Potsdam Declaration

On July 26, 1945, Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender (Potsdam Declaration) was presented by the President of the United States, the President of the National Government of the Republic of China, and the Prime Minister of Great Britain. This Potsdam Declaration was issued to give Japan a chance to terminate the war by making them accept it. Then, the leader of the Soviet Union later signed the Potsdam Proclamation and decided to join the war. Although Japanese leaders had already knew that they would not achieve a victory in this war, they did not confirm the declaration until atomic bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States and ended up accepting the unconditional surrender on August 15th of the same

Even though he made this decision as Japanese government did not respond to the Potsdam Declaration, it was still possible to negotiate with Japan’s side without dropping the atomic bombs. In today’s American society, it is considered that his decision to use the atomic bombs enabled the country to save their soldiers. On top of that, Japanese government never raised any protest against the United States for the use of atomic bombs. Nevertheless, as Hasegawa (2005) states, this cannot be longer justified because it is more of a moral issue. More importantly, it is doubtful whether President Truman was sure about the effects of atomic bombs. If he were certain about how they could destroy the city, he might have not used them in Nagasaki soon after Hiroshima. Thus, the justification of atomic bomb dropping in Nagasaki is very questionable and President Truman was not a very rational diplomat who could apply the reasonableness in his

Not only they could democratize and demilitarize the country, but also the United States managed to maintain its superpower and prevent the emergence of another hegemon. In fact, the American occupation of Japan was beneficial for Japan as well because the new constitution enabled the country to be more liberal and respect the wills of its individuals, resulting to be a good example of Americanization. Moreover, the United States did not exploit Japan during the occupation as they wanted to represent themselves as a democratic country and make it their value universal. Their occupation had a merit to maintain the social order of Japan because they kept the Emperor intact even after the unconditional surrender. The outcome might have been worse after the war if the United States decided to execute the emperor because there were still people in Japan who worship him as if he is their god. The democratization was also crucial in the maintenance of the international order because there is less risk that nations fight against each other if both countries are democratic. Therefore, the United States needed to make Japan a democratic country to prevent Japan to become its