Is Japan's defeat and surrender really unconditional?

1August 5, 945, at noon Tokyo time 12, Japanese soldiers and civilians were ordered to gather at the radio station to listen to important news. After Dai Jun, the national anthem of Japan, was played, a shrill male voice came from the radio-the "imperial voice" called "the voice of cranes" was heard by ordinary Japanese for the first time. People who call themselves "I" said in classical Chinese: "The imperial government accepted the Potsdam Proclamation", but the words "defeat" and "surrender" were avoided throughout. However, Japanese soldiers and civilians knew that their country had been defeated and surrendered to their opponents. Subsequently, Japanese soldiers and civilians sobbed, howled and kowtowed everywhere. Later, Emperor Hirohito's broadcast imperial edict was called "the imperial edict of the final war" by the Japanese, and some books in China also called it: Japan "declared unconditional surrender". Indeed, the Japanese emperor at that time actually expressed surrender, but at the same time declared that surrender was based on "maintaining the national system." People can't help asking: Is this really unconditional surrender? After Japan surrendered, why didn't the United States pursue the war crimes of Japanese Emperor Hirohito? Haan Lee will tell you: Is Japan's defeat and surrender really unconditional?

After the war of aggression against China was launched in the 1930s, Japan fell into a state of madness, and formed an alliance with Germany and Italy in September 1940, thus forming the Axis Group. 19411On February 7, Japan declared war on the United States by attacking Pearl Harbor, and then the United States and Japan launched an all-round confrontation in the Pacific Ocean.

Before the war against the United States, Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe and the commander of the joint naval fleet, Isoroku Yamamoto, both felt lack of confidence. However, most Japanese military and political officials advocate putting all your eggs in one basket, hoping to win by surprise attack, and then forcing the United States to make peace. When the news of the successful attack on Pearl Harbor came, Isoroku Yamamoto looked sad while cheering for his men. He sighed and said, "We just woke up a sleeping giant!" " At that time, Fumimaro Konoe, who had just resigned as prime minister, also said to people around him, "What a stupid thing to do. This is doomed to defeat in Japan! "

Sure enough, in the summer of 1942, the American army defeated the Japanese in midway and Guadao, thus reversing the Pacific War. At the end of the same year, the Soviet army defeated the elite German troops in Stalingrad, thus reversing the situation in Europe. At this time, the defeat of the fascist axis countries has been decided. After the reversal of the war situation, whether to let Germany, Japan and Italy make peace or completely eliminate these fascist regimes has become a new topic before the allies.

1943 65438+ 10, American president Roosevelt came to casablanca, a health resort in north Africa, and held talks with Churchill and Charles de gaulle, officially announcing that "Germany, Japan and Italy must surrender unconditionally, and only in this way can we ensure future world peace." In June165438+1October of the same year, Stalin agreed to this request at the Tehran meeting. Chiang Kai-shek, then head of China, also agreed to the demands of the United States and Britain at the Cairo Conference. Hitler was determined to resist the unconditional surrender demanded by the allies, but some German officers wanted to assassinate Hitler in order to make peace with the allies. As a result, the assassination failed, and the Nazis let the peace faction bleed. 1945 When Germany surrendered in May, the capital Berlin was captured by the Soviet Union, Hitler was forced to commit suicide, and most of Germany's territory was occupied by the Allies. At that time, Deng Nici, Hitler's successor, ordered the army to stop resisting, and Germany really surrendered unconditionally.

After 1943, the Japanese ruling class headed by the emperor knew that the defeat had been decided. On the one hand, they frantically ordered the Japanese to kill as many allies as possible, on the other hand, they sought secret negotiations.

In order to reduce losses and find out the details of the opponent, the United States sent a negotiating team headed by Dulles to neutral Switzerland to discuss peace conditions with Japanese representative Nakazo Fujimura in a dark corner of the hotel or in an uninhabited forest. At that time, the Japanese envoy who participated in the negotiations directly reported to the Emperor's younger brother Takamatsunomiya, and Takamatsunomiya informed his younger brother.

