Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference), 1945, Volume I

J. C. S. Files

No. 602
Memorandum by the United States Chiefs of Staff¹

top secret
C. C. S. 880/8

[Washington,] 7 July 1945.

Planning Date for the End of Organized Resistance by Japan

(For the Purpose of Planning Production and the Allocation of Manpower)

With reference to item (9), “Planning date for the end of the war against Japan,” of the proposed agenda for United States–British military staff conferences (C. C. S. 880),² the United States Chiefs of Staff recommend agreement to the following:—

a. That for the purpose of planning production and the allocation of manpower, the planning date for the end of organized resistance by Japan be 15 November 1946; that this date be adjusted periodically to conform to the course of the war.

b. The United States Chiefs of Staff desire to avoid use of the term “end of the war” in the sense proposed in the agenda, in view of the fact that certain United States laws, which should remain in effect during the period of occupation of Japan, will automatically lapse at stated periods after “the end of the war.”

1. Considered by the Combined Chiefs of Staff at their 196th Meeting, July 19. See vol. ii, p. 115.
2. Document No. 154.