The first fighting of World War II began in Asia on the 7th of July 1937 - two years before Nazi Germany attacked Poland. Japanese troops invaded China and committed countless atrocities, including the Nanking Massacre and the medical experiments of Unit 731.
Following the Japanese attack on the US naval base Pearl Harbour, America formally entered the war. Yet Japan only increased its imperialist exploits. Most of Southeast Asia was conquered. By 1942 the Japanese Empire controlled more land than ever did Nazi Germany.
Announcement of ‚unconditional surrender‘ policy, Casablanca (1943-01-24/1943-01-24) by UncreditedCecilienhof Palace
With the US victory over the Japanese in the battle of Midway (1942), the balance of power shifted in favour of the Allies. US President Roosevelt and later his successor, Truman, insisted that the US would accept nothing less than unconditional surrender from the Axis Powers.
Chiran school girls wave farewell to Toshio Anazawa, a Kamikaze pilot (1945-04-12/1945-04-12) by UncreditedCecilienhof Palace
Even as an Allied victory became inevitable, the Japanese military was determined to fight to the bitter end. Moderates in the civil government preferred surrender. Yet they had little power over the military and baulked at the surrender being unconditional.
“If we are prepared to sacrifice 20 million Japanese lives in a special attack effort, victory will be ours.”
~ Admiral Takijiro Onishi
After Germany surrendered on the 8th of May 1945, the leaders of the Big Three Allied Powers, Truman (USA), Churchill (UK) and Stalin (USSR), met in Schloss Cecilienhof, Potsdam, from July 17th until August 2nd. Their goal: establishing a new post-war order.
During the war, US, UK, Japanese, German and Soviet scientists engaged in an arms race in atomic bomb research. The new weapon promised a critical military advantage. The first to finish was the US Project Manhattan, its laboratory led by Robert Oppenheimer.
On July 18th 1945 Henry Stimson, US Secretary of War, was in Potsdam. A top secret telegram informed him: “Doctor has just returned most enthusiastic and confident that the little boy is as husky as his big brother”. The first atomic bomb test, Trinity, had been successful.
Potsdam Conference table. Front: Churchill and Eden (1945/1945) by UncreditedCecilienhof Palace
Potsdam Conference table in Cecilienhof Palace
Front: Churchill and Eden
At Potsdam, Truman and Churchill also discussed Japan. To eradicate Japanese militarism, they thought the Emperor would have to be deposed and Japan democratised. This would only be possible if Japan surrendered unconditionally. Nuclear weapons were seen as a means to that end.
Emperor Hirohito, 124th Emperor of Japan (1935/1935) by UncreditedCecilienhof Palace
Emperor Hirohito (1901-1989), 124th Emperor of Japan
Truman leaving the „Little White House“ in Potsdam Babelsberg (1945-07-16/1945-07-16) by UncreditedCecilienhof Palace
Truman felt it incumbent to give Japan one last warning before using a weapon as horrific as a nuclear bomb. The Allies thus released the Potsdam Declaration on July 26th. It was signed by Truman, Churchill and Chiang Kai-Shek, the President of Nationalist China.
Reproduction of the Potsdam Declaration in Truman’s Log (1945/1945) by UncreditedCecilienhof Palace
The Potsdam Declaration, 26. July 1945
The declaration stated that after the surrender, war crimes trials, disarmament, occupation and democratisation of Japan would be enforced. The document ended with the threat: 'The alternative for Japan is immediate and total destruction.
The Japanese officials were deeply divided on the best response to the Declaration. They compromised on the ambiguous policy of Mokusatsu: “to ignore” or “to take no official notice of” the declaration.
Signatures of the Suzuki cabinet (1945-08-14/1945-08-14) by UncreditedCecilienhof Palace
The Japanese militarists intended the policy of Mokusatsu as a slight against the US. The moderates instead considered it to be a play for time while trying to negotiate more favourable terms through intermediaries. Neither would accept unconditional surrender.
The Japanese government did not take the threat at the end of the Potsdam Declaration seriously. It had no knowledge of the US nuclear arsenal and was convinced that the US would not invade the home islands before November 1945.
“There was something like a big cloud covering the whole city, and the cloud was growing and climbing up toward us. I could see nothing below. My grandmother started to cry, ‘Everybody is dead. This is the end of the world.’”
~ Sachiko Matsuo, eyewitness
Detonation of the bomb “Fat Man” in Nagasaki (1945-08-09/1945-08-09) by UncreditedCecilienhof Palace
On the 6th and 9th of August 1945, two atomic bombs were detonated above Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At least 110,000 people died as a result.
Despite the destruction, some Japanese militarists argued for further resistance. Yet the tide had turned against them. On the behest of the Emperor Japan finally surrendered on September 2nd 1945, accepting the terms of the Potsdam Declaration.
Curator: Josef Mlejnek, Cecilienhof Palace, SPSG
Project management: Nicole Romberg, Social Media Manager, SPSG
Picture credits
SPSG (unless otherwise stated)
