Mikhail Gorbachev has died

Re:Mikhail Gorbachev has died by MichaelCollins on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @06:58PM (#32656256)

Hard to say. I suspect the horrific bombing of Japanese cities probably had something to do with their willingness to submit. Leaving their Emperor intact as a figurehead probably helped a lot. Perhaps American willingness to help Japan rebuild immediately after such a bitter war also played a role.

There were probably innumerable factors that went into it. But there are a lot of differences between that situation and the fall of the Soviet Union.

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Re:Mikhail Gorbachev has died by throwaway0a5e on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @07:51PM (#32656647)

WW2 was the culmination of Japan's semi-conscious effort to speed run the transition from feudal backwater to first rate world power. Considering all the stuff they had pulled off up until that point and that they exited WW2 with their national identity and power structures intact I don't think it's that surprising that they pulled off the transition from imperial government to constitutional democracy with an imperial figurehead.

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Re:Mikhail Gorbachev has died by AnimalMuppet on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @07:43PM (#32656596)

Chief among them is, the US did not conquer or occupy the USSR. We had definite say in Japan (and West Germany). We didn't in the USSR.

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Re:Mikhail Gorbachev has died by DubiousPusher on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @08:01PM (#32656730)

That's a good point. America had some influence and backed Yeltsin to the hilt but he outflanked Gorbachev in the end and I'm not sure if that could've been changed.

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Re:Mikhail Gorbachev has died by fomine3 on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @08:29PM (#32656901)

Korean war is a big reason why Japanese industries revived, and the US don't want let Japan poor

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