Today is V-J Day, the anniversary of the date in 1945 of the formal Japanese surrender on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. For practical purposes, it ended on August 14 (August 15 in Japan, on the other side of the International Date Line), when President Truman announced the capitulation of Japan and the end of World War II in the Pacific, unleashing a paroxysm of jubilation throughout the victorious nations. The war in Europe had ended with the German surrender on May 8th, but Japan fought on in the Pacific and had only lost Okinawa, the last stepping stone toward the homeland, in mid-June, after a fanatical defense that cost enormous U.S. casualties. The invasion of Kyushu planned for October 1945 was expected to incur losses in the millions, and this factor figured significantly in the decision to use atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki (on August 6 and 9, respectively).
The nuclear threat and the belated entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan (on August 9) tipped the balance between fiercely contending proponents of surrender and those in favor of continuing the war - despite an unsuccessful palace coup by the latter. And thus ended World War II after six years.
(Excerpt) Read more at vaviper.blogspot.com ...
