by Sophie Dewees
The years leading up to World War II saw an increase in the use of biological and chemical warfare in Japan, spearheaded by Major-General Ishii Shiro. BW most commonly took the form of anthrax, glanders, and plague, while chemical warfare included tear, smoke, and other poison gases. The proliferation of these two tactics in Japan, outlawed by the 1929 Geneva Convention, was enabled by the mechanized nature of the project. Shiro had great factories built in Manchuria and other areas of China. These “factories of death” included the infamous Unit 731 and were developed for research and human experimentation revolving around chemical and biological warfare.
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by Haddie Beckham Unit 731, led by the infamous Japanese scientist, Ishii Shiro, was a covert laboratory tasked with preparing Japan for chemical and biological war against belligerents. Masscarading as the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department” in Harbin, China, Unit 731 was in fact a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army, conducting barbaric human experimentation on prisoners. Prisoners of war (mainly Chinese, but also Mongolian and Russian) and local alleged criminals were routinely subjected to inhumane testing for biological weapons. Within the prison walls, no less than 3,000 people were murdered annually within the period from 1937–1945 for the sake of developing weapons not only meant for war but also for the destruction of populations. The numbers of humans killed were unknown since they were known as logs or marutas, and were incinerated right after they were experimented on. Additionally, Unit 731 tested biological weapons in the surrounding areas of Manchurian, China, killing an estimated half a million people.
Born on October 12th, 1891, Prince Konoe Fumimaro was the 24th head of one of the most ancient and noble Japanese families, the Fujiwara. Dating back to 646, the House of Fujiwara has been one of five Japanese families "Gosekke," meaning five regent families from which Japanese emperors often were chosen. In the 11th century, they ruled over Japan and, in 1202, they took the name of Konoe.
by Luke Diep-Nguyen
Following the Second World War and the surrender of Japan, the Nationalist Government, or Kuomintang Government (KMT), faced another threat from the rising Communist support and military, which was willing to overthrow the Nationalist Government to install their Communist system. The threat of the Communist Party to the Nationalist Government was more substantial and more significant than before the war was due to significant changes within both parties during the war. During the war, Communists gained support from the population due to victories of the Japanese military and a more stable system than the corrupted Nationalist Government.
"When you are thinking about things that could cause in excess of 10 million deaths, even something tragic like a nuclear weapons incident wouldn't get to that level. So the greatest risk is from a natural epidemic or an intentionally caused infection bioterrorism events... Whether the next epidemic is unleashed by a quirk of nature or the hand of terrorists, scientists say a fast-moving airborne pathogen could kill more than 30 million people in less than a year. So the world does need to think about this"- Bill Gates, during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland on January 19, 2017.
With cases of coronavirus spreading in the United States, the idea of martial law is one of the measures considered to enforce social distance as a public safety measure. Under martial law, civil governments would be overridden by the military. It should only be used as a last resort.
by Luke Diep-Nguyen Taiwanese had faced the Second World War from many different angles, as Taiwan had been under Japanese occupation for around four decades when the Second Sino-Japanese War was starting up, which influenced the Taiwanese to be more supportive of Japanese cause. by Rubayya Tasneem An essay on the Atlantic Charter and its influence on the Indian independence movement. Amidst the intense fighting in 1941, with the Second World War in full swing, the allied forces had suffered humiliating defeats at the hands of the German troops, and few policymakers believed that the Soviet Union would be successful in defending the 1941 invasion. To ensure victory, Churchill was of the opinion that US involvement in the war was crucial, leading to the meeting between Roosevelt and Churchill aboard the SS Augusta in August 1941. By Carolina S. Ruiz, Research and Resource Development Associate at Alpha Education “The real disease of the world is the legality and availability of war.” Salmon Levinson, 1917
The recent assassination of Iran’s top General, Qasem Soleimani, on President Trump’s orders sparked an international crisis and sent US allies in the region scrambling. NATO immediately canceled a Canadian-led training mission in Iraq and, in turn, Iraq asked the United States to withdraw its troops from Iraqi soil.
The west often dismissed the Khabarovsk War Crimes Trial as "Communist Propaganda." However, it was the first time the scientists from the "Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department" of the Imperial Japanese Army(IJA) came forward with the crimes they committed during World War 2. To confuse others about what their mission is, they frequently use the name, "Water Supply and Prophylaxis Administration of the Kwantung Army," or "Hippo-Epizootic Administration of the Kwantung Army."
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