1945 In the spring, allied soldiers had not set foot on Japanese soil, but former Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe and others, after seeing the end of German defeat, suggested to the Emperor that a group of Japanese officers should be sacrificed to end the war in order to preserve Japan's vitality. The Japanese emperor also fantasized about letting the Soviet Union, which has not yet participated in the war against Japan, mediate, and clearly pointed out that "unconditional surrender is the only obstacle to peace", but the subtext of this sentence is that Japan can surrender conditionally.

Earlier, President Roosevelt was more inclined to eradicate Japan's aggressive forces of "political, military and financial integration" and was not in favor of accommodating Japan. However, Roosevelt died suddenly in April 1945, and then the officials of the "Japan Gang" headed by Deputy Secretary of State and former ambassador to Japan Gru immediately advocated that the Emperor and the consortium could be retained to serve the United States, while the successor President Truman praised Gru's views as "very insightful". At this time, the end of the European War led to the formation of two camps in the world. Proceeding from the strategic need to control the Asia-Pacific region in the future, the United States wants to appropriately retain Japan's strength against the Soviet Union.

On the second day of the German surrender, that is,1May 9, 945, Takamatsunomiya, the "eldest brother" who worked in the military department of the Japanese Navy Province, reported to his brother a call from Swiss emissary Lieutenant General Yoshio Fujimura, saying that the attitude of the United States had loosened. Fujimura Yoshiki believes that the biggest obstacle is "unconditional surrender." Dulles, director of the European Office of Strategic Services, said that in the name of "unconditional surrender", the emperor system can be retained.

Hirohito

Japan's new Prime Minister Suzuki and others tend to accept the relaxation of surrender conditions proposed by the United States, but the Emperor himself still hopes that the Soviet Union will intervene and change the word "surrender" to "decent peace".

1On July 26th, 945, the United States, Britain and China publicly issued the Potsdam Proclamation, demanding Japan's unconditional surrender, but did not talk about abolishing the Mikado system. According to the recollections of various parties in the United States after the war, Truman once proposed to write words that could retain the imperial system in the proclamation, but it was only because some people thought it was a sign of weakness against Japan that they gave up. At this time, the highest level in Japan has not yet reached an agreement on whether to accept the Potsdam Proclamation. Although Japan published an abridged version of the announcement in the newspaper, it did not reply to the announcement itself. According to scholars' later research, the Japanese government said that "no reply" meant to consider it later, but when the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed it in English, it was wrongly translated as "ignore", which angered the top of the United States again.

President Truman and senior American officials around him think that Japan has reached the end of the road, but they dare to claim to "ignore" the Potsdam Proclamation, which leaves room for leniency. This is a complete arrogant refusal. In mid-July of the same year, the United States successfully tested an atomic bomb, and there are still two in its hands that can be used at any time. At this time, the United States also learned that the Soviet Union was about to go to war with Japan, so it decided to use nuclear weapons as soon as possible, on the one hand, to attack Japan, on the other hand, to show its super strength to the Soviet Union.

1On August 6th, 945, the US military dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. However, the Japanese emperor and prime minister were still waiting for the Soviet Union's reply to the mediation proposal, so they did not respond. On the morning of August 9, the news that the Soviet Union declared war on Japan reached Tokyo, and the last hope of the Japanese authorities was dashed. At the command meeting held that night, the emperor rejected the crazy request of the army to continue fighting, and made a "sacred decision" on the morning of 10, and decided to accept the Potsdam Proclamation, but with one additional requirement, that is, the above declaration did not contain any requirement that would damage the imperial power of His Majesty the Emperor as the supreme ruler.

Japan's attitude is very clear. The premise of surrender is "not changing the emperor's ruling power", which is actually a condition conveyed by the United States in May. After the war, Kiyoshi Inoue, a Japanese progressive historian, concluded in his book The Emperor's War Responsibility: "Japan's surrender was actually a transaction between the upper class headed by the emperor and the United States without the people's knowledge." Since it is a "transaction", it is natural to bargain, so it will not be "unconditional". Looking at the secret negotiation process between the United States and Japan, we know that the condition of surrender lies in retaining the emperor system.

