The act of Japan's unconditional surrender was signed: dates, history and interesting facts. Who and why signed the act of Japan's unconditional surrender on September 2, 1945 the act of surrender
That Great Britain and France, engaged in the war in Europe, will not be able to allocate sufficient forces to protect their colonies and strongholds in Asia, and the USSR will direct its main efforts to the war with Germany.
Opportunities were created for the capture by Japan of territories in the Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia, controlled by the forces of the allies, which were limited at that time. The primary objective was the capture of French Indochina as a staging ground for the subsequent offensive against China and the capture of Malaya.
On September 27, 1940, a tripartite pact was signed in the German capital between Germany, Italy and Japan (the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis). It was announced that all three Allied Powers are concerned about the establishment of "world peace" and for this they are beginning to build a "new order in Greater East Asia and Europe."
In September 1940, after the surrender of France, Japan occupied the French North, and in July 1941 - South Indochina.
On December 7, 1941, with a surprise attack on the main US naval base Pearl Harbor, airfields in the Philippines, and other bases and airfields of the United States and Great Britain in the Pacific, Japan unleashed a war in this region. She seized strategic supremacy at sea and in the air. By the middle of 1942, the Philippines, Indochina, Thailand, Burma, Malaya and Indonesia were occupied and a colonial regime was established in the occupied territories. In response, a struggle against the occupiers unfolded, as a result of which Japan was forced to increase the power of the occupying forces several times.
In May 1942, in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the US Navy won its first victory over the Japanese fleet; in June 1942, the Japanese suffered a major defeat in the Midway-Aleutian operation. By December 1942, the balance of forces in the Pacific changed in favor of the allies, Japan lost its strategic initiative and switched to strategic defense. In the summer of 1943, the Allies launched an offensive.
The situation in the Pacific theater of operations in January 1944 - August 1945 was characterized by the complete transfer of the strategic initiative to the allies and their large-scale landing operations to seize the islands of the Pacific Ocean, active military operations in China, Burma and other regions of Asia. In January - July 1945, the Allies liberated a number of regions of China and Burma. In the summer, American aircraft intensified air strikes against Japan; On August 6 and 9, the United States used nuclear weapons for the first time, dropping two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union, in accordance with the decision of the Crimean and Potsdam conferences, officially joined the Potsdam Declaration of 1945 and on August 9 entered the war with Japan.
After the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan, many Japanese statesmen realized that the political and strategic situation in the Far East had radically changed and it was pointless to continue the war. On August 10, the Japanese government announced through neutral countries - Sweden and Switzerland that it agrees to accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration if the allies agree not to include in it a clause on depriving the emperor of sovereign rights. In the response of the governments of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and China on August 11, the Allies reaffirmed their demand for unconditional surrender and drew the attention of the Japanese government to the provision of the Potsdam Declaration, which stipulated that from the moment of surrender, the power of the emperor and the Japanese government in governing the state would be subordinate to the supreme commander. by the forces of the Allied Powers, which will take such steps as it deems necessary to implement the terms of surrender.
On August 14, Japanese Emperor Hirohito recorded an appeal to his subjects for the radio, announcing the need to stop the war and Japan's acceptance of unconditional surrender. Upon learning of the emperor's conversion, a group of fanatic officers on the night of August 15 decided to disrupt the surrender negotiations and achieve the continuation of the war. Their task was to eliminate the "supporters of peace" from the political arena, to persuade the armed forces to disobey, and so that the decision of the emperor did not receive publicity, to remove the text with the speech recording before it was broadcast.
Most parts of the capital's garrison did not support the conspirators and remained faithful to the oath. The hastily organized putsch was liquidated in the very first hours.
On the same day, hostilities between the Anglo-American and Japanese armed forces were effectively stopped, however, in the territory of Northeast China, Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, Japanese troops continued to resist the Soviet armed forces. Units of the Kwantung Army did not receive an order to cease hostilities.
From August 9 to September 2, 1945, the Manchurian strategic offensive operation of the Soviet troops was carried out to defeat the Japanese Kwantung Army, liberate the northeastern and northern provinces of China (Manchuria and Inner Mongolia), the Liaodong Peninsula, Korea, eliminate the bridgehead of aggression and major military-economic bases of Japan on the Asian continent. The Soviet troops of the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern fronts came out against the Kwantung Army in cooperation with the Pacific Fleet, the Amur Flotilla and the troops of the Mongolian People's Republic. With the defeat of the Kwantung Army and the loss of the military-economic base in Northeast China and North Korea, Japan lost its real strength and capabilities to continue the war.
On September 2, 1945 aboard the American battleship Missouri, which entered Tokyo Bay, the Act of Japan's Unconditional Surrender was signed.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
On September 2, 1945, the Japanese Empire surrendered unconditionally. The hotbed of war in the Asia-Pacific region was extinguished. The Second World War is over. Russia-USSR, despite all the intrigues of obvious enemies and "partners", confidently entered the phase of restoration of the Empire. Thanks to the wise and decisive policy of Joseph Stalin and his associates, Russia has successfully restored its military-strategic and economic positions in the European (western) and Far Eastern strategic directions.
At the same time, it should be canceled that Japan, like Germany, was not the real instigator of the world war. They played the role of figures in the Great Game, where the prize is the entire planet. The real instigators of the world massacre were not punished. Although it was the masters of the United States and Great Britain who unleashed the world war. The Anglo-Saxons nurtured Hitler and the Eternal Reich project. The dreams of the "possessed Fuhrer" about the New World Order and the domination of the "chosen" caste over the rest of the "subhumans" were just a repetition of English racial theory and social Darwinism. Britain has long been building the New World Order, where there was a metropolis and colonies, dominions, it was the Anglo-Saxons who created the world's first concentration camps, not the Germans.
London and Washington sponsored the revival of Germany's military power and gave it almost all of Europe, including France. For Hitler to lead the "crusade to the East" and crush the Russian (Soviet) civilization, which carried the beginnings of a different, just world order, challenging the shadow masters of the Western world.
For the second time, the Anglo-Saxons pitted the Russians and the Germans against them in order to destroy the two great powers, whose strategic alliance could permanently establish peace and prosperity in Europe and a large part of the world. At the same time, an elite battle took place within the Western world itself. The Anglo-Saxon elite dealt a powerful blow to the old German-Roman elite, seizing the leading positions in Western civilization. The consequences for Europe were dire. The Anglo-Saxons still control Europe, sacrificing its interests. The European nations are condemned, they must assimilate, become part of the "global Babylon".
However, not all of the global plans of the owners of the western project were realized. The Soviet Union not only was not destroyed and withstood the hardest battle with the united forces of Europe, but also became a superpower that thwarted the plans to establish the "Eternal Reich" (New World Order). For several decades Soviet civilization became for mankind a beacon of Good and Justice, a model of a different path of development. The Stalinist society of service and creation was an example of a society of the future that can save humanity from the dead end of a consumer society that leads people to degradation and planetary catastrophe.
The Chief of the General Staff, General Umezu Yoshijiro, signs the Japan Surrender Act. Behind him is Japanese Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Mamoru, who has already signed the Act.
