Last updated 2011-02-17. The Greatest Hoax In American History: Japan's Alleged Willingness to A brilliant theoretical physicist, J. Robert Oppenheimer was tapped to head up a laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, as part of U.S. efforts to develop nuclear weapons. I am not familiar with the scholarship of Richard Frank, a non-academic history-writer, but am certainly not impressed by his remarkably evasive and long-winded answer to a straightforward question (why wait only three days before hitting Nagasaki ?) If you have a weapon then you use it. Hiroshima: Atomic Blast That Changed The World Turns 75 : NPR From figures of derision, they were turned into supermen - an image that was to endure and harden as the intensity and savagery of fighting increased. As Napoleon marched through Russia decisively winning battles he failed to comprehend the Russian mindset until Moscow was ablaze and he was buried under a cold blanket of snow. For what its worth, Frank is a formidable writer, and the HNN page on him (which should have been about his full book, not just the sound-bite-rich Weekly Standard sensationalized adapation of it) deserves at least a fraction of the comments about his views that are misplacedly piling up here. What I and others have argued is that the Magic intercepts on which it is based serve as important evidence of what Truman and his advisors knew, or at least believed, about Japan's intentions. None of them contradict anything I said before here, and I agree with most of your points. 8 clever moves when you have $1,000 in the bank. As a soldier, he knew it was his duty to obey orders; and without any orders to the contrary, he had to keep on fighting. A truthful, public post-mortem on both Hirohito's"green light" for war in 1941 and his true role in the surrender process was never conducted. Fortunately (and ironically), for the many Allied soldiers, Japanese and Asian civilians that would have lost their lives during an invasion, Truman and his cabinet did not share this view. 5.) She remembers being engulfed in flames. OK, and by that yardstick neither did Al Queda. Find out more about how the BBC is covering the. 50,000 higher than Saddam's Republican Guard in the "good old days", and all this strength without the benefit of a robust and secure logistical network (think Vietnam)? He says, for example, that fear of surrendering to Russia was the primary factor behind Japans decision to surrender to the US -- more important even than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki but he offers no substantiation for this unusual claim. Bringing troops home as part of standard rotation and shipping them back out is NOT HOME IN THE SPRING! Regardless what historians now say the US truly believed that it would take 2 million troops to subdue Japan a country slightly smaller than California. But for all who participated in the last imperial conferences that produced the surrender decision, kokutai meant a sovereign, politically empowered monarchy based on the orthodox State Shinto view of the state, in which the people existed to assist the imperial destiny. The other enduring image of total sacrifice is that of the kamikaze pilot, ploughing his plane packed with high explosives into an enemy warship. Most only seek honest discourse about what the tactical advantages and end game are. SEP 9, 2021 Podcast Twenty Years Since 9/11: Grey Wars, American Values, & the Future of National Security In the 20 years since the 9/11 attacks, national security decisions have tested the values of American democracy. Again, the insurgents are numerous small armed bands that lack supply and command to sustain major offensives. The Americans said they took the drastic step to put an early end to World War II and save the lives of hundreds of thousands of US soldiers, but this official narrative is now being overturned. Even decisions made in the name of peace are somehow corrupt because those who make them are not perfectly selfless beings. Academic historians seem to have been been slow to react to an important work by a non-academic, and I expect to hear more about this book in the future. But only the emperor had the sovereign power to resolve the issue. With numbers like that they should be, you know, actually fighting! It is a nice bit of hypocrisy from someone who just last week faulted others for "cheap pot shots." How can our leaders know the cost of war if they have never been there?" The world changed forever when a US bomber dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima 70 years ago. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pacific/sfeature/sf_forum_0503.html#a Truman and Byrnes introduced nuclear weapons into modern warfare when it had been militarily unnecessary to do so. With everything at stake, he stepped forward live, as it were, in the form of a recorded message, speaking directly to the Japanese people in their worst moment of pain. As the Declaration bluntly put it, "the alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction". It is sad that some live in an pipe dream altered reality while our troops are being killed daily. What I got instead was a mixture of gibberish, pointless anti-US invective, and hopelessly simplistic analysis. To wit: .in the endgame of the war against Japan, long-range B-29 bombers systematically undertook fire-bombing raids that consumed 66 of Japan's largest cities and killed as many as 900,000 civilians--many times the combined death tolls of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But your quote does not prove the earlier claim by Richardson in his post. In fact, two days after the Council agreed to surrender, a