Why were prisoners made to work for such long shifts on the Burma Railway?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Map showing the height of Japanese territorial expansion in 1942 during World War II, with a large hatched area covering much of East and Southeast Asia and the western Pacific, including parts of China, Korea, Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and numerous Pacific islands. Japan's home islands are shaded in solid red, while the expansion area stretches from India and Burma in the west to the Aleut — Burma Railway In World War II Japanese military forces quickly took advantage of their success at Pearl Harbor to expand their holdings throughout the Pacific and westward toward India. This expansion continued relatively unchecked until mid-1942. Then, after losing the Battle of Midway, Japan was forced on the defensive.

Prisoners were forced to work long shifts on the Burma Railway primarily because the Japanese military demanded the project be completed as quickly as possible to support their offensives in the Burma Campaign.1

After Allied naval victories at the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway rendered sea-lanes insecure, the Japanese required an overland route to supply their forces. When construction fell behind schedule, the Japanese intensified the pace of work, forcing prisoners to toil around the clock with shifts lasting up to 18 hours. This period of extreme pressure became known as the "speedo" period, during which prisoners were subjected to brutal physical punishment if the Japanese were dissatisfied with the progress.1