General Douglas MacArthur signs Japan's surrender
Lieutenant General Konstantin N. Derevyanko, on behalf of the USSR, signs the Act of Japan's surrender aboard the American battleship Missouri
Japan surrender
The crushing offensive of the Soviet Army, which led to the defeat and surrender of the Kwantung Army (;;), dramatically changed the military-political situation in the Far East. All plans of the Japanese military-political leadership to drag out the war collapsed. The Japanese government feared an invasion of the Japanese islands by Soviet troops and a radical change in the political system.
The blow of Soviet troops from the northern direction and the threat of a successive invasion of Soviet troops through the narrow straits to the Kuriles and Hokkaido was considered more significant than the landing of the Americans on the Japanese islands proper after their passage by sea from Okinawa, Guam and the Philippines. The American landing party hoped to drown thousands of suicide bombers in blood, and, in the worst case scenario, retreat to Manchuria. The blow of the Soviet Army deprived the Japanese elite of this hope. Moreover, the Soviet troops with a rapid offensive deprived Japan of their bacteriological reserves. Japan has lost the ability to retaliate against the enemy, to use weapons of mass destruction.
At a meeting of the Supreme Military Council on August 9, 1945, the head of the Japanese government, Suzuki, said: "The entry of the Soviet Union into the war this morning puts us finally in a desperate situation and makes it impossible to continue the war further." At this meeting, the conditions under which Japan agreed to accept the Potsdam Declaration were discussed. The Japanese elite was practically unanimous in the opinion that it was necessary to preserve the imperial power at any cost. Suzuki and other "peace advocates" believed that in order to preserve the imperial power and prevent revolution, it was necessary to surrender immediately. Representatives of the military party continued to insist on the continuation of the war.
On August 10, 1945, the Supreme War Council adopted the text of a statement to the Allied Powers proposed by Prime Minister Suzuki and Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo. The text of the statement was supported by Emperor Hirohito: “The Japanese Government is ready to accept the terms of the Declaration of July 26 this year, to which the Soviet Government also joined. The Japanese Government understands that this Declaration does not contain requirements that infringe upon the prerogatives of the emperor as the sovereign ruler of Japan. The Japanese government asks for specific notification in this regard. " On August 11, the governments of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and China sent a response. It stated that the power of the emperor and the government of Japan from the moment of surrender would be subordinate to the supreme commander of the allied powers; the emperor must ensure that Japan signs the terms of surrender; the form of government in Japan will ultimately be established by the freely expressed will of the people in accordance with the Potsdam Declaration; the armed forces of the allied powers will remain in Japan until the goals set out in the Potsdam Declaration are achieved.
Meanwhile, disputes continued among the Japanese elite. And in Manchuria there were fierce battles. The military insisted on continuing the struggle. On August 10, an appeal by the Minister of the Army Koretica Anami to the troops was published, in which it was emphasized that it was necessary "to bring the holy war to the end." The same appeal was issued on August 11. On August 12, Tokyo radio broadcast a message that the army and navy, "carrying out the highest order commanding to protect the homeland and the highest person of the emperor, everywhere went to active hostilities against the allies."
However, no orders could change reality: the Kwantung Army was defeated, and it became pointless to continue resistance. Under pressure from the emperor and the "party of peace", the military were forced to reconcile. On August 14, at a joint meeting of the Supreme Military Council and the government in the presence of the emperor, it was decided to unconditionally surrender Japan. In the decree of the emperor on Japan's acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, the main place was given to the preservation of the "national political system."
On the night of August 15, supporters of the continuation of the war revolted and occupied the imperial palace. They did not encroach on the life of the emperor, but wanted to change the government. However, by the morning of August 15, the mutiny was suppressed. On August 15, the population of Japan for the first time in their country heard the emperor's speech on the radio (on record) about unconditional surrender. On this day and later, many military men committed a samurai suicide - seppuku. So, on August 15, the Minister of the Army, Koretika Anami, committed suicide.
This is a characteristic feature of Japan - a high level of discipline and responsibility among the elite, which continued the traditions of the military class (samurai). Believing themselves to be guilty for the defeat and misfortune of their homeland, many Japanese chose to commit suicide.
The USSR and the Western powers disagreed in assessing the Japanese government's statement of surrender. The USA and Great Britain considered that August 14-15 were the last days of the war. August 14, 1945 became the "Day of Victory over Japan." By this point, Japan had indeed ceased hostilities against the US-British military. However, hostilities were still continuing on the territory of Manchuria, Central China, Korea, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. There the Japanese in a number of places resisted until the end of August, and only the offensive of the Soviet troops forced them to lay down their arms.
When it became known about the readiness of the Japanese Empire to capitulate, the question arose of appointing the supreme commander of the allied powers in the Far East. Its functions were to include the acceptance of the general surrender of the Japanese armed forces. The American government on August 12 proposed General D. MacArthur for this post. Moscow agreed with this proposal and appointed Lieutenant General K. N. Derevyanko as the USSR representative under the Supreme Commander of the Allied armies.
On August 15, the Americans announced the draft "General Order No. 1", which indicated the areas of acceptance of the surrender of the Japanese troops by each of the allied powers. The order stipulated that the Japanese in Northeast China, in the northern part of Korea (north of the 38th parallel) and in southern Sakhalin would surrender to the Commander-in-Chief of Soviet troops in the Far East. The surrender of Japanese troops in the southern part of Korea (south of the 38th parallel) was to be accepted by the Americans. The American command refused to conduct a landing operation in South Korea in order to interact with Soviet troops. The Americans preferred to land troops in Korea only after the end of the war, when the risk was no longer there.
Moscow as a whole did not object to the general content of General Order No. 1, but made several amendments. The Soviet government proposed to include in the area where Japanese forces were surrendered to Soviet troops all the Kuril Islands, which, by agreement in Yalta, were transferred to the Soviet Union and the northern part of the island of Hokkaido. The Americans did not raise serious objections to the Kuril Islands, since the issue of them was resolved at the Yalta Conference. However, the Americans still tried to nullify the decision of the Crimean Conference. On August 18, 1945, the day the Kuril operation began, Moscow received a message from US President Truman, which spoke of the US desire to obtain the rights to create an air base on one of the Kuril Islands, presumably in the central part, for military and commercial purposes. Moscow firmly rejected these claims.
As for the question of Hokkaido, Washington rejected the Soviet proposal and insisted that Japanese troops on all four islands of Japan proper (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu) surrender to the Americans. At the same time, the United States did not formally deny the USSR the right to temporarily occupy Japan. "General MacArthur," the American president said, "will use the symbolic allied armed forces, which, of course, will include the Soviet armed forces, to temporarily occupy as much of Japan proper as he deems necessary to occupy in order to implement our allied terms of surrender." But in fact, the United States has relied on unilateral control in Japan. Truman spoke at a conference in Washington on August 16 and said that Japan, like Germany, would not be divided into occupation zones, that the entire Japanese territory would be under American control.
In fact, the United States gave up allied control in post-war Japan, provided for in the Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945. Washington was not going to let Japan out of its sphere of influence. Before World War II Japan was under the great influence of Britain and the United States, now the Americans wanted to restore their positions. The interests of American capital were also taken into account.
