Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
It stopped the Russians from getting a stronger foothold in the Pacific.
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This is likely the biggest point. I always viewed this along with the Potdam Conference to be the opening shots of the Cold War. Russia was invading Japan from the North and was making significant headway in doing so, so Japan was going to be fighting a war on two fronts against the two biggest superpowers of the day. They were in a no-win situation. The Americans were able to show their awesome display of force and halt the Russians in their tracks with the dropping of the bombs. And knowing what we know about the Soviets maybe that is a good thing.