A defeated German Reich was carved up into 7 areas so that
the allies France, Britain, the United States of America,
and Russia could put troops to occupy it. One section of Germany
was Frances responsibility and two sections each would go
to the rest of the allies.
In Tokyo. The Emperor issues an Imperial Rescript (decree)
at 1600 hours (local time) ordering all Japanese forces to
cease fire. The Cabinet resigns. General Prince Higashikumi
becomes the prime minister of Japan and forms a new government.
He orders the Imperial Army to obey the Emperor's call and
lay down their arms.
In China. The Soviet commander, Marshal Vassilevsky, calls
on the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria to surrender by
20 August 1945.
There is no reply from the Japanese headquarters, but from
1900 hours many Japanese units begin to surrender.
In London. In the House of Commons, Mr Winston Churchill,
now leader of the opposition, speaks of an iron curtain descending
across Europe. Mr Winston Churchill expresses particular concern
over the forcible expulsion, and fate, of ethnic Germans from
territory allotted to Poland in the west to compensate for
territory taken by the USSR in the east. He also notes developments
in the newly communist dominated countries in eastern Europe.
In Moscow. The governments of Poland and the USSR sign a treaty
which fixes the new frontier.
Go To: 17th
August
Articles:
The Second Great War.
Edited by Sir John Hamilton
The War Illustrated.
Edited by Sir John Hamilton
2194 Days Of War.
ISBN-10: 086136614X
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