Potsdam declaration demanding ‘surrender’ of Japan during WWII was issued today in 1945

Potsdam Declaration, an ultimatum issued by the United States, Great Britain and China, calling for ‘unconditional surrender’ of Japan was made on this very day in 1945. The declaration was made on July 26 last the PotsDam conference near the end of World War II. According to anecdotes, nearly two months after Germany had surrendered, allied leaders gathered in Potsdam, Germany, in a bid to discuss peace settlements, among other issues. 

While the European phase of the conflict had ended, the war, however, continued in the Pacific theatre as Japan remained committed to fighting. According to anecdotes, the then US President Harry Truman, British PM Winston Churchill and Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, thus drafted a declaration that defined the terms of Japan’s surrender and made dire warnings if the country failed to put down its weapon. The Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was not a part of the ultimatum because his country had not yet declared war on Japan. 

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Terms of surrender 

As per anecdotes, the declaration claimed that ‘unintelligent calculations’ by Japan’s military advisers had brought the country to the ‘threshold of annihilation’. While the leaders hoped that Japan would follow the path of reason, they outlined their terms of surrender, which included complete disarmament, occupation of certain areas, and the creation of a ‘responsible government’. The declaration also promised that Japan would not be enslaved as a race or destroyed as a nation. 

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The Potsdam Declaration ended by warning of ‘prompt and utter destruction’ if Japan failed to unconditionally surrender. As the then Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki Kantrō did not make any ‘comments’ about the declaration and reportedly refused or ignored it, on August 6, 1945, the United States military dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and destroyed most of the city. More destruction was then followed as Nagasaki was also bombed three days later. During this time, the Soviet Union also declared war on Japan and on August 15 the country officially surrendered. 

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