On This Day WW2 Ended

[Weatherman2020]

Happy V-J Day. On this day in 1945, a formal surrender ceremony is held aboard the USS Missouri. On this day, World War II effectively came to an end.

It had been less than a month since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The bomb dropped on Hiroshima had been devastating, of course. But the second bomb dropped on Nagasaki was—if anything—even worse. That plutonium bomb produced an explosion 40 percent larger than the uranium one dropped on Hiroshima.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, the bombs prompted the Japanese government to consider surrendering—but it still wasn’t willing to do so unconditionally. Instead, it sought to ensure that such a document would not “compromise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as a sovereign ruler.” Nevertheless, President Harry Truman ordered a halt to the atomic attacks so negotiations could commence.

By August 12, the Japanese government had the American reply: The United States would accept surrender, but any future government of Japan must be established by the “freely expressed will of the Japanese people.”

On August 14 a coup was attempted by the Staff Office of the Ministry of War of Japan and many from the Imperial Guard to stop the move to surrender. The officers murdered Lt Gen Takeshita Moro of the First Imperial Guards Division and attempted to counterfeit an order to the effect of permitting their occupation of the Imperial Palace. They attempted to place Emperor Hirohito under house arrest. Failure to obtain enough support by the remaining Army led to a collapse of the coup the next day.

Negotiations dragged on much too slowly. The Japanese government still didn’t answer right away. The “days of negotiation with a prostrate and despised enemy,” a British ambassador later said, “strained public patience.”

When the Japanese government failed to respond, conventional bombings resumed. The United States continued to prepare a third atomic bomb, just in case it was needed. And it did something else: The United States began dropping leaflets across Tokyo. The leaflets described the terms that had been offered for ending the war.

Finally, on August 15, the emperor made an announcement on public radio: Japan would surrender. It was the first time that many Japanese people had ever heard their Emperor’s voice.

The formal surrender ceremony occurred aboard the USS Missouri on September 2. The ceremony lasted for 23 minutes. General Douglas MacArthur accepted and signed the Japanese surrender as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Admiral Nimitz and representatives from other nations also signed the document.

MacArthur was concerned about the Japanese still trying to keep the war going even during the surrender, so he ordered a huge armada into Tokyo Bay with huge air support to send a message that any second thoughts would be crushed.

Terms of a final treaty would still need to be negotiated, of course. But, for all intents and purposes, World War II was finally over.

 

[lennypartiv]

---Why were some Japanese soldiers still fighting decades after World War II?---

---One soldier remained on an island off the coast of eastern Russia that he was charged with defending until 1958.---

---So it's understandable that the most famous Japanese holdout was reluctant to believe the war was over. Lt. Hiroo Onoda remained a combatant on the Filipino island of Lubang until 1974.---

Why were some Japanese soldiers still fighting decades after World War II?

World War II ended in 1945, but some soldiers in the dense jungles of Pacific islands didn't get the memo. What did it take to get them to stop fighting?

history.howstuffworks.com

 

[lennypartiv]

Soviets declare war on Japan, invade Manchuria the next day | August 8, 1945 | HISTORY

On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union officially declares war on Japan, pouring more than 1 million Soviet soldiers the following day into Japanese‑occupied Manchuria, northeastern China, to take on the 700,000‑strong Japanese army. The dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima by the Americans did not...

www.history.com

 

[Weatherman2020]

Soviets declare war on Japan, invade Manchuria the next day | August 8, 1945 | HISTORY

On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union officially declares war on Japan, pouring more than 1 million Soviet soldiers the following day into Japanese‑occupied Manchuria, northeastern China, to take on the 700,000‑strong Japanese army. The dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima by the Americans did not...

www.history.com

So they could steal islands, which they still hold today.

 

[lennypartiv]

Interesting point of view.

