The Insane American Plan to Invade Japan in 1945

[@RealLifeLore]

I had a very strong suspicion that KZbin would demonetize this video, and they have. That being said, if you'd like to support the channel and see more "controversial" content like this in the future, go and check out World of Tanks for free who sponsored this video and made it possible to produce. Click here: tanks.ly/2Ohin4a and use code TANKTASTIC. Thanks y'all :)

[@shauncarlpope33]

RealLifeLore well it’s factually inaccurate too. Everyone knows Japan surrendered before the nukes when Russia joined the allies

[@terrapins]

weird bc WoT is a dead game

[@stephenb6016]

KZbin is gay so im not surprised

[@EvanAviator]

You could at least try to appeal it...

[@LastGreyWolf]

@@shauncarlpope33 lol. First of all, Soviet Union, not Russia. Second thing - Soviets joined the Allies when they were attacked by Nazi Germany in 1941. Third thing - timeline: 6. 8. 1945 - Hiroshima, 9. 8. 1945 - Soviet Union declares war on Japan and few hours later - Nagasaki. Only after that - on 15. 8. 1945 - Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan. 2. 9. 1945 - surrender document signed on board of USS Missouri. Go back to your cave, troll ;) Oh, and read a book along the way please ;)

[@cinimatics]

Its remarkable how hardcore the Japanese were ready to go. You have to remember that by this point Japan had largely been firebombed to the ground already.

[@1M4C1999]

@Gipsy Danger the other power of brainwashing is how many americans think the atomic bombs dropped on civilian hubs was justified

[@AsobiMedio]

@@1M4C1999 What's worse? A quarter million lives taken in a single, decisive strike on an important industrial city(Hiroshima did have over 20,000 soldiers stationed there), Or 5-10 million lives lost from a pointlessly long, suicidal assault. The bombs were the quickest and easiest way of ending the war without taking massive casualties on all sides. It really says something when annihilating a civilian city is the most humane way of ending a war. Fun Fact: Nagasaki was actually the least likely city to be attacked. It was only added onto the hit list after Kyoto was spared since the commanding officer wanted to preserve it for it's cultural importance. Bad weather forced the plane to drop the bomb somewhere else, Nagasaki just happened to be the city nearest to Kokura, the original target. Let's face the facts, war is by definition an act of insanity. To even be able to participate in it you'd have to be brainwashed into loving a faceless, emotionless system designed to control people and exploit them at maximum efficiency. You need to see people as statistics, which is much easier when their just numbers on a page. People always simplify problems into dehumanizing statistics when in reality most normal people would feel sick after taking a single life, let alone green lighting something that would kill millions.

[@rageraptor7127]

Kurt E. Clothier you gotta also remember by using the weapons for the next century the world nearly ended 874 separate times and its still possible. It could have ended human life on earth. So saying they were or weren’t justified isn’t really a good question because both were morally impermissible but they were forced separate events happened to line up so japan could recover so I guess we got the better end of the final decision world wide although the threat of annihilation is still here

[@lPelado]

They were the Yihadists of that time. I wonder what drugs did they give them to have them that crazy.

[@rodrigopaim82]

Nazi Germany kept fighting until the Americans destroyed almost every building possible, and the Red Army swept every inch of Berlin with blood. And they kept fighting. But somehow people think that the Japanese military, far more fanatical than any German nationalist could've dream, was going to surrender because they lost war on the seas and lost Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Few things on history saved more lives than the atomic bombs did.The Japanese military government would have seen the entire country burn before surrendering.

[@saaj_uk]

Should've named it Operation: Sunset.

[@RealClutchMcGee]

Its time for the Rising Sun to set

[@TheEgg185]

That's what I thought it was gonna be named.

[@mr.boomguy]

Nah, that should've been reserved for the Atom-Bomb.

[@dragonstormer115]

that's really rubbing it in.

[@small___steve]

thats a sick codename

[@BenPernezny]

And just in case it hasn't been mentioned yet: Purple Hearts awarded today are from that same 1945 minting. All the American casualties in all the wars fought since have yet to deplete that supply.

[@isaacexposito4519]

Even crazier when you think about how purple hearts are awarded for injuries as well, not just deaths

[@hawkeye7527]

Thank you for confirming that. I had a suspicion

[@PomazeBog1389]

@@isaacexposito4519 *_EVEN CRAZIER WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT HOW THEY ARE AWARDED TO PEOPLE WITH ACTUAL PURPLE HEARTS, TOO._*

[@LordVader1094]

@@isaacexposito4519 Purple hearts usually aren't awarded for deaths as much as injuries, and injuries are less severe anyway. There's nothing crazy about that. Lol

[@zevulum]

Ben Pernezny it's even crazier that the government lost a TON of those Purple Hearts and made more then found them all chilling in a warehouse so now we have even more sitting around 😂😂

[@burhansameh7031]

Mean while in parallel universe: LorelifeReal: "The insane American plan to nuke japan in 1945"

[@rafaelalodio5116]

Hahaha, that's a crazy thought.

[@hx5525]

Burhan Sameh The use of atomic bombs was completely rational

[@yesmysticeon]

LoreLifeReal: The Japanese not insane plan to give away USA in 5491

[@LordVader1094]

@Some_Guy_632 The Soviet invasion of Manchuria making Japan surrender makes no sense logically. It's just used by people trying to find a justification against the nukes beyond morality. Japan wouldn't give a shit about mainland China being invaded when the U.S. was on their doorstep.

[@archdukefranzferdinand567]

@Some_Guy_632 That's false though, the Soviets had no means to occupy mainland Japan. The official Soviet plans to invade the home islands consisted of 6 landing craft. SIX!

