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An order of magnitude fewer people died in the atomic bombings than did in the conventional land advance into Germany. Japan had a larger population and more mo
by sir_bearington 6y ago
An order of magnitude fewer people died in the atomic bombings than did in the conventional land advance into Germany. Japan had a larger population and more mountainous terrain suitable for defense. Japan intended to expend tens of millions of its own people's lives in operation Ketsugō.
Between letting the Empire of Japan continue to exist without reform, a conventional invasion, and the atomic bombings the last option was by far the most humane.
I don't know what you're going with this line of discussion, but this over-emphasis on the atomic bombings are a common talking point among Japanese apologists and nationalists to try and depict Japan as a victim rather than an aggressor. The atomic bombings, combined, claimed fewer lives than several individual conventional strategic bombing campaigns in both Germany and Japan.
- whimsicalism 6y ago> Japan intended to expend tens of millions of its own people's lives in operation Ketsugō. Intended to expend tens of millions of its people's lives if the United States tried to take and occupy Japan. Most wars don't end with the other country being occupied or its government being overthrown.
- sir_bearington 6y agoRight that's what the US, France, and Britain did with Germany in WWI. And we know how that turned out. Fortunately, the Allied powers did not intend to repeat the mistake of settling for peace without reforming hostile powers into states that would coexist peacefully in the long term.
- TedDoesntTalk 6y ago> Most wars don't end with the other country being occupied or its government being overthrown. I thought that is precisely how most wars end.
- Gibbon1 6y agoReporting bias.
- whimsicalism 6y ago> I thought that is precisely how most wars end. Well I don't know what to tell you, it usually isn't.