After August 14, the USA repeatedly tried to put pressure on the USSR in order to stop the offensive of Soviet troops against the Japanese. The Americans wanted to limit the zone of Soviet influence. If Russian troops did not occupy South Sakhalin, the Kuriles and North Korea, then American forces could appear there. On August 15, MacArthur handed over to the Soviet Headquarters a directive to end offensive operations in the Far East, although the Soviet troops did not obey the allied command. Then the allies were forced to admit the "mistake." They say that the directive was passed not for "execution", but for "information". It is clear that this position of the United States did not contribute to the strengthening of friendship between the allies. It became clear that the world was heading for a new clash - now between the former allies. The United States tried with rather tough pressure to stop the further spread of the zone of Soviet influence.
This US policy played into the hands of the Japanese elite. The Japanese, like the Germans before, hoped to the last that a major conflict would occur between the allies, right up to an armed clash. Although the Japanese, like the Germans before, miscalculated. At this point, the United States was betting on Kuomintang China. The Anglo-Saxons first used Japan, provoking it to the outbreak of hostilities in the Pacific Ocean zone, to aggression against China and the USSR. True, the Japanese dodged and, having received tough military lessons, did not attack the USSR. But on the whole, the Japanese elite lost, being drawn into the war with the United States and Britain. The weight classes were too different. The Anglo-Saxons used Japan, and in 1945 it was time to bring it under full control, right up to the military occupation that continues to this day. Japan became at first an almost open colony of the United States, and then a semi-colony, a dependent satellite.
All the preparatory work for organizing the official Act of Surrender was carried out at MacArthur's headquarters in Manila. On August 19, 1945, representatives of the Japanese headquarters arrived here, headed by the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Torashiro Kawabe. It is characteristic that the Japanese sent their delegation to the Philippines only when they were finally convinced that the Kwantung Army had been defeated.
On the day the Japanese delegation arrived at MacArthur's headquarters there, a "denunciation" of the Japanese government on the Soviet troops, which had begun an operation on the Kuril Islands, was received from Tokyo by radio. The Russians were accused of violating the alleged "prohibition of hostilities" that existed after August 14. It was a provocation. The Japanese wanted the allied command to intervene in the actions of the Soviet troops. On August 20, MacArthur declared: "I sincerely hope that, pending the formal signing of surrender, a truce will prevail on all fronts and that surrender can be carried out without the shedding of blood." That is, it was a hint that Moscow was to blame for the “shedding of blood”. However, the Soviet command was not going to stop hostilities before the Japanese cease resistance and lay down their arms in Manchuria, Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
The Act of Surrender, agreed upon by the allied countries, was handed over to the Japanese representatives in Manila. General MacArthur notified the Japanese headquarters on August 26 that the American fleet was moving towards Tokyo Bay. The American armada consisted of about 400 ships, and 1300 aircraft, which were based on aircraft carriers. On 28 August, forward American forces landed at Atsugi airfield, near Tokyo. On August 30, a mass landing of American troops began in the area of the Japanese capital and in other regions of the country. On the same day, MacArthur arrived and took control of the Tokyo radio station and created an information bureau.
For the first time in the history of Japan, its territory was occupied by foreign troops. She had never had to surrender before. On September 2, 1945, the signing ceremony of the Act of Surrender took place in Tokyo Bay aboard the American battleship Missouri. On behalf of the Japanese government, the Act was signed by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, on behalf of the Imperial Headquarters, General Staff Chief General Yoshijiro Umezu signed it. On behalf of all the allied nations, the Act was signed by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Armies, General of the US Army Douglas MacArthur, from the USA - Admiral Chester Nimitz, from the USSR - Lieutenant General Kuzma Derevyanko, from China - General Xu Yongchang, from Britain - Admiral Bruce Fraser. Representatives of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Holland and France also put their signatures.
According to the Act of Surrender, Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and declared the unconditional surrender of all armed forces, both its own and those under its control. All Japanese troops and population were ordered to immediately cease hostilities, to keep ships, aircraft, military and civilian property; the Japanese government and the General Staff were instructed to immediately release all Allied prisoners of war and civilian internees; the power of the emperor and government was subordinate to the supreme allied command, which must take measures to implement the terms of surrender.
Japan finally ended its resistance. The occupation of the Japanese islands by American troops began with the participation of British forces (mainly Australians). By September 2, 1945, the surrender of the Japanese troops, which opposed the Soviet Army, was completed. At the same time, the remnants of Japanese forces in the Philippines surrendered. The disarmament and capture of other Japanese groups dragged on. The British landed in Singapore on 5 September. On September 12, the Act of Surrender of the Japanese Armed Forces in Southeast Asia was signed in Singapore. On September 14, the same ceremony was held in Malaya, on September 15 - in New Guinea and North Borneo. On September 16, British troops entered Xianggang (Hong Kong).
The surrender of the Japanese troops in Central and North China proceeded with great difficulties. The offensive of Soviet troops in Manchuria created favorable opportunities for the liberation of the rest of China from the invaders. However, Chiang Kai-shek's regime stuck to its line. The Kuomintang now considered the main adversary not to the Japanese, but to the Chinese communists. Chiang Kai-shek made a deal with the Japanese, giving them "the duty of maintaining order." Meanwhile, the people's liberation troops were successfully advancing in the regions of North, Central and South China. Within two months, from August 11 to October 10, 1945, the 8th and New 4th People's Armies destroyed, wounded and captured more than 230 thousand soldiers of the Japanese and puppet troops. The people's troops liberated large territories and dozens of cities.
However, Chiang Kai-shek continued to bend his line and tried to prohibit accepting the enemy's surrender. The transfer of Kuomintang troops on American planes and ships to Shanghai, Nanjing and Tanjing was organized under the pretext of disarming Japanese troops, although these cities had already been blocked by popular forces. The Kuomintang was deployed in order to increase the pressure on the people's armies of China. At the same time, Japanese troops took part in hostilities on the side of the Kuomintang for several months. The signing of the surrender on October 9 in Nanjing by Japanese troops was formal. The Japanese were not disarmed and until 1946 they fought as mercenaries against the popular forces. The Japanese soldiers were formed into volunteer detachments to fight the communists and used to guard the railways. And three months after Japan's surrender, tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers did not lay down their arms and fought on the side of the Kuomintang. The Japanese commander-in-chief in China, General Teiji Okamura, was still in his headquarters in Nanjing and was now subordinate to the Kuomintang government.
Modern Japan should remember the lesson of September 2, 1945. The Japanese should be aware that the Anglo-Saxons played them off in 1904-1905. with Russia, and then for decades set Japan against Russia (USSR) and China. That it was the United States that bombarded the Yamato race and turned Japan into its semi-colony. That only friendship and a strategic alliance along the Moscow-Tokyo line can provide a period of long prosperity and security in the Asia-Pacific region. The Japanese people do not need to repeat old mistakes in the 21st century. The enmity between the Russians and the Japanese only plays into the hands of the owners of the Western project. There are no fundamental contradictions between the Russian and Japanese civilizations, and they are doomed to creation by history itself. In the future, the Moscow-Tokyo-Beijing axis could ensure peace and prosperity in most of the Eastern Hemisphere for centuries. The union of three great civilizations will help keep the world from chaos and catastrophe, to which the masters of the West are pushing humanity.
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The article was written by political scientist and Japanese scholar Vasily Molodyakov
On September 2, 1945, on board the American battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, representatives of the victorious Allied Powers and the defeated Land of the Rising Sun signed the Japan Unconditional Surrender Act. The Second World War is over - in the Pacific Ocean and everywhere.
