raharris1973
Well-known member
What if Stalin just doesn't want to follow-through with going to war with Japan in August 1945, decides to sit it out, blaming 'technical difficulties' for not getting started when talking to the Americans, and starts focusing on peacetime rebuilding and reposturing.
One can argue participation in the war against Japan is all upside and pretty much no downside, but let's just say Stalin thinks differently. Nobody internally contradicts him and he gets his way. Debate over.
What is the range of plausible endgames for the Pacific War?
What are the odds of the Japanese surrendering anyway at the exact same time as OTL?
If the Japanese hold out additional weeks, how soon would the US drop the next atomic bomb? [We should not necessarily expect the third bomb to be automatic upon availability - after Nagasaki, Truman demanded he be consulted for express permission to drop the bomb, because he disliked the 'automatic' nature of the Nagasaki bomb non-decision. Of course, his post Nagasaki decision was in a context where the USSR had also joined the war.]
Assuming individual bomb strikes do not change the Japanese government's position, what is the maximum number of plausible additional weeks or months Japan could go without surrendering?
Could Japan still be un-surrendered in late October 1945/November 1945 with the US readying to execute invasion operations of any of the home islands?
What would the status of British Empire and Dominion operations in Southeast Asia be? Would French or Dutch forces have deployed to Southeast Asia? What about the state of Chinese Nationalist or Communist operations on the mainland, or possibly any American operations in collaboration with the former?
If USSR from August or VE Day relaxes its instructions to western Communist parties to oppose labor strikes, will labor stoppages in North America, Western Europe, and Australia become worse than they already were?
One can argue participation in the war against Japan is all upside and pretty much no downside, but let's just say Stalin thinks differently. Nobody internally contradicts him and he gets his way. Debate over.
What is the range of plausible endgames for the Pacific War?
What are the odds of the Japanese surrendering anyway at the exact same time as OTL?
If the Japanese hold out additional weeks, how soon would the US drop the next atomic bomb? [We should not necessarily expect the third bomb to be automatic upon availability - after Nagasaki, Truman demanded he be consulted for express permission to drop the bomb, because he disliked the 'automatic' nature of the Nagasaki bomb non-decision. Of course, his post Nagasaki decision was in a context where the USSR had also joined the war.]
Assuming individual bomb strikes do not change the Japanese government's position, what is the maximum number of plausible additional weeks or months Japan could go without surrendering?
Could Japan still be un-surrendered in late October 1945/November 1945 with the US readying to execute invasion operations of any of the home islands?
What would the status of British Empire and Dominion operations in Southeast Asia be? Would French or Dutch forces have deployed to Southeast Asia? What about the state of Chinese Nationalist or Communist operations on the mainland, or possibly any American operations in collaboration with the former?
If USSR from August or VE Day relaxes its instructions to western Communist parties to oppose labor strikes, will labor stoppages in North America, Western Europe, and Australia become worse than they already were?