ladel

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Why was Japan not occupied jointly by the US(/Allies) and the Soviets after WWII? in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Found it - https://youtube.com/watch?v=yOWX9LVUt2w

It says that the US did most lf the fighting, so felt entitled to take the lion's share and were the only ones with the A-bomb so felt they could dictate what they wanted. And the Allies were not in a good financial position to sustain another occupation. It makes some degree of sense, but I don't understand why the exact same arguments didn't apply to Korea just across the sea.

Why was Japan not occupied jointly by the US(/Allies) and the Soviets after WWII? in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

By "Japan proper", do you mean Honshu? I think yours is a good answer, but it still feels a bit weird. The Soviets invaded South Sakhalin in mid-August 1945 and finished on 25 August. From Sakhalin to Hokkaido looks about 30 miles. It wasn't until 28 August that any US forces landed in Japan (excluding Okinawa). So I feel that the Soviets were in a good position to also land in Japan, assuming they had the numbers and transport means.

There's also a section in the wiki article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_of_Japan) about how Japan were trying to get the Soviets more involved in the surrender negotiations in the hope that they could avoid unconditional surrender, but the Soviets were simply stalling so that they could maneouver into position in the Far East.

The division of Korea as also a bit weird in that they agreed to split across the 38th parallel, but the Soviets got to that line a few days ealier than the US, but upheld the agreement and didn't go any further.

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Why was Japan not occupied jointly by the US(/Allies) and the Soviets after WWII? (lemmy.world)
 

This is a bit of an Ask Historians question.

I've been reading about the Japanese surrender on Wikipedia, and one thing I thought was strange was that the post-war occupation of Japan was largely handled only by the US under MacArthur. The original plan during the war was apparently for the Allies to divide it, but somehow the plan changed. Stalin allegedly wanted to occupy Hokkaido, Japan's northern island, but Truman was opposed and it didn't happen.

Contrast this to Germany (an East-West split than lasted for decades) and Austria (an East-West split, but the Soviets didn't block full Austrian independence after a relatively short period. In Asia, the Japanese-controlled areas were mostly returned - China received Taiwan, coastal China in the south and east and Manchuria in the northeast. The Soviet Union retook Sakhalin island, just north of Hokkaido. Korea had been occupied by Japan for a few decades, and rather than Japan, it was Korea that was split between the Soviets and the US and shortly after became DPRK and ROK, transitioning into the Korean War as we know it, and the Korean peninsula is still split.

Japan, I think, fared reasonably well - the US were largely gone within ten years (but with a presence of military bases), and even during the occupation, Japan still technically governed themselves. I think it could have potentially gone much worse if the Soviets were involved, but the reasons for Soviet non-involvement are not very clear.

Do you think that Climate Change is exaggerated and at best would cause food and water shortages, mass immigration and small conflicts or will it lead to human extinction? in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, I don't think I've seen human extinction floated as a likely outcome, but food and water shortages could lead to deaths in the millions, which I can't even comprehend at the moment

How difficult was it for you to abandon a social media website for a fediverse alternative? in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It was a relatively easy choice, but it took a long time for me to get my head around what the fediverse was and how it worked. I lurked for a good while on a few different instances before eventually creating an account. I do still check in on the small community I nurtured, though. Secretly hoping it's gone to shit without me.

Apple says it will remove services such as FaceTime and iMessage from the UK rather than weaken security if new proposals are made law and acted upon. in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

It's probably about 50/50. Whatsapp is the most common chat app, though I barely use it.

Apple says it will remove services such as FaceTime and iMessage from the UK rather than weaken security if new proposals are made law and acted upon. in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I think it's the correct response, but in the UK, iMessage is essentially just a way to send SMSs, so won't really be missed. It doesn't have the same status as in the US. No idea if anyone uses facetime.

how to find communties on lemmy? in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think the best is lemmyverse.net. You can search across everything and it seems to be up to date. If you set what your home instance is, it will open links in that instance to subscribe easily.