That revisionist take on President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb has been around for quite awhile. Supposedly the Japanese government was ready to surrender but the Americans nuked them anyway—one claim being that it was done to intimidate Stalin & Co.
This, of course, is not true. While there was a faction within the Japanese …
That revisionist take on President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb has been around for quite awhile. Supposedly the Japanese government was ready to surrender but the Americans nuked them anyway—one claim being that it was done to intimidate Stalin & Co.
This, of course, is not true. While there was a faction within the Japanese government that was delirious of ending the war, the leaders of the Japanese Army were determined on one last decisive battle on Japanese soil. They were well aware that the Allies were building up for an invasion of the Home Islands and planned a defense that would inflict such massive casualties on the invaders as to force them to offer lenient peace terms. This plan, christened the Ketsu-Go Operation, was in in an advanced page of planning at the time of the atomic bomb strikes.
On the American side, estimates of likely Allied casualties during Downfall, as the invasion operation was code-named, made for sobering reading. The high-end estimate was a million total casualties, with upwards of two hundred thousand dead. The results of the recently concluded Battle of Okinawa only added to these worries. This was the background to Truman’s decision.
Another factor that the revisionists ignore is the likely impact of alternatives to the atomic bomb: invasion, continued conventional bombing, blockade. Without doubt, any of these would have killed far more Japanese civilians than the two atomic bombs that were dropped. For instance, the Ketsu-Go plan called for a national mobilization of civilians as a militia to fight the invaders—armed with such obsolete rifle as could be scraped up, bamboo spears, Molotov cocktails, etc. Against the Allies forces with their superior firepower, such a militia would have suffered astronomical casualties.
We can be confident, I think that the current crop of revisionists have no comprehension of these facts.
Visit Frankfurt-am-Main museum; you would have a pleasure to learn that “allies brutally bombed the city districts in which only civilians were living”.
Shortly after WWII marshal of the British Royal Air Force Arthur Harris was “severely” criticized for “incorrect” blanket bombing (the bombings saved pilot lives but results in heavy collateral causalities).
The source of this attitude is clear - the folks are doing their best trying to make us to forget the CRITERION. It is very bad to have non-combatant killed, to have women and children killed, but this is only ONE HALF of the story. The other half is to understand – WHO is in charge of such nasty events? The folks are trying to stop us asking this question. For this end, they would tell us a horror stories instead of unswerving the question.
The same pattern we see now regarding not only historical events but also regarding so named “social justice”, “human rights”, etc. We are explaining about suffering leaving in the shadows who is actually responsible, senselessly hinting that well-off people are responsible. That’s simple…
The history of strategic bombing in World War II is complicated, and few people understand it. On my website, THE WAR ROOM, I have a section devoted to the subject:
Thank you, "the Room" is really interesting. Besides, I would love to read the analysis of the results of German Me262 jets implementation; Nazi made about 1400 pieces of these planes, nevertheless it looks like the fighter hadn't a real impact on the allies strategic bombing efforts. Why? It was enough fast... May it be because of the lack of experience in the absolutely new weapon implementation? Or is there some other reason?
This probably isn't the place to go off on a military history tangent. I will, however, be adding articles about the Luftwaffe on WW II to my website in 2022, and the story of the Me 262 will be among them.
The Japanese were planning a 'final defense' of the home islands using teenaged girls 'armed' with sharpened bamboo sticks. Really sick stuff. However, that is what it would come to had it not been for the atomic bomb. American GIs with machine guns killing Japanese girls with sticks. Hirohito (to his credit) saw the madness coming and stopped it.
That revisionist take on President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb has been around for quite awhile. Supposedly the Japanese government was ready to surrender but the Americans nuked them anyway—one claim being that it was done to intimidate Stalin & Co.
This, of course, is not true. While there was a faction within the Japanese government that was delirious of ending the war, the leaders of the Japanese Army were determined on one last decisive battle on Japanese soil. They were well aware that the Allies were building up for an invasion of the Home Islands and planned a defense that would inflict such massive casualties on the invaders as to force them to offer lenient peace terms. This plan, christened the Ketsu-Go Operation, was in in an advanced page of planning at the time of the atomic bomb strikes.
On the American side, estimates of likely Allied casualties during Downfall, as the invasion operation was code-named, made for sobering reading. The high-end estimate was a million total casualties, with upwards of two hundred thousand dead. The results of the recently concluded Battle of Okinawa only added to these worries. This was the background to Truman’s decision.
Another factor that the revisionists ignore is the likely impact of alternatives to the atomic bomb: invasion, continued conventional bombing, blockade. Without doubt, any of these would have killed far more Japanese civilians than the two atomic bombs that were dropped. For instance, the Ketsu-Go plan called for a national mobilization of civilians as a militia to fight the invaders—armed with such obsolete rifle as could be scraped up, bamboo spears, Molotov cocktails, etc. Against the Allies forces with their superior firepower, such a militia would have suffered astronomical casualties.
We can be confident, I think that the current crop of revisionists have no comprehension of these facts.
Great comment! We all know why the students of revisionist history always seem to be so poorly educated on the actual history.
Visit Frankfurt-am-Main museum; you would have a pleasure to learn that “allies brutally bombed the city districts in which only civilians were living”.
Shortly after WWII marshal of the British Royal Air Force Arthur Harris was “severely” criticized for “incorrect” blanket bombing (the bombings saved pilot lives but results in heavy collateral causalities).
The source of this attitude is clear - the folks are doing their best trying to make us to forget the CRITERION. It is very bad to have non-combatant killed, to have women and children killed, but this is only ONE HALF of the story. The other half is to understand – WHO is in charge of such nasty events? The folks are trying to stop us asking this question. For this end, they would tell us a horror stories instead of unswerving the question.
The same pattern we see now regarding not only historical events but also regarding so named “social justice”, “human rights”, etc. We are explaining about suffering leaving in the shadows who is actually responsible, senselessly hinting that well-off people are responsible. That’s simple…
The history of strategic bombing in World War II is complicated, and few people understand it. On my website, THE WAR ROOM, I have a section devoted to the subject:
https://tmg110.tripod.com/StratB_mp.htm
This is an ongoing series, with more articles to come.
Thank you, "the Room" is really interesting. Besides, I would love to read the analysis of the results of German Me262 jets implementation; Nazi made about 1400 pieces of these planes, nevertheless it looks like the fighter hadn't a real impact on the allies strategic bombing efforts. Why? It was enough fast... May it be because of the lack of experience in the absolutely new weapon implementation? Or is there some other reason?
This probably isn't the place to go off on a military history tangent. I will, however, be adding articles about the Luftwaffe on WW II to my website in 2022, and the story of the Me 262 will be among them.
The Japanese were planning a 'final defense' of the home islands using teenaged girls 'armed' with sharpened bamboo sticks. Really sick stuff. However, that is what it would come to had it not been for the atomic bomb. American GIs with machine guns killing Japanese girls with sticks. Hirohito (to his credit) saw the madness coming and stopped it.