[@louis4949]

“An entire 40 divisions for an invasion” Hoi4 players: *Pathetic*

[@bryce5527]

I mean if you dont use at least 120 are you really playing the game right?

[@thequestioner5916]

I know invaded japan with 150 divisions and within and 2 weeks japan surrendered while japan lost 3 million i lost 1000

[@TheLiamster]

The Soviet Union invaded Nazi Germany with over 200 divisions

[@bryce5527]

@@thequestioner5916 40w medium tank division?

[@2headedtasman200]

Try 40 Heavy Tank Divisions.

[@cram4676]

Far less WWII movies would be about the landings in Normandy if this happened

[@ofclown9458]

the saving private ryan opening scene would be even more insane

[@Arkiasis]

I'm honestly amazed no alternate reality movie or game has been made about this. It would make WWII games interesting again. An alternate reality WWII with the game mostly focusing on Operation Downfall.

[@cram4676]

@@Arkiasis Yeah it's one of those great things nobody notices or cares enough about

[@sinoroman]

have america expel japanese forces in china first then have chinese armies join the landing in operation downfall as front-line troops (i say china first because allied forces landed in france and broke the nazi acquisition of northern france would have been crazy if allied troops landed in germany without releasing french territories)

[@Josephistry]

@@cram4676 just play hoi4

[@duhduh8194]

It’s a weird parallel, Because RealLifeLore is mentioning is “there was an insane plan to invade the home island of Japan”. However, if things played out a lot differently in a an alternative universe, he would’ve said, “there was an insane plan to bomb a Japanese city with an atomic bomb.” Edit: It’s very interesting hearing these alternate history videos, it gives us an idea of our outlook of historic events and plays with our imagination of what could happen.

[@maxvanvijfeijken2699]

Pretty sure that's not a paradox but yeah 👍🏽

[@ahmadsambodo2464]

What kind of alcohol did you drink right now dude?

[@marciaosullivan3200]

That's not a paradox and just stupid anyway as you just saying in a parallel universe history might be different

[@duhduh8194]

Marcia Osullivan oh my bad, parallel that’s what I meant, thanks for correcting me y’all

[@spade8]

Marcia Osullivan if in a different universe the atom bomb would be invented later ya it would.

[@mrbisshie]

So, Japan's geography is "island Switzerland"?

[@TheAnakinn]

If you remove neutrality, banks, chocolate and cheese, you're basically correct

[@danieldeburgh8437]

@@TheAnakinn and a growing economy

[@DaAsianJuan]

@@danieldeburgh8437 Oof

[@popantermopan4099]

@@danieldeburgh8437 oh, so you mean that the japanese economy is in decrease?

[@nelsonperez9546]

@@popantermopan4099 i think it stagnant so not good but not awful but the descending working population will probably hurt thier economy

[@a_yan6581]

Thank goodness that they learned how to make the Atomic bomb from Skillshare. So casualties are no more.

[@SentientHoodii]

Japan didn't use Skillshare, which is why they couldn't make nukes themselves, they tried to hack America to get the plans, but America was also using Nord VPN.

[@townbidnezz2868]

Hoodii corny

[@talentleesdorito9771]

Just around 300.000 no casualties at all

[@herrmeez]

@@SentientHoodii lmao

[@josephmiah3146]

Must all the people killed by the bomb. You not important tho

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

Japan: Wait! What happened to Nagasaki and Hiroshima? United States: Gone. Reduced to atoms.

[@Chuked]

Just Some Guy without a Mustache some ppl survived

[@suspicioustumbleweed4760]

One guy got burned by one nuke and drove home to his family and was burned again but still survived.

[@Kevbot6000]

Dylan Tumbleweed and then the bomb clapped

[@quocvietophu1627]

Right on time buddy

[@speedy01247]

gone destroyed by atoms.

[@hereLiesThisTroper]

Imperial Japan: ruthless, merciless, warriors Modern Japan: Anime, Otaku, Hentai

[@KasperMcKay]

DeadTroperSociety as someone who lived in Japan, the Japanese shun otaku much harsher than even Americans.

[@malcolmholmes2596]

JAV Bukkake 2D waifus?

[@lPelado]

USA blasted two fucking atomic bombs over them. It wasn't enought with one. TWO! Wtf would you expect from a population that comes from there?

[@dylanschnabel4859]

Anime isn’t really that big of a deal in Japan (at least, not as big as a lot of non-Japanese people think it is). From what I understand, most of them think it’s children’s entertainments and don’t even realize how popular it is outside of their own country. It’d be comparable to comic books in the US. A lot of people outside the US might think we’re all eager to bust out our Superman collector’s comic book or whatever but hardly anyone here actually owns a comic book and it’s seen as a very niche and even kinda nerdy thing to do.

[@marsbars4767]

And their killing themselves from overwork too

[@PegenGaming489]

"Operation Bruh"

[@marciaosullivan3200]

No

[@alexjasat5264]

Yes

[@klawdyo8614]

Maybe

[@deinonychus6674]

Sometimes

[@aniketbhawnani5049]

Actually

[@johnwalker7384]

Imagine an alternate universe where this did happen and Japan got completely wiped out so RealLifeLore uses Chevy Cruzes as his yardstick instead of Toyota Corollas in his videos haha

[@merlinthebikewizard4392]

RLL needs to see this! However the Cruze probably wouldn't exist because the small gas sipping economy cars built in America were built in direct competition of the Japanese eco-box cars. RLL would probably be driving a Camaro or Mustang

[@SurferKenTV3]

Janitor cleaning the war room immediately after the Japan Invasion was presented: OR OR we could drop 2 ginormous bombs and call it a day

[@diekwmdhdks6942]

Koa Tiburone *Manhattan Project scientists

[@SurferKenTV3]

Ferhat Yilmaz it was Arthur’s idea! They even named Fat Man after him.

