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Art_from_Ark

(27,247 posts)
25. The story of the final days of the war is very complex
Thu Aug 6, 2015, 08:29 PM
Aug 2015

The United States had already promised Stalin that he could have Japan's Kurile Islands and the southern half of Sakhalin Island if he entered the war against Japan. Stalin declared war on Japan on August 8, two days after Hiroshima, and continued his invasion of the Kurile Islands until the end of October, when not only all of the Kuriles had been taken by the USSR, but some smaller islands just a stone's throw from the Hokkaido mainland were taken as well.

As part of my Master's thesis research, I read a very interesting essay by a former State Department official that was written in the early '50s about the final days of the war, especially as it concerned the USSR and Japan. The author contended that the US had let the war drag out to allow the USSR to reach the Kuriles, because the plan was to have the USSR at odds with Japan over these territories so that Japan would be in the post-war American camp. Those islands have remained a bone of contention between Japan and Russia ever since, as this sign in front of Tokyo Station can attest:



The sign says "The day that the Northern Territories (=disputed Russian-held islands) are returned will be the Day of Peace"

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It's that time of year again. [View all] uppityperson Aug 2015 OP
If they had told Oppenheimer the truth and let them see it from afar it would have ended as soon . orpupilofnature57 Aug 2015 #1
I thought this was going to be about Colorado peaches... pipoman Aug 2015 #2
I'm pretty convinced that, at the time, they felt both bombs were necessary. Maedhros Aug 2015 #3
General Eisenhower, among others, didn't think the atomic bombings were necessary Art_from_Ark Aug 2015 #14
Eisenhower has IMHO been unfairly discounted as a thinker. He saw it but stevenleser Aug 2015 #15
There is a lot about the Pacific War that most Americans do not know Art_from_Ark Aug 2015 #16
Truman and others obviously thought differently. Maedhros Aug 2015 #24
The story of the final days of the war is very complex Art_from_Ark Aug 2015 #25
I think at the time the first was felt necessary, the second because they wanted to show they could uppityperson Aug 2015 #4
I'm reasonably sure the bombs were necessary Warpy Aug 2015 #5
I reasonably sure that you are dangerously wrong. GeorgeGist Aug 2015 #6
Good. Warpy Aug 2015 #12
Yes, both were necessary according the books I've read Lurks Often Aug 2015 #7
Each was more necessary than the Nanking Massacre Codeine Aug 2015 #8
Don't know. moondust Aug 2015 #9
Innocent women, children, and men should never be a target of war. Deadshot Aug 2015 #10
Plans were for us to drop 3-4 of them per month until surrender. roamer65 Aug 2015 #11
This seems relevant...Gar Alperovitz Cheese Sandwich Aug 2015 #13
They probably saved about a million lives all told Recursion Aug 2015 #17
I'm going to vote "neither" to balance out the poll. redgreenandblue Aug 2015 #18
I'm with you. My thinking has changed over the years from hell no, to maybe Hiroshima after talking uppityperson Aug 2015 #22
I don't comment on these threads usually. joshcryer Aug 2015 #19
So killing people who for the most part didn't participate in atrocities... redgreenandblue Aug 2015 #20
Nope. joshcryer Aug 2015 #21
As bad as the A bombs were sarisataka Aug 2015 #23
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