There are also different opinions about the time of Japan's surrender. Some say1945 August 10, some say August 14, some say August 15 or September 2. These statements have their own reasons. The difference is that Japan's surrender was not realized immediately, but it went through a process of gradually showing its attitude.

Some people think that Japan surrendered in August 1945 and 10 because the Japanese emperor made a "sacred decision" to accept the Potsdam Proclamation at the headquarters meeting that day and informed the United States through neutral Switzerland. But strictly speaking, the conditions put forward by Japan at this time did not get a clear answer from the United States, which means that the United States did not indicate whether it would accept surrender at that time. The next day, on August 1 1, US Secretary of State Berners told Japan through Switzerland: "From the moment of surrender, the power of the Japanese emperor and the Japanese government to rule the country must obey the orders of the supreme commander of the allied countries." The meaning of this passage is equivalent to agreeing that the emperor and the former government continue to rule the country, but only asking them to obey the orders of their allies when exercising this power, which means adding a "father of the emperor" to the head of the Japanese emperor.

On August 12, the emperor expressed satisfaction after receiving the consent reply sent back by the United States through Swiss channels. On August 14, Japan formally notified its allies through neutral countries, expressing its acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation. From the perspective of international law, August of 14 should be said to be the day when Japan officially accepted its surrender. For many people, August 15 is considered as the surrender day, because the Japanese emperor officially announced his acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation on this day. According to Japan's post-war explanation, in August of 15, the emperor read the imperial edict on the radio, which was considered as the end of the war and the great kindness to save his people. Therefore, in the decades after the war, Japan only commemorated the "August 15 th" every year.

Potsdam proclamation

What did Hirohito say in his "August 15" imperial edict? If you look at this imperial edict carefully, you will find that it is completely in black and white, saying that you ordered the war to "seek the survival of the empire and the stability of East Asia" and "liberate East Asia". In addition, the imperial edict is contemptuous of China. It simply does not recognize the 14 Sino-Japanese War since September 18th, nor the 8-year Sino-Japanese War since July 7th Incident. Just saying "declare war on the United States and Britain" leads to "four years have passed since the war." This classical Chinese broadcast, which calls itself "I", avoids using words such as "defeat" and "surrender". Just say that the war is "the last" because the situation has not improved, and ask the people to "be fed up". Literally, it seems to be a "declaration" to defeat the enemy without fighting.

Of course, hearing the emperor's broadcast, the Japanese army and civilians knew that the country had been defeated, but the Japanese army did not receive an order to surrender immediately, and the fighting on the battlefield did not stop immediately. Two days after the broadcast, the Japanese Kwantung Army was ordered to stop fighting against the Soviet Union. Four days after the broadcast of the Emperor's Armistice Radio, that is, August 19, the Japanese base camp asked overseas troops to "solemnly lay down their weapons". After the war, some seemingly ridiculous terms appeared in Japan. Defeat is only called "decisive battle", surrender is called "truce to protect the family", and the American occupation army is called "entering the DPRK" This is of course to save face, but it also implies that Japan will not admit defeat, let alone apologize.

After Japan agreed to surrender, it delayed again and again and did not sign a written agreement immediately. It wasn't until the American troops entered Tokyo that on September 2, representatives of the Japanese base camp signed a surrender letter in Tokyo Bay, which was considered a real surrender. China and most countries in the world have designated September 2nd as the Japanese surrender day and September 3rd as the Victory Day, which is an accurate definition.

Although the process of Japan's surrender was not smooth, it marked the victory of the international anti-fascist war, which was undoubtedly a big celebration. However, there have also been many abnormal things. For example, the United States and Chiang Kai-shek regard the Japanese invaders as "garrisons"; Japan has not changed the original government; Important war criminals have not been investigated; The dismantling of military heavy industry and the compensation to the injured country were even written off by the United States, which is far from Germany's unconditional surrender!

