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Originally Posted by ChubbyChecker
They say that if the US had invaded then many more Japanese would have died since they would have jumped off cliffs and shit rather than allow themselves to be captured.
However, 2 weeks before Hiroshima the Japanese government offered to surrender. The US government said that the surrender must be unconditional. The Japanese then said that there would be no unconditional surrender and the US decided to decline the offer. When the Japanese did finally surrender the unconditional surrender wasn't needed anyway since the Emperor was allowed to retain his position. So justifying Hiroshima and Nagasaki becomes less cut and dried than it at first appears.
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The Japanese government contacted Stalin's government, which had not yet entered the war to inquire as to what was meant by "unconditional surrender."
Truman did not trust the Russians and Stalin in particular. The Russians were to enter the war against Japan no later than August 15, 1945. Truman wanted to end the war against the Japanese before the Russians could attack and arguably send troops into Japan. Thus the only two nuclear devices the American's had were detonated leading to the Japanese surrender.
Side note: My uncle was in the American Army Air Force and was stationed on Tinian Island. They knew that there was a top secret mission at the base but had no idea what it was. Rumors were such that he got up in the middle of the night to watch a plane take off. It was the Enola Gay on its way to Hiroshima though he didn't know that for some time.