A New Perspective On The Atomic Bomb And Japan

Profile photo for Brandon Ross Brandon Ross · Follow J.D. from Western Michigan University (Graduated 2007)Mar 4 Say hypothetically that the Japanese government in August 1945 said that they would never give up, no matter how many atomic bombs dropped, and were would risk the eradication of Japan as a country. How would the invasion of Japan be in this case? Say hypothetically that the Japanese government in August 1945 said that they would never give up, no matter how many atomic bombs dropped, and were would risk the eradication of Japan as a country. Hypothetically? No, that actually happened. When the atomic bombs were dropped, the Imperial Japanese government sent some people out to investigate. Government officials in Tokyo didn't know there were atomic bombs. Just that the Americans had bombed something like… their 23rd city. So they looked, shrugged, and, “Yep. It's some kind of new bomb. Not that important. Let the Japanese people suffer the bombings. The Japanese people will do anything to save their Emperor.” How would the invasion of Japan be in this case? Russia would say, “Well. Time to go to war against Japan. Let's start doing that…” And then make a break for the coast, retaking all of the strategic gains that Japan had taken on the mainland. And then they would start planning their invasion of Northern Japan. In a desperate race to seize Japan and Tokyo before the Americans could invade. And then Japan's military council looked around, and some of them said, “The Soviets are about to hit the mainland from the North. And once they do, things are going to get very hard very quickly. And we can't fight them off forever. When they finally get to Tokyo, they're going to kill everyone—including the Emperor. And not getting him killed is pretty much our only goal.” Which led to a very quick solution: “We better surrender to the Americans.” And after some infighting and a very brief coup attempt, they promptly did. A complete and total surrender. Except for one teeny-tiny, itty-bitty, most-humble ask from Japan: the emperor gets to stick around. Every once in awhile, Russia lets everyone know it's still pissed off about via it petty land claims against Japan. (Note: when I say Americans here, I mean that Western coalition. Yes the Americans were most prominent. But there were other soldiers, sailors, and Marines who fought as well.) 12.8K views View 235 upvotes V