For october 2

NANO-ck

Mise-à-jour le 25 March 2024, 5 minutes de lecture

Reading Theme 1 Chapter 3 : WWII and violence

For each section, write down the Background and the Consequences with regards to the East West rising tensions.

The Atomic Bomb

• Massive scientific and engineering investment in developing the atomic bomb
• “it was nearly inevitable that, onc ebuilt and successfully tested, the weapon would be used”
  • Source : Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, Online Documents COllextion, July 31, 1945
• There was a race to uranium, they were trying to get some everywhere
• The German were advanced compared to others, it would put pressure on other countries
• The USA were the first to have the atomic bomb
• The fact that we could releash atomic energy was a major advance in science
• Two bombs were dropped (no warning)
  • Altough the president gave the Japanese a last warning
  • “or there will be prompt and auto-destruction”
  • “Little boy” droppsed over Hiroshima Aug 6th
  • “Fat Man” droppsed over Nagasaki on Aug 9th
• Nearly everything in a 1 mile radius was destroyed

The Holocaust

• Less than 400 000 survivors in 2018
• On the 9.5M Jews in Europe before the war, 6M were murdered
• 1.1M people killed at Auschwitz
• Some preisoners were so close to death that you couldn’t feed them because they hadn’teaton for so long their stomachs were atrophied, and if they got food in, they vomited and bloated and obstructed
• The hospitals in the concentration camps weren’t really hospitals, only death rooms where people would lie in their own wastes until they died
• Perhaps 20% of the camp population had active tuberculosis

Tokyo Fire-bombings

• 1945
• Fire bombs would be dropped by the US on Tokyo
• The fire was so intense that water in the rivers would reach boiling temperature
• 80,000 to 130,000 civilians killed (most common estimates)
• Over one million homeless
• 267,171 buildings destroyed
• Occurred during World War II in 1945.
• Part of the U.S. strategy to weaken Japan.
• Part of a larger incendiary bombing campaign.
• Associated with “Operation Meetinghouse.”
• Humanitarian crisis with medical and housing shortages.
• Psychological impact and morale decline.
• Hampered Japan’s war effort and contributed to surrender.
• Raised ethical questions about civilian targeting.
• Contributed to the end of World War II.
• Long-term effects on post-war Japan.

Nuremberg trials

• Held after World War II, from 1945 to 1946.
• International military tribunals conducted in Nuremberg, Germany.
• Aimed to prosecute major Nazi war criminals.
• Established legal principles for future war crime trials.
• Prosecuted top Nazi leaders for crimes against humanity.
• Established the concept of individual responsibility for war crimes.
• Defined and codified crimes such as genocide and crimes against peace.
• Set a precedent for subsequent war crime trials and tribunals.
• Contributed to the post-war process of denazification in Germany.
• Shaped modern international humanitarian law and human rights standards.
• Raised ethical and legal questions about the accountability of leaders for wartime atrocities.
• Symbolized the international community’s commitment to justice and accountability after WWII.

Tokyo Trials

• Followed the Nuremberg Trials and aimed to prosecute Japanese war criminals.
• Conducted by the Allied powers, primarily the United States.
• Focused on crimes committed during World War II in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Prosecuted Japanese military and political leaders for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace.
• Established individual accountability for wartime actions, similar to the Nuremberg Trials.
• Defined and condemned atrocities such as the Rape of Nanking and the use of biological and chemical warfare.
• Contributed to the post-war process of rebuilding Japan, including political and legal reforms.
• Set precedents for subsequent war crime trials and the development of international law.
• Raised debates about the fairness and impartiality of the trials, as some argued they were influenced by political motivations.
• Marked a significant step towards regional and global reconciliation after World War II.
• Symbolized the commitment of the international community to justice and accountability in the aftermath of the war in the Asia-Pacific region.
• All japanese peaple were considered to be spying and if ever we didn’t find anything on someone, we would say that it’s because they are very good spy
• Internment of Japanese and Japanese Americans in relocation camps

How was WWII a war of violence ?

• It was a total war
• Civilians targeted
  • Genocide
    • The holocaust
  • The Atomic bomb
  • Tokyo Firebombing
• No more limit, war of elimination
  • The goal wasn’t just to win the war but to exterminate the ennemy
• Moral violence
  • The Japanese internment by the Americans
  • The Nazis’ violence upon the Jews

An interesting angle to answer this question is by using the power axis but also the allies axis. See how the allies contribute to the violence upon others.