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Originally Posted by TheSatyr
I always believed that the A-Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had less to do with military reasons and more to do with political reasons. Japam would have been forced to surrender sooner or later anyway simply because of the blockade. However,the USSR was the 800lb gorilla in the corner and I feel the A-Bombs were dropped in an attempt to hasten Japan's surrender before the USSR could become more involved in the war against Japan.
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I agree. Without the atomic bombs the Soviets probably would have gone ahead with their plans to invade and occupy the northern island of Hokkaido. On the Asian mainland, the Soviets seized about 2.7 million Japanese nationals, only one-third military personnel. Of this total, some 340,000 to 370,000 perished in Stalin's hands. Taking this as a yardstick for the human cost of Soviet occupation of Hokkaido, another 400,000 Japanese noncombatants would have died.