For those who are arguing one way or the other about the Soviet Union’s participation in or the precipitation of the surrender of Japan, please consider this: Would Stalin have declared war on Japan *at all* if we didn’t drop the bomb first? Consider: The USSR was at peace on August 1, 1945. There is no realistic argument that Japan would have attacked when it had its hands full with the other Allies. Stalin’s three biggest enemies, the US, Britain, and Japan were killing or were planning to kill themselves at a terrific rate. All he had to do was sit back and watch his enemies eliminate themselves. That’s exactly what he did during June and July. Why not wait for August, November and maybe well into 1946, then attack when there was nothing left? Because when the bomb was dropped he knew that Japan’s surrender was days away and it was his last chance to fulfill his end of the devil’s bargain he had extorted out of FDR and Churchill for all of eastern Europe in exchange for his help with Japan. Note the timing. He attacked days after Hiroshima. That meant he had his armies already to go at a moment’s notice. Why was he waiting?
For whatever reason Japan would have surrendered whenever, the participation of the USSR would never been a factor except for the bomb.
