If you could go back in time, knowing what we know now, and change this one thing. Would you?

Question

More than 300 B-29 "Superfortress" bombers dropped nearly a half-million M-69 incendiary cylinders over Tokyo the night and early morning of March 9-10, 1945, destroying some 16 square miles of the city. The attack, coming a month after a similar raid on Dresden, Germany, brought the mass live incineration of civilians to a new level in a conflict already characterized by unprecedented bloodshed. The official death toll was some 83,000, but historians generally agree that victims unaccounted for bring the figure to between 100,000 and 250,000 — overwhelmingly civilians. It is widely considered to be the most devastating air raid in history. The American decision to go after civilians emerged from the failure of precision bombings against traditional military targets, and accompanied significant advances in technology and bombing tactics. The B-29, for instance, gave the United States greater range and firepower, while innovations such as low-altitude nighttime attacks multiplied the potential for terror and destruction.  That terror was apocalyptic. The bombs, which released 100-foot streams of fire upon detonating, sent flames rampaging through densely packed wooden homes. Superheated air created a wind that sucked victims into the flames and fed the twisting infernos. Asphalt boiled in the 1,800-degree heat. With much of the fighting-age male population at the war front, women, children and the elderly struggled in vain to battle the flames or flee. 

In the end, the attack did nothing to stem the tide of war, nor did it stop the Japanese from fighting.  It wasn't until the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima that this changed.

Keeping this in mind, if you could go back in time and prevent this attack from taking place, saving those thousands of people; would you?  

Whatever decision you make, please offer your arguments supporting it.

Hesham · Accepted Answer

Would have had FDR go to the London Economic Conference, thus easing German worries, preventing them from listening to a Fascist leader like Hitler, and effectively preventing World War II. 

If you recall, it was the ridiculous concessions of the Treaty of Versailles that caused the rise of Hitler in Germany, and the London Economic Conference would have countered or removed many of those concessions.

krollohare2 · Answer

The Japanese military was merciless with the Chinese and other civilian populations in Asia. During their imperial rampage across the Pacific, parts of India, Philippines, and other locations, from approx. 1928 through 1945, they terrorized, killed, raped, maimed, tortured, injured and abused millions of civilians throughout Asia.

As far as I'm concerned, the apocalyptic bombing was designed for pure payback.

It was intended to demoralize and bend the public towards the peace process.

I agree with the tactic. Frankly, with the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, this forced the Emperor of Japan to personally terminate the hostilities and order the surrender of all forces, unconditionally.

If I could change anything, I would have hoped the Emperor of Japan had grown a bigger pair in 1928 and put down his overly belligerent and expansionist military. Had he taken a firmer grasp over the government that existed to serve him as the "divine ruler" of the Empire of Japan, Japan would have been industrially strong, and a force to reckon with economically throughout the Asian hemisphere.

Nonetheless, I stand by the decision to bomb them into submission. It was a dirty job and necessary.

This same tactic was used by Nixon to force the North Vietnamese to the Paris Peace Talks. By use of extreme force and a "bomb them into the stone age" approach, Nixon was able to achieve "peace with dignity".

Anonymous · Answer

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JoeBob · Answer

no. the japanese did some horrible things themselves ( The Rape of Nanking. the forgotten holocaust of ww2 by iris chang ) the object was to get the japanese to stop fighting period. may not have been right  in your eyes but at the time it may have been the best thing. the reason it was so bad was because the houses and buildings of the time were mostly wood and paper. not saying it was right but wood not change it. why not go back and change what they did to pearl harbor and maybe avoid that part of the war altogether. i figure ww3 will be a lot worse

James · Answer

I would go back and tell the Indians to kill anyone who showed up on their eastern shoreline, without question and with extreme prejudice.

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If you could go back in time, knowing what we know now, and change this one thing. Would you?

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