The 1945 Soviet invasion of Hokkaido I never considered until a podcast

I've been into WWII what-ifs since I bought my first atlas at 12, but it took a 45 minute podcast episode last Tuesday to make me realize I'd been ignoring the Pacific theater entirely. I always jumped to Stalingrad or D-Day, assuming the war ended when Germany fell. Turns out, if Stalin had pushed into Hokkaido as planned, Japan might have split like Germany, and the Cold War would look completely different. Has anyone else missed a whole region of alt-history because you clung to the same three scenarios?

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seth_singh2027d ago

Yeah the Pacific is the forgotten stepchild of alt-history, everyone loves the European front. Stalin grabbing Hokkaido would've been wild though, two superpowers sharing Japan like they did Germany. That splits the Cold War wide open, no way the US lets that slide quietly.