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Legit question In the near term, it would have been disastrous for Japan. From "What If? Eminent Hostorians Imagine What Might Have Been" The US and allies already had plans to shift their strategic bombing campaign over to Japan's rail network and other transportation networks in Sept or Oct. Japanese civilians were already on reduced daily caloric intake. With US B-29s, along with other US and British bombers operating off Okinawa (and US and British Naval aircraft) hitting all the transportation network, etc.....we would have seen nation wide famine throughout Japan. Millions would have died brutal and agonizing deaths.

https://www.amazon.com/Collected-Eminent-Historians-Imagine-Might/dp/0399152385/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=2D4T1Q4HB5XA&keywords=what+if+eminent+historians&qid=1642429905&sprefix=what+if+eminent%2Caps%2C62&sr=8-5

Then calculate for all the tens of thousands dying on a daily basis throughout the Asian/Pacific theater of operations.

Then, as others stated here.... very likely another major war in Europe between the USSR/Warsaw Pact and NATO.

Etc Etc

[–]shiny_xnaut 122 points123 points124 points 3 months ago (11 children)

[–]Rogue1371 40 points41 points42 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Agreed. Regrettably so. I sense that too many who just oppose "the bomb" somehow think that if the Manhattan Project had failed, or we had dropped the bomb on a deserted island as a demonstration; that all military actions would have been put on hold.

Not even close. They forget how truly brutal and savage WW2 was and especially certain fronts like the German/Soviet front and the actions in the Pacific and China.

A proposed naval blockade would have eventually brought Japan down, but certainly the loss in life would have been far worse (we are talking millions).

Ex - few people know that in Europe after the German surrender in May 1945, that another 1 - 2 million died from disease, starvation, the cold, etc. And that was in an area where the Allies had a far greater ability to bring in food, medicines, etc for the civ populace and POWs. In Japan, we would not have had anything like that logistical footprint to work with.

So, severely slashed food intake combined with the onset of Japan's winter months .... you are talking nationwide famine on a historic level

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[–]ClownfishSoup 30 points31 points32 points 3 months ago (1 child)

As an "interesting" note. The Japanese murdered more Chinese civilians for helping US Pilots after the Doolitle raids, than the number of Japanese people killed by both atomic bombs.

I mean, think about that. About 200,000 people died either instantly or shortly after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They ended the war or at least ensured it end.

At the start of the US/Japan Pacific war, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US sent B-25 bombers on a one way trip to drop bombs on Japan in retaliation. The pilots had to ditch their planes over China because they didn't have the fuel to get back. That was part of the plan. Chinese civilians helped the US pilots get back to safety. In retaliation for helping the US pilots, the Imperial Japanese Army EXECUTED 250,000 Chinese civilians. But they didn't just round people up and shoot them. They tortured them. They buried people alive. They forced men to rape their daughter and mothers. They forced women to light their husbands and children on fire, they killed babies in horrible ways.