Potsdam Declaration — Allies Demand Japan's Surrender or 'Prompt and Utter Destruction'

The Potsdam Declaration, issued by Truman, Churchill (replaced mid-conference by Attlee), and Chiang Kai-shek on July 26, 1945, warned Japan to surrender unconditionally or face 'prompt and utter destruction.' The declaration specified Allied occupation, war crimes trials, and peaceful Japanese sovereignty over the home islands but did not mention the atomic bomb or the Soviet declaration of war. Japan's Supreme War Council and Prime Minister Suzuki publicly rejected the ultimatum on July 28 (mokusatsu), though the Emperor and some ministers were looking for a way out. The rejection provided the political justification for the atomic bomb attacks ten days later.