If MacArthur had been killed pre Japanese surrender.
?Who would take his place in the reconstruction of Japan, and how would this change post war Japan?
How about Marshall? That way he doesn't get involved in the Chinese civil war, trying to broker a ceasefire between the Nationalists and the Communists, and perchance Jiang actually manages to defeat Mao's forces. Or not, but it's worth a shot.Eisenhower? Stimson? Nimitz?
How about Marshall? That way he doesn't get involved in the Chinese civil war, trying to broker a ceasefire between the Nationalists and the Communists, and perchance Jiang actually manages to defeat Mao's forces.
He had one last chance of winning it by taking Harbin. A bit of a long shot, I'll admit, since even then he'd have to mop up the countryside and avoid getting his forces surrounded in the cities. But still, it would have been interesting to see how that would have played out--it's not like the Nationalists could lose even more badly than they did in OTL, short of losing Taiwan as well. Anyway, this is off-topic.Actually, the main reason the Nationalists lost the Chinese Civil War was because of Chiang's Manchurian gambit, something which Marshall told him not to do.
He had one last chance of winning it by taking Harbin. A bit of a long shot, I'll admit, since even then he'd have to mop up the countryside and avoid getting his forces surrounded in the cities. But still, it would have been interesting to see how that would have played out--it's not like the Nationalists could lose even more badly than they did in OTL, short of losing Taiwan as well. Anyway, this is off-topic.
Hmm... that's a rather different Marshall Plan, thenHow about Marshall? That way he doesn't get involved in the Chinese civil war, trying to broker a ceasefire between the Nationalists and the Communists, and perchance Jiang actually manages to defeat Mao's forces. Or not, but it's worth a shot.
Hmm, hadn't thought of MacArthur as a nice guy, by any stratch... sounds like you know more about it than me, though, which wouldn't be hard.You are, of course, right [re: Jiang's last chance].
Anyhoo, I think that a Japanese occupation without MacArthur would have been more like an actual military occupation. By this I mean that MacArthur was sensitive to Japanese culture and institutions in ways that other potential SCAPs Japan were not. For example, many advocated deposing Hirohito and including members of the Imperial Family in war crimes trials, both of which MacArthur argued strongly against. Some of the more loopy people actually advocated the dismantling of Japanese culture, which they viewed as a "design for death" (in the words of Dr. Seuss).
So you probably would have seen a harsher occupation and more resentment from the Japanese, which could prove ugly down the line.
You are, of course, right.
Anyhoo, I think that a Japanese occupation without MacArthur would have been more like an actual military occupation. By this I mean that MacArthur was sensitive to Japanese culture and institutions in ways that other potential SCAPs Japan were not. For example, many advocated deposing Hirohito and including members of the Imperial Family in war crimes trials, both of which MacArthur argued strongly against. Some of the more loopy people actually advocated the dismantling of Japanese culture, which they viewed as a "design for death" (in the words of Dr. Seuss).
So you probably would have seen a harsher occupation and more resentment from the Japanese, which could prove ugly down the line.
It also would have meant that the imperial family is going to the gallows, not the palace.
Hirohito, probably. Not the entire rest of the Imperial Family, though; there were quite a few who simply weren't significant enough to have been involved in Japanese atrocities.
With any luck, though, the Imperial Household Agency gets purged along with the rest of the government. And in TTL the purge of the Japanese right-wing from power sticks, with positive results for the political direction of postwar Japan.
Actually, the Japanese fully expected that Hirohito would at minimum be forced to abdicate
Temporarily. The Japanese would really hate that idea, and I suspect that enough of them would be stubborn enough about it to make Northern Ireland look tame.I don't think Hirohito would have gone to the gallows personally, but forced to live his life in exile in the most humble surroundings, something like monkhood is probable. Actually what I find more probable, if he finds out he is going to be forced to abdicate, hed likely commit ritual suitcide to keep his honor. With Hirohito dead, his family living in exile (perhaps on Iwo Jima or some other island like that) the Republic of Japan would be established in the Empire's place.