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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Chang states in "Six Weeks of Terror" that one of the Japanese military leaders is known as "the masked shogun" because information about this person is scarce. To which leader does she refer?

2. In what year does Japan withdraw from the League of Nations?

3. Kirby states that all BUT WHICH of Japan's following actions took place in stark contrast to conventional rules of warfare?

4. In comparison to Germany, what percentage of war reparations has Japan paid the victims of Nanking?

5. In "The Fall of Nanking," Chang states that Nanking has been occupied by foreign armies how many times?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the author accomplish by referring to Nanking as a "forgotten Holocaust," according to Kirby?

2. Describe the process by which new Japanese soldiers were desensitized.

3. Describe the preparations the Chinese government ordered the citizens to undertake in order to prepare for possible invasions after the fall of Shanghai.

4. Briefly describe Wilhelmina (Minnie) Vautrin's role in the Nanking Safety Zone.

5. As discussed in "Six Weeks of Horror," why will the world never fully understand the psychic toll taken on the women of Nanking, despite best efforts to accurately count the number of rapes?

6. Describe the methods used by the Japanese army to subdue the larger Chinese population of Nanking, as described in "Six Weeks of Terror."

7. Briefly describe Robert Wilson's role in the Nanking Safety Zone.

8. In the Foreword, what does Kirby say was unique about the Rape of Nanking in regards to the way it was carried out?

9. At what point does the author state that she became aware of the Rape of Nanking, and what caused her to doubt the accuracy of the information with which she had been presented?

10. As discussed in "The Fall of Nanking," what are the reasons historians have found for why Nanking fell in four days with so many Chinese soldiers present to defend the city?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In most successful wars and occupations, the master-race theme is often present. Japan used the master-race mentality to justify its occupation of China, just as Nazi Germany used the master-race idea to justify its crimes against Jews, gypsies, and other political "undesirables." Why is this mindset important in Nanking? What does it accomplish? How might Japan's occupation of Nanking have been different if Japanese soldiers did NOT view themselves as more worthy than the Chinese civilians?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the social and economic factors that enabled Japan to begin feeling as though it were the victim of an international conspiracy in the years prior to Japan's attempt to conquer China. How are the factors interlinked? Was there something to Japan's feeling that it was being picked on by the international community, or were they looking for an excuse to be upset with the rest of the world? Was the international community being fair or unfair toward Japan?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the decision by the Chinese government to pull out of Nanking and the subsequent actions in the suburbs of the city. What reasons might the government have had for pulling out of Nanking? What steps did the government abandonment enable the Chinese military to take that they might not otherwise have been able to take?

(see the answer keys)

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