Germany's chancellor can kneel in front of the Jewish tombstone, while Japanese textbooks still scandalize and distort the history of their war of aggression against China, and the two countries that were defeated in World War II are also the same two countries that were defeated in World War II.
Every war is a pain, and even more so for a defeated country.
Some nations will take history as a mirror, remember history, and never commit it again, but some nations deliberately scandalize and erase the past in order to restore their positive image, but they do not know that the more they smear, the more they blacken, the more they smear, the more they attract contempt.
How did the schools of Germany and Japan, both losers, teach their students how to view World War II, and how did their people view the wars that their ancestors had experienced?
1. German Educational Attitude: Admit Mistakes and Be Sincere
After the First World War, the attitude of the Germans was: sorry, we lost, and after the Second World War, their attitude was: Sorry, we were wrong.
Compared with Japan, Germany reflected on and repented of history as early as the sixties and seventies of the 20th century, such as German Chancellor Brandt's "Warsaw Kneeling". Perhaps, it is precisely because the Germans apologized early that the current world public opinion has a completely different evaluation of Japan and Germany.
It is worth noting that Germany's attitude is actually mixed with many political factors.
Beginning in the 50s of the 20th century, the bipolar pattern of the world officially kicked off, the escalation of the Cold War plunged the countries of the world into tension, and the United States and Europe needed a country that could unite the entire West to resist the might of the Soviet Union, and this country was West Germany.
As a defeated country, West Germany was coerced by Britain, France, and the United States at the forefront of the Cold War, packaging itself with public opinion and gradually apologizing to the victims of World War II.
Although this is the political conclusion of the thin game at the top, when the ideology of the upper class penetrates into the people at the bottom, it will trigger a reflection on the whole society.
At that time, 48 per cent of people raised their opposition to Brandt's kneeling, saying that "he was too out of line", but 41 per cent also expressed appreciation for the chancellor's kneeling.
Compared with Japan, which did not repent, Germany did not know how many times better, such a low-profile behavior can easily win the favor of people all over the world, and those innocent civilians who were brutally killed can also find a little comfort.
This is the eternal lesson of the nation and the keynote of a nation's rejuvenation.
Many Germans knew they were wrong, but they did not blame Hitler alone, because in their eyes, Hitler was a legitimate and legitimate leader of the state elected by the German people by one vote, and an agent who ensured the operation of the state apparatus.
The German people once fantasized about the high welfare of a strong country, and in order to realize his promise and maintain the legitimacy of his power, Hitler wanted to play the game of "World War II is" forever, but one day he couldn't play it anymore, and finally detonated the whole war and dragged Germany into the boundless abyss.
Since the whole trend of society is to advocate Germany's admitting mistakes, the younger generation in Germany has also been educated by this ideology.
In German schools, when teachers tell history, the brutality of Nazi acts is deeply imprinted in the hearts of students, and the pictures on the textbooks are all real in history.
German students have a consensus on the history of World War II: the Nazis were the party that was unjust, the party that started the world war, and this history is shameful.
Young people are the future of the country, receiving the right education, and opposing historical nihilism is the basis for the development of a nation's culture.
Second, the degree of distortion of history in Japanese textbooks is serious
In Japanese textbooks, students can clearly see that the words "war of aggression against China" have been changed many times, vague the terminology, and even the cause of the September 18 incident.
In our opinion, the Japanese deliberately designed the outbreak of 918 in order to take advantage of the opportunity to control the three eastern provinces, but in the Japanese history textbooks, it is written "because of the economic crisis...... China wrongly reclaimed national sovereignty" and so on.
In addition, Japan's all-out war of aggression against China was also widely publicized by them, in order to "maintain the economic and political situation of the country, due to different ideas, different conclusions appeared within the military and government, and then affected the big countries in the East."
The Nanjing Massacre, the Lushun Massacre, and so on, which are most hated by the Chinese, were also written by the Japanese in the Spring and Autumn style, and they not only mentioned them in one stroke, but also described most of the contents of the fruits brought by Japan's early victory to their own country and Japan's disadvantages during the later Pacific War, so as to arouse the people's patriotism and grievances.
In general, the Japanese considered themselves victims of World War II - after all, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, which caused a large number of casualties among civilians in Tokyo.
It is precisely because of this fact that many young Japanese people believe that their country was also a victim of the war.
