2-WWII+Philippines+OT

Philippines Occupied Territory-Karteek Chennupati
1. The Philippines was under Japanese control for over 3 years during World War 2. During this time they faced huge opposition from the local citizens and constant guerrilla warfare from the remainder of the Philippine army. To garner support, Japan instituted a puppet leader and government. However, this government was very unpopular because of Japanese brutality. The Japanese tried an appeasement program with two implementations. One was Japan promising to respect the government structure, policies, and grant the Philippines independence. The second way was to try to convince the population that the war was solely between the Americans and the Japanese and the philippines would not be hurt. This was able to create some collaboration within the occupied territory but there was an increasingly large anti-Japanese Guerrilla movement which led to Japanese brutality and crimes to fight the resistance.

2. The Japanese had to allocate many soldiers and resources to the philippines. Throughout the three years of Japanese occupation there was a massive resistance movement which meant the Japanese soldiers were always in danger. The Japanese invaded with about 130,000 men and lost 22,500 men in the attack to drive out the Americans. Though they had a decisive victory over the Americans, They had to constantly fight the filipino army who was using guerrilla warfare to fight and the majority of the Filipino population who were loyal to America. This constant resistance demoralized the Japanese because they had to constantly fight the citizens of the occupied territory. Their efforts to appease the citizens failed and their puppet government was very unpopular. In response, the Japanese committed many war crimes to demotivate the resistance. They did not like the filipino population and the filipinos did not like the Japanese at all.

3. About 260,000 Filipinos had been actively engaged in guerrilla organizations and an even larger number operated covertly in the anti-Japanese underground. The Filipino army that had survived the initial attack from Japan continued to carry out operations against them during the 3 years of occupations. The largest guerrilla organization was the Hukbalahap (People's Anti-Japanese Army) led by Luis Taruc. He had armed some 30,000 guerrillas who controlled most of Luzon. The motivations behind the resistance was to keep Japan from getting complete control of the Philippines. It was also to help liberate the civilian population for Japan’s army and their cruel policies. The methods they would use to resist was mainly guerrilla warfare because they knew the area better than the Japanese and used it to their advantage. The outcomes of the resistance was that by the end of the war, the Japanese had effective control in only twelve of the country's forty-eight provinces. This occupation affect the Phillipines in that they remain a strong ally of America and allow an American base in their country. Some anti-Japanese sentiments still exist in the Philippines but in general they are allies.

4. About 200,000 Asian women were forcibly drafted into sexual servitude by the Japanese Imperial Army. These women, many in their teens, were often either tricked by offers of legitimate employment or abducted by Japanese soldiers and forced into so-called comfort houses. They were forced to please The soldiers and resisting usually led to abuse, torture, or death. Felicidad was a Filipino comfort woman who was taken at the age of 14 and was forced into having sex with many soldiers which she says left deep emotional scars. Her story is like those of thousands of other Filipino women who suffered by the Japanese. The youth were also affected by the occupation because the Japanese would try to enlist to help the Japanese army. They established youth groups to spread propoganda and try to create a more pro-Japanese population. Other effects on the youth were that they were constantly under danger of being persecuted by the Japanese. Their parents could have been part of the resistance or taken as comfort women. Overall, the effects of the Japanese occupation on the women and youth were negative and oppressive.

Bibliography- [|"Japan Attempts to indoctrine youths."//oia.cia.gov//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. [|"Japanese Comfort Women: One Woman's Story." //Japanese Comfort Women: One Woman's Story//. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. [|"Philippine History World War 2 and Japanese Occupation." //Philippine History World War 2 and Japanese Occupation//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. [|"World War II and Japanese Occupation 1941 - 1945." //ualberta//. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. .]