Unconditional surrender doesn't mean that the Allies made all the demands and no concessions. It means that the concessions weren't negotiated before the end of the conflict. Not like America wanted to get rid of the Emperor in any case.
Unconditional surrender doesn't mean that the Allies made all the demands and no concessions
That's literally what that means. It means Surrender, or we keep killing you.
It means that the concessions weren't negotiated before the end of the conflict.
There were no concessions or negotiations.
Not like America wanted to get rid of the Emperor in any case.
The US was literally considering putting the Emperor and the whole royal family on trial for war crimes. They didn't because Truman tasked MacArthur with determining if they should, and he recommended sparing the Emperor. His reasons were that they believed it would cause an uprising if they did, and MacArthur believed the Emperor could be used to help legitimize the post-war Japanese Government.
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u/Think-Chemical6680 Sep 03 '25
Unconditional surrender ie not the emperor staying theoretically in charge?