By June 1944 the Soviets already had the Germans on the back foot and had been pushing for a second front from the US and UK for a while. At the same time the west was suspicious of Russia.

Had they waited it is likely the Soviets would have conquered the whole of Eastern Europe and Germany. D-Day was a necessity for the west at this point to prevent Soviet control of Europe. We also have to consider that The Manhattan Project was surrounded in the utmost secrecy that even the top generals didn’t know about it and what they don’t know, they cannot plan for.

Japan had a very militaristic culture in 1946 with an honourable death preferable to surrender. Had the USA attempted a land invasion they would have been fighting the ordinary citizenry as much as the army with high casualties on both sides.


Dropping the bomb on Japan achieved 2 things for the USA: it prevented a costly land invasion and it was a statement to the USSR that America had the power of God at their fingertips.