Why did Japan dare to bargain when it surrendered? This is because, unlike Germany, the mainland was completely occupied by the allies when it surrendered. At that time, the Allies did not have a single soldier in Japan, and Japan had 3.5 million troops overseas. At this time, Japan was able to surrender, which really reduced the sacrifices and material losses of its allies. For this reason, the greatest wish of many allies at that time was to end the war as soon as possible and stop paying attention to the comprehensive investigation of war criminals.

The imperial edict of "August 15th"

Since August of March1,200,000 American troops have been stationed in Japan. Many American officers and men have seen the madness of the Japanese army in the island war, so when they set foot in this country where chrysanthemums and sabers are intertwined, they are always afraid of suicide attacks. However, all the Japanese I met bowed and acted according to "sacred judgment" without any resistance. When MacArthur, commander of the US Far East, got off the plane with a straw, he even lamented the prestige of the Emperor, claiming that if he was abolished, he would need to double the occupation troops.

On September 2, the signing ceremony of Japan's surrender was held on the USS Missouri. Careful reporters at the scene found that the documents prepared by the US did not contain the words "Japan's unconditional surrender", but only the terms of Japanese armed forces' surrender. There is a big difference between military surrender and national surrender. According to the requirements of Casablanca Speech and Potsdam Proclamation, the content of Japan's surrender is not only to disarm the army, but also to permanently eradicate militarism, try war criminals, remove political obstacles that prevent democracy, and prohibit Japan from retaining the industrial base of rearmament. If we only talk about the surrender of the army, then the original militaristic government and war criminals will not be investigated, and the industrial base that can maintain the war will not be touched.

Although the allies had different opinions on this attitude of the United States, strength was the greatest voice at that time. At that time, only the US military was able to occupy Japan, and the Soviet navy was struggling to attack the Kuril Islands, while Britain was unable to take care of the Far East. China did not have a large-scale navy at all, so the United States monopolized the right to dispose of Japan after the war.

After the American occupation of Japan, although the Japanese army was dissolved through the limited "democratic transformation" of the political and economic structure, the original Japanese government was retained. After the war, Germany was led by former anti-Nazis on both sides of the "East and West", while Japan's post-war prime ministers were all senior officials who had great responsibilities for the past wars. For example, Kishi Nobusuke, who served as Prime Minister in 1950s, is still a Class-A war criminal. People who understand this situation will understand why the Japanese government has refused to admit war crimes after the war and why it has repeatedly beautified past aggression!

Kishi Nobusuke

After the war, another major issue in dealing with Japan was war compensation. China, the worst-hit city, initially estimated losses at more than $30 billion. Since Japan's GDP in 1946 was only $4 billion, the Allies had agreed that Japan's compensation would be around 100 billion, which would be paid in the form of dismantling machinery and labor services, while China demanded half.

After 1948, the United States saw that the Kuomintang regime was facing collapse, and immediately shifted the focus of its Asian policy to support Japan, and soon announced that it would be exempted from Japan's liability for compensation. Subsequently, the British and Kuomintang authorities were forced to give up their claims. It was not until the 1960s that Japan paid insignificant symbolic reparations to South Korea and several Southeast Asian countries for the sake of establishing diplomatic relations. After the war, the Japanese authorities have always been grateful to the United States for these shelters and help, so they have long tied themselves to the chariot of the US Asia-Pacific military system.

China won a great victory in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, but it was difficult to realize its own justice demands when dealing with the corresponding problems after the war. The key lies in the super-powerful American monopoly on Japan. After War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's China, its international status has been improved, but the situation of weak national strength has not fundamentally changed, and there will inevitably be many regrets and helplessness in foreign affairs. Zhou Enlai once said a famous saying: We are opposed to the imperialist policy of strength, but we have to emphasize strength to deal with imperialism. Looking back on the history of the Anti-Japanese War and the treatment of Japan after the war, people can feel more deeply that "development is the last word". Only by greatly enhancing its comprehensive national strength can China maintain international justice and truly stand proudly among the nations of the world!

(The original author, Major General Yan Xu, a professor at the National Defense University)