Ellbonnia wrote:Pan-Asiatic States wrote:Yeah, I was just trying to answer the question of why your run-of-the-mill Japanese person would enlist in the army. There's not a lot of discussion of these things in the West, unfortunately, and most usually people resort to just comparing them to the Nazis.
It's interesting to compare the psychology of the average Wehrmacht soldier and a member of the IJA (the "normal citizen" type, disregarding the obvious psychopaths and the like). While the former was disillusioned by disproportionate reparations and a shattered economy, the latter was being strung along as a supposed member of a divinely-blessed race of superhumans who could do no wrong, as their nation was undergoing a rapid increase in industrialization and economic power.
Both resulted in otherwise-normal people committing horrific acts against civilians and enemy forces, as the circumstances of their indoctrination into Nazism and Hakkō ichiu respectively meant that they were encouraged to show no mercy and feel no guilt for their actions. So while there are obvious differences between the Germans and the Japanese, there is definitely something shared between the two regarding groupthink and mob mentality.
Not even. See, the thing is, people back then had a different mentality. When there was war and you were drafted and told to do X you would be doing it, because society was mentalitywise a hella lot more authoritarian than today. As in people didn made such much a fuss about some things and its not like they thought about things like people do nowadays. Most Wehrmacht and possibly also Japanese (and as well american etc) soldiers fought for their empires and did what they had to do. Because thats the way how things going, and of course, in such perspective "your side" is the central, real and true one. The good one who fights against a world of enemy. There isnt really much of reflecting or big picture perspective in such a situation.
And tbh I dont think it's today much different even. I don't believe a lot of US soldiers send to Iraq or Afghanistan are heavily questioning the geopolitical or cultural context under which their deployment takes place. You know its just how things go.
So and now as for war crimes and such. You do not need to have a special ideology or so, such things tend to happen when stuff is getting rough and nasty in a war and slowly the mask of modern "civilizations" start dropping. (theres countless cases of that from Afg and Iraq) When theres a command or structure that does even encourage such things or even pushes for that then all hell breaks loose and shit gets real.