Posted on 08/07/2015 10:37:28 AM PDT by nickcarraway
"The Japanese Government are ready to accept the terms enumerated in the joint declaration which was issued at Potsdam on July 26th, 1945, by the heads of the Governments of the United States, Great Britain, and China, and later subscribed by the Soviet Government with the understanding that the said declaration does not comprise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as a Sovereign Ruler."
Truman responded to that:
" ... From the moment of surrender the authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to rule the state shall be subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers who will take such steps as he deems proper to effectuate the surrender terms".
In effect at that moment Truman let Japan keep the emporer but subjucated him to MacArthur. .
http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V1/ch14.htm
“The ultimate form of government of Japan shall, in accordance with the Potsdam Declaration, be established by the freely expressed will of the Japanese people.”
There was no guarantee that the office of the Emperor would survive.
That is true. But, the argument in the thread was what facilitated Japan's surrender. What brought them to the table on the Missouri was the preservation of the emporer's position.
Your follow on statement which I did consider BTW
“The ultimate form of government of Japan shall, in accordance with the Potsdam Declaration, be established by the freely expressed will of the Japanese people.”
Indicates the state of government at some point in post-war Japan would determine whether to emporer was retained. It did not eliminate or preclude the position of the emporer.
I hope that Stewart assumes room temperature as soon as possible.
Nice to see him go after a rat. I bet if Truman had been a Republican there would be 10000 times the amount of criticism for dropping the bomb.
No doubt about that!
That's simply not true: -In Manchuria, the Red Army continued its advance against the Japanese; in heavy fighting at Pimgyanchen on August 10, of 850 Japanese engaged, 650 were killed or wounded. On August 11, Soviet naval forces began the bombardment of the Southern part of Sakhalin Island.
-During August 12, the Japanese use kamikaze infantrymen to try to halt the Soviet tanks. But at Hualin, on the following day, the tanks were able to fire at the infantry reinforcements while they were still on their train, killing nine hundred as they tried to leave their carriages.
- By midnight on August 14 Soviet forces advanced up to 250 miles into Manchuria, occupying Mukden, at the same time, Soviet troops were already ashore on Sakhalin and Kurile Islands [All if the above are taken from The Second World War: a complete history, page 717. 1989 by Sir Martin Gilbert. Emphasis mine.]
Quite simply, in only a few days, the Russian were kicking the butts of the Japanese on land and see, and there definitely were Russian naval forces.
Japan's defense plans involved throwing everything at the South to defend against the U.S. The Russian attack made that plan obsolete.
Manchuria shares a border with Russia. Japan does not. Ocean waters separate the two countries, even the narrow strait between Sakhalin Island (occupied by Soviet forces) and Hokkaido.
Military lesson for you:
To move hundreds of thousands of troops to invade Japan, the invading force needs large numbers of transport ships, Naval cruisers and battleships to shell the assault beaches, landing craft, and either aircraft carriers or nearby air bases to support air operations.
History lesson for you:
The Soviet Union didn't have those.
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