Quote:
Originally Posted by ShadoWarrior
This is a myth. Even after two atomic bombings the Japanese military (mainly the Army generals) did not care about the losses due to bombing (of any sort). As I mentioned before (in the original thread), what finally drove half the Japanese leadership (including the Emperor) to contemplate surrender was the Soviet invasion of Japanese territory. It was the Russians invading them (on Aug. 9), the threat of the Soviets destroying them as a people, that motivated the Emperor to seek an immediate peace. Prior to that their thinking was that if they (the Japanese) inflicted enough casualties on the Allies (the US and Commonwealth) the Allies would be forced to negotiate on terms more favorable to the Japanese. There was no such possibility with the Soviets, since Stalin didn't care how many troops he lost in the process of grabbing land in the Far East, and the Japanese knew this.
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Maybe its me, but I do belive that I made the point that it was a combination of events that convinced the Japanese to surrender. Yes the Russian invasion and the ease with which they demolished the Japanese forces in Manchuria played a major role. The loss of the IJN is another. The naval blockade played another, the loss of most of their cities is yet another card that was dealt. The shock value of the atomic bombs was the final card. No single event, be it the entry of Russia into the Pacific War or atomic bombs convinced the Japanese to surrender.
To be equally certain, the Japanese Army didn't want to surrender, there was even an aborted attempt to prevent the emperor's surrender recording from being broadcast. But enough of the leadership was willing to obey the emperor. And that is what caused the Japanese to surrender.