[@AureliusLaurentius1099]

Janitor would have been arrested for nowing state secrets

[@MarloSoBalJr]

@@AureliusLaurentius1099 He's a janitor, why would they care?

[@porchofgeese_crockpot]

The bombs would still have been used. Gas and Bioagents would have been used.

[@takosu3021]

“Why do I hear boss music?” -Japan

[@scintillam_dei]

And so was fulfilled the biblical prophecy of Europeans conquering the entire world. Idiots will believe nationality is the issue when I speak of race.

[@Gia1911Logous]

Japan during all of its history: Suicide is badass

[@Musashi-ry3tg]

History Egg Because they didn’t have enough oil to come back to Japan ! Get it ? B/C the USA made a big mistake to make Japan your enemy instead of Evil China !!

[@thetrist333]

@@Musashi-ry3tg false they had enough oil to make it back to the island because they didn't wanted to loose precious kamikaze juste because of bas weather for exemple

[@BlowmeRoger]

Yep fanatacism due to being non individual in thinking

[@byufan]

My grandfather was going to be part of the invasion force of Japan had we not dropped the atomic bombs. I'm very grateful we didn't invade or else I might not be here today

[@seauryakumar]

My great-grandfather was one of few thousands that were sent from India to fight and die on the front lines by the British. Thankfully he was only injured and came back.

[@tgamerent5152]

In a parallel universe, your grandfather fought in the war, died and you don't exist. Or he survived and you have a cool story to give.

[@xWHITExEAGLEx]

@@seauryakumar A massive thank you to your great-grandfather from the UK.

[@jeffjones4654]

My father served in the Pacific during the war. No doubt he would've ended up in the invasion.

[@seauryakumar]

@Mustafa Alam no, I'm low caste but I'm from North India

[@teji7723]

Man: *survives Hiroshima* Man: “Maybe I should move to Nagasaki “ Man:*looks up* “There is another”

[@jjtay97able]

Your profile picture makes it perfect 😂

[@marcosfreire5037]

Something like that actually happened tho

[@JohnDoe-jq4re]

Marcos Freire I think he knows that 🙄

[@marcosfreire5037]

@@JohnDoe-jq4re ok mr party pooper thanks 👍

[@ronyLaPulga]

It's rewind time

[@basketcase289]

So I just watched a series about the wars for Armageddon from 40k, and I never quite realized just how 40k-esk the Japanese home island defense plan sounded

[@MionMikan]

Japanese be like: FOR THE EMPEROR!

[@FatGouf]

Then the Death Korps arrive, with a million causality per day as the target victory for manpower

[@funzjag]

Had that invasion happened, I might not exist. My maternal grandfather was USMC in the Pacific Theater. He would definitely have been a part of the invasion. My paternal grandfather was US Army in Europe, he took part in the Invasion of Normandy. Because of his experience, he might have been called on to participate in the invasion as well.

[@naisussybaka]

_Countries after WW1_ *Germany* : I have to pay a huge debt :”c *Austria* : my country split apart *Ottoman* : My country got colonized Italy: *yOu GuYs ArE lOsInG?*

[@PhysicsGamer]

Frankly, Italy was more like... "We didn't get everything we wanted!"

[@rithvikmuthyalapati9754]

Japan: Hey, you didn't even get me in the picture

[@namelessnick9791]

6:44 me trying to land on an aircraft carrier in war thunder

[@livethefuture2492]

war thunder > word of tanks

[@stlchucko]

That’s virtually anyone trying to land a plane on a carrier in NES Top Gun

[@namelessnick9791]

@@livethefuture2492 hell yes.

[@namelessnick9791]

@@stlchucko LOL that old game

[@Spaghetter813]

50 star flag in video, instead of the historicaly accurate 48 star flag? Unacceptable!

[@sean51697]

RLL just wants to piss off autistic's.

[@colinadams5419]

sean coffey nah he just fuckin with my ocd

[@lmao.3661]

sean coffey Yes I can confirm I’m fucking tilted over this

[@reickuhibata]

There’s more than 48 states?

[@Spaghetter813]

@@reickuhibata As of World War II, Alaska and Hawaii were territories. In January and August 1959, they would become the 49th and 50th state respectively.

[@IndieOctopus]

An older relative of mine was in the Royal Navy during the war and was on his way to Japan in a landing craft when the US dropped the bombs. He most likely would have died, instead he's still alive today and retired in a nice house in the countryside

[@peytonbergman5860]

Such as millions of more people now, thanks to the use of the atom bombs, and a soviet invasion.

[@migueldomingos4570]

@@peytonbergman5860 The bombs killed 400 000 the invasion would have killed 6 million or more and that's not counting the fact that Russia was prepared to continue it's attacks into western Europe, but it didn't because the atomic bombs scared them

[@ninja.saywhat]

@@migueldomingos4570 I read a book about the Operation Downfall can't remember the title, the casualty prediction was potential dead from both sides including civilians could be as high as 15 million as the Japanese were insanely fanatical and would go as far as to throw even children into banzai charges. Imagine happening that all over the mainland Japan. Would have been the most gruesome modern day war.

[@HyperLuigi37]

Fun fact: Ketsugou 結合 means union, binding, coupling, joining, etc This can be seen as to symbolize all of Japan coming together in a union to protect their country. I feel like there’s a good English word that could be used to encapsulate the cross-country union, but I can’t think of it. Operation Together is pretty close lol.

[@neilis2405]

You used the word union 3 times but couldn't come up with Operation Unity?

[@HyperLuigi37]

Neilis SHH

[@HyperLuigi37]

sakasakakun none Damn homophones. The first one I found seemed like a fitting name, but that’s even more extreme.

[@impalabeeper]

Operation Together We Die.

[@speedy01247]

talk about denial, the government would rather kill off its own citizens then admit they failed.

[@AJ_NtTWrstl]

who would have thought, the bomb actually saved lives.

[@TheAnakinn]

That is actually very much debated among historians and was even debated in the American Supreme Command. It was used as a justification for the atomic bombs, but it's hard to say

[@zuglub]

It actually saved even more lives. The A bomb prevented the Cold War to becomme World War Three, which would have been incredibly more devastating than WW2.

[@Bronk0Nagurski]

I have zero doubt that those atomic bombs actually saved lives vs. what would have happened with a military invasion of Japan itself. I'm not saying the bombs were a sexy answer to ending the war, but it did meet those ends, and with less lives lost.

[@Spaghetter813]

@@TheAnakinn No, not really. The revisionists had lost their case in the debate in the 1990s and their position has only deteriorated since. There are still some "semi-revisionists" writing books, but the majority of historians now agree they did save lives. Outside of combat-related deaths, consider starvation, the USSR's actions and continued Japanese occupation of the mainland.

[@maycuervo]

Arpit Johari also japan had been firebombed into oblivion. Firebombs killed 10 times more people than atomic bombs.

[@MrBradleyTube]

Need a Christopher Nolan “Downfall” trilogy in my life

[@hededcdn]

Yeah, and make it just insanely brutal.

[@chad3232132]

I've always wanted such a film or TV series. Problem is, it would probably be far too expensive to produce for an alternative history film. It would also likely be far too controversial, since we'd be talking about the graphical depiction of U.S. soldiers being forced to kill massive numbers of barely armed civilian soldiers (namely elderly, women and children). You usually need the U.S. military to cooperate on films or TV shows of this scope. I doubt they would cooperate on a project such as this.

[@marvintpandroid2213]

Japan, 1945 ' We stole all this land and resources, lets convince the entire population to die to try to keep a hold on it, someone will make one hell of a profit from this '

[@malcolmholmes2596]

And to think people miss the Monarchs

[@krabistheisopod1376]

Yeah, because let's just give up the land and completely ignore our beliefs to save some lives, even though most of the people would die fighting than surrender.

[@altrshakib9449]

To be honest, taking a look at Japan's history and culture....A country who is famous KAMIKAZE attacks....A country whose war tactics have "suicide" every where written...Just imagine this country surrendering without a fight, just imagine the shame.....Even after the 2 nukes the japanese people wanted to fight, god forbid, but can u imagine if the japanese emperor didnt surrender? He could have easily still led the war 2 more years and probably even get a armistice. Even after the 3rd nuke

[@xanpenguin754]

I mean the only difference between Japan in 1945 and most of Europe a hundred years ago was that they lost, and the US has this weird we hate colonization/conquering unless it is us doing it thing. Honestly, everything Japan did on a macro scale made sense. (not counting the disregard for non-Japanese). If their spreading empire hadn't unsettled the European powers and the USA so much they would have been fine. In a sense, Japan is just Asia's very own European country that never became accepted by Europe and the US. Stealing land is the way a nation grows. Japan was 150 years too late.

[@PhysicsGamer]

@@xanpenguin754 What? Japan's response to American sanctions which themselves were in response to the Japanese invasion of China... was to attack the Allies.

[@stlchucko]

7:23 “All out and metal” Nathan Explosion - “Brutal”

[@d.r.sdimas7442]

Video request : What's if imperial Japanese empire runited today

[@mm3yhaofcaithness220]

Life insurance suddenly skyrockets and nintendo becomes a digital equivalent to the swastika, also the USS Arizona memorial might need its own memorial

[@halseyfarms]

D.M.S_Craft XX they’d get obliterated immediately

[@Phoenix_The_HeroHater]

That sounds pretty good tbh

[@COLMECTIGAMINGANDMORE]

It would be blown to smiterines by the us

[@livethefuture2492]

china would probably nuke japan instantly, considering the war crimes japan committed in china(remember nanking?).

[@岛鹏]

he missed the oppurtunity of calling it "OPERATION SUNSET"

[@kirkc9643]

They went Operation Barbeque

[@Berisophin]

Stolen Comment pathetic.

[@Eukalyptusbonbon123]

No one cares

[@hexaltheninjawow9531]

40 divisions: we should raid Japan and make them surrender! US: or just two atomic bombs. Everyone: what's a ato- Japan: AH WTF?

[@petitponeydu7727]

"the entire allied fighting force" you didn't put china in it ! they were fighting the japanese since 1937 !

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

that bugged me, massively.

[@malcolmholmes2596]

It wasn't really fighting but a one sided slaughter.

[@thewarlock539]

@@malcolmholmes2596 but they soooo would have been ready for retaliation

[@malcolmholmes2596]

@@thewarlock539 Naw if you forgot what actually happened, the communists and nationalists were getting ready to fight with each other as soon as the Japanese threat was over with.... Only unified when they had a common enemy

[@videogamebomer]

China wasnt apart of the allies

[@anonymousjoker946]

We were still using the body bags they had ordered for the invasion up untill the Vietnam war.

[@212th]

Source?

[@anonymousjoker946]

@@212th I saw in a history channel program in the mid to late 90's I think...just ask Google

[@uja11]

The same goes for the purple hearts. If I'm not mistaken, the purple hearts minted for Op Downfall are still not depleted to this day.

