mentioned the most impressive scene when Japan surrendered to in 1945. Perhaps most people’s first impression was the two huge “ mushroom cloud ” above Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since the advent of atomic bomb , Japan is the first and only country that has truly felt the power of the atomic bomb. This "honor" is enough to make Japan remember.
It is precisely because of the existence of stereotype that the Western historical community has developed a sense of superiority. When summarizing the technological factors of the victory of World War II , they unfairly put the credit of the US atomic bomb first, claiming that it was the atomic bomb that made Japan give up its resistance.
So, after 77 years, when we look back on this history again, how should we evaluate Japan's surrender? You should know that until the day before the Japanese emperor announced his unconditional surrender, Japan still had more than 700,000 troops in Northeast China. What exactly prompted Japan to change its position in a short period of time and no longer resist?
Japan surrendered
In fact, by the time of World War II, the war situation was basically clear, especially after Germany surrendered unconditionally, it is clear where the balance of victory or defeat would fall, but Japan is unwilling to accept the reality and still announced to the public that "the war will be carried out to the end."
Japan's stubborn resistance made the people of the world despise and also made the United States, which was fighting against the Japanese army, angry because in February of that year, the US military was still counterattacked by the Japanese army on Iwo Jima, losing more than 20,000 people. If it continues to fight with Japan, it will inevitably increase more casualties. Therefore, in order to reduce the casualties of American soldiers and force Japan to accept unconditional surrender, Truman immediately ordered the use of atomic bombs against Japan.
Stalin, Truman and Churchill
As early as the Roosevelt period, the United States had already begun to secretly develop this new weapon with powerful destructive power. After Truman took office, it happened to have successfully developed it. Although the United States could not understand the data after the atomic bomb explosion at that time, Truman believed that since the experiment had been successful, it should be used on the battlefield to let the world see its power.
In August 1945, after the plan to use atomic bombs against Japan had been adopted, Truman summoned senior military personnel to discuss the drop location of the atomic bomb. At the beginning, the US military determined three drop locations, namely Kyoto, Hiroshima and Niigata. However, considering that Kyoto and Niigata are the spiritual hometowns of the Japanese and the source of Japanese culture, the destruction may arouse national hatred of the Japanese, so the meeting finally finalized the first atomic bomb to be thrown to Hiroshima, Japan.
atomic bomb
August 6, the US Air Force flew over Hiroshima as usual. Many Hiroshima citizens thought that the US military was just a routine patrol and did not care. Some curious Hiroshima citizens also looked up at the movements of the US aircraft. However, among the many US aircraft, a B-29 had been loaded with a 5-ton atomic bomb. That day, under the gaze of countless Hiroshima citizens, the "little boy" was detonated in the air 600 meters above the ground.
At that time, Hiroshima had a population of about 343,000. The explosion killed about 70,000 people on the spot, and more than 100,000 were injured or missing. The entire Hiroshima instantly became a purgatory on earth.
Japanese
After the explosion, however, the explosion did not achieve a satisfactory result for the Americans. After the explosion, Japanese cabinet immediately held an emergency meeting to discuss whether to accept unconditional surrender. However, after several hours of fierce discussion, the final answer given by the Japanese cabinet was "continue to fight until the last Japanese."
In fact, it was not an impulse to make such a decision, because in 1941, Japan signed the Japan-Soviet Neutral Treaty with the Soviet Union. The two countries agreed not to violate each other. The top Japanese leaders were very clear that Japan's decline in World War II was irreversible, but if the Soviet Union could win over mediate from it, perhaps the unconditional surrender proposed by the Allied forces may have room for maneuver. As long as the Soviet Union is willing to speak, Japan is very likely to win "conditional surrender."
Japan and the Soviet Union signed the "Japan-Soviet Neutral Treaty"
And Japan believes that the Soviet Union did not sign " Potsdam Announcement " is also a signal, indicating that the Soviet Union had a neutral idea about this matter. In addition, everyone can see that after the end of World War II, the United States will be the biggest enemy of the Soviet Union. The Japanese logic is that if the Soviet Union helped Japan at this time, after the war, Japan would also stand on the side of the Soviet Union, not the United States. However, they did not know that the Soviet Union did not sign, but actually wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and were preparing to wait until the United States and Japan fought until both sides were injured before they could come to harvest the fruits of victory.
So why isn't Japan afraid that the United States will throw its second atomic bomb? This is actually Japan is betting. Japanese senior officials speculated that although the atomic bomb is very destructive, it will not be too easy to make. The United States cannot mass production at present, so they are planning to bet that the United States does not have a second atomic bomb for the time being. As long as the Soviet Union comes in to mediate during this period, all problems can be solved.
