1945 : Hirohito announces unconditional surrender
On this day in 1945, Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces the news of
his country's unconditional surrender in World War II over a radio
broadcast to the Japanese people.
After meeting with the Soviet Union in Potsdam, near Berlin, to
determine post-war terms for defeated Germany, the governments of the
United States and Great Britain (together with China) issued an
ultimatum to the Japanese government in late July 1945. It offered a
simple choice: surrender unconditionally to the Allies in World War
II, or risk total annihilation. In their carefully worded reply, the
Japanese failed to capitulate completely, and on August 6, the U.S.
B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb
on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, another such bomb
was dropped on Nagasaki. The threat of further nuclear attacks drove
Japanese officials on August 10 to accept the terms put forth by the
Potsdam Declaration and submit their unconditional surrender.
On the afternoon of August 14, a Japanese radio broadcaster told the
public that Emperor Hirohito would soon make an Imperial Proclamation
announcing the defeat. The following day at noon, Hirohito went on the
radio himself, blaming Japan's surrender on the enemies' use of "a new
and most cruel bomb, the power of which is incalculable, taking the
toll of many innocent lives." The emperor was not only a political
leader in Japan; he was also revered as a near-god, and many Japanese
did not fully accept the news of defeat until they heard him speak
those unthinkable words.
As sadness and shame engulfed Japan, joy spread around the Western
world. In the United States, news of Hirohito's announcement reached
airwaves on August 14 (due to the time difference), and that day was
declared Victory in Japan--or V-J--Day. That afternoon, President
Harry S. Truman addressed a crowd that had gathered outside the White
House, saying "This is the day we have been waiting for since Pearl
Harbor. This is the day when Fascism finally dies, as we always knew
it would." That day, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt snapped one of
the most famous photos ever published, a shot of a sailor in full
uniform kissing a nurse in the middle of New York City's Times Square.
The photo, published by Life magazine, became a symbol of the general
atmosphere of jubilation in the United States following the end of
World War II.
history.com/tdih.do
1057 : Malcolm slays Macbeth
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5261
1914 : Panama Canal open to traffic
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5262
1947 : India and Pakistan win independence
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5263
1961 : Berlin Wall built
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6990
##########################################
On this day in 1945, Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces the news of
his country's unconditional surrender in World War II over a radio
broadcast to the Japanese people.
After meeting with the Soviet Union in Potsdam, near Berlin, to
determine post-war terms for defeated Germany, the governments of the
United States and Great Britain (together with China) issued an
ultimatum to the Japanese government in late July 1945. It offered a
simple choice: surrender unconditionally to the Allies in World War
II, or risk total annihilation. In their carefully worded reply, the
Japanese failed to capitulate completely, and on August 6, the U.S.
B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb
on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, another such bomb
was dropped on Nagasaki. The threat of further nuclear attacks drove
Japanese officials on August 10 to accept the terms put forth by the
Potsdam Declaration and submit their unconditional surrender.
On the afternoon of August 14, a Japanese radio broadcaster told the
public that Emperor Hirohito would soon make an Imperial Proclamation
announcing the defeat. The following day at noon, Hirohito went on the
radio himself, blaming Japan's surrender on the enemies' use of "a new
and most cruel bomb, the power of which is incalculable, taking the
toll of many innocent lives." The emperor was not only a political
leader in Japan; he was also revered as a near-god, and many Japanese
did not fully accept the news of defeat until they heard him speak
those unthinkable words.
As sadness and shame engulfed Japan, joy spread around the Western
world. In the United States, news of Hirohito's announcement reached
airwaves on August 14 (due to the time difference), and that day was
declared Victory in Japan--or V-J--Day. That afternoon, President
Harry S. Truman addressed a crowd that had gathered outside the White
House, saying "This is the day we have been waiting for since Pearl
Harbor. This is the day when Fascism finally dies, as we always knew
it would." That day, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt snapped one of
the most famous photos ever published, a shot of a sailor in full
uniform kissing a nurse in the middle of New York City's Times Square.
The photo, published by Life magazine, became a symbol of the general
atmosphere of jubilation in the United States following the end of
World War II.
history.com/tdih.do
1057 : Malcolm slays Macbeth
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5261
1914 : Panama Canal open to traffic
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5262
1947 : India and Pakistan win independence
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5263
1961 : Berlin Wall built
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6990
##########################################
No comments:
Post a Comment