Sound- Truman announce the end of the war -Sound
It's when the Mariannas falls that the japanese government realizes that there are defeated and with the fall of Tojo on July 22nd 1945, the government talks of capitulating. The two cabinets which follow Tojo (koiso and then Suzuki) have to find agreements with the militaries who want to continue war until the end and with the politicians who want to have an honorable end. Links with Swiss and with the Vatican are established to make some progress. When they receive the Postdam proposition the Japaneses are divided into two groups: the fanatical military who wants to fight until death and the others that think that the Postdam proposition is honorable enough if they compare it with the proposition offered to the Germans. The Japaneses thus decide to wait, without refusing the proposition, the results of the Moscow meetings (they try to get the USSR as a mediator) but on August 8th the Soviets enter in war against Japan. Anyway the morning following the reception of the Postdam offers, the japanese generals had declared their disagreements to that offers. With the explosion of the two atomic bombs on August 6th and 9th, the Emperor is convinced that he has to capitulate without conditions.
In the night of August 9th (just after Nagasaki's atomic bombing) the Emperor meets his counsellors and insists so much that they agree to the offer of capitulation. August 10th early in the morning the ambassadors in Swiss officially accept the Postdam offers if and only if the Emperor can keep his throne. August 12th Truman accept the capitulation condition. But the Japaneses are not yet all convinced and so they meet again to argue for 48h while the bombs from the 3rd american fleet falls around. August 14th at 11h00 a new imperial counsil meets in the bomb shelter of the imperial palace and there Emperor Hirohito declares that Japan will capitulate.
August 14th the military branch of the japanese government tries to kidnap the Emperor, to destroy the official capitulation declaration and so continue war; but they fail even if they kill many generals. August 15th the Emperor speaks to the nation by radio and they learn that Japan is defeated (a few days earlier propaganda was saying the opposite). Many officers make hara-kiri (kill themselves): general Anami, general Umetzu, amiral Onishi and amiral Ugaki. 72 months and 1 day after the beginning of World War II, peace has come back.
Video- Japan official capitulation -Video
August 28th the Japaneses see the first american units land on their ground at Atsugi (near Tokyo). The 11th airborne division lands first and MacArthur is there August 30th. September 2nd the ship Missouri is anchored in Tokyo Bay and receive onboard all officials from every nations that was at war with Japan: MacArthur gives his signature for the interallied troops while the minister Shigemitsu and general Umezu give their signature for Japan; then admiral Chester W. Nimitz signs for the United States of America, general Hsu Yungchang signs for China, admiral Sir Bruce Fraser for Britain, general Kozma N. Derevianko for USSR, Sir Thomas Blamey for Australia, general L. Moore Cosgrave for Canada, general Leclerc for France, admiral Helfrich for Netherlands and air vice-marshal Leonard Isitt for New-Zeland. Second World War is now officially over.
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