Japanese submarine attacked the Oak Hill, an American landing ship, and the Thomas F. Nickel, an American destroyer, both east of Okinawa. It implies a consistency and integrity that does not exist. Japan did not surrender until a week after the Nagasaki bombing. Reasonable people might debate such claims, but their presence in an article about Japans decision to reject Potsdam is questionable at best, and in any case they require substantiation, which the author fails to provide. By David Powers And he ended with an admonishment to" continue as one family from generation to generation, ever firm in its faith of the imperishableness of its divine land, and mindful of the heavy burden of responsibilities, and the long road before it. He also describes Americas treatment of Hirohito as selfish, with the implication that it was done exclusively to spare Truman and Macarthur the need to apologize for their conduct during the war. 7. And even after all this, with lots of discussion and even an attempted coup, it was not until August 15 that Japan accepted unconditional surrender. According to Blix, it was "militarily unnecessary to do so." Why President Truman insisted on unconditional surrender Shouldn't Mr. Bix have considered and addressed that evidence? So in the end, the atomic bombs did convince the Japanese, with some difficulty, to surrender. ), this strategy would be very appealing. If correct, Bix's explanation defogs that mystery. "We have this incredible new weapon, we have a monopoly on it and we are going to emerge as the strongest superpower. when I say "partial exception", I mean to Mr. Ebbitt's post, not to my point about disagreeing with PCism. If he did not act immediately with the Russians bearing down on Japan and the national capacity for protracted resistance nearly exhausted, the monarchy, which he equated with the state, would be destroyed. The same cannot be said of the Special Attack Forces, more popularly known as kamikaze. More notable still is the almost comically simplistic view of national and international actors they represent. "If you look at it from the perspective of the Japanese military, it doesn't really make a big difference whether people are dying from fire bombing or atomic bombs it is [just] two additional city centres that are destroyed," he said. No, not at all - the loss of these lives is regrettable. "To Bear the Unbearable": Japan's Surrender, Part II This site is open to all points of view. Background Allied landings in the Pacific Theatre of operations, August 1942 to August 1945 By 1945, the Japanese had suffered a string of defeats for nearly two years in the South West Pacific, India, the Marianas campaign, and the Philippines campaign. So too did Admiral Takagi Sokichi, an adviser to Konoe and Takamatsu. What Bix misses is that fact that it is possible for leaders to be wrong without being evil. This gross underestimation can in part be explained by the fact that Japan had become interminably bogged down by its undeclared war against China since 1931. The declaration was made at the Potsdam Conference near the end of World War II. It put an end to any hope the Soviets would negotiate a favourable surrender for Japan. It was the mission worth making the people fight to the death. Why did Japan not immediately surrender after Hiroshima? Why did Why didn't the Japanese surrender after Hiroshima? Why is Japan's WW2 surrender still a sensitive subject? Insurgent strength of 200,000 in a nation with a population of 25M is not so far fetched. (Don't all the best sources?) Especially memorable to many Japanese was the emperor's expression of"profound solicitude" for"those who fell on the fields of battle""or those who met with untimely death and all their bereaved families." Letters and diaries written by student conscripts before they were killed in action speak of harsh beatings, and of soldiers being kicked senseless for the most trivial of matters - such as serving their superior's rice too slowly, or using a vest as a towel. He argues that the attack on Pearl Harbor provoked a rage bordering on the genocidal among Americans. ; Why Did the Japanese Delay Surrendering? Magic Diplomatic and Magic Far East radio intercept decryptions contradict Mr. Bix's opinion that the japanese were ready to surrender before Truman approved the use of the A-Bombs. I think he pretty much hits it right on the head. Yet, even though nearly 5,000 of them blazed their way into the world's collective memory in such spectacular fashion, it is sobering to realise that the number of British airmen who gave their lives in World War Two was ten times greater. This is wrong. In a nation where everyone is armed and none is your friend I would venture to say the forces against the US are closer to 200,000. And these historians are driven by ideology (US = bad) and must ignore a mountain of evidence to maintain this point of view. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/index.htm, For the record, I have not claimed that Frank's article resolves anything. But John Dower, one of America's most highly respected historians of wartime and post-war Japan, believes a major factor, often overlooked in seeking to explain why Japanese soldiers did not surrender, is that countless thousands of Japanese perished because they saw no alternative. Your suggestion to the contrary is not supported by anything in the text. For top-quality history, I prefer the book reviews in the New York Times or Economist, for example, or the academic journals. For surrender to the Soviet Union would surely have doomed the monarchy, whereas the Potsdam Declaration, which Truman had deliberately prevented Stalin from signing, held out the slim possibility of maintaining it. Delving into ancient myths about the Japanese and the Emperor in particular being directly descended from the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, they exhorted the people to restore a past racial and spiritual purity lost in recent times. I would prefer that military leaders lead our troops and civilians direct administrative efforts. both atom bomb blasts on Japan in August, 1945) to be unnecessary, I conclude that he thinks the Soviet declaration which WAS obtained with the help of the Hiroshima nuke, COULD HAVE BEEN obtained without the use of ANY nukes. Why did the war in Japan cost so much, and what led so many to fight on after the end of the hostilities? Debate over the Japanese Surrender - Nuclear Museum So on what grounds do you base your claim that the US presence in Iraq is "illegal"? Do not live in shame as a prisoner. So, Professor Cole showed his normal contempt for the US military and happily depended on a Western wire service messed-up translation of "al-Sharq" Arabic text. In just one night, 100,000 civilians were killed in Tokyo. Although 911 was a thoroughly planned military attack it's aim was not the invasion of the US mainland. Who is Oppenheimer? The controversial man behind the atomic bomb His overall argument is awkward, and he equivocates a bit, but ultimately it seems clear that he is arguing that the use of the bomb was irrelevant, or nearly so. It referred instead to the Japanese foreign office's attempt (under the suspicious eyes of the military) to persuade the Soviet Union to broker a negotiated peace that would have permitted the. Alonzo Hamby, reviewing five books in the Journal of American History - JAH Sept. 1997, pp. Against overwhelming US firepower they would not stand a chance on a conventional battlefield. The promise was carried out. Articles on this website tend not to cite sources, however. If we are to win this war it will take additional boots on the ground. Fighting in isolated pockets is their only effective means to battle a the far superior US forces. Although some Japanese were taken prisoner, most fought until they were killed or committed suicide. I come from a military family and although I did not serve after high school in 1978, as I chose college, I currently serve the DAV and have spent many weekend afternoons at VA Hospitals. Further, after the United States dropped the first atomic bomb at Hiroshima, Stalin realized he would have to strike hard and fast, or Japan might surrender before Russia got all the territory it had been promised. It is not my intention to refute Mr. Bix's thesis, but to point out that his failure to address pertinent evidence weakens his argument. When Emperor Hirohito made his first ever broadcast to the Japanese people on 15 August 1945, and enjoined his subjects 'to endure the unendurable and bear the unbearable', he brought to an end a state of war - both declared and undeclared - that had wracked his country for 14 years. The Americans had already destroyed 66 Japanese cities with a massive fire bombing campaign. This surprises me. Former prime minister Prince Konoe Fumimaro, former foreign minister Shigemitsu Mamoru, the emperor's brother, Prince Takamatsu, and their respective secretaries and advisers all fell into this category. The US has also failed to understand the Iraqi mindset. Explanation for his inaction probably reflects three strands. Again comparing WWII and Iraq makes no sense. On August 6, 1945 the world's first atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima, wiping out the city centre and killing about 140,000 people by the years' end. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. Keiko said the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and another at Nagasaki three days later, which killed 70,000 more, were war crimes. On August 6, 1945 the world's first atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima, wiping out the city centre and killing about 140,000 people by the years' end. It seems to me that Bix is guilty of exactly the same kind Manichaean logic for which those on the left repeatedly and correctly fault the Bush administration: either you are with us, or you are with the bad buys. The great classic of Bushido - 'Hagakure' written in the early 18th century - begins with the words, 'Bushido is a way of dying'. There are no "rules of debate" here. Although one of them surrendered in 1950 after becoming separated from the others, Onoda's two remaining companions died in gun battles with local forces - one in 1954, the other in 1972. Convinced that the Japanese would not surrender short of a final, decisive battle or (once the A-bomb was available) a final incendiary event Truman was unwilling to suggest American resolve was weakening. Japan barely scratched US soil during WWII and Vietnam had no designs or capability to do so during the Southeast Asian War. I don't believe we will be coming home any time soon. not including Weekly Standard) ignoring or covering up such a historiographical breakthrough is not high. And you might want to pick up a paper before you start talking about your imagined desire by Bush to hang around in Iraq much longer. Emperor Hirohito and his chief political adviser, Kido Koichi, stuck with the militarists and insisted on continuing with preparations for final battles on the home islands even in late June, when all organized resistance on Okinawa had ended, and an estimated 120,000 Japanese combatants (including Koreans and Taiwanese) and 150,000 to 170,000 non-combatants lay dead. Pas de tout. Mr. Clarke- The US is STILL "in" Baghdad and the Iraqi Police/Army is making steady progress with NO