Peace has come, but questions remain. Why did the Japanese, who fought with selfless and sometimes insane courage, disciplined themselves to lay down their arms? Why did Tokyo first reject the Potsdam Declaration of the Allies and decide to continue the senseless resistance, and then agree to its terms? And, perhaps, the main thing: what played a decisive role in the decision to surrender - the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the entry of the USSR into the war with Japan?
The question is not only historical, but also political. If the former, then the Americans saved one hundred million Japanese at the cost of several hundred thousand lives, and the Soviet Union behaved like a "thief in a fire," to put it mildly, taking advantage of the predicament of a neighbor. If the latter, then our country had every right, at least, to its share of the spoils of war and to participate in the management of defeated Japan. American and Japanese propaganda under its control adhered to the first point of view, Soviet propaganda - the second.
American historian of Russian descent George Lensen wittily remarked: “Naturally, the history of the war in the Pacific Ocean for the American reader will include a photograph of General MacArthur when he signs the Japan Surrender Act on the deck of the Missouri, while a similar story for the Soviet the reader will be shown the same scene, but with Lieutenant General Kuzma Derevyanko signing the Act, while MacArthur and everyone else will stand in the background. "
To answer this question, we will have to go back a little more than a month from the events described - to the Potsdam conference of the “Big Three”. On July 26, the Potsdam Declaration of the USA, Great Britain and China (Chiang Kai-shek signed "by telegraph") demanded the unconditional surrender of Japan. “Below are our terms. We will not deviate from them. There is no choice. We will not tolerate any delay ... Otherwise, Japan will face a quick and complete defeat. " Charged in advance by the Americans, the declaration in one of the versions provided for Stalin's signature. President Harry Truman announced that he was going to Potsdam in order to ensure the participation of the USSR in the war with Japan, but as the atomic project approached a successful conclusion, he felt more and more doubts about the need to share the winner's laurels with “Uncle Joe”.
The Potsdam Declaration, in the form in which it was adopted and published, left almost no hope that Japan would accept it: it did not say a word about the fate of the emperor and the political system, which was the main concern of those in power in Tokyo. Consequently, it untied the hands of the United States to use nuclear weapons. At the same time, she presented the Soviet Union with the fact that such an important decision was made without his participation and without the possibility of influencing him.
Secretary of State James Byrnes' explanation that Truman did not want to embarrass the USSR as a country not at war with Japan angered Stalin. Back on May 28, 1945, while discussing Far Eastern affairs in Moscow with the White House special envoy Harry Hopkins, he said that he prefers a compromise peace with Japan on the condition of complete destruction of its military potential and the occupation of the country, but softer than in Germany, explaining, that demanding unconditional surrender would force the Japanese to fight to the last. Stalin announced that the Soviet Union would be ready to enter the war no earlier than August 8 (the army command insisted on a later date to complete the preparations), and raised the issue of participation in the occupation of Japan. Hopkins proposed an ultimatum to Tokyo on behalf of the United States and the USSR. The Secretary General agreed and advised to include this issue on the agenda of the conference. He even brought with him to Potsdam a draft statement of the four powers, but his text, which sounded softer than the American one, remained unclaimed.
On July 28, at the beginning of a regular meeting, Stalin told Truman and British Prime Minister Clement Attlee that "we, the Russian delegation, have received a new proposal from Japan." "Although we are not properly informed when a document is being drawn up about Japan," he said emphatically, "however, we believe that we should inform each other about new proposals." Then, as stated in the minutes, an English translation of Japan's Mediation Note was read. What is this document?
On July 13, the Japanese ambassador to Moscow, Naotake Sato, handed the text of the message of the Japanese emperor to Deputy People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Solomon Lozovsky, explaining that for its official presentation, former Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe would like to arrive in Moscow as a special envoy and confidant of the monarch. Here is a translation of this document from the Russian Foreign Policy Archive:
“His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, deeply concerned about the calamities and casualties of the peoples of all the belligerent countries, which are increasing day by day as a result of the current war, expresses his will to end the war as soon as possible. Since in the East Asian War, the United States and England insist on unconditional surrender, the Empire will be forced to bring the war to the end, mobilizing all forces and means, for the honor and existence of the Fatherland. However, as a result of this circumstance, inevitably increased bloodshed among the peoples of both belligerents. His Majesty is extremely disturbed in this thought and expresses the wish that peace be restored for the good of mankind as soon as possible. "
Lozovsky noticed that the message had no addressee and it was not clear to whom it was sent. The ambassador, according to the minutes of the conversation, replied that it “is not specifically addressed to anyone. It is desirable that the head of state, Mr. Kalinin, and the head of the Soviet government, Stalin, familiarize themselves with it. " The leadership of the "land of the gods" - as always - wanted to first find out whether Konoe would be accepted in the Kremlin, and only then open the cards. In Tokyo, the Supreme Council for War Leadership continued to discuss what could be offered to the Soviet Union for helping out of the war. In Konoe's "suitcase" lay South Sakhalin, the Kuriles, Manchuria as a sphere of influence, the rejection of fishing rights, and even the surrender of the Kwantung Army, which the Japanese, for obvious reasons, do not like to remember.
Stalin did not intend to receive the envoy from Tokyo "in advance". On July 18, Lozovsky replied to the ambassador: “The considerations expressed in the message of the Emperor of Japan have a general form and do not contain any specific proposals. The Soviet Government also finds it unclear what the mission of Prince Konoe is. In view of the above, the Soviet Government does not see an opportunity to give any definite answer regarding the mission of Prince Konoe. " Upon receiving this polite refusal, Sato immediately sent a telegram to Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo, in which he offered to immediately agree to surrender. Togo resolutely replied that Japan would resist to the last, and ordered to obtain Moscow's consent to the arrival of the Konoe mission. Fulfilling the order of the chief, the ambassador on July 25 again tried to persuade Lozovsky. But it was too late.
"There is nothing new in this document," Stalin remarked, informing Truman and Attlee of the emperor's message. - There is only one proposal: Japan offers us cooperation. We think to answer them in the same spirit as it was last time, ”that is, with a polite refusal.
Having learned about the Potsdam Declaration from a BBC radio broadcast, Ambassador Sato concluded that such a document could not have appeared without prior notification and the consent of the Soviet side. He immediately informed the Foreign Ministry that this was the answer to the proposal to send Konoe's mission. Confusion reigned in Tokyo. The army did not allow the declaration to be adopted, but Togo persuaded him not to officially reject it, so as not to aggravate the situation. The newspapers got the word mokusatsu - "kill by silence" or "ignore" - which began to determine the position of the government.
On August 5, Stalin and Molotov returned to Moscow. On August 6, the first American atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Truman could not hide his joy and notified the whole world of what had happened. Japan's Minister of War, General Koretika Anami, turned to physicists with the question of what the "atomic bomb" is. The Soviet leader did not ask such questions. Back in Potsdam, he learned that the United States has nuclear weapons, but did not expect such a quick use. Stalin realized that this was a warning not only to the Japanese, and decided not to hesitate.
On August 8, at 5 pm Moscow time, Molotov received the Japanese ambassador, who had long asked to see him. There was no need to talk about Konoe's mission. The People's Commissar immediately interrupted the guest, saying that he had to make an important statement: from midnight on August 9, i.e. just an hour later, Tokyo time, the USSR and Japan are at war. The reasoning is simple: Tokyo rejected the demands of the Potsdam Declaration; the allies turned to the USSR with a request to enter the war, and the latter, "true to the allied duty," accepted the offer.
