second time around I am listening to the Audio Book renditions of the Ian Toll trilogy of the Pacfic war. It is a depth of informaion from all sides.

While the official policy was Europe first, and there was constanct friction between us and the British regarding actions in the Pacific—the US definitely hated the Japanese. Was it racial? Maybe a small part, but mostly because IMO of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. It did not take much to cast the Japanese rulers and people of that time as horrendous monsters. Of course during war, all enemies have to be cast as evil, etc...to generate motivation to kill—on a massive scale.

I highly recommend Toll’s trilogy. The biops of all the Admirals, Generals, and other offices on both sides is fascinating.

[21twelve]

What is amazing to me is how terrible of enemies we were, both Germany and Japan are good allies now. I’m sure that along with all of the books and theories on “What caused WWII?” there must be books and theories on “What caused peace?”

I would like to think that it was both a good whooping by us during the war and help after the war to guide and help their countries in the right direction. MacArthur was loved by the Japanese but I’m not entirely sure why. Perhaps most of the citizens (of both Germany and Japan) didn’t like what their leaders were doing and the death and destruction those leaders brought to their country and families.

I’m glad that we made the commitment to “keep the peace” after WWII. That must have been difficult to keep pouring money and help into those countries after we had spent so much money and lives fighting the war.