Do you think Japan's surrender in World War II was really unconditional? Have you ever wondered which country Ben hates the most today? If Japanese militarism were to make a comeback, which country would bear the brunt?
Today, let's take a look at the truth about Japan's surrender after World War II.
The First World War took a terrible toll on humanity, not least because of the enormous number of human losses caused by the war. The conflict, which lasted for many years, finally ended with the surrender of Germany.
The Entente powers, including Britain, France, and the United States, finally won the war after hardships. At that time, the Soviet army was the first to capture Berlin, the capital of Germany, and Hitler, the Nazi Führer, saw his strategic mistakes, saw the collapse of the country, and finally chose to commit suicide.
After Hitler's suicide, Germany became the first country to surrender to the Axis powers, was occupied by the Soviet Union and the United States, respectively, and did not achieve national unity until the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Japan's Despair in the Late World War II and the Origins of Terrorism.
Japan's biggest mistake in World War II was to challenge China, the United States, and the Soviet Union. The emperor, who was highly respected in the hearts of both the people and the military, used his mind control to make the Japanese army work for him, but the entry of the United States into the war shattered Japan's dream.
Although Japan's industrialization was strong, and the army, navy, and Zero fighters also made its overall combat effectiveness good, however, the addition of the armed forces led by the Chinese Communist Party caused the Japanese army to suffer heavy losses in China, and its land force was also seriously constrained.
In past wars, Japan's air and sea power have faced formidable opponents. The Soviet Union, with its strong industrial capacity and natural resources, formed a strong containment on Japan.
The U.S. participation in the war has made Japan face more severe challenges in the Pacific theater, and the aircraft carrier battle has not only tested the combat quality of the two countries' equipment and personnel, but also put forward extremely high requirements for the industrial manufacturing and logistical supply capabilities of the two countries.
Japan faced an all-out war with the three world powers, and its limited resources put Japan in a difficult position on the battlefield. However, even so, Japan remained tenacious and hoped to buy time by resisting and find an opportunity to fight back.
However, to Japan's surprise, the United States has developed a powerful nuclear **. The emergence of this kind of ** made Japan rely on in the past"Crowd tactics"with"Wuhai tactics"Lost its effect.
Japan faced in vain in the face of the atomic bomb"Broken jade"When it came time to plan, I finally chose to give up. The United States used bombers to bomb the Japanese mainland many times, seriously damaging Japan's industrial infrastructure.
At the same time, the United States dropped two small-yield atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing the Emperor of Japan to announce his unconditional surrender to the world via radio on August 15, 1945.
So, why is the United States using nuclear ** against Japan? There are two reasons for this: first, this kind of ** has just been developed and needs to be tested in combat to ensure that its safety and efficiency can be guaranteed in the future confrontation with the Soviet Union; Secondly, in the later stage of the war, the Japanese resistance was extremely tenacious, resulting in a heavy loss for the United States.
If it wants to force Japan to surrender by occupying the Japanese mainland, the United States will pay a price of more than a million people**, which is unacceptable to the United States.
As World War II drew to a close, the United States sought to dominate the post-war international financial and political order, and needed to have a greater voice. This action created more favorable conditions for the United States in negotiations with its allies.
Interestingly, although Japan announced its surrender on August 15, it did not sign the instrument of surrender until September 2. So, what has Japan been busy with in the intervening ten days?
Why did the Japanese army, which fought in China and the Soviet Union, continue to fight after the surrender was announced? Why didn't the emperor sign the instrument of surrender immediately after announcing his surrender?
Japan's surrender was not entirely unconditional, and the naval commander had put forward three conditions: that the country be independent from multiple manipulations, that all war criminals, including prisoners, must return home to face trial, and that the emperor system should be preserved.
The emperor repented of his unconditional surrender and negotiated with the Allies. Why, then, did Japan put forward these conditions, and how did the Allies respond? Let's dive in.
Japan had collaborated with Western countries to carve up China's territory during World War II, and was well aware of the colonial rule brought by the country. Therefore, in order to prevent the country from being torn apart and becoming an arena for the great power game, Japan put forward the condition that the country cannot be controlled by multiple forces.
In addition, in order to be held accountable for past crimes, Japan advocated that war criminals and prisoners of war return home to face trial. Japan's path of foreign expansion and aggression was not only because it wanted to break the shackles of the scarcity of natural resources, but also because the emperor had made a war decision for foreign aggression.
In Japanese, we call them "devils". These are Class A war criminals who have committed heinous crimes. However, in the hearts of the Japanese, the position of the emperor is supreme.
