Today in History—August 14: The End of the War in the Pacific
In July 1945, while Allied leaders were deciding the fate of postwar Germany at the Potsdam Conference, U.S. Pres. Harry S. Truman learned about the successful test of the atomic bomb. A fresh ultimatum was issued to Japan: surrender or face “prompt and utter destruction.”
In Japan, moderates had begun back-channel discussions with the Soviet Union (with whom Japan was not at war) in an effort to end the fighting and preserve the Japanese monarchy.
To ensure compliance, three imperial princes were tasked with personally notifying senior Japanese military commanders of the surrender.
They were unaware that Joseph Stalin had already committed to entering the war against them—and that 1.5 million Red Army troops were poised to invade Japanese-occupied Manchuria.
Now, here’s where things start happening very quickly—and how we get to today’s date, the day that became known as Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day):
- August 6: The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing 70,000 people and destroying most of the city.
- August 8: The Soviet Union declared war on Japan.
- August 9: Shortly after midnight, Soviet forces invaded Manchuria. Later that day the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing 40,000 people. That evening Emperor Hirohito cast a tie-breaking vote to accept the surrender terms dictated by the Allies.
- August 10: Japan agreed to surrender, with the stipulation that the emperor would remain sovereign. The Allies replied that all elements of the Japanese state would be subordinate to occupation authorities.
- August 14: Truman announced the Japanese surrender. In Japan, Hirohito recorded an address to be played to the Japanese people, declaring the “acceptance” of the Allies’ terms. (The word “surrender” was never used.)
- August 14/15: Overnight, a group of Japanese officers launched a coup in an attempt to continue the war and to prevent the broadcast of Hirohito’s address. They were unable to find the phonograph recordings, and the uprising was put down.
- August 15: At noon Tokyo time millions of Japanese people heard the voice of their quasi-divine emperor for the first time, as Hirohito’s address was broadcast on the radio.
About three weeks after the first atomic bombing, U.S. troops began the occupation of Japan. The official surrender ceremony was held on September 2, 1945, on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri.
- 1972: Year the U.S. returned control of Okinawa to Japan
- 1992: Year the USS Missouri was decommissioned
- 55,000: U.S. troops in Japan today
- 1880: Cologne Cathedral is completed after more than six centuries
- 1935: Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law
- 1947: Pakistan becomes a sovereign state
