When it comes to empty fame and no real power, the Japanese emperor is absolutely very experienced.
In other parliamentary monarchies, the disappearance of the emperor's real power was often accompanied by the rise of the bourgeoisie. The power of the Japanese emperor ended in the shogunate era, and he was reduced to a political mascot early.
Although Emperor Meiji gathered a lot of power, the good times did not last long, and after the end of World War II, the emperor's power dissipated again. Japan lost its autonomy as a defeated country and could only act as america's eagle dog. With MacArthur leading troops into the city, it also ushered in its true Emperor Taishang.
Although the Korean battlefield was not safe, MacArthur's posture as a famous general always shone in the United States. In addition to his excellent military command skills, his ability to govern is also quite prominent, and has been recognized by many people.
His six years of rule in Japan were highly praised, not only single-handedly bringing the defeated country out of the quagmire of war, but also laying the foundation for modern Japan; It has won the recognition of the Japanese, and when he left office, there were hundreds of people vying to keep him.
How did MacArthur do this, and what exactly did he bring to Japan?
MacArthur
Wei Fu moved away from the mountain by himself
On August 30, 1945, MacArthur landed in Japan with his army and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Japan.
What was in front of him was a mess of holes, and it was extremely difficult to clean up.
MacArthur awaited a terrible environment, because he led the American army to eliminate millions of Japanese troops in the Pacific Theater, and had long become the number one enemy in the hearts of the locals. Therefore, after landing in Japan, MacArthur was not in a hurry to start work.
He first sent people to conduct secret visits and went through various materials about Japan. After months of investigation and analysis, MacArthur gained a clear understanding of Japan's political system and folk culture.
In order to do a better job, MacArthur decided to carry out a comprehensive transformation of this closed and backward country, first of all, to adjust the position of the emperor.
MacArthur
He found that the Japanese ruling class had been deifying the "emperor", who not only gained a very high position of power, but also became the spiritual belief of many Japanese people.
In order to stabilize postwar Japan, MacArthur announced after much deliberation that he would not abolish the emperor and exonerated the emperor in a military trial.
This move won the favor of many Japanese, who found that the American invaders were not extremely vicious.
Although the position of emperor was retained, MacArthur severely limited the latter's powers. On the one hand, he deconstructed the emperor's divinity and overthrew the people's belief in him by allowing him to travel and issuing the Declaration on Earth;
On the other hand, by amending the Constitution, the Emperor was excluded from the political sphere, making him a political mascot once and for all.
And for ordinary people, MacArthur's arrival moved away from the two mountains for them, first of all, the oppression of the Japanese people by militarism.
MacArthur
At the end of World War II, the Japanese military department had already killed the red eye, and they were unwilling to accept defeat, and even put forward the mad "Jade Fragment Plan" to take the lives of 100 million Japanese and the United States. Fortunately, this plan was eventually dismantled by the United States and was not implemented.
In a sense, the U.S. military is actually the savior of the Japanese people.
Second, MacArthur ended the emperor's rule and allowed Japan to smoothly enter capitalist society. Although the latter also had exploitation and oppression, it was ultimately much better than the feudal dynasty. Because of this, the Japanese rejection of MacArthur gradually disintegrated.
Moreover, the country itself has a serious Muqiang psychology, which is, in the old saying, "fear of prestige and not huaide". After being defeated by the United States in the Pacific Theater, they gradually developed the idea of submitting to the United States, and a strong leader like MacArthur was very much in line with the expectations of the Japanese.
Pacific Theater
Comprehensive radical social reforms
In addition to dismantling militarism and the oppression of the people by imperial power, MacArthur also carried out a top-down social revolution in Japan in just six years.
Although this reform was not thorough, it was already a great improvement of the Japanese system.
In order to achieve a complete transformation, MacArthur decided to start with the law. After receiving unceasing support from Washington, the renovation showed astonishing efficiency. Thanks to the efforts of excellent lawyers and judges, a new and mature Constitution of Japan was soon born.
This constitution is an organic fusion of the Constitutions of the United States and the United Kingdom, and at the same time it is supplemented according to the needs of the US military and the actual situation of Japan, which is very suitable for post-war Japan.
MacArthur
The most important significance of the new constitution is to give ordinary Japanese people the right to vote, although today, MacArthur's suffrage has many constraints and loopholes.
But it was a once-in-a-lifetime favor for the ordinary people of the time.
MacArthur's constitution also gave women the right to vote and work, which was the key to promoting the status of Women in Japan. Therefore, after the implementation of the new constitution, he quickly gained the recognition of the vulnerable groups in society.
In addition to the constitution, which was the basic law, MacArthur also reformed Japan's labor law. Although it is basically a copy and paste of US laws, it has also protected the legitimate rights and interests of workers from different aspects and made great social progress.
The Japanese people
After the establishment of a new legal system on the ruins, MacArthur's reforms in the economic field were also drastic. He first dissolved the Chaebol Groups of Japan, Such as Mitsubishi and Mitsui (although they were soon revived), and then carried out land reform in rural Japan.
