Re:Why Hasn’t the World Been Destroyed in a Nuclear War Yet?
by saiya-jin on Thursday May 07, 2015 @09:39AM
(#9504924)
Heard this before, sounds reasonable (for non-expert).
In 40's mentality in Japan, emperor was a god, and common citizens didn't matter a bit in war efforts. They were burning alive (tens of) thousands by carpet bombings on all major cities (also having many buildings built with wood helped spread fires), and it didn't move opinions of ruling elite a bit.
I would say atomic bombs were one of the many factors considered when finally giving up, but common US view of "hey we bombed them hard with our cool new toys, they craed their pants and gave up immediately" is not very accurate.
It is worth noting that there is considerable debate among historians about the degree to which the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings influenced the Japanese decision to surrender. Hiroshima was attacked on 6th August and Nagasaki on the 9th, but the surrender wasn't announced until the 15th. Some historians see the Russian declaration of war and invasion of Manchuria as being equally or more significant [1].
[1] http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/30/the-bomb-didnt-beat-japa...