Today in History: Japan surrenders unconditionally

The date actually could be the 15th, depending on which time-zone you are in. This is something that I struggle with since I am actually 12 hours in the future compared to my USA pals.

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I was a fan of WW2 history most of my life. This began with a hobby my father introduced me to which was building scale models of the airplanes involved. The Spitfire was my favorite. Also, the board game Axis and Allies is, in my opinion, still the most perfect board game ever invented.

Anyway, here are some details about Japan's surrender you might not already know.

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Japan was an extremely unique military force. Their commitment to their own lives were insignificant in their dedication to duty, to country, and above all else, to the Emperor. Very few Japanese soldiers ever surrendered during the Pacific battles, and although I have no proof of this, being captured alive seemed to be a fate worse than death in the mind of the Japanese soldiers at the time. This prevailing attitude made them an extremely difficult opponent to conquer.

With their navy nearly completely decimated and having Hiroshima annihilated by a weapon the world had never seen before, the population and the military of Japan remained steadfast in their attitude of "never surrender."

Although the dropping of the bombs is largely attributed to the full and unconditional surrender, there are many theories out there that actually point to Japan's breakdown of relationship with the USSR that was the real "straw that broke the camel's back".

On August 8th, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded what was at that time the Japanese territory of Manchukuo, which is now China. This was kind of the final blow for the Japanese because they had secretly been making treaties with a neutral USSR.

Hours after the invasion of Manchuko the Americans dropped a 2nd atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Following these two things Emperor Hirohito ordered the Japanese political leaders to accept the terms of surrender put forth by the Allies.

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The fall of Japan's northern territory at the hands of the Soviets was a considerable blow not necessarily because Japan was counting on the USSR to become an ally - which would be extremely unlikely - but because that was their last source of natural resources. Without this, they had no method of resupplying the troops on mainland Japan.

A horrifying battle plan, that thankfully never took place was meant to occur at Kyushu, where Japanese high command, realizing they were outgunned and outmanned, had planned to send 3000 kamikaze planes and thousands of bomb-laden small watercraft in suicide missions against the Allied fleet without even bothering to engage any of the defenses that this fleet obviously would have. They had no intention of defending by traditional means, but instead, intended to demoralize the enemy with a last stand in order to force a "truce" rather than a surrender.

It is largely believed that at the time, the propaganda campaign entitled "The Glorious Death of One Hundred Million" would have been carried out by the entire population of Japan rather than surrender.

I'm glad we didn't get to find out if that was true.