[@Ph4ntomize]

America: *Nukes Japan* Japan: *Invents Anime* 78 years later 1000 people storm a top secret military base using a running technique from anime

[@sirquaffler542]

I get so much crap from people IRL for defending the use of the atomic bombs in lieu of an all-out invasion. While I agree that the atomic bomb is a deplorable weapon and should never be used again if at all possible, I also recognize the historic fact that, unless we found a way to shatter the 1940's Imperial Japanese fighting spirit, there was no other option to end the war other than what would basically amount to a genocide of the Japanese people. They were willing to fight to the very last man, woman, and child to defend their homeland against any known force, so we had to introduce a previously unknown force to finally get them to stop fighting. Considering the condition of Japan nowadays, I say that the outcome of the atomic bombings was far superior to the invasion.

[@kennethkho7165]

It's not debatable at all, the facts are set in stone.

[@Theophan123]

I think this is part of a larger problem of widespread ignorance of why the U.S. had no choice but to nuke Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It's almost like the common notion was that the U.S. just decided to bomb Japan out of nowhere. It seems that so many people just aren't aware about the Pacific Theater at all, from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the r4p3 of Nanking and Japan's conquest of other Asian countries. Or how the IJA were far brutal to their prisoners than the Germans were. And yet these people would instantly recognize a certain Austrian Painter and make comparisons to him with politicians they don't like.

[@JotaSdZ]

My grandfather would probably have been killed if they would have invaded Japan. My grandfather was stationed in Panama, bound for Japan, but before they could launch the invasion they had already dropped the bombs. My grandpa always told me how he had already accepted he would probably die. But, he got lucky.... then he ended up working as a CPA with his own office and would work as CPA for the VA hospital. Plus some puerto rican soldiers were awarded land for their service. I still live in the same house he built back in 1948. Its crazy now that I see the video and see the details of the invasion it makes me wonder. Anyways great video, thanks for the upload!

[@stuartie101]

8:56 Did this guy in the past take a photo with his iPhone? 🤔

[@StefanAnd]

Wow ikr

[@thenasiudk1337]

Nah it's pocket sized camera just saying

[@BoeJlden]

This is why I hate when people criticize our using of the atomic bombs. They were peanuts compared to our other options.

[@thesherlockhound]

Japan would have still surrendered without them because of the Soviets.

[@BoeJlden]

@@thesherlockhound And then millions would have died under communist rule. They would have had to invade as well either way, which is still more lives lost by itself than from the atomic bombs.

[@thesherlockhound]

@@BoeJlden Not quite. While Stalin did express his interest to take the northern islands (even begging Truman for them), that still would have never happened. The Soviets invading Manchuria was what made Japan's leaders meet up and decide in the first place. They hadn't learned about the second bomb yet and they didn't care too much about the first bomb.

[@BoeJlden]

@@thesherlockhound They would have never just surrendered to the USSR. They would have had to invade them no matter what Stalin only expressed interest in. It was their realization of hopelessness by the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings that made them surrender to the US. They knew how brutal a soviet occupation would have been and they would have fought them with everything they had, which is why they conditionally surrendered to us since we allowed the emperor to stay in power.

[@eodyn7]

@@thesherlockhound STOP LYING. Japan did not surrender because they lost a battle in Manchuria. smh

[@dscrive]

If I recall correctly, the invasion planners calculated a loss rate based on what they knew of Japanese defenses, when they inspected the defenses after the surrender they calculated that the losses would have been 3 times higher.

[@nutyyyy]

That's the thing. The planned timing for the invasion would have been perfect for the Japanese and they continued to move hundreds of thousands of troops into Kyushu. They might well have been able to push the invasion back into the sea.

[@destroyer1667]

@@nutyyyy not really, since the later invasion plan included a nuclear saturation bombardment of the landing sites

[@charliewatkins6695]

I can't believe that Japan was prepared to defend against this massive invasion and deploy their entire middle-aged population to battle but then the USA was just like: Vibe check

[@TexanApollyon]

It really puts the atomic bombs into perspective and why they were the cheaper cost of life for both countries

[@jackmccool9911]

This is why the nuke was considered, 10M deaths in japan or one nuke killing 1.5M? I choose the nuke option.

[@admiralthrawnstein9943]

The 2 nukes killed nowhere near 1.5m people

[@jackmccool9911]

@@admiralthrawnstein9943 true, but thats really just the most in estimates. Though, operation downfall was planned besides the nuke that would of killed so many america solders, japanese, and more than that. I estimate 10-30M people would of died to operation downfall.

[@Grinm]

Not once in my life had I ever considered the casualties that may have arisen without the surrender of Japan after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It feels so terrible to say but compared to the projected losses that would have occurred, my god. Thanks so much for your videos man, they are so informative and I look forward to each new one.

[@buckhorncortez]

You also have to include the POW's that would have been killed AND the people who would have been killed in the countries controlled by Japan. Japan was responsible for the deaths of about 100,000 people per MONTH in the countries they controlled.

[@rad4924]

In 1945 my grandfather was on a ship, en route to invade Japan when they surrendered. He ended being part of the occupation force instead and spent 5 years there. (He also really liked Japan in the end, I suspect he would have liked it a lot less had the original plan come to pass.)

[@williamjpellas0314]

FYI, "DOWNFALL" was the code name for the overall plan for the conquest of Japan. The first landing, on Kyushu, was called "OLYMPIC", and the second, on Honshu, was known as "CORONET". In addition, there would have been a number of smaller landings made on nearby small islands to secure them for use as artillery firebases in support of the main thrusts.

[@TheDAWinz]

People dont realize it wasnt Nukes or invasion, it was nukes AND invasion, and then more nukes while troops advanced.

[@liborkozak8938]

If Japan surrendered because of two nukes they would surrender when tactical nukes would start droping

[@CarrotConsumer]

We don't know what would have happened. I think the people that died deserve more respect than their deaths getting hand waved away.

