Japan's Downfall: The End of the Pacific War 1945

In 1945 US forces are advancing towards Japan, but the road to victory will be bloody.

» CHAPTERS
00:00 Battle of Iwo Jima
17:41 Battle of Okinawa
34:21 Atomic Bombs and Japanese Surrender
43:07 Why Japan Surrendered

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» THANK YOU TO OUR CO-PRODUCERS
Raymond Martin, Konstantin Bredyuk, Lisa Anderson, Brad Durbin, Jeremy K Jones, Murray Godfrey, John Ozment, Stephen Parker, Mavrides, Kristina Colburn, Stefan Jackowski, Cardboard, William Kincade, William Wallace, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Malcolm Swan, Christoph Wolf, Simen Røste, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, James Giliberto, Albert B. Knapp MD, Tobias Wildenblanck, Richard L Benkin, Marco Kuhnert, Matt Barnes, Ramon Rijkhoek, Jan, Scott Deederly, gsporie, Kekoa, Bruce G. Hearns, Hans Broberg, Fogeltje

» SOURCES
Akikusa Tsuruji, 17-sai no Iōtō (Tokyo : Bungei Shunjū, 2006)
Allen, Robert E, The First Battalion of the 28th Marines on Iwo Jima: A Day-by-Day History from Personal Accounts and Official Reports, with Complete Muster Rolls, (Jefferson, NC : McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers, 1999)
Leckie, Robert, The Battle of Iwo Jima, (New York : Random House, 1967)
NHK Shuzaihan, Iōjima Gyokusaisen: Seikanshatachi ga kataru shinjitsu, (Tokyo: NHK
Shuppan, 2007)
Rottman, Gordon L & Wright, Derrick, Hell in the Pacific: The Battle of Iwo Jima, (Oxford : Osprey Publishing, 2008)
Sandberg, Walter, The Battle of Iwo Jima: A Resource Bibliography and Documentary Anthology, (Jefferson, NC : McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers, 2005)
United States Fleet, Headquarters of the Commander in Chief, Navy Department, “Amphibious Operations, Capture of Iwo Jima: 16 February to 16 March 1945” COMINCH P-0012, (17 July 1945)
Alexander, Joseph H., “The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa”, Marines in World War II Commemorative Series, (Washington D.C : Marine Corps Historical Center, 1996)
Nash, Douglas E., Battle of Okinawa: III MEF Staff Ride Battle Book, (Quanitco, VA : History Division, U.S. Marine Corps, 2015)
Rottman, Gordon, Okinawa 1945: The Last Battle, (Westport, CT : Praeger, 2004)
Shimpo, Ryukyu, Descent into Hell: Civilian Memories of the Battle of Okinawa, (Portland, ME : MerwinAsia, 2014)
Sledge, Eugene, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, (New York, NY : Ballantine Books, 2007)
Sloan, Bill, The Ultimate Battle: Okinawa 1945 - The Last Epic Struggle of World War II, (New York, NY : Simon & Schuster, 2007)
Yahara, Hiromichi, The Battle for Okinawa, (New York, NY : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995)
Cook, Haruko Taya & Cook, Theodore F., Japan at War: An Oral History, (New York, NY : The New York Press, 1992)
Frank, Richard B, Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire, (New York, NY ; Random House, 1999)
Glantz, David M., “August Storm: The Soviet 1945 Strategic Offensive in Manchuria”, Leavenworth Papers No. 7, Combat Studies Initiative, (February 1983)
Grew, Joseph C., “Report from Tokyo: An Ambassador warns of Japan’s strength”, in LIFE Magazine, (December 7, 1942)
Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi, Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan, (Cambridge, MA : Belknap Press, 2005)
Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi (ed.), The End of the Pacific War: Reappraisals, (Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, 2007)
Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi, “The Atomic Bombs and the Soviet Invasion: Which Was More Important in Japan’s Decision to Surrender” in Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi (ed.), The End of the Pacific War: Reappraisals, (Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, 2007)
Hatano, Sumio, “The Atomic Bomb and Soviet Entry into the War: Of Equal Importance” in Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi (ed.), The End of the Pacific War: Reappraisals, (Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, 2007)
Kort, Michael, “Racing the Enemy: A Critical Look”, in Maddox, James, Hiroshima in History: The Myths of Revisionism, (Columbia, MO : University of Missouri Press, 2007)
Maddox, James, Hiroshima in History: The Myths of Revisionism, (Columbia, MO : University of Missouri Press, 2007)
Pape, Robert A., “Why Japan Surrendered”, International Security, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Fall, 1993)

»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Research & Written by: Mark Newton, Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt, Toni Steller
Fact checking: Florian Wittig

Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster

Contains licensed material by getty images and AP
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
Music Library: Epidemic Sound
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2023

[LevAizik]

The way YouTube's algorithms treat you guys is a crime. You are undoubtedly one of the highest-quality channels on the platform.

