Atomic attacks side-discussion (split from OBL thread)

[K. A. Pital]

The USSR employed a "national militia" during the battle of Moscow. Also, women were drafted, albeit for auxiliary military positions.

[Ariphaos]

The Japanese did make offers. The one condition that kept them in the war was the issue of the emperor, on which they were willing to commit national suicide. They assumed that if Hirohito was put at the mercy of the Allies, he would be strung up for war crimes. Sorry to get a bit melodramatic about it, but it would be like the Germans saying they would agree to surrender so long as Hitler stayed in power. You just can't seriously expect the Allies to accept that kind of condition. All the revisionist nonsense that paints Hirohito as a powerless figurehead just blurs the issue. Ultimately, though, the U.S. did unofficially promise that they would preserve the emperor after the atomic bombings, though there was always the prospect that Hirohito would be deposed and face trial, since the U.S. was under no legal obligation not to.

The wording of the surrender terms as translated to them was 'the unconditional surrender of all Japanese military forces'. They interpreted this to mean that they would keep their Emperor. Their original official reaction to the Potsdam Declaration was to mokusatsu it (supposedly, this was a mistake). It wasn't until after the first bomb was dropped that they actually took it seriously - on the order of the Emperor. Even then, the bombs changed no minds and they had to actually resort to asking the Emperor to make a decision. When he sided with Togo, the hawks tried to assassinate Kantarō Suzuki and engaged in a fortunately short-lived coup. To the Army, any talk of surrender was ridiculous.

[TC Pilot]

Yeah, there were still quite a few Japanese leaders who hoped to either avoid occupation or disarmament, or to negotiate a settlement where the Japanese would carry it out on their own. No doubt quite a few of them feared they would end up facing an Allied hangman if they surrendered. The Japanese leadership by the end had really lost touch with reality, particularly given how they tried to broker a peace deal through the Soviet Union even after Potsdam and all while the Soviets were on the verge of declaring war. I focus on Hirohito because, really, whatever he decided would ultimately be what the Japanese did.

I do question, however, your claim that the Japanese did not believe the emperor's position was threatened by the Allies, particularly given that as late as August 10 they were trying to get assurances of the throne's post-war integrity. Edit - also, though you mention a particular part of the Potsdam Declaration, there were other demands that could easily have been construed to refer to the emperor: like "[the elimination] for all time [of] the authority and influence of those who have deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest" and "stern justice shall be meted out to all war criminals, including those who have visited cruelties upon our prisoners."