[@dr.woozie7500]

They should make a FPS game based on the invasion. It’s a concept not many games have even thought of. Few games even discuss the pacific theatre. It would be pretty cool to fight kamikazes, biological warfare, nerve gas attacks, bamboo spear banzai charges, and booby trap laden beaches

[@MidnhtCrzr]

Both my parents were in Operation Olympic. On the day that my father arrived in Japan for the invasion (8-15-45), the war ended.

[@Renkcub]

Hey real life lore, I would recommend making a video about Operation Unthinkable, which would be another video in this series.

[@minecrafts7453]

5:47- 5:54 imagine being told you are going to fight your enemy with a bamboo stick

[@infinityz7134]

Even the woman as young as 17 would be conscripted, that shows how determined they are to break their laws to protect the emperor, ESPECIALLY when you dig deep into how traditionalist Japan can be and with the prospect of women.

[@morgand820]

This is why I think its ridiculous when people call for destroying nuclear weapons, not only are they the reason that this never happened but they are the biggest reason why this kind of thing probably won't happen again

[@valentinaaugustina]

Stuff like this, seeing this planned out loss of life, is what helped disillusioned me from any sort of war

[@oilybat3269]

If this happened, I might not exist. One of my great granddads was going to be a bomber crewman in the pacific theater. Then, the bombs were dropped and he went home with no combat. If this happened, he would’ve been in a bomber plane over Japan overseeing the attack. I hope he would’ve seen it through if this happened.

[@ChrisC7498_]

Gonna site this video now every time someone says the nukes weren't justified. Thanks RLL!

[@theexpendableman]

My great grandfather was an officer in World War 1 and a general in World War 2. He was going to be commanding one of the infantry divisions in the first wave of this invasion if it had happened. I might not be here today if not for the atomic bombs and Soviet entry. Great video on what could have happened!

[@DowntheRoad40]

Thanks for making these videos

[@100percentSNAFU]

I'd say do a video on Finland's involvement in WWII, but no need, it can be summed up pretty simply : Finland : Joins Axis Powers because of long standing hatred and conflict with the Russians/Soviets. Allied Powers: Um yeah, end that alliance or else we turn Finland into a smoldering crater. Finland : K, sounds good.

[@olgierd_jarczynski]

bugs me when people use maps in context of history but the maps display modern borders

[@epg96]

Sadly, Japan never acknowledges their human rights abuses during WW II which made many WW II victims in Asia & USA still got mad towards Japan for their ignorance about WW II human rights abuses

[@epg96]

@Gipsy Danger they were lucky they didn't have Tokyo wall just like in Berlin

[@TheDeadPoolfan]

What song is that? It completely makes the content of this video and the 7 days to the Rhine video feel so much more epic and impactful, amazing choice

[@Snagprophet]

Great video. People get triggered about atom bombing Japan but either they wanted their cake and eat it (get an armistice and keep land they took) or wanted note people to die for no reason. Going in depth at the cost of not nuking Japan is a great way to break things down. That said, Japan is a fucking great country

[@andrewmuzychko8201]

If anybody wants to know, The music in this video is called Eyes of Time by Reynard Seidel

[@fallout560]

Your map is wrong. China was fighting Japan since before world war 2 dtarted

[@dankestvonmemen76288]

yeah but china wasn't really "china" then. they were a broken country and didn't unite until the closing of the war.

[@monopalisa619]

Xhunter107 what are you talking about? China might have not been unified during the time but the government recognized by most countries in the world was part of allied forces and was in the state of war with the Japanese Empire. If that doesn't make China appear "blue" on the map I don't know what does. It had a wildly recognized centralized government body, a national military, it was a sovereign state, it can pass laws on it's own, a considerable amount of people live within its territory, it was officially at war with another sovereign country, it's a member state of many organizations, it suffered the second highest casualties during WWII. What does that make of China? Some tribes?

[@mathewtran5148]

The bomb saved lives

[@iztjx26]

They wouldn't have pulled out of South east asia if America hadn't bombed them.

[@cormac6423]

People should realise that the Soviet declaration of war was just as, if not more effective than the A-bombs. Of course, they did influence Japans surrender, but at this stage, with their cities already firembombed to the ground, the threat of a Soviet invasion and introduction of Communism to Japan was a much scarier prospect

[@denzeltan4190]

Would’ve been epic to see tho

[@blahsomethingclever]

.. And keeps on saving them every minute of every day. That's just MAD!

[@KellinKingdom]

Praise be to Atom.

[@olising8843]

sheesh the Japanese loved literally making their soldiers kill themselves lol

[@roxycorner1358]

Olising brainwashed....die for emperor is the greatest thing ever

[@dirckthedork-knight1201]

Imperial bushido is a hell of a drug

[@ne0tic]

Imagine the sight of 42 Aircraft carriers, 24 Battleships and 400 destroyers! That is just a crazy amount.

[@controbot2557]

Not to mention the sheer number of fighters, bombers, landing crafts and other support ships

[@ne0tic]

Contro Bot Yeah...

[@bigk8210]

Those Purple Hearts have been used in every subsequent war since and there are still thousands left over.

[@realdanksta2237]

Dropping the nukes was the best option Change my mind

[@jessISaRicePrincess]

To be honest to me it is the right choice for the allies "better our enemies dead than us"

[@dalecn2417]

@@jessISaRicePrincess in actual fact it probably also saved Japanese lives as well

[@realdanksta2237]

Jess Agpaoa It saved millions of people on both sides

[@rafaelsousa5]

Sure 2 cities where nuked, but the other option was prolong the war and add 1-2M casualties more to each side, if not way more, just look at the casualties in the around 6 years of war, about 70 million dead, just 1 year is a lot of bodies in the floor.

