Question #d5728
2 Answers
Yes, but a lot of American soldiers would be dead or wounded.
Explanation:
This discussion has been subject to analysis by many historians. The Americans invaded Okinawa and Iwo Jima to gauge the strength of the Japanese soldiers and to have a strategic position for its bombers. After these fights, the American Generals of the war informed President Dwight Eisenhower that should an invasion of Japan take place, there could possibly be 1 million soldiers who would be dead or wounded before victory can be achieved. They contemplated that thought and agreed using the A-bomb was a better idea.
It is almost certain that the United States would have won either way.
Explanation:
First off it should be stated that if the war had continued, which it certainly could have if the bombs hadn't been dropped, millions of lives could have been lost on both sides. It's fair to say that what occurred in Europe, with the Nazi's inability to surrender under any circumstances, would have been similar to what would have occurred in Japan.
It's important to know the dire situation Japan was in near the end of the war. The Soviets were just starting to make their way from the North, the Americans had destroyed the Japanese navy and had island hopped their way to every Japanese stronghold defeating them in the process, and most importantly, the populace was starving to death and were completely displaced by the constant US bombing runs that had destroyed their homes. This isn't even to mention that the Japanese air force was rendered completely obsolete. The US was unable to negotiate with the Japanese on terms of surrender that both sides could agree on, and the Japanese emperor, I would argue rightfully, feared for his life.
The United States under the Truman administration had the ability to drop atomic weapons on Japan. The administration took into consideration just how many lives could be lost if Operation Downfall went into affect, and they fully realized that if the American public knew that they had an other option besides Operation Downfall, the public would be outraged. So the United States government decided to take the Atomic route in the hopes it would end the war, and it certainly did. The Japanese would surrender on September 2nd, 1945, a month after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were obliterated. If they hadn't had this ability, in that I mean if somehow the Manhattan Project failed, Operation Downfall would have gone into effect. It is unknown how many lives would have been lost or how long it would take, but it's a certainty that no matter how you spin it, the Americans and their allies would be knocking on the door of the Japanese emperor sooner or later.
The truth is Japan was going to lose no matter what. Japan was desperate at this stage in the war, the Japanese military was a mere shell of what it used to be at the beginning of the war, and they had completely lost any gains they had made with their previous expansion. It should be noted that other actions by the US could have occurred besides Operation Downfall or the use of Atomic weapons. There was talk of a complete blockade of all of Japan that would basically starve them out forcing them to surrender, although just like Operation Downfall, countless lives would be lost.
Put simply, Japan's defeat was an inevitability. It wasn't a question of if they would be defeated, it was when.
