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The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender was a statement issued on July 26 for the surrender of Japanese forces, 1945, by United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 President
President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
 Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States . As the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States, he succeeded Franklin D....
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the head of government Her Majesty's Government....
 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Territorial Decoration, Fellow of the Royal Society, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a Politics of the United Kingdom known chiefly for his leadership of the United King...
, and President
President of the Republic of China

The President of the Republic of China is the head of state of the Republic of China . The Republic of China was founded in 1911 governing the whole of China....
 of the Republic of China
Republic of China

The Republic of China , also known as Nationalist China is a country in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition into a multi-party democratic state with Political status of Taiwan....
 Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek

Chiang Kai-shek , Order of the Bath , served as Generalissimo of the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1948. He was sometimes referred to simply as "the Generalissimo"....
 that outlined the terms of surrender
Surrender (military)

Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their commissioned officers....
 for the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan was a Japanese political entity that existed during the period from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until its defeat in World War II in 1945....
 as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference

The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of William, German Crown Prince, in Potsdam, Germany, from July 16 to August 2, 1945....
. This ultimatum
Ultimatum

An ultimatum is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a coercion to be followed through in case of noncompliance....
 stated that if Japan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction".

Japan's initial rejection of the ultimatum
Mokusatsu

Mokusatsu is a Japanese language word formed from two Chinese characters: "silence" and "kill" and means the act of keeping a contemptuous silence....
, by promulgating the condition that they be allowed to keep their emperor, and the impending Russian entry into the war, led directly to Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear warfares near the end of World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States at the executive order of President of the United States Harry S....
 on Hiroshima
Hiroshima

The Japanese city of is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu, the largest of Japan's islands....
 and Nagasaki
Nagasaki

is the Capital and the largest Municipalities of Japan of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the 16th century....
 on August 6 and 9.






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The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender was a statement issued on July 26 for the surrender of Japanese forces, 1945, by United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 President
President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
 Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States . As the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States, he succeeded Franklin D....
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the head of government Her Majesty's Government....
 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Territorial Decoration, Fellow of the Royal Society, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a Politics of the United Kingdom known chiefly for his leadership of the United King...
, and President
President of the Republic of China

The President of the Republic of China is the head of state of the Republic of China . The Republic of China was founded in 1911 governing the whole of China....
 of the Republic of China
Republic of China

The Republic of China , also known as Nationalist China is a country in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition into a multi-party democratic state with Political status of Taiwan....
 Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek

Chiang Kai-shek , Order of the Bath , served as Generalissimo of the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1948. He was sometimes referred to simply as "the Generalissimo"....
 that outlined the terms of surrender
Surrender (military)

Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their commissioned officers....
 for the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan was a Japanese political entity that existed during the period from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until its defeat in World War II in 1945....
 as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference

The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of William, German Crown Prince, in Potsdam, Germany, from July 16 to August 2, 1945....
. This ultimatum
Ultimatum

An ultimatum is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a coercion to be followed through in case of noncompliance....
 stated that if Japan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction".

Japan's initial rejection of the ultimatum
Mokusatsu

Mokusatsu is a Japanese language word formed from two Chinese characters: "silence" and "kill" and means the act of keeping a contemptuous silence....
, by promulgating the condition that they be allowed to keep their emperor, and the impending Russian entry into the war, led directly to Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear warfares near the end of World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States at the executive order of President of the United States Harry S....
 on Hiroshima
Hiroshima

The Japanese city of is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu, the largest of Japan's islands....
 and Nagasaki
Nagasaki

is the Capital and the largest Municipalities of Japan of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the 16th century....
 on August 6 and 9. Whether the ultimatum was intended to be acceptable without recourse to use nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion....
s has been subject to considerable debate.

The declaration was one of Churchill's final official acts as Prime Minister before leaving office the following day in favour of Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee

Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Fellow of the Royal Society was a British people politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955....
.

See also

  • Cairo Declaration
    Cairo Declaration

    The Cairo Declaration was the outcome of the Cairo Conference in Cairo, Egypt, on November 27, 1943. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China were present....
     (cited in Clause Eight (8) of the Potsdam Declaration)
  • Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
    Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear warfares near the end of World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States at the executive order of President of the United States Harry S....
  • Surrender of Japan
    Surrender of Japan

    The surrender of Japan in August 1945 brought World War II to a close. On August 10, 1945, after the Soviet Union Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the United States atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan's leaders at the Supreme War Council decided, in principle, to accept the terms the Allies of World War II had set down...
  • Soviet invasion of Manchuria
  • Japanese Instrument of Surrender
    Japanese Instrument of Surrender

    The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was the written agreement that enabled the Surrender of Japan, ending World War II. It was signed by representatives from the Empire of Japan, the United States of America, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Canada, the Provisional Government o...
  • General Order No. 1
  • Mokusatsu
    Mokusatsu

    Mokusatsu is a Japanese language word formed from two Chinese characters: "silence" and "kill" and means the act of keeping a contemptuous silence....


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