Russia, Manchuria, Japan
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Tsuyoshi Hasegawa's research has led him to conclude that the atomic bombings themselves were not the principal reason for capitulation. Instead, he contends, it was the swift and devastating Soviet victories on the mainland in the week following Stalin's August 8 declaration of war that forced the Japanese message of surrender on August 15, 1945.
[/ QUOTE ]Then Mr Tsuyoshi Hasegawa would be in a distinct minority among historians and analysts.
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I'm going to have to disagree with you on this.
[/ QUOTE ] Manchuria is the part of China that lies directly across the waters from Japan. Manchuria was forcefully taken from Russia by the Japanese in 1905, during the Russo-Japanese war that ended badly for the Czar's armies. Losing Manchuria meant the loss of a foreign territory that was once deemed necessary for Japan's imperial ambitions; but it was not vital to Japan's existence -- as Okinawa was, for one.
And the timeline is telling:
On Aug. 6, 1945, Hiroshima was bombed. On Aug. 9, in the early hours of midnight, the Soviets broke their neutrality treaty with Japan and started an advance into Manchuria. On the same day, Aug. 9, some hours later, Nagasaki was bombed. The Japanese announced their surrender six days later.
You think that the loss of some colonial land like Manchuria would be considered as more decisive by the Japanese generals than the overwhelming threat posed on the Japanese mainland by the approaching Americans? I'd say that what actually tipped the balance (if it had not already been tipped by the threat of those approaching and already firebombing Americans) was the introduction of weapons of mass destruction into the war and the persuasive demonstration by the American side of their intention to obliterate Japanese cities with 'em.
Mickey Brausch
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