Impact of the Potsdam Declaration on Japan
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In August of 1945, Japan surrendered to the United States unconditionally ending World War II. Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and allowed the United States to occupy all of the land mass of Japan. The surrender was accomplished through the intervention of Emperor Hirohito. The Japanese Cabinet could not reach a unanimous decision to surrender which was required by the Meiji system of government. The minister of the army refused to agree to the army's dissolution as was required by the Potsdam declarations (Iokibe, 1990, p. 97). The Emperor's sacred decision and his announcement to his subjects, that the war must end to save the lives of his people, set the tone for Japan's cooperation with the United States' occupation. The Japanese military establishment knew it would be destroyed but did not oppose the emperor. During the occupation of Japan, the United States instituted lasting reforms that enabled Japan to recover from the war quickly and with a robust economy. The Potsdam Declaration, in article 6, deprived the military in Japan of their authority and power forever (Iokibe, 1990, p. 96). This set the initial goal of the occupation--to demilitarize Japan. General MacArthur summarized the agenda of the occupation in this way: "first destroy the military power, then build representative government, enfranchise women, free political prisoners, liberate farmers, establish free labor unions, destroy monopolies, abolish police repression, liberate
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ual equality, and in Article 9, forbade the creation of an armed forces or the right to wage war. The new constitution gave the people rights and privileges that they had never experienced before. This new constitution also entrenched the idea and principles of democracy in Japan. Article 9 is important, since it forbids the creation of an army; this allows a greater portion of the GNP to be spent on programs other than defense. Japan spends less than I percent of its GNP on defense. The United States spends in excess of 5 percent of its GNP (figures from 1981). This allows Japan to invest a greater percentage of its GNP in infrastructure improvements. These improvements mean a greater efficiency for the economy of Japan and allow it to grow at a more rapid rate. The United States has borne the expense of defending itself and Japan leaving less money available for infrastructure improvements in the United States.
The rewriting of the constitution began the political reforms instituted by the United States. This was followed by other reforms required by the American occupation force. At the time of Pearl Harbor, 46 percent of all land under cultivation was worked by tenet farmers. Only 36 percent of Japanese peasants ow
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Approximate Word count = 1709
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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