311. More Than the Bomb: The Soviet Factor in Japan's Surrender

Battleground

Goalhanger

History

4.6 • 703 Ratings

🗓️ 6 August 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Battleground 45 Saul is joined by Evan Mawdsley to examine the final weeks of World War II from the perspective of the Soviet Union. Together they explore Stalin’s strategic goals at the Potsdam Conference, his reaction to the successful test of the atomic bomb, and the subsequent decision to accelerate the invasion of Manchuria. They look at why the Soviet declaration of war on Japan on August 8, 1945, may have been the decisive factor for the Japanese leadership's surrender. We'll delve into the lightning-fast invasion of Manchuria and Korea, the Soviet's thwarted plans to co-occupy Japan, and what the end of the fighting meant for the Soviet Union's future geopolitical ambitions. If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected] Producer: James Hodgson X (Twitter): @PodBattleground Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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1:16.6	Download the Exper of the war. Evan, a regular on the podcast, is a former professor of international history at the
1:44.9	University of Glasgow, and the author of a number of books on the Second World War, including
1:49.5	the Stalin years, the Soviet Union 1929 to 1953, Thunder in the East, the Nazi Soviet War,
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