Quote Originally Posted by Sarmatian View Post
It is an interesting point, though, precisely because it is more of a rivalry than true hatred. France and Britain have been allies for more than a hundred years. German occupation of France was relatively mild, at least compared to German occupation of Russia, Poland or Yugoslavia and Japanese occupation of China. That is coupled with the fact that there has been a pretty strong Franco-German alliance in the last 50 years. Maybe it wasn't always officially recognized as such, but in terms of things done, Germany and France has been each other's primary ally for the last half of century. Even though Americans often emphasize the ferocity of their war against Japan and inhuman conditions in which it was fought, let's face it, compared to fighting in eastern Europe or China, it was nothing out of the ordinary, one could say even it was actually pretty tame.

All that being said, there is still at least uneasiness about it. The Chinese and Korean reaction to recent Japanese actions are definitely more understandable in the light.
What the Japanese did during the fall of Singapore set the tone for how they were seen throughout the war. I don't think even the Germans and Russians made it a matter of policy to kill the wounded in their hospital beds.

Having said that - all those Japanese soldiers are dead now.

Having said that, I don't understand the whole thing about East Asian cultures and ancestors, so maybe there the sins of the fathers are visited upon the sons.