Potsdam announcement content
So after the Americans dropped the first atomic bomb, Japan organized an investigation team to Hiroshima to investigate the "truth" of the explosion to stabilize the hearts of the people. On the other hand, it sent Sato Sato to Moscow for negotiations, striving to get Stalin's promise in a short period of time and changing "unconditional surrender" to "conditional surrender".
However, what the Japanese don’t know is that the moment the US atomic bomb exploded in Japan, the Soviet Union was ready to declare war on Japan. The United States bombed Japan with atomic bombs, obviously trying to monopolize Japan in preparation for weakening the Soviet Union’s influence in the Asia-Pacific region after the war.
According to the agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union, Stalin was preparing to attack Japan at the end of August. For this reason, the United States also recognized Outer Mongolia's independence, but the United States suddenly threw an atomic bomb at Japan. Stalin realized that it is likely that he would not be able to get anything if he dragged it on, and it would put the Soviet Union in a passive position after the war.
Stalin
So as for the arrival of Japanese Ambassador Sato Sato, Stalin, on the one hand, thought of a snake and used various excuses to make excuses. On the other hand, he transferred a large number of personnel and weapons to the Far East War Zone. He was also equipped with heavy and medium-sized tanks and self-propelled artillery in the army and air force, ready to go to participate in the battle at any time.
At 17:00 p.m. on August 8, Sato Sato, who was requesting the Soviet Union to mediate from it, received an "Announcement to Japan" from the Soviet People's Commissar Molotov . This is a letter of declaration of war against Japan by the Soviet Union, announcing that the Soviet Union was officially in a state of war with Japan from August 9.
Soviet declaration of war against Japan
0 In the early morning of the 9th, millions of Soviet troops divided into four groups from Northeast China, northern North Korea, Sakhalin Island , and Kazarlin Island gradually moved closer to the Japanese Kwantung Army. Because the Soviet army came too fast, there was no preparation in advance, and the elite troops of Kwantung Army had been basically exhausted by our country, and most of the remaining were old, weak and remnants. Therefore, the Soviet army's offensive was very smooth, killing and wounding more than 680,000 enemies in just a few days. Later, the Soviet Union sent these Japanese troops to Siberia for labor reform, creating considerable value.
Just as the Soviet army drove straight into the Kwantung Army, a loud bang came from Nagasaki. The second American atomic bomb "Fatty", was detonated in Nagasaki. Although the casualties caused by this explosion were not as good as Hiroshima, it also made the entire city unrecognizable, and wailing sounds one after another.
was sent to the Japanese Kwantung Army for labor reform in Siberia and developed into this situation, and Japan's last glimmer of hope was also shattered. It can be said that The Soviet Union declared war on Japan was the last straw that overwhelmed the Japanese. At that time, Japan was very worried that the Soviet Union might take advantage of the situation to occupy Hokkaido and northern Japan. With the US atomic bomb in front and the Soviet Union swept the Kwantung Army behind, Japan had no other way to go except to accept the Potsdam Proclamation.
Later, Japanese military expert Hiro Hasegawa wrote in his book "Racing with the Enemy":
Japan surrendered within 5 days not because of the huge destruction caused by the atomic bomb. Their leaders were more concerned about the future of the emperor than the casualties of civilians. The Soviet Union's announcement of the declaration of war on Japan was the last straw that cut off Japan.
Japanese surrender photo
Of course, we must also realize that even without the Soviet Union and the United States, Japan's defeat was a fact. Although Japan still retained a fairly complete army force before surrender, these armies were already at the end of their strength.
In the late World War II, due to the tenacious resistance of the Chinese people, Japan's treasury had been consumed to a very small extent, and the war had reached an unsupported point. At that time, China was poor and weak, and its heavy industry foundation was extremely weak. Therefore, in order to supplement the gap in resources, Japan took the risk of attacking Pearl Harbor and marching to Southeast Asia, but it was burning.
The Japanese army in the late World War II was at the end of their strength, and even basic food and clothing could not be satisfied with
Therefore, the participation of the United States and the Soviet Union only accelerated the process of Japan's surrender. The fundamental reason why Japan could not continue to fight was actually that China's 14-year War of Resistance had already exhausted Japan's confidence in fighting, and Japan's economy had been consumed to the bottom. Continuing to fight might put Japan in a state of doom.
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