The assertion that the allies asked Moscow to join the war follows from the minutes of the Potsdam conference, published by the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, in the published minutes of Molotov's conversation with Truman on July 29, a note was made, which was restored by historians only in 1995: “Molotov says that he has proposals related to the situation in the Far East. It would be a convenient excuse for the Soviet Union to enter the war against Japan if the allies asked him about it (emphasis mine - V.M.). One could indicate that, in connection with Japan's rejection of the demand for surrender ... "and so on, as later in the Soviet statement.
When did the Soviet leadership decide to go to war with Japan? The political decision about this was first announced by Stalin - in deep secrecy - in October 1943 at the Moscow conference of foreign ministers of the anti-Hitler coalition, and was included in the minutes at the Tehran conference of the Big Three in late November - early December of the same year. The Japanese, of course, did not know about this. They consoled themselves with the absence of Chiang Kai-shek in the Iranian capital, which made it possible to consider the conference a military council against Germany. The absence of Soviet representatives at the Cairo conference, when Roosevelt and Churchill met with Chiang Kai-shek on their way to Tehran, was interpreted in a similar way. It was there that the declaration was adopted demanding the unconditional surrender of Japan, published on December 1, 1943.
When did Moscow make the tactical decision to enter the war in the Far East? It is difficult to say for sure, but at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 it was officially confirmed. Under a secret agreement dated February 11, the Soviet Union received South Sakhalin and the Kuriles for this; Dairen became an international port with preemptive rights of the USSR; Port Arthur was returned to the Soviet Union as a rented naval base; The CER and YMZhD passed under Soviet-Chinese control, ensuring the priority interests of the USSR and the full sovereignty of China in Manchuria; the state of Manchukuo was liquidated and became part of China, which, in turn, renounced any rights and claims to Outer Mongolia (MPR). On July 26 and 27, a joint meeting of the Politburo and Headquarters finally consolidated the decision on the USSR's entry into the war, which the next day was brought to the notice of the executors by three directives signed by Stalin.
Immediately after midnight on August 9, the Soviet army attacked Japanese positions in Manchuria and Korea. A few hours later, a second American bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. In the evening of the same day, the Imperial Conference was held in a palace bomb shelter in Tokyo - a meeting of the monarch, the chairman of the Privy Council, the prime minister, key ministers and chiefs of general staff of the army and navy. There was only one question: to accept or not to accept the Potsdam Declaration. Realizing that the war was lost, the emperor resisted unconditional surrender, counting to the last on the mediation of Moscow. Now there was nothing to hope for, which was directly stated by Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki. The resolution, prepared by the Foreign Ministry, provided for the adoption of the terms of the declaration, "understanding them in the sense that they do not contain a requirement to change the status of the Japanese emperor established by state laws." Under pressure from the Minister of War and the Chiefs of Staff, the Supreme Council for the Leadership of the War agreed to surrender under the following conditions: “1) it does not affect the imperial family; 2) Japanese troops outside the country are demobilized after their free withdrawal from the occupied territories; 3) war criminals will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Japanese government; 4) the occupation will not be carried out in order to guarantee (the fulfillment of the terms of surrender - VM) ”. The foreign minister suggested limiting ourselves to the first point. The military insisted on all four. The emperor approved the Foreign Ministry's project, but Washington rejected it, not wanting to hear about any reservations.
Only on August 14, the cabinet was able to work out the text of the rescript of the surrender. The emperor decided to address the people on the radio with an appeal to "endure the unbearable." On the night of August 14-15, a group of officers of the capital's garrison tried to stir up a mutiny, seize the original recording of the august appeal made the day before, in order to prevent it from being broadcast, and destroy the "capitulators" from the government. The performance failed due to lack of support, and its ringleaders committed suicide. On August 15, the Japanese heard the voice of the divine monarch for the first time in history. It is this date that is considered in the Land of the Rising Sun as the day of the end of the war.
American historian Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, Japanese by birth, wrote the best, to date, comprehensive study of this issue "Race with the enemy. Stalin, Truman and Japan's surrender, "published in 2005. His verdict, based on the first combined Japanese, Soviet and American sources, reads:" The entry of the USSR into the war shocked the Japanese more than atomic bombs, because it put an end to all hopes come to an agreement even slightly different from unconditional surrender ... (It) played a greater role than atomic bombs in forcing Japan to surrender. "
Of course, in this matter, scientists still have something to do. But if you approach the problem comprehensively and impartially, the verdict is unlikely to be different.
On September 2, 1945, the act of surrender of Japan was signed aboard the American battleship Missouri, ending World War II.
On behalf of the USSR, this most important historical document was signed by Lieutenant General Kuzma Nikolaevich Derevyanko, Soviet representative at the headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the allied forces in the Pacific, General MacArthur.
Many are still interested in why this right was granted not to one of the famous marshals, but to a little-known general, of whom there were about six thousand in the Soviet Army in 1945. Indeed, from the side of the allies on board the Missouri, there were "stars" of the first magnitude, led by the five-star General MacArthur (at that time there were only four such stars in the US Army).
From the Americans, the victorious Midway and Leite, Admiral Nimitz, accepted the capitulation, from the British - the commander of the empire's fleet in the Pacific, Admiral Fraser, from the French - the famous General Leclerc, from the Chinese - the head of the operational department of the headquarters of Chiang Kai-shek, General Su Yongchang.
It seemed that in this company the presence of the commander-in-chief of Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal Vasilevsky, or one of the commanders of the fronts that had just defeated the Kwantung Army — Malinovsky, Meretskov, or Purkaev — was more appropriate. But instead of them on board the Missouri was Derevianko, who until recently held a relatively modest position as chief of staff of the 4th Guards Army.
On this occasion, some liberal historians even had a hypothesis that, by sending only a lieutenant general to sign the act, Stalin wanted to belittle the significance of the war in the Pacific, in which the Americans played the leading role. So, the most famous Soviet commander Zhukov accepted the surrender of Germany, and one of the staff, who somehow attracted the attention of the "bloody tyrant on the Kremlin throne", was also suitable for Japan.
In fact, everything was not so, and the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief to choose a Soviet representative to participate in the final episode of World War II was based on completely different motives ...
By that time, relations between the Soviet Union and the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition had seriously deteriorated. Having got rid of a common enemy, our yesterday's partners began to prepare for a clash with the USSR. This was clearly confirmed by the Potsdam Conference, during which Stalin had to deal with the inveterate Russophobe Truman.
The commander-in-chief of the allied forces in the Pacific, General MacArthur, also did not hide his anti-Soviet views. Moscow was also well aware of the American military leader's passion for theatrical gestures: what was the cost of one of his recent shows entitled "MacArthur Liberates the Philippines." The Kremlin was confident that something similar would happen on board the Missouri.
"Pacific Napoleon" did not disappoint expectations, turning the surrender of the Japanese into a real show with itself in the lead role. MacArthur ordered the installation of a ceremony table on the upper deck to provide convenience for the press and the public, which were the sailors of the battleship, gave a short speech for history ("We are gathered here ... to conclude a solemn agreement through which peace can be restored ...") and arranged a whole show of the procedure for signing the act.
Having invited Generals Percival and Uyenrayat, who were freed by him from Japanese captivity, as assistants, MacArthur signed by syllables, constantly changing pens. He immediately handed out used writing utensils as souvenirs. The audience roared with delight.
