Quote:
Originally Posted by dragoon500ly
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.
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A lot of truth to this. The Japanese military got a taste of what it was like to face a modern fully mechanised army in Manchuria during the Soviet-Japanese border wars in 1938-39, were they pretty much got their but kicked. It sort of determined Japanese conduct throughout WW2 in regards to not declaring war on the Russians. In 1945 the Russians rolled them over again in a little over three weeks, in fact the Russians crushed them. Facing the prospect of the Russians coming at them from Asia and the nuclear armed Americans surrounding them in the Pacific the saner elements among the Japanese leadership had little option but surrender.