In 1937, Japan began a war against China, seeking more resources to expand its empire. In 1941, during World War II, Japan attacked America and that was when the Allies (Australia, Great Britain, etc.) declared war on Japan. Before long the Japanese began to extend their territory ever closer to Australia and began taking surrendering troops to concentration camps where they were starved, sickened and beaten. When they were captured, one survivor reports being told, "You are a guest of the Japanese, you will be spared but not your country." We will conquer the world, we will annihilate your people, and every family will have a white slave.' (www.riv.conz). In 1942, groups of people were taken from all the camps and sent to work on the Burma-Thailand railway. In 1864 the Geneva Convention was signed at the international level. The Convention established rules relating to the treatment and protection of prisoners in times of war. The Japanese did not follow this Convention as they continually mistreated many prisoners, including Australian soldiers/soldiers and civilian prisoners. The Japanese saw the prisoners in the camps as people who surrendered, so they were considered weak and cowardly due to the belief that the Japanese believed that the soldiers should die respect for their emperor and their country, known as the Bushido Code. A Japanese commander at the time told a medical officer: 'You are not our equal; you are our inferiors... Some Japanese will die during the construction of this railway. Prisoners of war will also die. You talked about the Geneva Convention and humanity. In the current circumstances these things do not apply." (Iggulden, 2009, p.22) In 1949 the rules of the Geneva Convention were strengthened internationally... mid-paper... in the following weeks, largely as a result of this calculated brutality.' (Iggulden, 2009, p.22) Some people died when the Allies continually bombed the railway, unaware that their own people were working on it and creating more work to be done. The Burma-Thailand Railway was a place where prisoners were sent to work during their time in captivity. The Japanese treated the prisoners they held horribly. In this way they ignored the rules of the Geneva Convention established many years earlier and forced most of the prisoners to work on the Burma-Thailand railway where they were starved, sick or beaten to death. Japanese officials did not provide the camps with enough food or medical equipment to help enough sick and injured prisoners survive and were responsible for the deaths of more than 2,700 Australians in a period of just 12 months..