Office of the Historian

740.00119 Control (Japan)/7–945

No. 594
United States Delegation Working Paper1
top secret
[Undated.]

Draft Proclamation by the Heads of State U. S.-U. K.—[U. S. S. R.]2—China

[Delete matters inside brackets if U. S. S. R. not in war]

This draft has been approved by the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Acting Secretary of State.

(1)
We,—The President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, [the Generalissimo of the Soviet Union] and the President of the Republic of China, representing the hundreds of millions [Page 898] of our countrymen, have conferred and agree that the Japanese people shall be given an opportunity to end this war on the terms we state herein.
(2)
The prodigious land, sea and air forces of the United States, the British Empire and of China, many times reinforced by their armies and air fleets from the west [have now been joined by the vast military might of the Soviet Union and] are poised to strike the final blows upon Japan. This military power is sustained and inspired by the determination of all the Allied nations to prosecute the war against Japan until her capitulation.
(3)
The result of the futile and senseless German resistance to the might of the aroused free peoples of the world stands forth in awful clarity as an example to the people of Japan. The might that now converges on Japan is immeasurably greater than that which, when applied to the resisting Nazis, necessarily laid waste to the lands, the industry and the method of life of the whole German people. The full application of our military power backed by our resolve will3 mean the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland.
(4)
Are the Japanese so lacking in reason that they will continue blindly to follow the leadership of those self-willed militaristic advisers whose unintelligent calculations have brought the Empire of Japan to the threshold of annihilation? The time has come for the Japanese people to decide whether to continue on to destruction or to follow the path of reason.
(5)
Following are our terms. We will not deviate from them. There are no alternatives. We shall brook no delay.
(6)
There must be eliminated for all time the authority and influence of those who have deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest, for we insist that a new order of peace, security and justice will be impossible until irresponsible militarism is driven from the world.
(7)
Until such a new order is established and until there is convincing proof that Japan’s war making power is destroyed, Japanese territory shall be occupied to the extent necessary to secure the achievement of the basic objectives we are here setting forth.
(8)
The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine.
(9)
The Japanese military forces, after being completely disarmed, shall be permitted to return to their homes with the opportunity to lead peaceful and productive lives.
(10)
We do not intend that the Japanese shall be enslaved as a race or destroyed as a nation, but stern justice shall be meted out to all war criminals, including those who have visited cruelties upon our prisoners. Democratic tendencies among the Japanese people shall be supported and strengthened. Freedom of speech, of religion and of thought, as well as respect for the fundamental human rights shall be established.
(11)
Japan shall be permitted to maintain such industries as will sustain her economy but not those which would enable her to rearm for war. To this end, access to, as distinguished from control of, raw materials shall be permitted. Eventual Japanese participation in world trade relations shall be permitted.4
(12)
The occupying forces of the Allies shall be withdrawn from Japan as soon as these objectives have been accomplished and there has been established beyond doubt a peacefully inclined, responsible government of a character representative of the Japanese people. This may include a constitutional monarchy under the present dynasty if the peace-loving nations can be convinced of the genuine determination of such a government to follow policies of peace which will render impossible the future development of aggressive militarism in Japan.
(13)
We call upon the Japanese people and those in authority in Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all the Japanese armed forces and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction.

  1. It has not definitely been established that this is the draft given to Byrnes on July 6 (see document No. 595). It is, however, a revision of the draft which Stimson submitted to Truman on July 2 (enclosure 2 to document No. 592) and the text here printed was attached to Hackworth’s memorandum of July 9 (document No. 596).

    A variant text, identical with this document except for paragraph 11, has been erroneously identified as a draft prepared in the Department of State in May 1945. See Grew, Turbulent Era, vol. ii, p. 1431; Institute of Pacific Relations, Hearings Before the Subcommittee To Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 82d Congress, 1st Session (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1951–1953), pt. 3, pp. 728–734. The Department of State draft statement of May 1945 (file No. 740.0011 EW/5–3145) is, however, quite different, and the draft proclamation printed here is clearly derived from the text which Stimson had submitted to Truman on July 2 (enclosure 2 to document No. 592), which in turn was based on the material which Stimson had placed before the Committee of Three on June 26 (see document No. 591).

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  2. Brackets throughout this document appear in the original.↩
  3. The words printed in italics throughout this draft were underscored in the source copy, apparently to call attention to changes from an earlier draft (see enclosure 2 to document No. 592), and this emphasis was inadvertently carried over into later drafts and into the final text. Cf. documents Nos. 1244, 1249, and 1382, printed in vol. ii .↩

  4. The following typed memorandum, of unidentified authorship, is stapled to the file copy of this document:

    “It is suggested that there be added at the end of paragraph numbered (11):

    “‘Questions such as reparations will be taken up at the proper time.’”

    ↩