MacArthur's idea was simple, the state came forward to buy the landlord's land and then subleased it to the farmers at a low price. Since then, tens of millions of Japanese farmers have owned land, which is the key to the recovery of Japanese agriculture.
After MacArthur's reforms were completely completely completely ended, Japan completely ended feudal rule and capitalized both industry and agriculture.
In addition to these most basic institutional adjustments, MacArthur also made adjustments in education, administrative institutions, and services during his six years of rule in Japan.
It can be said that japan's post-war national character shaping was almost all completed by the US military headquarters in Japan led by MacArthur, who can be called the "invisible father" of modern Japan.
Japan
Food aid and huge orders
MacArthur's reforms in Japan were very radical and were arguably vulnerable to repercussions by the old powers. The reason why he can complete it efficiently in a short period of time is because of the strong high pressure of the US military on the one hand; On the other hand, MacArthur also brought tangible benefits to Japan.
The war devastated Japan in all its aspects, and industry and agriculture collapsed.
So it wasn't long after the war that Japan was in a serious food crisis. Not only are ordinary people without rice, but even the life of the rentier class is tight.
Just as Japan was about to suffer from starvation, MacArthur stepped forward and personally returned to Washington to ask for help.
Under his arguments, the U.S. government eventually agreed to provide 3.5 million tons of food aid to Japan, allowing the latter to survive the post-war food shortage.
Japan
Meanwhile, MacArthur's generous speeches in Congress also brought in $2 billion in aid to Japan, which was key to Japan's postwar economic take-off. It is precisely because of this initial capital that many large enterprises can achieve rapid development.
While bringing American aid, MacArthur also won a large number of orders for Japan, which can be said to be "teaching people to fish" and "teaching people to fish".
In the early years after the end of World War II, Japan's development was actually very slow.
Although it gradually recovered after the reform, the effect was not obvious. Because the defeated Japan is simply a mess, it is difficult to achieve rapid development without external stimuli. The turning point soon came, and in 1950, the Korean War broke out.
war
The United States has lost in this battlefield one after another, and has to change its original intention of quick victory and devote great efforts to it. North Korea is too far from the U.S. mainland, putting great pressure on logistics.
In this situation, MacArthur came forward to win the opportunity to produce military materials for Japan, and a large number of orders poured in, and the once-dead Japanese companies were immediately revived with blood. For example, Toyota, which was on the verge of bankruptcy after World War II, took advantage of this opportunity to be reborn.
With such a huge dividend, MacArthur was highly regarded by the whole of Japan.
During his term of office, he was able to receive gifts from ordinary people every day, which shows the depth of his expectations.
MacArthur
Attitudes in the United States have changed dramatically
Seeing this, I believe many people will wonder, how did MacArthur care so much about Japan, and why did he fight for so many benefits for this land?
In fact, MacArthur's attitude toward Japan had little to do with himself, and in the beginning, he even hated the country.
Its practice of reforming Japan is only for the convenience of its rule, and the subsequent efforts to dig out its lungs are actually due to the change in attitude of the US government. After the end of World War II, the United States positioned Japan as a purely defeated country, although it was not explicitly stated, but in essence it has been considering colonizing Japan.
The reason why the United States later vigorously supported Japan, not hesitating to give money to grain, and even provided a large number of commercial orders, was actually to cope with the changing situation in Asia. To be precise, the vicissitudes of the Chinese civil war have led the United States to re-examine Japan.
MacArthur
After 1945, the main target of U.S. support in the Far East was actually the Kuomintang, which was its best ally and the key to balancing the Soviet Union.
The United States had confidently judged China that with its own strong assistance, the Kuomintang would be able to push the Communist Party flat.
Who knew that the outcome of the War of Liberation had taken the United States by surprise, and with a sharp lead in weapons, equipment, and troops, the Kuomintang was defeated and lost in less than three years, and the leaders were driven out of Nanjing.
The result panicked the United States that Communist-controlled China would be the Soviet Union's most powerful ally. And once China completes its recovery in the Far East, America's dream of dominating the Asia-Pacific region will be shattered. Therefore, it immediately reversed its direction and vigorously supported its former enemy, Japan.
It has never worried about Japan's regurgitation, which has natural limitations on national strength, and even if the economy takes off in the future, it will be difficult to break free of the control of the United States, and it can only honestly do its nails in East Asia to contain China's development.
Japan
epilogue
Whatever MacArthur really thought, his transformation of Japan objectively did contribute to the progress of the country, and it was in his hands that the prototype of modern Japan was perfected.
From this point of view, some Japanese people are also grateful to him.
However, MacArthur's transformation ultimately served the United States, so to this day, many favorable provisions can be found in Japanese law.
Moreover, in the 6 years in Japan, MacArthur trained many American politicians who were familiar with Japan, and with their unremitting efforts, Japan was infiltrated by the United States in many fields such as economy, politics and culture, and could no longer turn over.
Resources
"History of Post-War Japan" – Wang Xinsheng
The Supreme Commander: MacArthur's Victory in Japan – Seymour Morris Jr