Shaun
3 HN recommenders · recommended in 5 months, 2020–2025
2:20:19 · 3.6M views · Dec 11, 2020
A very long video essay by Shaun on the decisions and motivations behind the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with a detailed timeline and argument that they were not militarily necessary.
HN recommends it as a thorough, nuanced account of why the bombings happened and what led Japan to surrender.
5 comments from Hacker News
The Japanese Government didn't want an unconditional surrender as it would have meant the Emperor (Who was seen as quasi-divine) would have potentially been tried for war crimes and executed. They didn't care about their citizens, just the Emperor. Fantastic video which explains everything: this video
> Whereas Japan would’ve continued the war and brought it back to the US mainland eventually. This is simply ahistoric. Japan was on the brink of loss and everyone knew it (including all of Japan's military and political leaders) -- Japan was already suing for peace long before the bombs were dropped. The main sticking point was the conditions of surrender and the Japanese were deluded (partially by the US, intentionally or not) into thinking Russia could get them more favourable surrender conditions. These delays, combined with the use of the bomb being a foregone conclusion in the minds of the US leadership regardless of Japan's stance and what seems to be at least some wish to show America's might, lead to the bombings. No reputable historian (nor the statements made by several important military figures at the time) could make a credible argument that in 1945, Japan's loss was not already a foregone conclusion irrespective of the bomb, let alone suggesting that Japan would be able to even attempt to invade the US. If the US had explicitly stated they would not try the royal family for war crimes and keep the 帝 (emperor) alive, Japan would've surrendered (this is literally the only important condition they wanted, and it's what the US was planning on doing anyway). If you'd like to watch a very long video explaining the events leading up to the bombings with a very detailed timeline: this video
Here's a thoroughly nuanced analysis of the causes and motivations leading to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: this video
> the US only used atomic weapons to end a devastating war inflicted upon it by a ferocious and fanatical adversary This isn't true at all. You don't need to bomb civilian cities to end a war. The Japanese government, specifically the emperor had already indicated they wanted to negotiate. They were already well aware they couldn't win the war. There is far, far more evidence that the U.S. just couldn't help itself and wanted to demonstrate our/their new weapon: "The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan." - Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet In true U.S. fashion, we had to create a boogeyman to commit some atrocity in order to achieve absolution for the evil we inflicted upon our fellow man. But hey, don't take my word for it: * [LINK] * this video
I listened to this >2h essay about the atomic bombing over a year ago. I'm writing mostly from memory, so there might be errors in my summary. I think the argument was that the reason for the atomic bombing was not really a military necessity (fleet admirals Leahy and Nimitz at least seemed to think so). The Japanese were already signaling they were willing to surrender well before the bomb dropped -- but not yet _unconditionally_. The one condition they had was that the emperor had to stay in place and should not be punished for the war. The US could have chosen to accept this condition and end the war, but didn't for a variety of reasons (none of them military). this video