- Potsdam Declaration
The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender was a statement issued on
July 26 ,1945 by President of theUnited States Harry S. Truman , Prime Minister of theUnited Kingdom Winston Churchill and President of theRepublic of China Chiang Kai-shek which outlined the terms of surrender for theEmpire of Japan as agreed upon at thePotsdam Conference . Thisultimatum stated that ifJapan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction".Japan's initial rejection of the ultimatum led directly to Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9. Whether the ultimatum was intended to be acceptable without recourse to use nuclear weapons has been subject to considerable debate.
The declaration was one of Churchill's final official acts as Prime Minister before leaving office the following day in favour of
Clement Atlee .External links
* [http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/etc/c06.html Potsdam Declaration]
ee also
*
Cairo Declaration (1943)
*Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945)
*Surrender of Japan (1945)
*Operation August Storm (The Soviet campaign in the Far East during August 1945)
*Japanese Instrument of Surrender (1945)
*General Order No. 1 (1945)
*Mokusatsu
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