why did japan surrender after the US dropped the atomic bombs in WWII?

Question

when they carried out like 65 bombing raids, and one bombing raid could kill 100,000, why did japan surrender after the atomic bombs were dropped when the bombs killed 200,000?

were there losses on both sides, in the raids? what did the US lose as the carried out the bombing raids?

Answer 1

This is a very complex answer. Scholars, including myself, have debated this topic. In reality the dropping of the first atomic bomb did indeed have little effect on the Japanese wanting to surrender. Some research indicates that some Japanese became more battle hardened and were actually willing to prolong the war. But to denie it was not a factor would be reductionistic.

The truth of the matter is that Japan had been wanting to to surrender for the last four months up to the dropping of the bomb, but the terms of unconditional surrender was not to there liking. Also the USSR's declaration fo war, was a staunch blow to the Japanese plan for possible surrender. The decision to surrender was really based on who did the Japanese want to surrender to: USSR or the US. The Japanese were intolerable of communism in Japan and and elsewhere, namely China. The US was the the preferable nation to surrender to. The Atomic bombs combined with the Russian push in conquering the islands to the North, the USSR wanted to initiately take over Hokkaido the largest northern island before the end fo teh war, is what really led to the end of the war.

Remember that the Russians fought the Japanese several days after the peace treaty had been signed.

I would recommend reading Tsuyoshi Hasegawa's book, Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan. I read last fall and it is perhaps a great persepctive of teh end of the war as it uses Russian, American, and Japanese archives in is portrayal.

I hope this helps!!

I response to the questions above
On a side note . . . the Japanese had no idea what hit them. The mobolization of Japanese troops to the Southern Island of Kyushu continued to happned even after the bombs were dropped.

Also one of the main reasons for the many of the military actions by the Japanese is that under the constitution established during the Meiji Restoration the military was not held accountable by an political body in Japan including the Emperor. Fundamentally the Imperial family, even during and after the period, had been figure heads since the Kamakura period.

After the realization of what happened, the Japanese goverment filed charges in Geneva against the US stating cruel and unusual weaponry had been used. Its rather odd that the Germans were tired under this precept, but the charges were dropped by the Japanese after the war

Answer 2

President Truman believed that the United States would either have to invade the Japanese mainland, and suffer the loss of at least one million soldiers, or else drop atomic bombs and force surrender. The decision was made NOT to accept a million more casualties, but to force surrender on Japan with atomic bombs.

Answer 3

After the first bomb, The US asked for surrender. Japan refused and we dropped the second. We told them this would continue until they surrendered. The bomb may have killed 200,000 at the drop, but, more were dieing each day and people returning to the cities were getting sick and dieing. This had never happened before.

Answer 4

Some corrections The Japanese did NOT offer to surrender before the Nagasaki bombing. The cities were NOT vaporized, there was great destruction but not all buildings gone. NOT all of Japan was destroyed. The generals did NOT try to convince Hirohito to surrender, he decided on his own. Some officers tried to kill Hirohito and destroy the recording he had made of the surrender. I have yet to hear more baloney on this question on any other on this site. My goodness how misinformation gets spread as truth. There were NO more bombs, they were still being made in the States. The two bombs used were not the same, they were prototypes. But the Japanese not know that.

I wonder why there is never a question about the hundreds of sailors who were entombed on the Battleship Arizona. They are still down there. Why is there no mention of the Bataan Death March?

Answer 5

This is an excellent question. The two bombs, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, literally vaporized both towns, leaving nothing recognizable; people were ... and then Poof ... they weren't.

The Emperor recognized his nation was going to be wiped off the face of the earth and finally stood up to the Tyrant Military whohad forced war down the throat of the Emperor.

Do not let anyone tell you it was the Emperor who wanted the war. It was the Japanese Military Establishment, pure and simple Their blood lust and thirst for territory was unprecedented among nations of the World. Ever.

Hopefully, some day, the world will see the folly of War and declare a War Moratorium that will last forever. Wage Peace. What a prospect to look forward to.

Thank you for asking this question.

Answer 6

The US bombing destroyed and killed most of Japan. Compared to the United States, Japan is only an island, after all, thus the bombing had greater devastation on their nation.

Answer 7

Okay 2 bombs killed 200,000 people.. we had morethan 2 atomic bombs... at about 100,000 kills per bomb wouldnt you call it quits.. The US was not going to give up... period.. besides at some point the Japanese army would have been decimated as it was a smaller army, though they used irregular tactics when fighting. This tactic was a modern remake of the bonsai warriors of imperial japan.

Answer 8

They surrender because the losses were to great. in a raid there are loses on both sides -- this was only japan

Answer 9

The question is wrong. Japan actually sued for peace several days before the US dropped those atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima but their effort were rejected. Little did they know that they were to be the subjects, like no other nation, before or since, of an experiment to test the efficacy of a nuclear holocaust. In your next trip to Japan, visit the Peace Park in Hiroshima. You can still see, (and feel,) the effects of Oppenheimer's little toy !

Answer 10

they surrendered because we had the "trump" card.

Each bomb devistated its town, and the war mongerers realized that we could keep hitting them.

In Hiroshima, one victims SHADOW was burned into the concrete!
And for the "bleeding hearts" that ask How could The U.S. Do Something Like That...?
Japan would not have hesitated if they had developed it, NOR Germany if they had been able.