Japanese and Germans Waving Nazi Flags
“World War II: Conflict spreads around the globe.” wodumedia.com. Wodu Media, n.d. Web. 25 April 2013
Before WWII, Japan was in a sort of depression. This allowed for the rise of communism and military control. This situation was worsened in a number of ways. First of all, The Germans were trying to colonize Japan, so Japan had to repel them. Second, the Great Kanto Earthquake killed many Japanese. Third, the Japanese were in a sort of civil war between military control and the emperor. This was called the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese took to following Hitler’s examples of conquering other nations. This was the start of an expansion movement in Japan (“Militarism and WWII”). In the Bataan Death March, The Japanese told the Filipino soldiers not to listen to the Americans and made the Americans and the Filipinos march on opposite sides of the road (“Capture and March”). One of the reasons for the mistreatment of the Death March POW’s could have been that the Japanese thought that surrender was the ultimate disgrace (Turnpike 44).