Making excuses, shifting the blame, prevaricating, and distorting, Japanese textbooks are indeed not as good as Germany in this regard.
There are many Chinese comments: the reason why they cannot apologize to the Chinese like the Germans, and cannot apologize to Southeast Asian countries, is mainly because they are afraid that once their people learn the truth of the matter, they may no longer trust their government, nor the culture that has always been proud.
In 2016, a student at the University of Tokyo worked with his professor to compile a lot of old photos from the Pacific War, and soon they wrote a book called "War Restored with AI Color Photos," which they will market on the whole network during major holidays.
Most of the people who commented on this book were Japanese netizens, but most of their comments focused on the situation in their own country, and did not reflect the harm to other countries caused by Japan's provocation of war.
"Hunger was the number one cause of death for Japanese soldiers at that time, and where could there be such humiliation. ”
"The most important thing in war is logistics, no matter how strong your army is, if you don't have the proper supplies and routes, you will lose. "It should be remembered that many soldiers should die of starvation and disease, not from direct combat, and I have never seen such a picture of a thin soldier. ”
"All the last soldiers of the Japanese army starved to death, and it was impossible for Japan to win in this way. ”
Every sentence is a sigh of remembrance around the war, and there is never a mention of the nations and countries they have harmed.
It is precisely because of this atmosphere that militarism in Japanese society has always flourished. Shinzo Abe also visited the Yasukuni Shrine many times when he was in power, and with such a national leader as an example, how can Japan's education not be biased?
3. Why Japan gritted its teeth and did not apologize
The reason why Japan has always been like this is probably because the remnants of Japanese militarism have not been cleansed in those years.
After the end of the war, the Japanese emperor was still an idol in the hearts of many ordinary people, they regarded the spirit of the emperor as their own will, and the existence of the emperor as the value of individual existence, and the fact that the emperor was not liquidated meant that in the hearts of the people - the emperor was invincible, even if the country was defeated, it was not the emperor's fault.
In the hearts of many children, they also have a fanatical heart for militarism, the emperor, and even the defeat of Japan, along with the adults who went with the flow.
Although Japanese Class A war criminals such as Hideki Tojo and Dohihara received the punishment they deserved, such a thing was not acceptable to the Japanese.
From 1946 to 1948, the Chinese government received the bodies of several Japanese officers in Nanjing, Hankow, and Guangzhou.
It turned out that some time before, Japanese officers who felt deeply guilty and could not accept the defeat of their country and the emperor's apology set off a suicidal frenzy, and most of these people had militarist ideas in their heads, and they were also high-ranking Japanese fascist figures.
Out of fear, or out of shame, they ended their lives with a knife in a vain attempt to escape the punishment of the Chinese. Even if they die, they don't want to be judged by justice, and this is what the Japanese people think in their hearts.
For example, Japanese Prime Minister Fumi Konoe at the time of Japan's full-scale war of aggression against China evaded responsibility for war crimes.
After the landing of American troops, his role as a war criminal was revealed, and he had to commit suicide by poisoning himself in his home. The war demon committed suicide not to apologize, but to not disgrace the family and the emperor.
Another reason is the emergence of the Americans, who after the end of World War II, the American military arrogantly occupied the entire territory of Japan.
You know, the two atomic bombs, "Little Boy" and "Fat Man", blew up Japanese cities into ruins. This incident was a disgrace to Japan, not to mention that when MacArthur led the army to occupy the entire territory of Japan, Japan seemed to be not the Japan of the Japanese, but the Japan of the Americans.
MacArthur's design was to suppress the so-called national spirit of the Japanese, and to reshape their souls and carry out all-round reforms.
Extreme material deprivation and spiritual repression have made Japan cling to the thigh of the United States.
If they bow and apologize to the whole world, it means that the disgraceful facts that have been insulted by the US military, accepted the reform of the US military, and still accept the US military presence will be mentioned again and again.
In recent years, the Japanese, who still have militaristic inclinations in their heads, have been reluctant to apologize to China, and have not acted like Germany.
However, there are also some left-wing groups, politicians, academics, and others in Japan who are actively advocating for an apology to the victim countries, and they are also engaged in some useful activities. They are people who truly open their eyes to the world and hope to work together to resolve problems left over from history and promote peaceful and friendly exchanges.
#文章首发挑战赛#