Second Proyect

SHANGHAI BOMBED 1937

"BLOODY SATURDAY"
Juanita Del Pilar Beltran Gonzalez
Erika Gabriela Devia Vargas

THIS EVENT TOOK PLACE ON AUGUST 14, 1937

 SHANGHAI BOMBED 1937

To start, it´s important to mention that we chose that picture because we

want to show that this event was one of the most important at that time for
the reason that it was the first confrontation of both the forces of the
National Revolutionary Army of China and the imperial forces of Japan
during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Further, this second Chino-Japanese
war was the culmination of the growing tension between Japan and China,
dating back to the previous war between the two countries. Secondly, after
the First Chino-Japanese War, Japan had incorporated Taiwan into its
territory, and the expansionist plans of this country would continue during
the beginning of the 20th century. At the end of World War I, the 1919
Treaty of Versailles had granted Japan numerous commercial privileges in
China, which caused great resentment among the population and led to
popular protests by the May Fourth Movement on that day in 1919.

In our selected photograph, a scene of the bombing in Shanghai on February

14 is represented, which was called "Bloody Saturday", in the image a small
child is captured who was abandoned in the middle of the bombing, right in a
train station where no other person is perceived. You can also see the
atrocities that left this fact throughout the place, as there was only
destruction in the middle of the station, you only see rubble and smoke
raised. The boy full of ground and the sky completely gray.

We chose this image because we were really struck by the atrocities of this
war and especially the scene that is depicted, the pain that all these people
who were affected by the bombing and the number of the innocent people
who died had to go through in the event. Also as a way to honor the lives of
these people and highlight the destruction caused by the confrontation.

Investigating a little more about the origin of the image; What we could see
was that the shooting took place minutes after Japanese warplanes attacked
the city. But what's interesting about this image is that it managed to
powerfully convey the human side of tragedy in a way that words couldn't.
Also, this image became a spotlight for anti-Japanese sentiment in the United
States.
T h r o u g h t h i s i m a g e i t o n l y l e a d s u s t o r e f l e c t t h a t w a r d o e s n o t le a d to
a n y t h i n g g o o d , t h a t b e f o r e m a n y p e o p l e a n d l i v e s w e r e s a c r if ic e d to c a r r y a
v a l u a b l e e n d o n l y f o r s o m e a n d i n t h e m i d d l e o f t h i s t h e r e i s m u c h p a in a n d
d e s t r u c t i o n . I t i s i n c r e d i b l e t h a t a s c e n e l i k e t h i s h a s h a p p e n e d , to th e p o in t
o f t h i n k i n g t h a t i t c o u l d h a v e h a p p e n e d w i t h t h e p a r e n t s o f th is c h ild , a n d
i n n o c e n t l i v e s l i k e t h i s a r e t h e o n e s t h a t h a v e t o p a y t h e c o n s e q u e n c e s o f th e
war.
 Self assessment:
1. HOW DID YOU FEEL WORKING ON THIS TASK?

WE FEEL VERY GOOD DOING THIS WORK BECAUSE

EVERY TIME WE LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT SO
TRANSCENDENT FOR HISTORY AND EVERYTHING
THAT IS BEHIND THIS PHOTOGRAPH.

2. WHICH WERE YOU LEARNINGS?

WE THINK THAT OUR LEARNINGS WERE ABOUT
HISTORY, SINCE THANKS TO THIS WORK WE WERE
ABLE TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND A LITTLE MORE
ABOUT WHAT EVENTS OCCURRED MANY YEARS AGO
AND WHY THE WARS.

3. IN WHICH AREAS DO YOU THINK YOU NEED TO

IMPROVE?

WE THINK THAT MAYBE WE NEED TO EXPAND OUR

VOCABULARY MORE TO BE ABLE TO BETTER EXPLAIN
OUR IDEAS AND THAT THE READER CAN
UNDERSTAND WHAT WE WANT TO CONVEY

SCORE:1.3