LogFAQs > #906481593

nah, the principal motivation was looking forward to both the cold war and the end of the ceasefire of the chinese civil war.

The success of Zhukov's offensive in manchuria was a serious threat to the future of the pro-western nationalist party in China, as all territory captured by the USSR was to be handed over to Mao. And Manchuria held most of the Chinese coal and metal deposits. We had no idea how much a coward Kai-shek would be, and assumed he'd be able to defeat Mao and reassert control over China.

That's why we even had a plan for invading Japanese soil. Prior to the bombs, the army faction had a firm grip on the imperial throne, and surrender was not viable. They were demanding far more than retention of the emperor; they refused to allow the west to try their war criminals or even agree to forced disarmament and occupation; terms like that were utterly unacceptable to Americans and Brits alike.

At that stage we were already aware of the actions of the Nazis, as well as the rape of Nanking, so we knew the Japanese were conducting similar genocide efforts. We knew we could not let the treatment of American POWs go unpunished.

The use of the atom bombs motivated the Japanese emperor to act unilaterally, breaking tradition and shattering the control the army faction had over his council.
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