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8/6/2025, 9:50:19 PM
>>64086754
>There were alternatives, i.e. telling the Japanese high command we had this and demonstrating it by nuking some random island garrison or something.
The alternative was telling the Japanese military junta that Truman had made a secret agreement with Stalin at the Potsdam Conference that the USSR would declare war on Japan exactly three months after Germany's surrender. Truman was aware that Japan was still trying to use the Russians as mediators to negotiate a surrender with the Americans that would have spared Hirohito's life and position as Emperor. Instead of warning Japan that there was a three-month countdown before they'd be fighting a war on two fronts, Truman took the Machiavellian angle of drawing out the war until August 1945, which of course needlessly cost many more American and Japanese lives. He did this so he could bide more time for Stalin's countdown to end and the Manhattan Project to wrap things up (i.e. the July 1945 Trinity test), because he didn't want the war to go down in history as being won by the commies. It would have been a major tactical and PR disaster if Japan still refused an unconditional surrender after the atomic bombs were dropped, so the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were deliberately planned to coincide with the USSR's declaration of war. Even after the bombs were dropped, Japan was still unwilling to surrender until Truman finally gave a tacit guarantee that Emperor Hirohito would be let off the hook. Most people were not even aware of the true extent of Hiroshima and Nagasaki's destruction until years later due to the limitations of mass communications in the 40's anyway. Truman actually lied to the American public, and claimed Hiroshima was a "military base" in a speech shortly after. While there was a military base in Hiroshima, it was found on the outskirts, and avoided most of the shockwave since the crew of the Enola Gay dropped the bomb in the middle of the city. 90% of the casualties were civilians.
>There were alternatives, i.e. telling the Japanese high command we had this and demonstrating it by nuking some random island garrison or something.
The alternative was telling the Japanese military junta that Truman had made a secret agreement with Stalin at the Potsdam Conference that the USSR would declare war on Japan exactly three months after Germany's surrender. Truman was aware that Japan was still trying to use the Russians as mediators to negotiate a surrender with the Americans that would have spared Hirohito's life and position as Emperor. Instead of warning Japan that there was a three-month countdown before they'd be fighting a war on two fronts, Truman took the Machiavellian angle of drawing out the war until August 1945, which of course needlessly cost many more American and Japanese lives. He did this so he could bide more time for Stalin's countdown to end and the Manhattan Project to wrap things up (i.e. the July 1945 Trinity test), because he didn't want the war to go down in history as being won by the commies. It would have been a major tactical and PR disaster if Japan still refused an unconditional surrender after the atomic bombs were dropped, so the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were deliberately planned to coincide with the USSR's declaration of war. Even after the bombs were dropped, Japan was still unwilling to surrender until Truman finally gave a tacit guarantee that Emperor Hirohito would be let off the hook. Most people were not even aware of the true extent of Hiroshima and Nagasaki's destruction until years later due to the limitations of mass communications in the 40's anyway. Truman actually lied to the American public, and claimed Hiroshima was a "military base" in a speech shortly after. While there was a military base in Hiroshima, it was found on the outskirts, and avoided most of the shockwave since the crew of the Enola Gay dropped the bomb in the middle of the city. 90% of the casualties were civilians.
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