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The Japanese economy was being strangled by the naval war in the Pacific. The question was how long they would resist, and what would it take to deliver the coup de grace? After the horrendous resistance encountered in Okinawa, the decision was made to drop the atomic bomb. It is significant that the bombing of Hiroshima was insufficient, and that they only surrendered after Nagasaki was obliterated. The Japanese were principally defeated by the Americans...As for the European theater, if Stalin had not made his pact with Hitler, it is possible that Hitler would have accomplished little more than a minor revision of borders. Stalin's perfidy emboldened him to plunge the Continent into war, and the Soviet peoples suffered for it. They also suffered for his decimation of the officer ranks in the course of his purges. A lot of the casualties were sustained because of ineptitude and lack of provision for the looming conflict. Without the Russian winter, it may be that Hitler would have conquered the Soviets...The real question is not how many people on one's side died or were wounded, in any case, but how many of the enemy did they bag, and what was the strategic importance of their entry into the war? Without the Americans, the Western front would not have been viable, and without the second front, the Soviets were doomed, hence the Americans saved their butts, as has been stated... |