Stalin, knowing about this weakness of MacArthur, sensibly judged that the participation of any of the Soviet marshals in this circus could lead to a conflict that was completely unnecessary under these conditions. Therefore, it was not a military leader, but a diplomat who had to represent the Soviet Union at the benefit performance of the Americans.
But the employees of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs were not suitable for this role, among the allied generals they would look like black sheep. This means that it was necessary to find a military man with diplomatic experience, and of a sufficiently high rank.
In addition, it was impossible to miss a unique chance to look at the process of the beginning of the occupation of Japan by the Americans, so to speak, from the inside. Such an opportunity might not have presented itself again. Therefore, a person was needed who spoke English and Japanese, who could not so much speak, but how to look, listen, remember and analyze. Moreover, such his qualities should not be obvious to the allies.
Kuzma Nikolaevich Derevyanko suited this role perfectly. A brave soldier with an open and honest Russian face, in a fairly high rank, but not belonging to the cream of the USSR military elite. Therefore, the allies could not have a more or less detailed dossier on him and he had to be perceived as who he seemed.
The calculation turned out to be correct. They were friendly to the general, but they did not take them under close guardianship and did not drag them around to parties with the participation of top officials - a figure of the wrong scale. His strange requests, for example, for permission to visit the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which in other conditions could arouse suspicion, were treated quite leniently: if he wants, let him go. What is interesting there can be seen by the former chief of staff of the army, who cannot know anything about the atomic bomb ...
Meanwhile, if the Americans could look into the personal file of the forty-year-old general, they would react differently. After all, the biography of the son of a stonecutter from the Little Russian village of Kosenivka near Uman was not typical for an army general.
While still a cadet of the Kharkov school of red elders, young Kuzma Derevyanko independently learned to speak and write in Japanese. Why he needed to learn one of the most difficult languages in the world, history is silent, but such a remarkable fact attracted the attention of the command. Apparently, it seemed to someone not rational to keep a talented nugget in combat positions, and he was sent to study at a special department of the Frunze Military Academy, where, in addition to Japanese, he mastered English.
After graduating from the academy, Derevyanko waited for service in military intelligence. He was instructed to organize the uninterrupted transit from the Soviet Union to China of caravans with weapons, which were necessary for the war with the Japanese. The mission was top secret - the leak of information threatened Moscow with a serious complication of relations with Tokyo, which were far from cloudless.
For the successful completion of this assignment, Captain Derevyanko was awarded the Order of Lenin, which was an extraordinary event for that time. Apparently, to someone it seemed unfair, and soon the party commission of the Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army took up the freshly baked order bearer. Derevianko was accused of having connections with "enemies of the people" - shortly before that, two of his uncles and brother were arrested and convicted.
Exposers of "bloody Stalinism" argue that in the late 1930s and less there were enough reasons to part not only with your party membership card, but also with your life. The fate of Derevianko completely refutes this liberal theorem. After several months of litigation, he was just reprimanded. But the obstinate scout managed to get the case reconsidered. The reprimand was removed by the decision of a higher authority - the party committee of the People's Commissariat of the Ministry of Defense.
During the Finnish war, Major Derevyanko was the chief of staff of the Separate Special Ski Brigade, and repeatedly took part in reconnaissance and sabotage raids on the rear of the enemy. At the beginning of 1941, he carried out a secret mission in East Prussia, probably related to obtaining data on the preparations of the Germans for war with the USSR.
Colonel Derevyanko met the Nazi attack as chief of the intelligence department of the headquarters of the North-Western Front. In mid-August 1941, he led a raid to the rear of the Germans, during which about two thousand Red Army soldiers were released from a concentration camp near Staraya Russa.
In May 1942, Derevianko was appointed chief of staff of the 53rd Army and was simultaneously promoted to major general. He took part in the battle at the Kursk Bulge, the battle for the Dnieper, the capture of Budapest and Vienna. For the successful development of operations, he was awarded a full set of "military leadership" orders - Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Suvorov and Kutuzov. After the victory, he took part in the work of the Allied Council for Austria for some time.
This is the kind of person Stalin instructed to represent our country at a ceremony in Tokyo Bay. It is clear that this choice was by no means accidental.
During a month's trip to Japan, Derevianko performed not only and not so much representative functions. So, he several times visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki, literally crawling out with a camera in his hands the burnt ruins. On his return to Moscow, Stalin received the general. Derevianko gave a detailed report on the situation in Japan, the state of its army and naval forces, and the mood of the population. His report and photographs on the results of the atomic bombings were especially carefully considered. The general's activities were fully approved, for the successful completion of the assignment he was awarded the second Order of Lenin.
In the Land of the Rising Sun, the language of which he studied from his youth, Derevianko spent four more years as the Soviet representative in the Union Council for Japan. Despite the opposition of the Americans, the general consistently defended the position of our state, regularly submitting statements and memorandums on issues sensitive to Soviet interests.
It was Derevyanko's persistence that allowed MacArthur to sign a directive instructing the Japanese government to “stop exercising or attempting to exercise state or administrative power” on all islands north of Hokkaido. This implied Tokyo's complete abandonment of the Kuril Islands, both northern and southern. Although this was exactly what was envisaged by the decisions of the Potsdam Conference, the Americans, in the context of the flaring cold war, were not averse to playing this issue.
Derevianko returned from Japan seriously ill due to radiation received from the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He developed cancer. The general died at the end of 1954, shortly after his fiftieth birthday, and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. The obituary together with Defense Minister Bulganin was signed by Marshals Zhukov, Konev, Vasilevsky, Malinovsky ...
In May 2007, the authorities of the "square" suddenly remembered that General Derevyanko was from near Uman, and by the decree of President Yushchenko he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine. Now the Kiev rulers, known for their paradoxical assessments of historical events, have reason to claim that Ukraine has defeated Japan.
However, if Kuzma Nikolaevich suddenly found out that he was in the same company with Shukhevych and Bandera, he would probably have given up his heroic title. Orders of Lenin, Suvorov, Kutuzov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky were dearer to him.
After the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan, many Japanese statesmen realized that the political and strategic situation in the Far East had radically changed and it was pointless to continue the war.
On the morning of August 9, an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council for War Leadership was held. Opening it, Prime Minister Suzuki said: “I have come to the conclusion that the only possible alternative is to accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and end hostilities” (888).
Supporters of the continuation of the war, Minister of War Anami, Chief of the General Staff of the Army Umezu and Chief of the Naval General Staff Toyoda insisted that the Potsdam Declaration be adopted only on condition that the Allied Powers fulfill four obligations: preserving the imperial system of state power, punishing war criminals by the Japanese themselves, granting Japan the right independent disarmament and the prevention of its occupation by the allies, and if the occupation is inevitable, then it should be short-lived, carried out by small forces and not affect Tokyo (889).
The Japanese leaders wanted to get out of the war with the least political and moral damage. They didn't care about the loss of life. They knew that a well-trained and still powerful military, a properly trained population, would fight to the end. The armed forces, according to Anami and Toyoda, are able to inflict great damage on the enemy when he invades the metropolis. In other words, Japan, in their opinion, was not yet in a position to adopt a declaration without putting forward any conditions. Anami even stated that the active army would not obey the demobilization order and would not agree to lay down arms (890). The opinions of the participants in the meeting of the Supreme Council were divided, and no decision was made.
