A Comparative Study On The Different Views On The History Of World War Ⅱ Between Germany And Japan

Germany and Japan have been the focus of people's attention in the world nowadays. Both of them have the same developing path from adventure,failure to rise. However, facing the history of aggression 60 years ago, both countries' attitudes are quite different.Germany wins the recognition and respect of the international community by introspecting carefully and apologizing frankly, while Japan distorts the history and refuses to plead guilty, as a result, it is strongly condemned by the international community. The reasons for their different attitudes are various, and the present study tries to reveal the deep-rooted reasons why Germany and Japan have the different attitudes toward the history of aggression from three aspects: political environment, geostrategic environment and cultural tradition.The thesis is made of introduction, main body and conclusion.Introduction: This part introduces the purpose and significance of the present study, describes the content and method of research, and analyzes the overseas and domestic research situation in this research field.Main body: The present study compares the opposite attitudes toward the history of aggression between Germany and Japan, and comprehensively analyzes the deep-seated reasons for their obvious contrast.Chapter One: The different views on the history of World War II between Germany and JapanChapter one compares the different views between Germany and Japan from four aspects, such as the understanding of the history of aggression, the attitudes toward indemnity for war, the historical education to descendants, and the resistance of right-wing forces.Chapter Two to Four are the most important part of the present study, which analyses the deep-seated reasons why Germany and Japan deal with the history of aggression differently .The specific analysis are as follows:Chapter Two: Political environments lead to the different views on the history of World War II between Germany and JapanThe antifascist allies transformed Germany thoroughly and carried out the denazification movement after the Second World War. It is the basis that Germany denies Nazi and confesses guilt completely. On the contrary, the U. S. demilitarized Japan incompletely and Tokyo trial was not thorough, these factors lead to the resurgence of right-wing forces and the reversion of the history of World War II.Chapter Three: Geostrategic environments lead to the different views on the history of World War II between Germany and JapanGermany, locating in the centre of Europe, formulated the new geostrategic diplomatic policy because of vigilant attention and threat of powerful neighbors, and wished to be forgiven and recognized by neighboring countries; However, Japan, with the help of America which is dominant for Far East countries after the war, despised the poor and victimized countries in Asia, and failed to introspect.Chapter Four: History and culture lead to the different views on the history of World War II between Germany and JapanThe sense of guilt in German culture and the sense of shame in Japanese culture; the rational national consciousness pursued by Germany which believes in Christianity and the ultranationalism of Japanese influenced by Samurai spirit, these two kinds of cultures and national consciousness are the cultural root of the different attitudes toward the aggressive history.Conclusion: Different attitudes and actions to the history of the Second World War result in different consequences and effects. Learning from the history, Japan should follow the example of Germany, eliminate all words and deeds doing harm to peace. If so, Japan could be trusted by international community, and develop peacefully with the avoidance of the same tragedy.