shortage of recruits. But the U.S. had already crossed a terrifying moral threshold when it accepted the targeting of civilians as a legitimate instrument of warfare. This would make little sense and the argument against the bombs use is badly discredited on this foundation of thought. In the early morning hours of August 10 they made their decision and over the next four days crafted the myth that the emperor had saved the nation by his heroic intervention in favor of peace. Washington has believed ever since that the atomic bomb decisively forced Japan's surrender. Do you realize how absurdly high that figure is? Bix explicitly states that dropping the bomb was "militarily unnecessary" and that "the Soviet factor carried greater weight" in Japan's surrender. For essentially selfish reasons of state, Truman and MacArthur treated Hirohito as leniently as they did many other institutions that had promoted war, such as the Yasukuni Shrine. Onoda's grim determination personifies one of the most enduring images of Japanese soldiers during the war - that Japanese fighting men did not surrender, even in the face of insuperable odds. 609 - 614. "It is odd for me to support an administration who does not have any leaders, other than Don Rumsfield, who served in the military. he inquired. On the eve of 70th anniversary, the children of Hiroshima sing for a future free of nuclear weapons, but today more countries than ever have the bomb. The second bomb was also dropped just 3 days later. Did Nuclear Weapons Cause Japan to Surrender? If the Magic intercepts can be reasonably interpreted to suggest otherwise -- and credible scholars believe they can -- then a number of his supporting arguments come unraveled. Why did the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki happen? Franks basic case -that it was reasonable of Truman to think he needed to drop atom bombs to compel Japans surrender- is convincing, within the context he carefully frames to best undergird his ultimately not very original thesis. Ten days after returning to Russia, he allegedly killed an elderly woman, Gambling ads should be banned within three years to tackle addiction crisis, parliamentary committee says, PwC's failure to disclose interest in private education provider 'completely unacceptable', Taylor Swift pre-sale tickets are released today. If troops pull 12 hour duty that means only 40,000 troops on watch for any half day period. Why did Japan refuse to surrender before the atomic bombings of - Quora Why didn't the Japanese surrender after Hiroshima? Bradbury Science Museum/Getty Images In 1939, physicists Albert Einstein, left, and Leo Szilard drafted a letter to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to research atomic bombs before. Heisler - The UN has given its approval to the US presence in Iraq, as has the Iraqi and US governments. He and Japan must "bear the unbearable.". But the most extraordinary story belongs to Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, who continued fighting on the Philippine island of Lubang until 9 March 1974 - nearly 29 years after the end of the war. You've based your pessimism on a major factual error. CEH: -- Bixs take on Russias role in Japans surrender is nearly incoherent. But Kido gave extensive depositions to the interrogators of the International Prosecution Section of GHQ, which wrote the scenario for the Tokyo Tribunal in accordance with Truman administration policy. Since Mr. Frank does not work for the Weekly Standard any more than Mr. Bix works for HNN, your peremptory dismissal of his argument on the basis of its association is either lazy or mindless. "Chicken-hawks"? Truman's efforts to get the Soviets involved is better explained by the fact that the japanese still occupied Korea and significant territory in China the fruits of which helped sustain the japanese war effort and feed the japanese people. I want them to come to Hiroshima and Nagasaki," she said. and found there the Richard B. Frank - Weekly Standard piece 7) The 'Mighty Mo'. The current administration seems to have been pulling a smoke and mirror campaign from the run up to the war 911 Investigation Cover-up, Downing Street Memo, Plame Game and Halliburton Profiteering then now passes off disinformation about the war itself as if the public is to ignorant to the questions of what is going wrong in Iraq. Many historians say the bombings did not lead to the Japanese surrender, and the Soviet declaration of war on Japan two days later was a bigger shock. They were indoctrinated from an early age to revere the Emperor as a living deity, and to see war as an act that could purify the self, the nation, and ultimately the whole world. . Hiroshima survivor Keiko Ogura wants people to come and see for themselves. Stalin began to worry that the United States would renege on promises made at Yalta. Certainly I don't intend to go web fishing there for an unlinked article. World Wars: Japan: No Surrender in World War Two - BBC The central and west of Iraq where the heavy fighting is underway has estimates ranging between 20,000 and 100,000 fighters. I believe in a strong, well trained and well equipped military but a military that is used with discretion, has well defined operational objectives and uses maximum force when required. "Shouldn't Mr. Bix have considered and addressed that evidence?" As a student of military history you should think again about comparing the situation in Iraq to the unmitigated disaster in Russia during 1812.
Disorganized Attachment Style Workbook Pdf Child,
Local Initiatives Which Promote Healthy Eating Near Me,
Easyjet Overbooking Compensation,
Banana Cartoon - Sign Language Girl Name,
Articles W