At 14:00 on August 9, 1945, an emergency meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers opened (891). It was attended by 15 people, of whom 10 were civilians. Thus, the balance of power was not in favor of the military, who were in favor of continuing the war. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Togo read out the text of the Potsdam Declaration and proposed to accept it, stipulating only one condition: the preservation of imperial power in the country.
Anami opposed. He again stated that if the countries that signed the Potsdam Declaration, but accept all the conditions, the Japanese will continue the war. In voting, five cabinet members abstained. The Minister of the Navy, the Ministers of Justice, Agriculture, Armaments and Communications, Education and a Minister without Portfolio supported Togo's proposal. The seven-hour meeting did not reveal a unanimous opinion.
At Suzuki's request, Emperor Hirohito convened the Supreme Council for the Leadership of the War. At the beginning of the meeting, Suzuki read out a draft response to the declaration's demands prepared by Togo's foreign minister. After listening to the points of view of those present, the emperor declared that the Japanese leadership had no chance of achieving success, and ordered the adoption of the draft minister of foreign affairs (892).
On the morning of August 10, the Japanese government announced through neutral countries - Sweden and Switzerland that it agreed to accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration if "the allies agree not to include in it a clause on depriving the emperor of sovereign rights" (893). The statement read: “The Japanese Government is ready to accept the terms of the Declaration of July 26 this year, to which the Soviet Government has also joined. The Japanese Government understands that this Declaration does not contain requirements that infringe upon the prerogatives of the emperor as the sovereign ruler of Japan. The Japanese Government asks for specific notification in this regard ”(894).
In the response of the governments of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and China on August 11, the Allies reaffirmed their demand for unconditional surrender and drew the attention of the Japanese government to the provision of the Potsdam Declaration, which stipulated that from the moment of surrender, the power of the emperor and the Japanese government in governing the state would be subordinate to the supreme commander. by the forces of the Allied Powers, which will take such steps as it deems necessary to implement the terms of surrender.
The Emperor would be asked, the reply said, to authorize and ensure the signing by the government and the high command of the terms of surrender necessary to fulfill the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration. In this regard, he will have to give orders to all military, naval and aviation authorities and all the armed forces under their control, wherever they are located, to stop hostilities, surrender weapons and fulfill the orders of the supreme commander aimed at implementing the terms of surrender. Japan's form of government will be established by the freely expressed will of the Japanese people in accordance with the Potsdam Declaration. The armed forces of the Allied Powers will remain in Japan until “until the goals set forth in the Potsdam Declaration are achieved” (895).
The response of the governments of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and China again caused controversy and disagreement in the Japanese government. The Minister of War, on his own initiative, appealed to all generals, officers and soldiers of the army, urging to continue the decisive holy war, to fight to the last drop of blood (896).
The commander-in-chief of the expeditionary forces in China, Okamura, and the commander-in-chief of the Japanese forces in the South Seas region, Tirauchi, having learned of the government's intention and the rate to adopt the Potsdam Declaration, sent telegrams to the Minister of War and the Chief of General Staff, in which they also expressed disagreement with the decision on the need for surrender and argued the possibility of continuing the war. ... Okamura wrote that “the entry into the war of the Soviet Union undoubtedly further worsened the position of the empire. However ... despite the successful offensive of the enemy and difficulties within the country, the entire army is ready to die with honor in battle, but to achieve the goals of the war this fall ”(897). In a similar spirit, the telegram to the Minister of War sent by Tirauti was drawn up.
The morning meeting on August 13 of the members of the Supreme Council for War Leadership, as well as the afternoon meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, was held in anticipation of news from the front. On August 14, at 10 o'clock, the emperor convened a joint meeting of the Supreme Council for the leadership of the war and the cabinet of ministers. And again the military representatives proposed to make reservations in terms of surrender or to continue the war. But the majority supported the adoption of the decision on unconditional surrender, which was approved by the emperor (898). On his behalf, a statement was made: “... I ordered the adoption of the Potsdam Declaration. My opinion has not changed ... I command everyone to join me ... Accept the terms immediately. So that the people can know about my decision, I command to urgently prepare an imperial rescript on this matter ”(899).
On the same day, the US government received a message through the Swiss government in which the four powers were informed that Japan issued a rescript of the emperor accepting the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, readiness to authorize and ensure the signing of the corresponding document and issue orders “to cease hostilities and surrender weapons, and give such other orders as may be required by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Armed Forces in order to implement the above conditions ”(900).
Following the announcement of the acceptance of the terms of surrender, the Japanese government conveyed its wishes to the four powers: “a) inform the Japanese side in advance about the introduction of the fleets and armies of the allied powers into the waters and into the territory of Japan, since the Japanese side must carry out appropriate preparations for this; b) to minimize the number of points on the territory of Japan subject to occupation according to the definition of the Allied Powers; when choosing these points, exclude Tokyo and minimize the number of troops that will be located in the points of occupation ”(901). Other wishes were also put forward: to carry out disarmament in stages and by the Japanese themselves; leave edged weapons to the servicemen; not to use prisoners of war for forced labor; units located in remote areas, to provide additional time for the implementation of the cessation of hostilities; remove the wounded and sick Japanese from the remote islands of the Pacific Ocean as soon as possible.
Upon learning that the emperor had recorded an appeal to the people on tape, in which he announced the acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and the end of the war by Japan, a group of fanatic officers led by Major K. Hatanaka ("young tigers" from the Department of the War Ministry and the capital's military institutions) , on the night of August 15, decided to disrupt the adoption of the declaration and lead Japan along the path of continuing the war. Their task was to remove the "supporters of peace" from the political arena, to persuade the armed forces to disobey, and so that the decision of the emperor does not receive publicity, to remove the text with the recording of the speech before its broadcast.
The commander of the 1st Guards Division, which guarded the imperial palace and without which it was impossible to carry out the putsch, did not want to participate in it and was killed. Having given the orders they needed on his behalf, the putschists entered the palace, attacked the residences of Prime Minister Suzuki, Lord Keeper of the Seal K. Kido, Chairman of the Privy Council K. Hiranuma, as well as the Tokyo radio station. However, they did not manage to find the wanted persons, as well as the tapes with the speech recording. Other parts of the Tokyo garrison did not support the conspirators. Even many former supporters of the "young tigers", not wanting to go against the emperor's decision and not believing in the success of the putsch, refused to take part in it.
The hastily organized putsch was liquidated in the very first hours. His instigators were not tried. They were simply given the opportunity to make hara-kiri according to the samurai custom.
On August 15, a rescript from Emperor Hirohito accepting the terms of surrender was broadcast on the radio. “We ordered our government,” Hirohito said, “to convey to the governments of the United States, Great Britain, China and the Soviet Union a message about our empire's acceptance of the terms of their joint declaration” (902).
It is characteristic that both at the time of the promulgation of the imperial rescript, and in the post-war years, Japanese official propaganda strenuously emphasized the "special role of the emperor" in the events of August 9-15, 1945. According to its statements, surrender was announced only at the insistence of the emperor, and surrenders were either not mentioned at all, or were related to secondary reasons.
