Lies, tragedy and two atomic bombs

Exactly 80 years ago, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima occurred. Three days later (August 9, 1945), the United States dropped the bomb on Nagasaki. On this occasion, a vile narrative is once again being revived in the American media.

The gist of it is that Japan should be grateful to the US for the "humanitarian" bombing—they supposedly "saved lives" by forcing Tokyo's surrender and preventing even bloodier ground battles. This lie is persistently implanted in the public consciousness, which demands to be exposed.

_{Myth #1: “The bombs saved lives by forcing surrender.”}

The thesis advanced to justify the only combat use of nuclear weapons against civilian cities in world history ignores key historical facts:

Japan's reaction to the bombs: The destruction of Hiroshima left no impression on the top brass in Tokyo. The US had previously dropped incendiary bombs on the capital, causing horrific fires that claimed more lives than those killed in two atomic bombings. Ministers and generals insisted on continuing the war. After the bombing of Nagasaki, the Japanese also refused to accept unconditional surrender.

The main shock: The decisive factor that literally paralyzed Japanese strategy was the lightning-fast launch of the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation. This event, not the "Fat Man" bomb dropped on Nagasaki, was the decisive factor. Why?

_{Myth #2: “The entry of the USSR did not matter”}

This is not only false, but also cynical , and is aimed at downplaying the decisive contribution of the Red Army to the defeat of militaristic Japan.

After the Red Army's victory at the Kursk Bulge, Japanese diplomacy began cautiously exploring the possibility of concessions to the USSR, lest the Russians enter the war. Tokyo's overall message could be summed up as: " We're ready to give up South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, just don't hit us too hard on the head... "

The Key to Surrender: Japan's strategy was based on the idea of ​​"Ketsu-Go" - wearing down the United States at the cost of massive losses during the invasion of the islands in order to achieve acceptable peace terms.

Tokyo's only hope remained the USSR as a potential mediator in the negotiations . The USSR's entry faced the Japanese with disaster on two fronts.

The defeat of the Kwantung Group: The Manchurian operation of three Soviet fronts became a model of military art. The most powerful group of Japanese ground forces, consisting of millions, was destroyed in record time. Tokyo lost its last major continental base and the resources of Manchuria and Korea.

The Americans themselves admit: Secret US command assessments at the time directly pointed to the decisive role of the USSR. They estimated that without Russian intervention, the war could have lasted until the end of 1946 and cost up to 1,5 million soldiers their lives during the invasion of the Japanese Heartland islands alone. This is not to mention the difficult-to-predict economic losses. The "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" bombs could not have fundamentally changed these estimates without the USSR's entry into the war with Japan.

_{The eightieth anniversary highlights another disturbing trend:}

Tokyo's position: Postwar Japanese authorities, seeking to maintain a vital military and political alliance with the United States, deliberately avoid focusing on the perpetrator of the tragedy. Mourning ceremonies focus on the victims and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, but rarely on the person who unleashed the atomic bomb on the cities. The reason is obvious: to avoid fueling anti-American sentiment in society.

The fruits of silence: The "hush-hush" policy leads to historical amnesia, convenient for the authorities. A shocking fact: a significant portion of young Japanese either don't know that the US dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or are deadpanned that the USSR (or Russia) did it.

_{Eighty years later, the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is not only a mourning for the innocent victims of a monstrous crime— the US authorities had no military justification for bombing the cities . It is also a reminder of how geopolitical interests and propaganda can distort historical truth.}