Potsdam Declaration

Not to be confused with Potsdam Agreement.

The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender is a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S. Truman, United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chairman of the Nationalist Government of China Chiang Kai-shek issued the document, which outlined the terms of surrender for the Empire of Japan as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference. This ultimatum stated that, if Japan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction."[1][2]

A picture of a Potsdam Conference session including Clement Attlee, Ernest Bevin, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, Joseph Stalin, William D. Leahy, Joseph E. Davies, James F. Byrnes, and Harry S. Truman.

Terms of the Declaration

On July 26, the United States, Britain, and China released the Potsdam Declaration announcing the terms for Japan's surrender, with the warning, "We will not deviate from them. There are no alternatives. We shall brook no delay." For Japan, the terms of the declaration specified:[1]

On the other hand, the declaration offered that:

The only mention of "unconditional surrender" came at the end of the declaration:[1]

Contrary to what had been intended at its conception, disenfranchising the Japanese leadership so the people would accept a mediated transition, the declaration made no direct mention of the Emperor at all. It did, however, insist that "the authority and influence of those who have deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest must be eliminated for all time".[4] Allied intentions on issues of utmost importance to the Japanese, including whether Hirohito was to be regarded as one of those who had "misled the people of Japan" or even a war criminal, or alternatively whether the Emperor might potentially become part of a "peacefully inclined and responsible government" were thus left unstated.[5]

The "prompt and utter destruction" clause has been interpreted as a veiled warning about American possession of the atomic bomb which had been successfully tested in New Mexico on July 16, 1945, the day before the Potsdam Conference opened. Although the document warned of further destruction like aerial bombings, it didn't mention anything about the atomic bomb.

Leaflets and radio broadcasts

The Declaration was released to the press in Potsdam on the evening of July 26 and simultaneously transmitted to the Office of War Information in Washington. By 5 p.m. Washington time, OWI's West Coast transmitters, aimed at the Japanese home islands, were broadcasting the text in English, and two hours later began broadcasting it in Japanese. The Declaration was never transmitted to the Japanese government through diplomatic channels.[6] The Japanese government did not disclose the declaration to the Japanese people. However, the ultimatum was heard by some who listened to the OWI broadcasts, and leaflets describing it were dropped from American bombers. Although picking up leaflets and listening to foreign radio broadcasts had been banned by the government, the American propaganda efforts were successful in making the key points of the declaration known to most Japanese.

Aftermath

Main article: Surrender of Japan

The official response of the Japanese was that of mokusatsu, which can be interpreted in a very negative way, "to kill with silence", or can mean only "to practise wise inactivity". This was interpreted by the Allies in the first sense, although the intended meaning was probably the second one. This misunderstanding led to a swift decision to carry out the threat of destruction.

Subsequently, the United States Army Air Forces dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and the second atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. These two bombings devastated the two cities, killing tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel and destroying military bases as well as industries in a matter of seconds within a radius that stretched for more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers). The number of casualties in the months after the war is estimated to range from 150,000 to over 200,000.

In a widely broadcast speech picked up by Japanese news agencies, President Truman warned that if Japan failed to accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration it could "expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth."[7] As a result, Prime Minister Suzuki felt compelled to meet the Japanese press, to whom he reiterated his government's commitment to ignore the Allies' demands and fight on.[8] The extent of the Allies' demands brought home to the Japanese leaders and people the extent of the success Japan's enemies had achieved in the war.[9] Nonetheless, the surrender of the Empire of Japan was announced by Japan on August 15 and formally signed on September 2, 1945.

The Soviet–Japanese War was declared on Japan on August 9, 1945. Soviet invasion of Manchuria quickly defeated the Japanese Army in Manchukuo and some other places.

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Potsdam Declaration: Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender Issued, at Potsdam, July 26, 1945". National Science Digital Library.
  2. "Milestones: 1937-1945 / The Potsdam Conference, 1945". United States Department of State, Office of the Historian.
  3. "Potsdam Declaration - Birth of the Constitution of Japan". ndl.go.jp. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  4. "Potsdam Declaration". Birth of the Constitution of Japan. National Diet Library.
  5. "'Potsdam Declaration'". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan 2. 1966.
  6. "We, the Japanese People: Washington". google.com. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  7. United States Department of State (1945). "Foreign Relations of the United States: diplomatic papers: the Conference of Berlin (the Potsdam Conference)". Foreign Relations of the United States 2. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 1376–1377.
  8. Scoenberger, Walter (1969). Decision of Destiny. Columbus: Ohio University Press. pp. 248–249.
  9. Rhodes, Anthony (1976). Propaganda: The art of persuasion: World War II. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. p. 262.

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article: