November 26 th US December 22 nd EU <| sep |> sweet , will check this out . thanks ! <| sep |> The Soviets had invaded Manchuria on August 8 , the bombs were dropped on the 6 th and 9 th . Japan didn ' t surrender until the 15 th . The nukes did NOTHING to speed up surrender . Japan wouldn ' t accept surrender unless their emperor was allowed to live . Eventually America capitulated , but if they really wanted to end the war quickly , they would ' ve just let him live from the outset instead of being so intent on him dying . So are you telling me that killing thousands was preferable to sparing one ? Back up your myth claim . You ' re right that the military wanted to retain Japan ' s sovereignty and military , but you are fully mistaken in assuming one cancels out the other . The nukes weren ' t launched to end the war quickly . Truman was warned by his own scientists that it would trigger an arms race , but he did it SPECIFICALLY for this purpose . This benefited the military industrial complex that Eisenhower and JFK later warned about , the arms race was a capitalist venture to gain more wealth and power across the world in conflict with Washington ' s ideal of not making entangling alliances . That is , not succumbing to the same imperialist mindset of the British Empire that millions have since suffered for . Remember , the government itself found no reason for the use of the bombs . Japan had next to no oil left , food shortages , war weariness , and 64 cities lay in ruin , it ' s true that they were emboldened by the idea of defending with a good position on home turf , but that was two months before the bombs . In the interim , Japan chose not to negotiate directly with Washington D . C . due to demands for the emperor ' s death , instead choosing Stalin for negotiations . Admiral Yonai Mitsumasa , said to his secretary on July 28 , There is no need to rush . Months after surrender , Hirohito , Kido , and Foreign Minister Togo Shigenori placed all blame on the military and claimed that they had been forced to reject the Potsdam terms because they feared precipitating a military coup d ' etat which would have threatened their lives and brought about a worse situation than the one they confronted . What they really feared was the destruction of their framework for rule . But it cancels out nothing . Frankly , neither the emperor or the military cared as much as popularly thought about the nukes . They were more concerned with the Soviets . The bombs only served Japan , as they ensured that they could now surrender while saving face , but the actual reason they surrendered was the Soviet invasion . In exchange for allowing the emperor to live , Japan ' s ruling elite decided never to demand apology or contrition for the bombs . American markets being open to Japan still hugely benefited those who controlled those markets .