By "waited" you surely meant "were busy fighting Nazis".
And let me quote the wiki article I linked to: "The Soviet entry into the war and the defeat of the Kwantung Army was a significant factor in the Japanese government's decision to surrender unconditionall".
> By "waited" you surely meant "were busy fighting Nazis".
As were the rest of the Allies. Soviet help with Japan probably would've been welcome much earlier.
> And let me quote the wiki article I linked to: "The Soviet entry into the war and the defeat of the Kwantung Army was a significant factor in the Japanese government's decision to surrender unconditionall".
The Japanese home islands were blockaded, constantly bombed, and hit with nuclear weapons after a grinding campaign across the Pacific. They'd lost by the time the Soviets jumped in; they were solidly on that path since 1942.
Soviet entry may've reinforced the hopelessness of continuing, but the Pacific part of WWII was largely fought by the US and UK alone. Contesting "the US won over the Japanese in the Pacific" is a tough path.
They waited until Japan was beaten, then grabbed some land.