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Just like Stalin, the actions of the japanese are overlooked and yet they carried out some atrocious acts. Whilst it is quite correct that children are taught about the actions of the Nazis, it then becomes easy to suggest that they were isolated and only in similar circumstances could such things happen again. Not true.
What the other acts during WW2 (and since I might add) teach us is that inhumanity towards our fellow man lies within us all and not just Germans, or even Europeans. Our children need to understand that because otherwise it will be too late when WW3 kicks off in the arabian peninsula.
It is not just this incident, but the whole history of WW2 from a British perspective is focused on Germany rather than Japan, for reasons that are fairly obvious I think......
I didn't do the second world war at school but did learn about the causes and consequences - hence why we learnt about it - but only then skirted around it.
Secondly you can't learn everything in school about history as there is farr to much - instead you learn the skills that are necessary in order to look at any point in history and learn for yourself. Such as empathy, critical annalysis and looking at sources and where they come from.
It was the same during the war too, many of the people who fought in the east still feel let down by this country and our lack of "interest" in their suffering.
To argue that it didn't affect the UK as much is a cop out, especially when you consider how the POWs were treated by the Japanese.
I have to declare a personal interest here, my Dad's Uncle died in a POW camp and the stories which I heard from his friends have clouded me ever since. I would recommend a book called "Banzai You Bastards", if you are interested.
That's not to say any study of WW2 shouldn't cover it, same as it should cover the fighting against the Italians under O'Connor, and that study needs to go further than just the atomic bombs (even if only to explain the context in which they were used - ie suicidal Japanese defence and a fear that surviving prisoners would be murdered if the war was prolonged).
But given that there's only a limited time on the curriculum there does need to be hard choices made
If you're interested in the Far East and given we've already mentioned the redoubatble Flashman I'd recommend George MacDonald Fraser's 'Quartered Safe Out Here' about his experiences in the Border Regiment in Burma towards the end of the War.
http://www.amazon.com/Quartered-Safe-Out-Here-Recollection/dp/0002726874
In Nanking, the Japanese soldiers certainly demonstrated their warrior philosophy that only those who gave up their lives resisting the enemy should be treated as human beings. Kind of a Catch 22.
Oddly enough I would have heard of it being chinese. The systematic rape, murder, mutilation, looting and burning of an entire city over a period of a over a month kind of sticks in your mind.
The stuff that happened there easily outdid whatever the Nazis did in pure brutality and savagery. Door to door searchs for females, who were gang raped, mutilated and then killed, ranging from infants to grandmothers. People being burnt alive, used for live bayonet practice, buried alive and worse... the list goes on...
ETA that's supposed to be quoting Shyboy's earlier post that i've only just seen.
Um, not so sure about the Chinese politicians wanting it to be forgotten... I think they want an official apology. I can't remember exactly, it was dangerous to put forward any political opinions whilst i was in China so only heard the odd snippets.
Other way round I think. Japan wants to forget, China wants to keep reminding them of it.
Then again, the Chinese government is viciously nationalist, so I think the propaganda minister will try and remind people as oft as possible.
And now some Japanese are trying to deny it, so we can all have an Asian version of Holocaust denial. WOO!
I didn't read the rest of this topic, so it might already have been mentioned. Either way, that can only go furthur to damage Sino-Japanese relations. You can see why the Chinese are fed up when they won't even admit thier crimes...