[cadenbigler]

Undoubtedly one of the best, highest quality history channels on YouTube

[manugamer]

Germany is a perfect example of what can happen when a people does not consider itself defeated. Peace can’t be restored by simply throwing some concessions, and until the enemy has accepted defeat it’s just a facade to wait for a rematch. If you’re fighting for complete victory and no negotiations, well you have to put yourself in the right position to dictate terms.

[WillieFungo]

27:15 Imperial Japan in a nutshell. Nonstop insane and self-destructive decisions. It cost the equivalent of $3.3 billion to build that ship, and their best idea was to beach it on an island where it would have lasted a grand total of 5 minutes before being destroyed.

[uniball]

When it comes to whether a battle was necessary, the view I've developed over the years is that the people who fought at these battles couldn't have known if it was necessary or not. So in a way it doesn't really matter, because hindsight is 20-20. I feel it's more important to understand the battle from the perspective of those who fought it at the time.

[larrythelobster]

It’s an absolute blessing to have you guys post these phenomenal documentaries for free on YouTube. Thank you RTH

[williamkennedy]

I was very fortunate to have as a friend a marine who went ashore at Iwo, a great man and a credit to the marines, He mentioned the men that raised the flag were all killed within 4 days of doing that.
Cheshire UK

[BubblegumCrash]

My grandfather was in the 4th Marine division on the right into the rock quarry. He said they called that area The meat grinder. He was lucky and survived with shrapnel in his leg and was sent home with a purple heart.😮

[duwop]

Oh, final summation of arguments, so well done. Most listeners should put that on repeat a few times. Best I've ever heard, ty.

[gagamba]

7 July 1944. About 5000 lightly armed Japanese soldiers and civilians (men, women, _and_ children) armed with bamboo spears, knives, and shovels overran the US Army and Marine Corps on Saipan. A unit they overran was an artillery battery that was firing 105mm shells fused to explode at four-tenths of a second - this is point blank artillery fire and the Japanese still kept coming. They overran 50-calibre machine guns - the kind that rip people apart. They were so successful that when the reached the ocean they didn't know what to do next.

In response the US military had to organise firing lines of the kind used in the Civil War (shoulder to shoulder). After the Japanese were wiped out the US went in to recover their wounded and dead. One of killed was an Army dentist (Ben Salomon) whose body was found surrounded by 98 dead Japanese; Salomon had been shot 76 times - 24 whilst still alive - and stabbed many more times. The battle had been utter mayhem.

The same would have happened on Kyushu if Operation Olympic had been executed.

[davemcinnes]

Outstanding! The way in which you simplify (dumb down) and illustrate very difficult battles and explain complex strategies so all can understand it, is awesome! Well done folks!

[jackmunday]

When I heard the quote "one company of 240 marines, is reduced to just 18 men fit for duty" I'm not going to lie, my blood ran cold.

[voltardrepresentativexpert]

Just leaving this here to say you guys are absolutely fantastic and are my go to channel when it comes to World War history!

[Surtur]

Great video as always. Ur the channel on YT I've been watching longer than any other. Love it, keep up your excellent work

[ryanreedgibson]

I try to watch everything covering the pacific theater. By far your video is the best and maintains quite a bit of detail. Great job!

[bartekszymczak]

Great documentary! I really appreciate that you put an effort in finding a real historical quotes and present the topic from both perspectives.

[jimmyomalley]

I agree more with the orthodox view on why the bombs were dropped on Japan. Revisionists do have compelling arguments and I don’t believe they are completely incorrect, but I believe that the primary goals of the bombs were the goals that the orthodox believe, while the revisionists goals seem more secondary, or even the goals that were obtained as a side effect of the main goals

[ClassicFormulaOne]

Gonna fully watch it tonight thanks!!!

[nilo]

I have seen one video that puts a greater emphasis on the blockade and the resulting food shortages in and on the Japanese home Islands.
Based on that idea, I think it's more that there were multiple events that influenced the Japanese surrender.
All the arguments that focus on one cause or another ignore the multiple issues Japan was facing.

[georgemartin]

Great channel. I appreciate that different (and sometimes conflicting) points of view are presented.