Actually, it is more likely that absent the Red Army you would never have existed, 78 years of Official Mythology to the contrary.
The day the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, there was no mention of it in the minutes of the Supreme War Council. They were intently focused on the entry of the USSR into the war, with the Red Army slicing 110 m…
Actually, it is more likely that absent the Red Army you would never have existed, 78 years of Official Mythology to the contrary.
The day the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, there was no mention of it in the minutes of the Supreme War Council. They were intently focused on the entry of the USSR into the war, with the Red Army slicing 110 miles into Manchuria in the first 24 hours, due to the fact that there were no good troops left in the Kwantung Army; they'd all been transferred to Kyushu to meet the US invasion. The Japanese saw that the Russians would be in position by the end of August to invade Hokkaido, where there were no defenses (everything being in Kyushu). The Red Army would have been in Tokyo by October, a month before Operation Olympic, the US invasion, since there were no defenses in northern Japan. Knowing what the Soviets had done in Germany in the previous 90 days, the Japanese surrendered to us and told us "yassuh buss, that bomb done did it." The bombs did nothing. The Japanese had already had 78 cities over 500,00 in population wrecked by firebombing - more people were killed in Tokyo the night of March 9-10 than at both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
We have spent the last 80 years basing our foreign policy on bullshit. And in that time, depending on "the bomb" as the ultimate threat, we have fought four wars we didn't win.
Tom, thanks for the information on the Japanese viewpoint. It seems possible they realized that the war was lost and they decided that they would probanly get better treatment by surrendering to the Americans than to the Soviets. I think that VonBraun and other German scientists made a similar calculation near the end of the European campaign.
Actually, it is more likely that absent the Red Army you would never have existed, 78 years of Official Mythology to the contrary.
The day the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, there was no mention of it in the minutes of the Supreme War Council. They were intently focused on the entry of the USSR into the war, with the Red Army slicing 110 miles into Manchuria in the first 24 hours, due to the fact that there were no good troops left in the Kwantung Army; they'd all been transferred to Kyushu to meet the US invasion. The Japanese saw that the Russians would be in position by the end of August to invade Hokkaido, where there were no defenses (everything being in Kyushu). The Red Army would have been in Tokyo by October, a month before Operation Olympic, the US invasion, since there were no defenses in northern Japan. Knowing what the Soviets had done in Germany in the previous 90 days, the Japanese surrendered to us and told us "yassuh buss, that bomb done did it." The bombs did nothing. The Japanese had already had 78 cities over 500,00 in population wrecked by firebombing - more people were killed in Tokyo the night of March 9-10 than at both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
We have spent the last 80 years basing our foreign policy on bullshit. And in that time, depending on "the bomb" as the ultimate threat, we have fought four wars we didn't win.
I'm grateful for the life I've had the privilege of leading.
You should be!
Tom, thanks for the information on the Japanese viewpoint. It seems possible they realized that the war was lost and they decided that they would probanly get better treatment by surrendering to the Americans than to the Soviets. I think that VonBraun and other German scientists made a similar calculation near the end of the European campaign.