In the difficult days for the Japanese militarists after August 9, some of the country's top military and political leaders, realizing the closeness of the collapse of their policies and the inevitability of retaliation, resorted to suicide. On August 11, former Prime Minister Tojo, the first of Japan's main war criminals, unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide with a shot from a revolver. On August 15, Minister of War Anami, creator of the kamikaze corps, Vice Admiral T. Opisi, commander-in-chief of the 1st United Army, Field Marshal Sugiyama, commanders of the 10th, 11th and 12th fronts, one of the former commanders of the Kwantung Army, General S. Honjo and other generals and ministers of the Suzuki cabinet (903).
On August 15, Suzuki's cabinet fell. All day and night, bonfires were burning near many government institutions: archives, correspondence and other documents that could discredit the ruling elite were urgently burned.
Under these conditions, political and military leaders began to seek a unilateral occupation of Japan by American troops in order to "resist the threat of the communist revolution and help preserve the imperial system" (904).
On August 15, hostilities between the Anglo-American and Japanese armed forces ceased. However, on the territory of Northeast China, Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, Japanese troops continued to resist the Soviet Armed Forces. Units of the Kwantung Army did not receive an order to cease hostilities, therefore, an order to cease hostilities was also not given to Soviet troops in the Far East. It was only on August 19 that the first meeting of Marshal A.M. Vasilevsky with the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army Khat took place, at which the parties agreed on the procedure for surrender. On the same day, Japanese troops began to lay down arms in front of the Soviet Armed Forces. The disarmament of the groupings based in Northeast China and North Korea continued until the end of the month. At the same time, the operation ended on South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
With the receipt of data on the acceptance by Japan on August 14, 1945, of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, the American side developed a draft "General Order No. 1 (for the Army and Navy)" on the acceptance of the surrender of the Japanese armed forces. The draft order was approved by US President Truman and communicated to the Allies on August 15. It defined the zones in which each of the allied powers accepted the surrender of the Japanese troops.
The Soviet government, in its reply dated August 16, stated that it did not object to the content of the order, but proposed to amend it: to include in the surrender area to Soviet troops all the Kuril Islands, which, by agreement of the three powers in Crimea, were transferred to the Soviet Union, and the northern half of the island Hokkaido (905). The US government was unable to raise any objection to the Kuril Islands. Regarding Hokkaido, Truman replied that General MacArthur was surrendering the Japanese armed forces on all the islands of Japan proper and he “would use symbolic (emphasized by us. - Ed.) the allied armed forces, which, of course, will include the Soviet armed forces ”(906).
The US government essentially rejected allied control in post-war Japan, stipulated by the Potsdam Declaration, took the path of refusing to cooperate with the Soviet Union and took a number of actions that clearly contradicted the existing allied agreements. Thus, President Truman's reply to the Soviet government on August 18 demanded that one of the Kuril Islands be used as a US air base, and this demand was not even motivated. The Soviet government rejected this harassment, stating that the Kuril Islands, in accordance with the Crimean Agreement, should come into the possession of the Soviet Union and that it understands "under what circumstances such a demand could arise." In the response of the Soviet government, it was explained that if the United States had in mind the landing of American commercial aircraft, then the USSR was ready to allocate an airfield, provided that the United States allocated the same one in the Aleutian Islands for landing Soviet aircraft (907).
All the preparatory work for organizing the official signing of the act of surrender was carried out by MacArthur's headquarters in Manila. MacArthur at this time was appointed the Allied Supreme Commander; he was entrusted with the acceptance of the surrender and its implementation. Having assumed this position, MacArthur on August 19 forbade signing any documents on surrender in other theaters of military operations before he signed them himself. He also banned the Japanese-occupied territories (908) until the signing of the act of surrender in Tokyo. On August 19, a Japanese delegation headed by the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces, General T. Kawabe, arrived in Manila. It consisted of 7 representatives of the army, 6 - the navy and 2 - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They were notified of the timing and areas where the first occupying troops would land. In this regard, the Japanese army had to leave the Atsugi airfield by the end of the day on August 24, the areas of Tokyo Bay and Sagami Bay by August 25, the Kanon base and the southern part of Kyushu island by 12 o'clock on August 30 (909).
Kawabe and the senior representative from the fleet, Admiral I. Yokoyama, asked to postpone the landing of the occupying forces for ten days, citing the need to take precautions to avoid unwanted incidents. The request of the Japanese delegation was granted, albeit for a shorter period. The landing of the first divisions of the occupation forces was postponed for three days, until August 26, and the main forces - until August 28 (910).
On August 20, the Japanese representatives in Manila were presented with the act of surrender agreed upon by the Allied Powers. The first paragraph of the act stated that Japan accepts "the terms of the declaration published on July 26 in Potsdam by the heads of government of the United States, China and Great Britain, to which the USSR subsequently joined" (911).
The act provided for the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Japan itself and those under its control, regardless of their location. In a special clause, it was agreed that the Japanese troops immediately cease hostilities and undertake to preserve and prevent damage to ships, aircraft, military and civilian property. The General Staff was instructed to immediately issue an order to the commanders of the Japanese troops, as well as the troops under Japanese control, to ensure unconditional surrender, the immediate release of prisoners of war and interneed civilians of the allied powers, ensuring their protection, maintenance and care, as well as their immediate delivery to indicated places. They also discussed issues related to the occupation of Japan by the Allied armies and the procedure for signing the act of Japan's unconditional surrender.
On September 2, 1945, the signing ceremony took place aboard the American battleship Missouri, which entered Tokyo Bay.
MacArthur conducted the ceremony in such a way as to create the impression that Japan was almost crushed by the United States alone. In an effort to emphasize that the victory sums up almost a century of US policy in the Pacific, the Americans removed from the museum and delivered to the Missouri the flag with which Commodore M. Perry "opened" Japan in 1854, that is, forced it to sign under the cannons unequal contract. The flag, placed in a glass case, was erected in a conspicuous place.
A large table was set up on the upper deck of the battleship, at which representatives of the delegations of the USA, Great Britain, USSR, France, China, Australia, Canada, Holland, New Zealand were sitting, and numerous correspondents were present. The Japanese delegation included Foreign Minister Shigemitsu, who represented the government, and General Umezu, the imperial headquarters.
The Japanese delegation was brought to board the battleship on the American destroyer Lansdowne at 8:55 am. Before reaching the table, the Japanese representatives stopped - "moments of shame" came. For five minutes, the Japanese delegation stood under the stern gaze of the representatives of the Allied countries who were present on the ship.
At 0900 hours, after a short speech by MacArthur, Shigemitsu and Umezu signed an act of unconditional surrender. Then it was signed by representatives of the Allied Powers: on behalf of all the allied nations - Supreme Commander General D. MacArthur, on behalf of the United States of America - Admiral Ch. Nimitz, China - Kuomintang General Su Yun-chan, Great Britain - Admiral B. Fraser, Soviet Union - General Derevianko Kuzmich Nikolaevich, Australia - General T. Blamey, France - General J. Leclerc, Holland - Admiral K. Halfrich, New Zealand - Air Vice Marshal L. Isit, Canada - Colonel N. Moore-Cosgrave.
The signing ceremony for the act of unconditional surrender lasted 20 minutes. Having received copies of the surrender document, the Japanese delegation departed from the Missouri (912).
Following this, representatives of the allied command began to accept the surrender of Japanese troops in various regions of the Pacific Ocean, China, and Southeast Asia. This procedure took several months.
