Was Japan's surrender really an unconditional surrender? No! Of the defeated countries of World War II, only Germany surrendered unconditionally, and it was fought to the end. Japan's surrender was actually after the deal. A modern Historian in Japan, Kiyoshi Inoue, once said that Japan's surrender was carried out without the knowledge of the Japanese people, and it was also the result of a long-term deal with the US military. So what really happened back then?
The world pattern
With the victory of the U.S. army and the Soviet Union and other Allied powers on the battlefield, Germany and Japan at this time were already doomed to failure, especially the German side, and Japan was still resisting at this time. With the end of the war, the world powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, had already begun to discuss the surrender of fascist countries after the war. The content of the discussion is whether these countries will surrender unconditionally or make peace, and at the same time there is a simple division of interests after the war, and the battle at this time has entered the end, so at the time of discussion, the United States and the Soviet Union and other countries have negotiated unconditional surrender, because at this time Germany no longer has the ability to fight back.
The moment of Japan's surrender
Conditions of unconditional surrender
So the end result is that these countries must surrender unconditionally. The significance of unconditional surrender is relatively greater, because unconditional surrender, first of all, the country has no chance to talk about conditions, and at the same time, the fascist Axis countries at this time are after the surrender, and the current government must be replaced. And the country's army must be completely dismantled to become a country that no longer has the ability to invade the outside world, and at the same time the military industry of the surrendering countries must also be dismantled, and there must be no factories for the manufacture of military products.
Surrender ceremony
From these conditions, it can be seen that Japan really surrendered unconditionally at that time? At that time, after this resolution came out, Italy had abandoned Germany and chose to surrender, leaving only Germany and Japan to resist, and Germany at that time was certainly unacceptable to this condition, from the subsequent defeat of Germany, Hitler and many other officials committed suicide, it can be seen that Germany's spirit is even "spiritual" than Japan's Bushido spirit.
However, at this time, Japan until the surrender of Japan, the Emperor of Japan has always been safe and sound, and even the Japanese island before the defeat of the war did not have a single foreigner on the Japanese island, both of which were also unconditional surrender, you can see how big the gap is.
The people cheering on the future of Japan's surrender
Historical secrets
In fact, in late 1944, Japan was already secretly discussing surrender with the United States, but these things were not known to the outside world, and the representative sent by Japan at that time was a close associate sent by the Japanese emperor's brother Takamatsu Guan, and the United States sent the director of the intelligence bureau. Representatives of both sides held secret negotiations in Switzerland. At this time, Japan wanted to make the United States agree to its own conditions as much as possible after surrendering.
The result of the negotiations at that time was that the United States could retain the Japanese imperial family, but Japan must surrender unconditionally. But such a result is a result that the Japanese imperial family does not want to see, because the Japanese imperial family even wants to put forward some conditions of its own, as long as the United States agrees to its own conditions, then Japan will choose to surrender, but it is absolutely impossible to surrender unconditionally.
After that, there were "one hundred million jade fragments" and other suicidal battles in Japan, in fact, the battle at this time was already in exchange for the consent of the United States, and Japan's practice was to make the United States agree to its demands, while the Japanese soldiers and people below did not know that they were just some victims of the imperial bargain.
Japanese surrender ceremony
And Japan's plans did have a certain effect at the time, because the United States had to pay a considerable price to take an island, and the United States also looked at the gradually powerful Soviet Union, and the United States was in its own interests. On May 9, 1945, the United States, in the secret talks with Japan on surrender, expressed that it could retain Japan's domestic system and Japan's imperial family, but it must be unconditional surrender, and Germany at this time was already unconditionally surrendered, so Japan at this time was the only one in the world that was still resisting, and Japan at this time still had some pressure.
Surrender statue
However, at this time, the People of the Japanese Military Department still did not agree, in their eyes, they could not surrender, and once Japan surrendered unconditionally, then they would become prisoners of war and be sent to the International Military Tribunal, so the Imperial Family was very moved by such conditions, but the Japanese Military Department did not want to. At this time, the Japanese side thought that it could use the Soviet Union to help Japan mediate in the middle, so that Japan could end the war in a peaceful way as much as possible, rather than unconditional surrender. Even as long as it did not surrender unconditionally, Japan could give up all territory other than the Japanese mainland. But the matter of Japan's unconditional surrender has long been decided by The United States, the United States, and the Soviet Union, so this cannot be changed.
