Upon defeating Japan, Stalin said: “For forty years we, people of the older generation, waited for this day” — reclaiming the whole of Sakhalin, Kamchatka, and the Kurils. There was no way the USSR would aide with Japan. Truman had a horrible choice on his watch. What-if is easyhttps://twitter.com/wellerstein/status/1027574332044783616 …
FWIW, I agree that Stalin was never going to help the Japanese. I don't bring that up to make it seem like that was a viable option — I bring it up because it shows the complexity of the Japanese high command's position (as opposed to the "suicidal death cult" stereotype).
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True. Still seeing kamikazes, lone wolves fighting to the death in the islands, etc., and the history of treacherous attacks without warning, atrocities everywhere the Japanese army went, how could the US believe anything they would promise? The choices were stark.
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Probably one could try landing and “see what hapoens” but Truman was not buying it... My grandfather fought the Japanese at Khalkhin-Gol and later swept the Kwantung army out of Manchuria. He had to extinguish suicidal rearguard with tank-mounted flamethrowers, they stood firm.
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I think you misread the previous post - he claimed that Stalin would not have helped defeat Japan, so nuclear bombs were the only choice. I strongly disagree with him. There is ample evidence a landing on Hokkaido was planned, but japan capitulated first.
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No I believe Stalin wanted to defeat Japan, he started it on the continent. His memory of the Russo-Japanese war was visceral and he wanted to avenge it for the Russia he resurrected so strongly as a continuous empire. Probably the same race to be first occurred as with Berlin.
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The US would never let Stalin reap the benefits of the US war effort to defeat Japan just like the USSR would not let the Allies show up at the last hour and grab Berlin.
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Plus of course Stalin never forgot the threat of a Japanese attack in the back. Zorge’s Intelligence allowed to bring the divisions stationed to defend against it to save Moscow, but nobody knew for how long that attack would not occur — so the Kwantung army had to be wiped out
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