About this episode

This episode discusses the true beginning of World War II in Asia, highlighting the events starting in 1931 and the systemic violence that preceded Pearl Harbor.

World War II in Asia began earlier—and was far darker. When did World War II really begin in the Pacific? According to historian Jenny Chan , the answer isn’t 1941 and Pearl Harbor. It’s 1931—and the consequences reshaped Asia long before Europe went to war. In this powerful and unflinching episode of History Rage , Paul Bavill is joined by Jenny Chan, historian, author, and co-founder of Pacific Atrocities Education, to expose the forgotten atrocities of the Second World War in Asia. From the Mukden Incident and the invasion of Manchuria to the Rape of Nanjing and the horrors of Unit 731, this episode confronts the systemic violence that began a decade before Pearl Harbor—and challenges the Western narrative of WWII. Jenny argues that framing the Pacific War as starting in 1941 erases millions of Asian victims. Japan’s occupation of Manchuria in 1931 marked the beginning of large-scale imperial expansion, biological warfare experimentation, forced labour, and state-sponsored sexual slavery. The brutality of the Nanjing Massacre in 1937 shocked even foreign observers. Meanwhile, Unit 731 conducted human experimentation on an industrial scale—research later shielded from…

People in this episode

Host: Paul Bavill

Guest: Jenny Chan

Topics covered

• Pacific War
• World War II
• Asian history
• atrocities
• historical narrative
• Japanese occupation
• human experimentation

Keywords

• Pacific War
• Manchuria
• Mukden Incident
• Nanjing Massacre
• Unit 731
• biological warfare
• forced labor
• comfort women
• historical narrative

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pacific Atrocities Education

More episodes of History Rage

• 315. The Battle of Badon was NOT a Britain-defining victory with Nick Higham · July 19, 2026 · 1h 1m
• 314. The Fifth Crusade is the coolest Crusade with Thomas Smith · July 13, 2026 · 1h 1m
• 313. Thomas Arundel was NOT a Pantomime Villain with Chris Given-Wilson · July 12, 2026 · 50 min
• 312. History, Hijacking, and the Poppy Thong: A Rant on War Commemoration with Peter Caddick Adams, and Alex Churchill | IWM History Festival Live 2 · July 8, 2026 · 57 min
• 311. Victorian England is a hotbed of revolt with Ian Breckon · July 5, 2026 · 1h 0m
• 310. Blair Paddy Mayne was NOT a Drunken Irish Thug with Damien Lewis | IWM History Festival Live 1 · July 1, 2026 · 50 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the History Rage podcast page.