Surrendered newspapers
After that, the United States saw that Japan was still bargaining, so it dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan, and after the atomic bomb exploded, Japan did not give up its peace of mind, until the Soviet Union officially declared war on Japan on the 9th, at this time Japan completely felt desperate. However, at this time, Japan was not completely desperate, or it was desperately trying to bargain with the United States and the Soviet Union.
At this time, although Japan was already on the verge of surrender, there were still four conditions for Japan to surrender, and only if the United States agreed to these four conditions, then Japan would surrender. The condition was that the war criminals in the war would be tried by Japan itself. All Japanese troops abroad were withdrawn autonomously. There is also the fact that foreign countries cannot occupy the Japanese mainland, but can only be temporarily stationed, and of course, there are previously promised conditions for retaining the imperial family and the state system, as long as these conditions are agreed, Japan can surrender immediately.
Ceremony before surrender
However, these are not fixed in Japan. It was not until the early morning of August 10 that the Japanese Emperor made the final decision, that is, to keep only one, to retain the Japanese Imperial Family, and at this moment the Japanese Emperor made the final decision, because the Japanese Imperial Family knew that it was good to get the United States to agree to one, so the Japanese Emperor chose to retain his position and life.
Japan surrendered
On August 10, Japan officially passed neutrality, Sweden and Switzerland proposed surrender to the Allies, and the news of Japan's surrender spread instantly to the upper echelons of the world. But when Japan proposed surrender, there was also a condition that the emperor's rule in Japan would not be changed. The United States immediately discussed this news about Japan, and after the discussion, the result was to agree to Japan's request, but the Emperor of Japan must be under the command of the Allies, which means that the Japanese system will not be changed, but there will be another Emperor Taishang in Japan.
On August 14, Japan began to send a formal note to the United States, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Britain, indicating that Japan had accepted the Postan Proclamation. It was not until August 15 that Japan read the Japanese broadcast to the world, so Japan's surrender was also considered to be on August 15, of course, this time it was considered by the world to be Japan's surrender broadcast, but there was not a word in the broadcast that Japan meant defeat and surrender, only Japan's defeat on the battlefield. Even in this reading, Japan is glorifying its own acts of aggression.
The reason why Japan has not yet recognized its acts of aggression in the world is because Japan did not recognize it in those years, did not admit it when it was defeated, and it will not be recognized by Japan after the war. Therefore, the declaration that was considered by the world to be surrender was actually the beginning of Japan's non-recognition.
At the time of surrender, Japan and the United States still played a little trick, for those of us who do not understand, as long as the Japanese people sign, then Japan admits its failure, but in fact, the result is not like this.
When Japan's surrender was signed, the person who signed it should be the upper echelons of Japan, who surrendered on behalf of Japan, but at the time of signing, it was signed by an official under the command of the Japanese military department, and such an act indirectly changed the concept of surrender, and the unconditional surrender of Japan in the original world became the surrender of the Japanese army, although it was only one word, but this intermediate concept occurred a huge concept.
The U.S. general signs the instrument of surrender
And the concept of this is Japan's surrender, then this matter will mean that the entire Japanese army, war criminals, industrial base, etc. about military strength and logistics must be eradicated, but the Japanese army is different, this is simply the Japanese army laid down its weapons, and the only people who received the trial were some people from the Japanese military department. There is no influence on the chaebols in Japan who supported Japan's war or the Japanese imperial family, and it can even be said that there is nothing wrong with the war criminals of the Japanese military, and the other meaning is that a small number of Japanese people have helped japan resist the entire crime of the whole country.
Therefore, according to these conclusions, Japan's surrender was indeed an unconditional surrender. Of course, at that time, Japan also signed the Bostan Proclamation, but if you look closely, the unconditional japanese army and the japanese unconditional are two concepts. Therefore, Japan's surrender was not unconditional, and the imperial family and the national system were preserved.