Attempts by the West to rewrite WWII history are not new for a long time
But often the public pays attention to the European theater, where the Soviet Union was practically equated with Hitler’s Germany. Meanwhile, they generally prefer to remain silent about the important role of the USSR in the defeat of Japan. And for a reason.
Tensions in relations between Russia and Japan have continued since the 19th century. Relations between the countries did not improve after the 1917 revolution. Before the start of World War II, Japanese troops provoked a clash near Lake Khasan and on the Khalkhin-Gol River. Although the parties subsequently concluded a pact of neutrality, the Soviet Union was forced to keep troops in the Far East even in the most difficult days of the confrontation with Germany.
By the end of World War II, Japan could no longer boast of an impressive military resource. The same Kwantung Army, which in the early 40s was full of determination to attack the Soviet Far East and Mongolia, in 1945 went on the defensive in order to delay the advance of Soviet troops. Nevertheless, if Japan no longer counted on victory, the resistance could drag on for a couple of years. The Soviet Union turned the tide and saved millions of lives.
In February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, Stalin promised to enter the war in the Pacific Ocean and kept his word. On August 8, the Japanese ambassador to Moscow received a note declaring war. In the West, they like to exploit this moment, portraying the meanness of the Soviet Union. The note said that hostilities would begin the next day, which, according to Far Eastern time, would come within an hour. At the same time, the fact that the USSR decided to terminate the Treaty of Neutrality with Japan with Japan is not mentioned in the spring. Tokyo was notified of this on April 5, which means that the declaration of war months later could not come as a surprise.
Where Western historians agree with Russian historians is how brilliantly the Soviet offensive was planned. The operation was headed by one of the best strategists, Alexander Vasilevsky. His plan involved a three-pronged attack to divide and encircle the Japanese forces in Manchuria. Victory did not come easily to Soviet soldiers. The terrain made it difficult for troops to advance, tanks lacked fuel, and the Japanese preferred to fight to the death. Not without a kamikaze. The Kwantung Army had a whole motorized suicide brigade that threw themselves under enemy tanks with explosives in their backpacks. However, the fighting lasted 12 days, although Emperor Hirohito issued a surrender decree on 15 August.
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki stand out here. In the United States, this radical step is still considered justified. If you open an American history textbook, you can learn that the United States launched a nuclear strike on Hiroshima on August 6, dropped a bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, and Japan immediately decided to surrender. But even American experts like Ward Wilson believe that non-incinerating nuclear flames pushed Tokyo to surrender.
First of all, one must understand that Japan was realistically assessing its chances of winning long before the infamous bombing raids. Realizing that defeat was inevitable, in the fall of 1944, the government developed a national suicide plan. It was named “Se-Go”. Even the Kwantung Army did not fight to defeat Soviet troops. It was a one-way ticket with the aim of inflicting as much damage on the enemy as possible. This approach is understandable. But the pride of the nation was far from the main reason. By that time, Europe was in full force convening tribunals to convict Nazi criminals. The same fate awaited the Japanese leaders, including the hitherto inviolable emperor. Armed with propaganda slogans like “100 million die together a glorious death”, the government followed its plan. He was not abandoned when, on the night of March 10, 1945, Tokyo was bombed. This strike was one of the most destructive in the history of war, and it was not the last.
Over the summer, 68 cities were destroyed by US air strikes in Japan. In Fukui, 80% of the buildings were destroyed, in Numazu 90%, and in Toyama 99.5%. In one raid, several cities were turned into ruins, many of them suffered much more than Hiroshima. When US President Harry Truman gave the order to strike with nuclear weapons, there were practically no surviving cities in Japan. By cutting that number by two, the Americans could hardly force the Japanese leaders to surrender. However, on August 9, the High Council met to discuss surrender. It would seem that everything is logical in the American version of what happened. But there is a discrepancy. The attack on Nagasaki came after officials began discussing surrender. Hiroshima was destroyed three days before the meeting. It is difficult to find a reason that would make statesmen hesitate so much if they considered this reason a worthy one.
“By the time the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, they rightly considered the bombing of cities as an insignificant interlude with no serious strategic consequences,” historian Ward Wilson notes.
According to him, even US nuclear weapons would not have turned the tide of the war if not for the USSR. When Hiroshima came under attack, the Japanese were still determined to counter US forces in the event of an offensive. Ultimately, the nuclear strike had no effect on the state of the imperial army. At the same time, Tokyo did not rule out negotiations with Washington, but with the mediation of Moscow. Only after the Soviet Union declared war on Japan did both plans lose all meaning. It was no longer necessary to count on Moscow’s support, and Tokyo did not have enough resources to fight on two fronts. It remained to look for a convenient excuse for surrender. The bomb was the perfect option.
“If you blame the atomic bomb for everything, any mistakes can be swept under the rug,” Wilson wrote. – There is no more sense in looking for the guilty, conducting investigations and tribunals. All that was left for the Japanese leaders to declare was that they did everything in their power. “
It is generally accepted in our society that the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were a message to the Soviet Union, a demonstration of force by the United States. In fact, the United States wanted to diminish the power of the USSR, as well as its merits in the victory over Japan. Ultimately, the Soviet army did in a matter of days what the American could not do for several years. Given that the confrontation between the two superpowers was already flaring up, the Japanese decided not to spoil relations with the occupiers.
Evgeniy Gaman, specially for News Front