We had already established air superiority over Japan. Here's a thought: we should have just saturated Japan with conventional bombing runs. Just bomb them back into the stone age. But not drop the nukes yet.
Then, at the close of the war, when Stalin demanded Russia take possession of Poland, etc, we say "no." Flat out. And when Stalin started massing troops to enslave Poland, etc, then we drop nukes on Moscow, St. Petersburg, etc.
Talk about saving millions of lives. Stalin killed more than Hitler ever dreamed of. And Stalin was our ally.
Please read “Downfall” by Richard Frank, it details the last six months or so of the battle against Japan.
It goes into detail about the planning for the invasion of Japan the B-29 bombing raids and the decision to use the Atomic Bombs. Will answer most all questions of the what and why.
I think maybe that dropping the bomb on Japan may have had something to do with Russia. Russia was getting ready to jump in against Japan and grab up Japanese land. There was also the shock value.
LeMay and Hap Arnold had reported that we would run out of bombing targets in Japan by Septenber 1945. There was literally nothing left to bomb.
Then, at the close of the war, when Stalin demanded Russia take possession of Poland, etc, we say "no." Flat out. And when Stalin started massing troops to enslave Poland, etc, then we drop nukes on Moscow, St. Petersburg, etc.
The Soviets already had Poland. They had to go through it to get to Berlin. They paused to let the Germans annihilate any Polish resistance before moving through though.
The Allies had already determined that Stalin would have Poland (and much of eastern Europe); while Patton was griping that he couldn’t get fuel for his tanks, the fact was that the decision had already been made above that he was not to drive into Berlin.
The post-war hostilities in Greece illustrated the deals made before the war ended; Stalin sacrificed Greek communists because they weren’t in his spoils. Britain then fought alongside monarchists and such to restore Greece to a non-communist state.
Stalin was not much of an ally; he waited until the final months of the war to attack Japan. While Wake Island, the Philippines, etc. fell, he and the Japs had a cease-fire which lasted for years.
Read "unbroken" as well. There are a lot of details in the book that didn't make it to the screen.