![the crew of the enola gay visits japan hospitals the crew of the enola gay visits japan hospitals](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/09/11/10/18339618-7451719-image-a-17_1568195281291.jpg)
![the crew of the enola gay visits japan hospitals the crew of the enola gay visits japan hospitals](https://cdn.britannica.com/34/76534-050-EE7422B0/mushroom-cloud-aircraft-Hiroshima-Japan-people-city-August-6-1945.jpg)
The plan called for bombing 6 major cities, 20 medium sized cities and 60 smaller cities. For various reasons the normal US pattern of daytime precision bombing with high explosives was going nowhere. The LeMay Plan involved night fire-bombing of Japanese cities.
![the crew of the enola gay visits japan hospitals the crew of the enola gay visits japan hospitals](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2018/08/06/1777122_slide-43d2294a29092868f9cb19f33c78e9eb317e9c1a.jpg)
Russia never got mobilized against Japan and got shut out from any role in deciding Japans fate.Īlso, it is not widely appreciated how badly Japan had been mauled by conventional bombing by B-29s. The Emperor declared an end to hostilities on August 15. The Nagasaki bombing followed on August 9. Russia declared war on schedule on August 8 but it looked like they only did it because of Hiroshima. If Japan could be forced to surrender before Russia actually began hostilities and especially before Russian boots were on Japanese ground, Stalin could be excluded from post-war power politics in the Far East. Russia would therefore be expected on declare war on Japan on August 8. But at the Yalta Conference in early 1945 Stalin promised to declare war on Japan three months after Germany surrendered. Renewed conflict at the other end of the country would have been a disaster. All of Russias military force was needed to stop the Germans. When Russia was attacked by Germany and became an Ally, Stalin refused to go to war with Japan. The conflict ended with a mutual non-aggression pact. Russia had engaged in a war with Japan in the late 1930s. Why was the Manhattan Project then accelerated? It was discovered that although Germany did have an A-bomb project it was nowhere near fruition. The Manhattan Project was initiated because it was feared that Germany might be developing the atomic bomb. A couple of interesting things about the atomic bombing of Japan that are not commonly known.