This has been a horrific six years with so many of soldiers fighting a fight that doesn’t need to be fought. There is talk of an invasion of japan since the defeat of Germany but there is another way, the Potsdam Declaration. The Declaration has been signed and agreed upon and all we need to do is to present it properly by showing them it’s the only way, showing them it isn’t weakness, and showing them that this will help them. This war has had its effect on all of us especially Europe and it is time to end it, no more blood needs to be spilled. At this moment, it is critical that we use our political power instead of military force.
The Potsdam Declaration has been agreed by the United States, Britain, and China that Japan should get the
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opportunity to surrender to end the war. The reason we have this is because of what we’ve seen in Germany and how their pointless resistance against the rest of the world only brought death and destruction; we want to prevent starting this again battle again because we know we will win but we don’t want to cause any more death or destruction.
The last battle we fought with japan was a couple months ago, in April, the battle of Okinawa where japan lost 60% of the soldier who fought on their side and lost 2,800 aircrafts. The US lost 14,000 soldiers and over 750 aircrafts but won the battle 82 days later. We can see that if we invade Japan that it will equivalent to the battle of Okinawa except on a larger and magnified scale and there we be over a million causalities and a complete destruction of japan. There is not much of Japan left because we started bombing them last year in 1942 in all of their major cities. Japan sees us, the US, for who really are right now and knows now that with Germany gone and the Axis powers almost defeated that they have no chance. We know that they know this because of their actions, last year in 1944 they started a new military tactic known as Kamikaze. Which is where they crash their planes into troops killing themselves and everyone around them. This may sound as if it means they …show more content…
won’t surrender but it really means the opposite. They would rather die than face surrender but no person would do that unless they are told. So, we know that the Japanese government would have their soldiers do commit suicide because of one reason, desperation. The Japanese are desperate and we can use that to help us end this peacefully with this declaration. Our declaration states that we will place troops in Japan to control it. We will take weapons and allow industry to continue. We take control and shape japans government slowly give back right to the Japanese people and eventually giving them full control as a democratic government. To japan this will most definitely sound more like a threat than a peace treaty but that’s how we’ll use their desperation upon them. We will talk to them and promise the halt of bombing along with aid to rebuild what we have destroyed. They will mostly reject the offer but if they do accept it we are helping. Then we send them the Declaration after our efforts and they will know from our previous offer that all we really do want is peace. The treaty made clear we would leave their emperor in charge and that will cause the people to agree. When the Declaration is signed, the war will end and we can fully focus on rebuilding japan which they will know and want. To ensure their agreement we have told them that if they reject it prompt and utter destruction will occur. Which in their time of trying to rebuild and their desperation, they can’t afford for anything like that to happen. Japan won’t give up so easily for the simple fact is that they would be giving up. The reason they feel that way because they see surrender as weakness and that is what we need to change from their minds. This is a hard task because isn’t a physical fight but a mental battle. To change someone’s personal views we have to do it in a personal way. The only people’s mind we have to change are the government and the soldiers. So how do we change the minds of a government and their soldiers? It’s simple all we need to do I show them something they can relate to personally. We need to show them an example of a friend, of an ally, of a role model; we need show them the outcome of Germany and their similarities. Germany was reduced to rubble by the bombs that were being dropped on them starting in 1940 by Britain. Germany was also faced the Soviet Union and China after the Battle of Stalingrad. The German soldiers were convinced by their leader, Hitler, to do terrible things such as the Holocaust all for the sake of Germany. Similarly, Japan is still being heavily bombed on every city until there won’t be a city left. Also, if Japan refuses our treaty then they know they are going to have to face the Full forces of China, the United States, and the British Empire. Lastly the Japanese soldiers are blindly falling their emperor because he is ‘descended from a sun goddess’ so they’ll follow every command by heart including ending their life by Kamikaze. Japan is in similar circumstances as Germany was and will suffer the same fate if they continue. We won’t be able to show Japan that their emperor is wrong but we can show them their position. Before we offer help to rebuild, we will make contact with their leaders and show them our point of view in a non-threatening way. Japan would be eager to here are plans due to their desperation so they’ll listen to see if we slip any information. But all we will tell them is that they are faced with much greater forces than their own and that the bombing won’t stop until surrender or they’ll end as Germany did. Germany lost over 400,000 soldiers and there was no government left after their final battle, Battle of Berlin. Japanese motive is to survive the war with what they gained according to Japanese generals. So, thinking that total destruction is an option goes against with what they want. The Japanese will need to change their opinion and think what’s best for the emperor. Emperor Hirohito himself said, “I made efforts to swallow tears and to protect the species of the Japanese nation” during the war. To protect the Japanese nation, they must accept our treaty which the emperor has shown he willing got do to for Japan. He is saying that he tried to stay strong for his people to protect them and signing that treaty would be staying strong for his people. The Japanese government need just one more for them to admit defeat and it is to know how they could benefit from their current position.
