Like all Americans I've been indoctrinated with the "fact"
the Atomic bomb ended WWII. The spin that
the atomic bombs caused Japan
to surrender in WWII. I believed in the
Atomic Miracle. The A-BOMB WINS
WAR! Headlines like "WAR END Atomic
Bomb Did It:' I'm not here to discuss
the use of the A-Bomb but the misinformation that the bomb caused Japan
to surrender. Generally the thought
process is. A-bombs were dropped on two Japan
cities essentially wiping them off the face of the earth. Japan not knowing how many bombs the US
has goes we surrender. Nope Nada didn't
happen. As an example of this widely shared
belief a friend stated, when I first wrote about the fault hood of this belief,
"I think Japan
surrendered cause they didn't know how many bombs we had. Had they known there
were only two." This train of
thought doesn't matter because the atomic bombs were not the cause of Japan
surrender.
I was actually awaken to this fault hood watching the movie:
Japan's Longest
Day (1967). I enjoyed the movie and
definitely recommend it. This is a Japanese
movie derived from the book of the same title which details, first hand, a hour
by hour account of what was happened in Japan when Hiroshima was bombed to its
surrender. The timeline being the first
bomb was dropped, Russia
declared war on Japan,
the second bomb was dropped and Japan
surrendered. Based on what I've
previously stated it should come as no surprised that rather than the bombs
being the main reason for Japan
surrounding it actually is the declaration of war by Russia
on Japan which
causes it. This the reason for surrender
presented in the movie not the A-bombs and this view is easily supported.
You don't have to be a cultural expert to know Japan
and the US
viewed death totally different (WWII).
Giving your life fighting for the Emperor was the highest
honor. It was better to die honorably
than to surrender and live in disgrace.
The Japanese were taught to fight to the death and surrender was
dishonor. Samurai/bushido mythologized much in the same way the
American cowboy has been even to the present.
Part of this process occurring during WWII. This belief is directly shown by the
treatment of surrendering troops. Why
the Japanese treated solders who surrendered with such distain. Why the kamikaze was a Japanese weapon of war. Two different culture and belief systems with
totally different thoughts on death in war. From memory I believe that Japan
expected to lose 3 million fighting the invasion of the main islands of Japan
so the death of millions to continue to fight the war was already in the
planning for Japan. Once again pointing to the absolute difference
in culture toward death. Bombing of Tokyo
alone had killed as many or more than the A-bombs per city. Did Japan surrender? Hell no!
Think about it for a minute do you think Japan
was going to sweat the lose of two cities in view of the catastrophic number of
lives expected to be lost to continue the war?
Lives didn't have the meaning land does historically to the
Japanese! Land is far more precious. Land is replaceable and expressed by the
English phase, "God doesn't make anymore land." The declaration of war by Russia
was the primarily factor that motivated the Japanese to surrender (to the terms
offered at that moment which they believed could get worse) specify because of
their fear of losing
land/territory and possibly even being divided.
This is the primary reason for their surrender and actually the only one
discussed in the movie. This fear was
shown to have validity. Russia and Japan have never signed a formal peace treaty
exactly for that reason. Over the territory
(Shikotan island) taken by Russia in Sept. 1945.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPsn5Gv1VWw
The following links, I believe, support the Russian
theory. The last one is a very deep dive
into official government documentation.
https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/education/008/expertclips/010
https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/30/the-bomb-didnt-beat-japan-stalin-did/
https://wwiidiaries.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/scholarly-article-review-why-japan-surrendered/
This is a really deep dive!
https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/nuclear-vault/2020-08-04/atomic-bomb-end-world-war-ii
So there is evidence for the Russian theory but none supporting
the A-Bomb theory as the cause of Japan
surrendering other than that's what we've been told. I intend to address the inherent gullibility
of humans in a future post.
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