how the war could have ended: INducement
Due to the “fight to the bitter end” attitude and massive loss of life in Germany, people did not wish for the same thing to happen in Japan. To prevent loss of life, some decided instead that it would be wise to end the war by inducing Japan to give up before it was compelled despairingly to do so. They made an offer of unconditional surrender to Japan. This would of course come after many attacks to scare them into surrendering to the terms. Acting Secretary of State Grew had been Ambassador in Japan during the ten years prior to 1941 came up with the idea of inducing Japan to surrender. The Japanese might agree to submit before they were crushed by coalition when they discovered that fighting back was a lost cause. To get Japan to surrender, they came up with various ideas to show their strength compared to that of the island nation. They considered occupying the country with their massive forces, creating a blockade around the nation, and even disclosing the power of the Atomic bomb to them to frighten them.
“Let them be told of the overwhelming force they face and the inevitable and complete destruction. Let them be made to understand that however the war ends, the allies are determined to limit Japanese sovereignty to the four main islands and render them powerless to mount and support another war. But let them be told also (1) that they would not be extirpated as a race or destroyed as a nation (2) that they would be permitted to maintain industries needed to sustain a reasonable standard of peacetime living (3) that as soon as allied objectives were accomplished, and a peacefully inclined government, truly representative of the people, was constituted, the forces of occupation would be withdrawn, and (4) “I personally think that if in saying this we should add that we do not exclude a constitutional monarchy under her present dynasty, it would substantially add to the change of acceptance.”[1]
However, we never told the Japanese of our strength or warned them of the massive weaponry we possessed. We chose instead to end the war quickly, with the atomic bomb.
[1] Potsdam Papers, Document 592
“Let them be told of the overwhelming force they face and the inevitable and complete destruction. Let them be made to understand that however the war ends, the allies are determined to limit Japanese sovereignty to the four main islands and render them powerless to mount and support another war. But let them be told also (1) that they would not be extirpated as a race or destroyed as a nation (2) that they would be permitted to maintain industries needed to sustain a reasonable standard of peacetime living (3) that as soon as allied objectives were accomplished, and a peacefully inclined government, truly representative of the people, was constituted, the forces of occupation would be withdrawn, and (4) “I personally think that if in saying this we should add that we do not exclude a constitutional monarchy under her present dynasty, it would substantially add to the change of acceptance.”[1]
However, we never told the Japanese of our strength or warned them of the massive weaponry we possessed. We chose instead to end the war quickly, with the atomic bomb.
[1] Potsdam Papers, Document 592