I read this a second time last night, and I got even angrier.
The evidence that the Japanese would have surrendered in August is slim to none, even in retrospect, and even with evidence that Truman et al didn't have at that time.
The evidence that the Japanese would have surrendered in August is slim to none, even in retrospect, and even with evidence that Truman et al didn't have at that time.
For example: After Hiroshima, the Japanese military leaders didn't believe it was truly Atomic in nature. So on Aug 7, they sent experts, including a radiation expert, to judge. The report told them it was Atomic.
And when the high command heard, this....they didn't surrender.
And when the high command heard, this....they didn't surrender.
That said, a MAJOR variable at that point was the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. The Soviets were pummeling the Japanese, and the high command did fear being taken over by the Soviets rather than the Americans.
This was a good piece about the work of Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, author of the 2005 book, “Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman and the Surrender of Japan.”
stripes.com/news/special-r…
stripes.com/news/special-r…
"There were two broad camps among war leadership in August, according to Hasegawa: war camp maintained Japan must inflict tremendous damage on the Americans in order to win better terms...peace camp contended that ending the war was the best way to retaining the emperor system."
"Japan’s war camp believed that the Soviet Union would eventually help broker a peace deal...“From the Soviet Union’s point of view, it was important to postpone [Japan’s] surrender until they were ready to enter the war,” Hasegawa said."
"Even after the bombs and the Soviet invasion, some of Japan’s hawks weren’t ready to stop fighting, according to some historians. Gen. Korechika Anami, Japan’s minister of war, called for conditions that the world wouldn’t have recognized as surrender."
The reality is the Japanese were, short of invasion or the atom bomb, nowhere near ready to surrender in Aug 1945. Best case, the war would have gone on for several more months, and that is a BEST case scenario.
