Japan and the Pacific
The terms to be offered Japan, the question of the Emperor, and the date the Soviet Union would enter the war. The Potsdam Declaration of 26 July was the conference's answer.
12Days it ran
42Passages
27 JulyRan hottest
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The strongest passage on each day, with a link into the record at that exact point.
- PreludeIntroduction
In the summer of 1945 things looked much different than they had when the Yalta Conference took place just months before. Germany had accepted unconditional surrender on May 8th/9th bringing hostilities to an end, Allied armies occupied much of central and eastern Europe, and Churchill and Stalin were corresponding with a new Commander in Chief of the United States.
Read it in place → - 17 July 1945The Big Three
Truman was not keen on coming to Potsdam and he wrote in his diary how much he dreaded it before it had even begun. Yet, despite his lack of experience, he knew that diplomacy was a face-to-face business and securing Soviet help – primarily taking on the Kwantung Army in Manchuria – would be vital to the United States’s early November invasion of mainland Japan, which he had authorized on June 18th.
Read it in place → - 18 July 1945Dividing The Spoils
Since 1943 the Allies had demanded an unconditional surrender and that particularly implied that Japan’s imperial government – namely the emperor – would be terminated. Understanding that this might make it more difficult to get Japan to accept unconditional surrender, Truman – and even Roosevelt – had been encouraged to add an explicit provision that stated that the imperial system and emperor could remain.
Read it in place → - 19 July 1945The Fate Of Europe
In short, Churchill not only wanted an equal distribution, but was also sympathetic to distributing a ‘fourth part’ to countries that suffered terribly during WWII – like Norway, pointing out the fact that their oil fleet was a huge part of their nation’s strength. Truman was more concerned for the time being about isolating as much of the German Navy, fleets and merchant ships as possible to the Pacific to defeat the Japanese, while Stalin just wanted as much of everything…
Read it in place → - 20 July 1945Peace In Italy
“The Three Great Allies are fighting this war to restrain and punish the aggression of Japan. They covet no gain for themselves and have no thought of territorial expansion. It is their purpose that Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has seized or occupied since the beginning of the first World War in 1914, and that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and The Pescadores, shall be restored to the…
Read it in place → - 23 July 1945Königsberg & Prussia
Interestingly, Stimson mentioned to Truman that he felt it was unwise to insist on unconditional surrender at this time. Again, this was a term that the Japanese would take to mean that they could not keep their Emperor, and thus making it more difficult to achieve peace. Therefore, Stimson urged a revision of sorts that read somewhere along the lines that the Allies would remain committed to the war against Japan until the country ceased to exist.
Read it in place → - 24 July 1945The Nuclear Age Begins
Their report projected that the war would most likely end around mid-November 1946, which was about 16 months from now, if the Japanese would not accept the unconditional surrender demand and if the planned ground invasion were to take place.
Read it in place → - 25 July 1945Churchill Departs
The ultimatum was sent from the ‘Little White House’ yesterday to Patrick J. Hurley who was the United States Ambassador to China in Chungking. The proclamation needed the approval of the Chinese since they – who had already been at war with Japan since 1937 – joined the Allies in a formal declaration of war against Japan, Germany, and Italy within days after the United States declared war on Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Read it in place → - 26 July 1945The Potsdam Declaration
We-the President of the United States, the President of the National Government of the Republic of China, and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, representing the hundreds of millions of our countrymen, have conferred and agree that Japan shall be given an opportunity to end this war.The prodigious land, sea and air forces of the United States, the British Empire and of China, many times reinforced by their armies and air fleets from the west, are poised to strike the final…
Read it in place → - 27 July 1945The Price Of Peace
The words “unconditional surrender” appeared only once, in the final paragraph, and then specified that it only demanded the ‘unconditional surrender’ of the armed forces, not the Japanese nation. The alternative was “prompt and utter destruction.” And the fate of Emperor Hirohito was left ambiguous. He was not mentioned, nor was there any explanation of what ‘prompt and utter destruction’ really meant and in what form it would come.
Read it in place → - 28 July 1945The New Big Three
“I informed the Allies of the message that I received from the Japanese Emperor through the Japanese ambassador. I sent a copy of my answer to this peace plea which was in the negative. I received another communication informing me more precisely of the desire of the Emperor to send a peace mission headed by Prince Konoye who was stated to have great influence in the Palace. It was indicated that it was the personal desire of the Emperor to avoid further bloodshed. In this…
Read it in place → - 31 July 1945Settling The Polish Question
Years would pass and academics would argue that the United States could have forced the Japanese to surrender without the bomb by continuing to blockade its mainland; some historians have argued that the United States could have been clearer with its message of ‘unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces’ proclaimed in the Potsdam Declaration – that is, highlighting the fact that the armed forces were to surrender unconditionally and not Japan’s Emperor; some have…
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How this thread is matched
A passage joins this thread when its terms score two or more. Naming the subject outright scores two on its own; a word merely consistent with it scores one, so two are needed. Repeated use adds, with diminishing effect.
Potsdam Declarationunconditional surrenderHirohitoKwantungManchuriaJapanese mainlandJapanJapanesePacificEmperorsurrenderSoviet entryFar EastTokyo