[@InsaneAwesomeTony]

@Danklord 69 All that would be needed is that the USSR would sign the Potsdam declaration, modify the unconditional surrender to they keep their emperor and the Soviet invasion on Manchuria and Korea

[@jewboi2137]

>there would be no anime in this scenario >*happiness noises*

[@westonite210]

At 0:37 you show the countries that are a part of the allies but China isn’t highlighted, why? China had been fighting the Japanese for longer than anyone else, in fact some people now define the start of WW2 with the Japanese invasion of China. Japan had significant forces in China throughout the entire war all they way up to their surrender.

[@monopalisa619]

westonite210 people generally don't care about the Asian theater. How many people know the joint military campaign between UK, US and China in Burma? I doubt if anyone can name any major battles took place in China. It's sad really.

[@westonite210]

MonoPalisa I’d agree! If you want to listen to a fantastic podcast on the pacific theater listen to Dan Carlin’s hardcore history. He has an ongoing series called supernova in the east which covers the war.

[@CarrotConsumer]

The sino-Japanese war wasn't the start of ww2 anymore than the Balkan wars started ww1.

[@TheCerebralDude]

Just the logistical challenge is absolutely mind boggling to ponder

[@thekeeperofpromise]

This video also left something out: there were plans to drop, in addition to Little Boy and Fat Man, SEVEN atomic bombs across strategic locations in Japan to further incapacitate the island nation.

[@jonbaxter2254]

This would make an awesome alternative game

[@hughesmongous9960]

Funniest thing is that I’ve done an essay on this like twice now

[@kyleschafer6275]

The entire Allied war effort *leaves out china*

[@liborkozak8938]

You dont need China to surrender Japan if you have Japan

[@DiegoHerrera579]

Because Japan owned large parts of China by then...

[@monopalisa619]

Diego Herrera but they didn't surrender did they? They were still fighting.

[@monopalisa619]

Libor Kozák ok then why do you need, say France in that map? Not disrespect to French efforts during the war.

[@monopalisa619]

Wuanslm which is irrelevant because they were a part of allied forces from the start to the end. They never surrendered, never gave up, they made it to the end and ended up as a one of the permanent members of the UN security council.

[@ski567]

This was awesome! Thank you very much for posting it.

[@rugbykliniek]

Fast becoming my favorite youtube channel

[@CookieGal-]

Japan Pkmn stats: HP 200 Attack 10 Defence 270 Sp. Atk 10 Sp. Def 270 Speed... It's a country man.

[@johnf.kennedy343]

You should make a vid about “What if the US declares war on China?”

[@dmeads5663]

Like, during the Cold War or today?

[@johnf.kennedy343]

Dmeads 56 today

[@dmeads5663]

Darkseid that would be interesting

[@JaKingScomez]

@@johnf.kennedy343 US all the way China has too much enemies and its navy is completely built for defense. All the US has to do is sit back and protect Guam and destroy Chinese ships and bomb cities. If it involved allies you're talking about most of Europe and the US with many other like Japan and South Korea and Australia going against China. Not to mention who knows of Russia would help China and India might help the US.

[@johnf.kennedy343]

LastKing am I crazy that I think US and it’s allies should actually do it? I mean look at what China has been doing. It’s been violating its people’s rights, it has camps killing thousands of Muslims at a time. How is that any different than what USSR did

[@HyperDragon01]

I can just imagine President Truman saying "it is time for the land of the rising sun see the sun set."

[@frownyclowny6955]

fun fact my history teacher is allowing me to use your video as reference, but I'm going to also cite it (sorta as a secondary source). Thanks for the cool history video, keep up the good work!!!

[@TheTrueAdept]

Actually, the US planners _planned_ for the kamikaze aircraft and boats for the invasion. The plan was to have the first wave be essentially one giant _decoy_ (literally stocked to the gills with AAA guns) to lure out the kamikazes and just turn it into a literal shooting gallery. It should be noted that the USN had been replacing (if the design allowed for it) their AAA armament for 40mm Bofors and the USN's 3-inch 50cal _automatic_ naval rifles while the USN's 6-inch gun arsenal was being replaced with the 6-inch automatics. Then there are the Des Moines that would be in the invasion force... which also had the 8-inch 55cal automatics (which can _be used against aircraft_ and had a fire rate of one round every six seconds). Not only that, the USAAF would have modified B-17s and B-29s as AWACS in overwatch positions, allowing for accurate tracking of kamikaze attacks...

[@parmesan4291]

"Kanto Plain" Me, a pokemon fan: *_Go Butterfree!_*

[@buckyhermit]

Butterfree left.

[@parmesan4291]

@@buckyhermit wait what? (unless you mean the episode "Bye-bye Butterfree")

[@billy9075]

Sir it appears the beaches are swarming with people Ok, let’s land right at Tokyo instead

[@The-ct1xq]

Operation Locust seems like a more accurate name for the Japanese defense

[@hamzamahmood9565]

In an alternative universe: "....the insane energy released by this hypothetical bomb would be equivalent to 35...TRILLION toyota corollas..."

[@zioming]

I heard somewhere that Japan was already going to surrender after Russia joined against them. The only reason it didn't happen was because USA refused to accept anything less that a complete unconditional surrender, which Japan wouldn't agree to because it would shame their Emperor who had a status of a living deity in their culture. So in the end two whole cities evaporated and Truman finally showed everyone he's not a little girl (His father treated him as such so he had a major complex about it, he also became a Vice-president after some major election shenanigans).

[@dteddy304]

There was evidence that Japan was preparing to surrender already. There were military fanatics who would of never surrendered, but many other important figures knew that they had no chance and were preparing for peace. What scared them most was a Soviet invasion, because the Soviets would have no regard for the institution and importance of the Emperor in Japanese society. However, they figured that a surrender to America would be favorable because they could keep the Emperor and not risk a total societal collapse. That’s one reason why using the bomb was so controversial: Truman had strong evidence that Japan was going to surrender anyways, but he still used the bomb, likely as a show of force to the Soviets.

[@christopheralfonsocastro1523]

Oh? Who are this peace faction in the Supreme War Council?

[@dteddy304]

@@christopheralfonsocastro1523 If you're interested in learning why the bomb was mainly a strategic show of force against the USSR, watch episode 3 of Oliver Stone's Untold History of America titled "The Bomb". A simple google search reveals a multitude of differing opinions amongst historians, with many stating that the bomb was unnecessary. As for your request for a "peace faction", I'm not going to take the time to discover and list out each official who favored peace. That's your responsibility. However, I will tell you that Prince Konoe had told the Emperor in early 1945 that he thought Japan had already lost, so we can infer that peace was (probably) on his mind. I also want to add that I'm not denying that an invasion of mainland Japan would have been costly. Of course it would have been. However, that has been used as an excuse by many to justify the use of the bomb as the only way the war would have ended soon. That's not the case. Hope that clears things up. Cheers.

[@shutupnavikrant]

Shinobi alliance were the one who saved japan lmao.

[@clydesteele2925]

I don't usually comment on videos, but I was wanting to ask about Japan's planned use of biological warfare against the Allies had the bombs not fallen. Has anyone else heard of this?

[@archravenineteenseventeen]

Operation cherry blossom in the night sky. It was developed in unit 731. They did send balloons though and made California citizens infected

[@jonas1015119]

prematurely minting 500.000 purple hearts really shows how weird wartime logistics are

[@eltravo92]

jonas1015119 The most interesting part about that is we haven't even used them all yet. There is still about 120,000 of those made for ww2 still being handed out.

[@jonas1015119]

@@eltravo92 I was wondering that, so all currently awarded purple hearts are over 70 years old

[@michaelhowell2326]

These are some pretty heavy statistics. Just reinforces my approval of the A-Bomb.

[@thesherlockhound]

Japan would have still surrendered without the atomic bombs

[@michaelhowell2326]

@@thesherlockhound Nobody can confirm that, one way or the other. Better to give 'em a double tap just to make sure.

[@RailfanSrikrishna]

You forgot to add how soviet troops would have crushed Japan

[@dmeads5663]

How would they get there? The Soviets hardly had rifles let alone transport ships to that magnitude.

[@mariothapliyal1507]

@@dmeads5663 The Soviets had plenty of rifles the shortage stuff is a myth and they were very well equipped by the end of the war and were invading Japanese territorys.

[@dmeads5663]

Mario Thapliyal they were only well equipped because of the US, but still couldn’t manage an invasion of Japan to that magnitude, besides, they only wanted Manchuria

[@sussus3288]

@@dmeads5663 A majority of arms used by the USSR were made in the country, they had more than enough supplies even if America didn't help and were producing a huge amount. The USSR would have certainly also invaded the Japanese Home Islands from their reconquered territory of South-Sakhalin which they quikly took along with the Kuril Islands in the begining of the Soviet Invasion of Manchuria. From this territory they could pass to the Island of Hokkaido with relative ease and safety from the IJN due to Soviet air supperiority making any IJN interception attempt way too risky effectivly eliminating them as a true threat. The Air Force was already mostly destroyed at this point in time and would already be too weak to take on either the US or Red airforces alone. Once on land a combined assault by the US from the South and the Soviets from the North would leave Japan pretty much fighting a two front war that would be impossible to truly fight, even with geographical advantages. The chain of command would be utterly overwhelmed along with the army and organized resistance would crumble pretty rapidly as entire divisions if not armies disintergrate in the mess that is the unexpected combined invasion. Japan was after all not expecting to fight the Soviet-Union and had thus not made any real preparations for a sudden Soviet invasion. The destruction of the Kwantung Army would still happend like it did in our history leaving Japan further weakend. The Red Army was at this point also one of, if not the best ground forces in the world and would be far more experienced and effective from their years fighting the Wehrmacht and would be using better equipment than Japan. As for reasons why they would bother to invade Japan: The USSR were promised the territory of Hokkaido by US president Franklin D. Rooseveldt if they invaded during the Yalta conference where they also agreed to when the USSR would invade: 3 months after the defeat of Germany which coinicidantly was the same day the US dropped the first atom bomb on Japan. Some other reasons for why the USSR wanted to invade Japan: - To take revenge for the Russian defeat and humiliation by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War and show that the Soviet-Union could do what the former Russian Empire couldn't and was superior to the former regime. - To gain territory and influence in Japan to possibly create a Communist state in their conquered territories. - Japan and the USSR were ideologically opposed. - To remove Japan as a threat. TL, DR: The USSR had plenty of reasons and had the means to invade Japan. And certainly would.

[@dawsynlarson696]

To THIS DAY every Purple Heart an enlisted person receives was made in preparation for this operation

[@darthgorthaur258]

"operation downfall" oh what stunning good ol' mercan subtleties lol

[@AaronSmith-sx4ez]

The nuclear attacks weren't needed. Japan had been trying to negotiate a peace for quite some time. Their only holdout demand was the to protect the emperor.

[@212th]

They were needed if you where going to think forward..... Scaring Russia with nukes is a good way to show dominance and prevent WW3 from happening immediately.

[@eddieblueg1]

Damn, this puts emphasis on “We all don’t know karate but we know Karazy” Also puts emphasis on all in if they were pretty committed to having pretty much the whole population island defend against an invasion. That sends a badass message as morbid as the circumstances were to say you can have our country when you pry it from the cold dead fingers of every last one of us who are willing to sacrifice ourselves before we let you claim it.