Real Time History

Season 2023, Episode 3

Episode Title: Stalin or the Bomb? - Why Japan Surrendered in WW2

Air Date: 2023-03-10

Overview:

It's common wisdom that the nuclear bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused the Japanese surrender at the end of the 2nd World War. However, there has been a fierce historical debate if this narrative omits the role of the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945 - or if this invasion was actually the main cause for the surrender.