In the Potsdam declaration states that the Allies will take over the islands of Japan and allow all military to return home unarmed and unharmed. It also states the Japanese people will be given freedom of speech, religion, and fundamental human rights. The Declaration says they may continue their industries to rebuild what destroyed but not any that could re-enable war. The Japanese people are guaranteed the support and protection of the Allies powers. The treaty most importantly states that the Japanese will ne be enslaves or destroyed but only sought out as war criminals with the exemption of the emperor. These will be the causes of the Declaration when it takes effect and these do prevent Japan falling into Russian control which could lead to communism or mistreatment. For example, Mongolia gain independence but Russia signed an agreement to ‘help’ Mongolia but ended up controlling it for the next 72 years. That could have been Japan’s fate but if they sign the treaty they are guaranteed to have a true government run by their people. Also since japan gets the help of Allies powers then they would almost instantly recover because the allies were made up of U.S., Britain, France, Russia, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, and Yugoslavia. Japan should be
comforted knowing that they will get support from these powers of the world. All of the Ally Powers combined have industry, resources, weapons, experts, etc. which is everything Japan would need. The effects of all those countries working together to help one nation would cause the progress of japan be so fast that the people couldn’t even keep up with the speed. Japan would have the reassurance that they will live on and wouldn’t be forgotten or blamed for the war. The Potsdam Declaration would be Japan’s savior and the only problem they would have to deal with would discrimination due to their action in the war. This Treaty would give Japan the decision between destruction of their country or possible discrimination of their people. So, with Germany’s defeat, Japan can learn and not suffer the same fate. This war has had to much suffering for all sides and with the Potsdam Declaration Japan can end it all. Japan is desperate and can use the help. They if they were to accept it wouldn’t be because they’re weak but because they are strong enough admit defeat and ask. To thank them for that we would make sure that they wouldn’t regret and give them the support from everyone our countries to rebuild and become stable. The Potsdam Declaration would end all suffering from this war and give no reasons to start another. We need to choose peace because it isn’t the American way to ‘kick a man while he’s down’. Peace is the answer to this war not destruction or death no matter what happened in the past peace will be a step forward into a world of no hatred.
While Japan was greedy for more land and industrial materials, no one believed that the Japanese would start war with America by planning an attack on American soil. Another reason that the United States thought that the attack wouldn’t happen so close was because they were confident that Japan would try and take over the the Dutch East Indies, or French
The United States entered WW II immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The U.S. entry was a major turning point in the war because it brought the strongest industrial strength to the Allied side. The Americans helped the Allies to win the war in Europe with the surrender of Germany on May 7, 1945. However, the war in the Pacific continued. The war with Japan at this point consisted primarily of strategic bombings. America had recently completed an atomic bomb and was considering using this weapon of mass destruction for the first time. The goal was to force the “unconditional surrender” of the Japanese. Roosevelt had used the term “unconditional surrender” in a press conference in 1943 and it had since become a central war aim. Truman and his staff (still feeling bound by FDR’s words) demanded unconditional surrender from the Japanese. Consequently on July 26, 1945 Truman issued an ultimatum to Japan. This ultimatum stated that Japan must accept “unconditional surrender” or suffer “utter devastation of the Japanese Homeland”. This surrender included abdication of the throne by their emperor. Japan was not willing to surrender their dynasty and ignored the ultimatum. On August 6th and August 9th, atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively.
Why was the Declaration of Independence written? The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776. We all know that day as Independence Day. It was accepted on July 4, 1776. On that day, the United States had freedom. There was a long, hard process to get the Declaration of Independence where it needed to be. It took several people, and several reviews to get it just right.
It is recognized, then, by all that even wars must have limits. The limits that must be applied are essentially in the Geneva Conventions plus other treaties of international humanitarian law. All the countries participation in WWII accepted these terms, however Japan failed to follow through and ignored the laws.
If the allied forces had invaded mainland Japan, many lives on both sides would have been lost, probably more than there lost in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki put together. The tactics that the allies had used up to this point cost hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides. This was when the Japanese only had maybe two or three thousand men on an island; whereas on the mainland millions of people would fight until their death to protect their country. Can you imagine if the Americans invaded mainland Japan, where they had not only soldiers to fight against but also the citizens of Japan? Massive destruction, immense loss of life, and the prolonging of the war until late 1946, would result to invading on foot instead of using the bomb.