They believed that the emperor was the embodiment of the sun god, and that the emperor's orders were the will of the gods. Therefore, they will unconditionally obey every decision of the emperor. These war criminals committed crimes because they received orders from the emperor.
If they are found guilty by the whole world, then it is equivalent to the emperor's decision being proven wrong and ***. This is unacceptable to them. Therefore, they hoped to save the emperor's face by trying them in the country to buy time for themselves to prepare plea materials for war criminals and to obtain acquittal.
With regard to the preservation of the emperor system, the importance of the emperor in Japan has already been emphasized above. The preservation of the emperor's system means innocence and confirms the correctness of all previous decisions.
If they are convicted and sentenced for the huge ** caused, it will be unacceptable to the Japanese people, which will lead to the collapse of their spiritual world. However, Japan put forward a number of despicable conditions, so how did the allies respond to them?
What is the end result?
In the Tokyo Trial after World War II, although the trial of war criminals was carried out in Tokyo, known as the "Tokyo Trial" in history, due to the repeated postponement of the start date of the trial by Japan, and it was not until late March of the following year that materials began to be accepted, a number of war criminals escaped legal punishment.
However, for the first condition, that the Allies did not agree, or at least did not fully agree, to allow Japan to retain the position of emperor, the Japanese believed that they had not made a mistake, which is why Japan has not formally apologized to the Chinese for the crimes committed in World War II.
In addition, it took six years from the time of Japan's surrender for the United States to withdraw all its occupation forces from Japan, which shows that the international community's occupation of Japan lasted for six years after the end of World War II.
Although Japan has not been able to achieve full sovereignty, at least it has not been divided among several countries, but is only controlled by the United States. Although the United States withdrew from Japan in 1951, these troops were soon returned to Japan as garrisons.
This is mainly due to multiple considerations of the United States. First of all, at that time, the United States and the Soviet Union were in full swing for hegemony, and the United States needed to find a strategic support point in Japan, which could not only monitor the Soviet Union, China, and North Korea, but also hold the strategic route from Asia to the Pacific Ocean and ensure the security of its homeland.
Secondly, the United States is not at ease with Japan, and if there is no regulation, no one can guarantee that militarism will not rise again while the emperor is still there, which will bring disaster to humanity.
Actually, the second consideration of the United States is justified. Despite the US military presence and the constraints of the pacifist constitution, Japan is still trying to break through all kinds of restrictions, restore militarism, and realize the right of the military to take the initiative to attack foreign countries.
Have you ever wondered who Japan would most like to fight if militarism were to resurrect? Some would say the United States. However, if you have such thoughts, you are wrong.
In fact, it is not China that Japan hates the most, and what it wants to retaliate against, is not the United States. Although Japan is now subordinate to the United States, this is mainly because Japan is afraid of the great power of the United States.
Japan is a country that is afraid of strength and not virtuous, so they behaved out of fear of the United States. There are two reasons for this: First, we must understand that it was the United States that surrendered to Japan and dropped the only two nuclear bombs that have been used in actual combat so far, and these two atomic bombs crushed the last straw for Japanese militarism.
In the eyes of the Japanese, they were insulted by the United States. Second, after the war, although the United States transferred a large number of military orders to Japan, and Japan also re-established its industrial base and rapidly developed its economy through these orders, this was not the real intention of the United States, but to meet the needs of the Korean War.
For a period of time, Japan's economy was the second largest in the world, which caused alarm in the United States. Sensing that Japan might pose a threat to its hegemony, they sought to induce Japan to sign the Plaza Accord.
As a result, Japan's economy has been hit hard and has not fully recovered until now. In the process, the assets of countless Japanese people shrank dramatically, the bubble economy burst in an instant, and many people committed suicide because of the pressure.
Countless families have been torn apart as a result. To this day, the number of suicides in Japan is still as high as 100,000 a year, and behind these shocking statistics is undoubtedly the conspiracy adopted by the United States at that time, and it was their destruction of Japan.
The United States not only stationed troops in Japan, but also exercised substantial control over Japan after World War II by demanding that Japan promulgate a pacifist constitution, abolish the establishment of the Japanese armed forces, and change it into a self-defense force.
Although Japan appears to be a sovereign country on the surface, in fact its sovereignty has been weakened by the United States, and it cannot even be called a real country.
The United States sees Japan as a pawn in containing countries such as the Soviet Union, Russia, and China, rather than as an ally. In this context, Japan's hatred for the United States is self-evident.
If Japan's militarism is truly revived, although all countries in the world will be affected, the United States will undoubtedly bear the brunt and be one of the countries that will suffer the most.