---In fact, seven out of eight top U.S. military commanders believed that it was unnecessary to use atomic bombs against Japan from a military-strategic vantage point, including Admirals Chester Nimitz, Ernest King, William Halsey, and William Leahy, and Generals Henry Arnold and Douglas MacArthur. According to Air Force historian Daniel Haulman, even Curtis LeMay believed “the new weapons were unnecessary, because his bombers were already destroying the Japanese cities"---

The Japanese Surrender in 1945 is Still Poorly Understood

American diplomats and military leadership in 1945 believed Japan was close to a negotiated surrender without the use of the atomic bomb, a history that has since been replaced by the myth that the bomb saved lives.

historynewsnetwork.org

 

[Weatherman2020]

Interesting point of view.

---In fact, seven out of eight top U.S. military commanders believed that it was unnecessary to use atomic bombs against Japan from a military-strategic vantage point, including Admirals Chester Nimitz, Ernest King, William Halsey, and William Leahy, and Generals Henry Arnold and Douglas MacArthur. According to Air Force historian Daniel Haulman, even Curtis LeMay believed “the new weapons were unnecessary, because his bombers were already destroying the Japanese cities"---

The Japanese Surrender in 1945 is Still Poorly Understood

American diplomats and military leadership in 1945 believed Japan was close to a negotiated surrender without the use of the atomic bomb, a history that has since been replaced by the myth that the bomb saved lives.

historynewsnetwork.org

Much more fun burning hundreds of thousands to death slowly.

 

[Ringo]

BTW, Tokyo warned Russia against celebrating Victory over Japan Day on Sept. 3...
... the audacity of a slave!!!
I've never celebrated it, but now I feel like celebrating!!!!

 

[Pellinore]

Happy V-J Day. On this day in 1945, a formal surrender ceremony is held aboard the USS Missouri. On this day, World War II effectively came to an end.

It had been less than a month since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The bomb dropped on Hiroshima had been devastating, of course. But the second bomb dropped on Nagasaki was—if anything—even worse. That plutonium bomb produced an explosion 40 percent larger than the uranium one dropped on Hiroshima.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, the bombs prompted the Japanese government to consider surrendering—but it still wasn’t willing to do so unconditionally. Instead, it sought to ensure that such a document would not “compromise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as a sovereign ruler.” Nevertheless, President Harry Truman ordered a halt to the atomic attacks so negotiations could commence.

By August 12, the Japanese government had the American reply: The United States would accept surrender, but any future government of Japan must be established by the “freely expressed will of the Japanese people.”

On August 14 a coup was attempted by the Staff Office of the Ministry of War of Japan and many from the Imperial Guard to stop the move to surrender. The officers murdered Lt Gen Takeshita Moro of the First Imperial Guards Division and attempted to counterfeit an order to the effect of permitting their occupation of the Imperial Palace. They attempted to place Emperor Hirohito under house arrest. Failure to obtain enough support by the remaining Army led to a collapse of the coup the next day.

Negotiations dragged on much too slowly. The Japanese government still didn’t answer right away. The “days of negotiation with a prostrate and despised enemy,” a British ambassador later said, “strained public patience.”

When the Japanese government failed to respond, conventional bombings resumed. The United States continued to prepare a third atomic bomb, just in case it was needed. And it did something else: The United States began dropping leaflets across Tokyo. The leaflets described the terms that had been offered for ending the war.

Finally, on August 15, the emperor made an announcement on public radio: Japan would surrender. It was the first time that many Japanese people had ever heard their Emperor’s voice.

The formal surrender ceremony occurred aboard the USS Missouri on September 2. The ceremony lasted for 23 minutes. General Douglas MacArthur accepted and signed the Japanese surrender as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Admiral Nimitz and representatives from other nations also signed the document.

MacArthur was concerned about the Japanese still trying to keep the war going even during the surrender, so he ordered a huge armada into Tokyo Bay with huge air support to send a message that any second thoughts would be crushed.

Terms of a final treaty would still need to be negotiated, of course. But, for all intents and purposes, World War II was finally over.
View attachment 823734View attachment 823735

Thank heavens for that, too. Six years and one day.

Anyone who thinks that war is the solution to anything needs to learn more about it.