Son of Pilot Who Dropped A-Bomb Opposes,

Oberon · 08-06-10, 07:38 AM

Another little thought that ran through my mind last night as I went to bed, the Japanese economic miracle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanes...onomic_miracle

Now...surely if Japan had not surrendered in the manner that it did, this economic miracle would never have occured and Japan would not be the nation it is today, a true economic powerhouse and technological hotzone.
Japan lost two cities, and when I say lost, I mean temporarily because both Hiroshima and Nagasaki are thriving cities today, however if the invasion had gone ahead, just about every city would have been firebombed into oblivion, the atomic bombs would have been dropped and possibly in greater numbers than just two, and the sheer amount of casualties incurred would have swung US public opinion further against the Japanese and discouraged the post-war investment that the US poured into Japan in reality, it could well be that Japan would wind up facing some kind of Versailles type reparations to help fix the US manpower drain that would have happened.
Then there's the Soviets, eagerly eating any form of territory they could get their hands on, perhaps Japan would have found itself in two pieces like Germany? What would that have done to the economic powerhouse that Japan would become? Would Japan have become like Korea?

There's lots of what-ifs in this scenario...but when one looks at Japan today, and one thinks of what could have been...two cities seems a small price to pay.

08-06-10, 07:38 AM	#9
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	Another little thought that ran through my mind last night as I went to bed, the Japanese economic miracle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanes...onomic_miracle Now...surely if Japan had not surrendered in the manner that it did, this economic miracle would never have occured and Japan would not be the nation it is today, a true economic powerhouse and technological hotzone. Japan lost two cities, and when I say lost, I mean temporarily because both Hiroshima and Nagasaki are thriving cities today, however if the invasion had gone ahead, just about every city would have been firebombed into oblivion, the atomic bombs would have been dropped and possibly in greater numbers than just two, and the sheer amount of casualties incurred would have swung US public opinion further against the Japanese and discouraged the post-war investment that the US poured into Japan in reality, it could well be that Japan would wind up facing some kind of Versailles type reparations to help fix the US manpower drain that would have happened. Then there's the Soviets, eagerly eating any form of territory they could get their hands on, perhaps Japan would have found itself in two pieces like Germany? What would that have done to the economic powerhouse that Japan would become? Would Japan have become like Korea? There's lots of what-ifs in this scenario...but when one looks at Japan today, and one thinks of what could have been...two cities seems a small price to pay.