The Allied forces of Japan on the 15th of August 1945 marked the end of World War II. It has been a protracted war that had spread across the globe and had claimed millions of lives before the world could see the end of one of the most devastating wars in the history of the world. This was not a sudden surrender; it was the product of a combination of military and diplomatic strategies and the first use of nuclear weapons in history.
By the start of the 1940s, Japan had stretched its territory in the East Asia region and had allied with Germany and Italy, the Axis powers. This expansion, which was driven by the desire to control land and by the military, had already led to the invasion of China in the 1930s. But everything changed on December 7, one thousand nine hundred forty-one, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Therefore, the United States of America was unwilling to sit on the sidelines, which changed the Pacific region’s dynamics. This was followed by a fight for liberation, characterised by conflicts that eventually led to Japan’s defeat.
The first central turning point was in June 1942 with the Battle of Midway. Even though the Americans were outmanned, they were able to deal a significant blow to the Japanese navy by sending four aircraft carriers to the bottom of the sea. This was a shift of the momentum to the Allies. From this time, the U.S. and her allies stuck on a strategy of leaping from island to island, which the Japanese had occupied. This was a long and arduous process that took them closer to the Japanese home islands and ended in one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific War, the Battle of Okinawa. The U.S. seized Okinawa on June 22, 1945, and this marked the last stage in the preparation for the attack on Japan proper.
Nevertheless, Japan did not surrender. The Allied forces sent the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945, to demand the unconditional surrender of Japan. The threat was understood – “peaceful surrender” would be punished by “complete annihilation.” However, the Japanese leadership decided to stand firm, believing there was a better position to take. What happened altered world history forever.
On the first of August in 1945, the world experienced the devastating impact of nuclear weapons for the first time when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Within a minute, tens of thousands were dead, and the city was levelled to the ground. The devastation was so severe that Japan did not surrender. Two days later, on the eighth of August, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria, which put more pressure on the Japanese government. Then, on the ninth of August, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, and like the first one, it claimed another hundred thousand lives. With cities reduced to ashes, the army decimated, and without a hope of victory, Japan had no choice but to comply.
On the 15th of August in 1945, Emperor Hirohito delivered a message to the Japanese people, accepting the unconditional surrender of Japan. The people’s joy erupted into the streets, and people streamed out to celebrate what was to become known as Victory over Japan Day, V-J Day. President Harry S. Truman of the United States confirmed Japan’s acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration; therefore, the fighting was over. Nevertheless, the last war ended only two weeks later, on September 2, 1945, when Japanese representatives signed the surrender papers on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The war that had changed the face of the world in five years ended when the Allies, led by General Douglas MacArthur, accepted the surrender of Japan.
Salman Aziz