On July 26, 1945, the leaders of the United States, Great Britain and China issued the Potsdam Declaration, which reaffirmed the Allied call for the unconditional surrender of Japan during World War II.
Following the defeat of Nazi Germany in May 1945, U.S. President Harry Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Soviet Union's Josef Stalin met in Potsdam, Germany, to make final arrangements for the occupation of Germany and to prepare for the last objective of the war — the defeat of Japan. The meeting occurred between July 17 and Aug. 2, 1945.
Though the bulk of the conference dealt with the question of post-war Germany, the Americans and British also held meetings with Chinese officials to discuss the prosecution of the war against Japan. Though Germany and Japan had been Axis partners during the war, the Soviet Union and Japan had never formally declared war against each other and indeed, surprisingly, both had honored their April 1941 neutrality pact. Over the course of the war, however, Stalin had agreed to declare war on Japan six months after the defeat of Germany.
On July 16, Truman was told about the successful test detonation of the atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert. He understood a decision about its use would need to be made soon. In any event, a clear message to Japan, calling for its surrender, was in order. The result was the Potsdam Declaration, issued July 26.
Respecting the status of the Soviet Union as a neutral region against Japan, the Potsdam Declaration formally represented the governments of the United States, Great Britain and China. Churchill had left Germany the day before to be in London when the results of the general election came in, so he was not present for the statement.
(In fact, Churchill's conservative party lost the election, and Clement Attlee was voted in as the new prime minister. Attlee returned to Potsdam as Churchill's successor a few days later. Truman had only become president the preceding April, after the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This left Stalin the only original one of the "Big Three" in power at war's end.)
Chiang Kai-Shek, the leader of nationalist China, was likewise not present, though he communicated his approval of the declaration to his representatives in Germany.
The declaration began with an invitation to Japan to end the war, citing the desires of “hundreds of millions” of American, British and Chinese people. The document then stated that the Allied nations' vast armies were prepared to “strike the final blows upon Japan,” and that the Allied nations had the will to see the war through to the end.
The document reminded the Japanese that Allied military power had crushed Nazi Germany, which was no small feat considering Germany's strength only a few years earlier. The Japanese were warned that if the country continued the war, its cities, lands and industry would be laid to waste just as Germany's had been. The document appealed to the Japanese to see reason instead of continuing to follow militaristic leaders, “whose unintelligent calculations have brought the Empire of Japan to the threshold of annihilation...”
The Allies declared such militarists should never again be given power in Japan, and an Allied occupying force must oversee the peaceful post-war development of Japan. The earlier Cairo Declaration, created in November 1943, was referenced. It had bound the Americans, British and Chinese to work for the defeat of Japan and the return of its conquests in Asia and the Pacific, including Korea.
Next, the Potsdam Declaration sketched out the geographic limits of post-war Japanese sovereignty, which essentially included the Japanese home islands. This was followed by a guarantee that once Japan has been disarmed, Japanese military personnel would be “permitted to return to their homes with the opportunity to lead peaceful and productive lives.”
The declaration firmly stated that the Japanese people were not to be slaves in the post-war world, nor was Japan itself to be destroyed as a nation-state. Further, the basic civil liberties and freedoms enjoyed by the free people of the West were guaranteed for the post-war Japanese. Also, Japanese industry and trade would be allowed to flourish, rather than the state's wealth being taken by the victors as booty. Critically, its war-making industry would have to be re-directed to peaceful enterprises.
The Allies promised that, in time, their occupation forces would leave Japan, once those solid principles were achieved. The 13th and final paragraph proved potentially the most problematic from the point of view of some American policy makers. Specifically, it reiterated the call for “unconditional surrender” for the Axis powers.
When Roosevelt, Churchill and Chiang met in January 1943 in Casablanca, French Morocco, the president had made a public declaration that the only thing the Allies would accept was the “unconditional surrender” of the Axis powers. This statement was controversial as it essentially emboldened the Axis regimes and people to keep fighting since negotiation was not an option. Now, some American officials wondered if the language of the new declaration ought to allow leeway for Japan.
In the book “Truman,” biographer David McCullough wrote, “(Secretary of War Henry L.) Stimson thought it unwise at this point to insist on unconditional surrender, a term the Japanese would take to mean they could not keep their Emperor. He urged a revision to read that the Allies would 'prosecute the war against Japan until she ceases to resist.' (Secretary of State James F.) Byrnes had vehemently opposed any such change.”
Byrnes argued that the phrase “unconditional surrender” had been a powerful slogan the American people and their enemies understood. To abandon that long-held objective would confuse the issue. Additionally, most Americans wanted to see Emperor Hirohito removed from power, if not tried as a war criminal. What was the point of allowing for negotiation when America would not bend on the critical point?
Truman agreed with the secretary of state and ordered that the phrase “unconditional surrender" be included in the text, followed by a warning: “The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction.”
On July 26, the Potsdam Declaration was sent to Washington and given to members of the press. That evening, the United States began broadcasting the text of the statement in both English and Japanese. The Japanese government had its warning.
Unfazed by the declaration, Japan continued the war. On Aug. 6, 1945, Truman ordered the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, after no formal request for a cease fire was forthcoming, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. That day also saw the Soviet declaration of war against Japan and a meeting of Japan's supreme war cabinet. The war minister, Gen. Korechika Anami, pressed for Japan to continue the war, citing the fact that the population would fight an invasion to the death.
In the book “Flyboys: A True Story of Courage,” historian James Bradley wrote, “Elderly prime minister Kantaro Suzuki tried to state the obvious to the War Cabinet. 'We cannot carry on this war indefinitely,' he said. 'There is no way left for us but to accept the Potsdam Proclamation.'”
Fighting amongst the cabinet followed, but in the end, the hopelessness of the Japanese position was apparent. The Japanese requested a cease fire Aug. 14, 1945, and formally surrendered to the Allies on Sept. 2. In order to ensure a peaceful end to the war and transition to an occupational government, the Japanese were allowed to retain Hirohito as their emperor.
The Potsdam Declaration did not merely define the terms of Japan's surrender to the Allies — it became the foundation for Japan's free and democratic post-war government.
Cody K. Carlson holds a master's in history from the University of Utah and teaches at Salt Lake Community College. An avid player of board games, he blogs at thediscriminatinggamer.com. Email: ckcarlson76@gmail.com