The initial terms of surrender were laid out in the Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945, in which the United States, Great Britain, and China all participated. But unlike post World War II Germany, which was split into four quadrants among the Allies, the occupation of Japan was solely and American endeavor. This document was by no means tame. Military occupation would see to it that its measure would be properly carried out. Justice would be served to those "who deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest," Disarmament of the military, reparations as the Allies saw fit, and the "remove all obstacles to the revival and strengthening of democratic tendencies among the Japanese people" were also to be enacted. At the head of this revolution, as spelled out in Potsdam, was Douglas MacArthur.
The third phase was to have a peace treaty with Japan. In September of 1951, fifty-two nations met in San Francisco to discuss the treaty, and ultimately, forty-eight signed it. The notable holdouts were the USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia, all of which disagreed to the promise to support the Republic of China and not do business with the People’s Republic of China that was forced on Japan by U.S. politicians.
However, it was not the case, the Soviets acknowledged the atomic bomb and wanted to create as many as possible so they could yield the control not only in the Pacific, but in the Eastern Europe. In the words of former US senator from South Carolina, James F. Byrnes, claimed “the bomb provided a unique opportunity to check Soviet control of Eastern Europe and Asia in the postwar years, and he very much wanted to delay or avert the entry of the Soviet Union into the war with Japan” (59). In the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, all the Allied countries, except the Soviets, stood together in preparing for the end of the World War 2. President Truman, learning of the success of the Manhattan project, and understanding that he must make a choice whether to drop the atomic bomb or not turned out to be the most difficult decision to make in his life. They came up with a decision to make Japan “unconditional surrender” (59) but they were afraid the Japan would not step down and refused to give up their fight.
(McInnis, 1945) Though the public did not know this, the allies, in fact, did. Through spies, they had learned that both Japan's foreign minister, Shigenori Togo and Emperor Hirohito both supported an end to the war (Grant, 1998). Even if they believed such reports to be false or inaccurate, the leaders of the United States also knew Japan's situation to be hopeless. Their casualties in defending the doomed island of Okinawa were a staggering 110,000 and the naval blockade which the allies had enforced whittled trade down to almost nothing.
On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. On August 15th, the Japan announced unconditional surrender in World War II. To this day historians still discuss why the U.S. decided to use the atomic bombs. Orthodox historians argue that the decision to drop the bombs was a military one designed purely to defeat the Japanese. Revisionist historians argue that the bombs were not needed to defeat Japan; the bombs were meant to shape the peace by intimidating the Soviets. After analyzing the documents in The Manhattan Project it has become clear that the U.S. used the bombs during WWII not only to defeat the Japanese, but also to intimidate the Soviet Union
Continuing on, the bombing of Japan was also unnecessary due to the unacceptable terms of the Potsdam Declaration. After Germany’s surrender on May 7, 1945, the U.S. created a treaty, called the Potsdam Declaration, with terms of surrender for Japan (Lawton). Among those terms was one which stated, “We call upon the government of Japan to ...
Because of logistics, an invasion of Japan could not being for another three months, so the U.S. could have waited to see if Japan would surrender before dropping the atomic bombs. This evidence helps explain that the U.S. should not have dropped the atomic bomb because the most important factor in debating why the alternatives were not pursued was the effect the bombs would have on the Soviet Union, “the bomb reduced the incentives for compromise and even stiffened demands by the time of the Potsdam meeting in July 1945 because the weapon gave the U.S. enhanced
In 1939, the US begins an embargo of aircraft and aircraft parts against Japan (Doc C). By placing this embargo, it doesn’t give Japan a chance in building up their navy. Later on in 1941, US imposed an embargo on oil shipments to Japan (Doc C). Japan received 80% of their oil imports from America (Doc D). With Japan having no oil on their land (Doc B), this is a country Japan relied on. Now Japan loses a chance of fueling equipment they own. With all these embargos, America left Japan vulnerable, which is the opposite of Japan’s wants. Taking many trading resources away from Japan, can stirrup enough anger to the point of wanting to
The entire Japanese military and civilian population would fight to the death. American casualties -- just for that initial invasion to get a foothold on the island of Japan would have taken up to an estimated two months and would have resulted in up to 75,000 to 100,000 casualties. And that was just the beginning. Once the island of Kyushu was captured by U.S. troops, the remainder of Japan would follow. You can just imagine the cost of injuries and lives this would take.
Almost 70 years ago on August 6, 1945 at 8:15 AM, the United States crushed the city of Hiroshima with a 10,000 pound atomic bomb that changed the view of war for millions of people (Hersey,1). The bomb killed at least seventy-five thousand people instantly and many more as the years have gone on due to radiation poisoning and other factors from the bomb (Jennings). To this day, people still have mixed feelings about what the U.S. did to Japan. Some are for the bomb because it saved American lives, but there are others who are against it because it was immoral and unnecessary.