WWII: What happened on VJ Day?
While VE Day might be more famous in the UK and Europe, VJ Day marks the actual end of WWII. Learn more about this historic event here.
Image: Prisma by Dukas Presseagentur GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo
In the UK, it’s common for people to think of VE Day (or Victory in Europe Day) as marking the end of WWII. However, in reality, this only signalled the defeat of Nazi Germany, with many people forgetting that the war raged on for a further three months in the Far East.
Instead, VJ Day (or Victory over Japan Day) should be recognised as the real date that the conflict came to a close. That’s because Japan refused to bow to intense pressure from the US and the Allies and accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, only doing so after the horrific loss of life at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Want to learn more about this historic occurrence? Sky HISTORY has got you covered. The following article explores the exact events that unfolded and the various dates on which it is recognised around the world – as well as the reasons behind those discrepancies.
The events leading up to the surrender
The capitulation of Nazi Germany in May 1945 sparked wild celebrations across Britain and Allied parts of Europe, but the Japanese refused to follow suit. Tens of thousands of Allied troops were still engaged in battle in the Far East, with hundreds of thousands more incarcerated in Prisoner of War (POW) camps under horrendous conditions.
As such, the Allies quickly moved to redeploy some 150,000 fighting men from Europe to the Pacific, with many more scheduled to join them from the USA. Myanmar was liberated by the British 14th Army, Australian forces were fighting hard in Borneo and the US scored big wins on the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
An invasion of the Japanese home islands was planned next, though casualties were expected to be extremely high. One American journalist predicted a figure of some 1,000,000 Allied wounded, and while military commanders envisaged only a third of this number, it still amounted to astronomical losses. An alternative was sought.
On 28th July, the Japanese were presented with an ultimatum for unconditional surrender. With such a concept being abhorrent to the Japanese psyche due to the cultural importance of honour, they rejected it. On 6th August, the USA dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, causing approximately 140,000 casualties.
Despite the gravity of the situation, the Japanese authorities still refused to cave in. Stalin’s USSR declared war on Japan on the 8th August, while a day later, the US dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Casualties were once again very high, with an estimated toll of 74,000 hospitalised as a result. The odds against sustained Japanese resistance were now starkly insurmountable.
VJ Day as it occurred
Faced with certain defeat, the Japanese Emperor Hirohito took to the national airwaves on the 15th August to record the historic 'Jewel Voice Broadcast'. In this message, which was the first time his subjects had heard him speak, he accepted the Potsdam Declaration’s demand for surrender, blaming the decision on the 'new and most cruel bomb' which had decimated both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The announcement was actually preceded in the USA by an address by President Harry S Truman, who spoke from the White House. 'This is the day we have been waiting for since Pearl Harbour,' he told the nation, sparking hysteric celebrations all across the country. Similar scenes were witnessed in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and other Allied nations.
Meanwhile, actual confirmation of the war’s end would not arrive for over two more weeks. On 2nd September, the formal ceremony of Japan’s surrender took place on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The Instrument of Surrender was signed by both the Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and General Yoshijiro Umezu, as well as US General Douglas MacArthur.
Due to the staggered nature of these events, there is now more than one date recognised as VJ Day. British Commonwealth states all regard 15th August as the official date, while certain parts of the US (including Rhode Island, which is the only state to still observe a holiday for the occasion) prefer to commemorate VJ Day on 2nd September.
The aftermath and legacy
While the West’s overwhelming reaction to VJ Day was one of huge relief that the fighting was over and joy at the positive outcome for Allied forces, it also signalled the beginning of a monumental recovery effort.
For Britain, this was concentrated largely on getting aid to their troops trapped in Japanese POW camps. These were notorious for the mistreatment and terrible conditions they fostered, with the forced labour of the Burma-Thailand 'death railway' reportedly resulting in as many 102,000 of the 250,000 Allied prisoners (over 40%) who had been forced to construct it. As such, getting immediate help to them, as well as bringing them back home, was of the utmost importance.
Meanwhile, the USA and the Soviet Union were locked in something of a power struggle about how to deal with Japan and govern the Pacific Region. Furthermore, the use of the deadly atomic bomb opened a political Pandora’s Box which would develop into the Cold War between the two powers some years later. International geopolitics would never be quite the same again.
As for Japan, its population had been decimated and its economy was in tatters. What’s more, some 6.5 million Japanese were stranded overseas at the time of its surrender, making the future of the country extremely uncertain. The question of how to remember its dead, as well as well as how to rebuild for another day, was one which would plague Japan’s leaders for decades.
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