Why did President Harry Truman declare that as far as the U.S. government was concerned, World War II officially ended on Dec. 31, 1946?
I know that treaty negotiations after the Armistice in World War I dragged on for months into 1919, but the German and Japanese surrenders in WW2 were unconditional, weren’t they?
Cite?
The President’s News Conference on the Termination of Hostilities of World War II doesn’t really answer the question of why the formal termination of WW2 was drawn out to such a late date. If anything, Truman adds to the confusion:
That’s the bit I’d like some elaboration on. What the heck? Did the “state of war” still exist because of a general oversight to “declare peace,” or were there really little pockets of resistance? I thought they made that up for Gilligan’s Island.
Larry: There were Japanese holdouts until the 1980s. Someone will be along with a cite, but this is widely documented.
Nope. The last Japanese surrendered in 1972.
furt: OK, off by a few years. Point being, some Japanese soldiers were holed away in remote islands fighting the war for decades after the fact.
I was Noping the “gilligan’s island” line, not you, Derleth.
Anyway, as to the OP, I’m guessing it was because they had to have an end date for determining veteran’s benefits and that sort of thing. Most of the sites I’m finding head that way…
It was actually even later than furt supposes: Cecil tells us the last documented Japanese surrender was in 1980, by a guy they found in the Philippines.
There was a report of a Japanese emerging from the jungle about a month ago! :eek:.
Really?
The fighting in a war ends either with an armistice or an unconditional surrender. The war itself usually ends with a peace treaty.
President Truman’s proclamation of 12/31/1946 concerned neither of these milestones. Organized WWII fighting, of course, had ended in 1945, and the first peace treaties weren’t ratified until 1947. (Others followed in 1951 and 1955, but some loose ends were never mopped up–the Soviet Union and Japan were still technically at war when the Soviet Union broke up; I’m not sure how Russia feels about the matter, but the Kurile Islands are still in dispute.)
So what was Truman talking about? As the above press conference link indicates, many federal laws concern certain things happening during a “state of hostilities”–when hostilities end, certain boards cease to exist, or military regulations lapse, or veterans’ benefits change. The “state of hostilities” doesn’t end at the moment of surrender–it takes time to demobilize, and enemy resisters still have to be mopped up and occupation forces put in place. By 12/31/1946, obviously, Harry felt things had settled down enough to revert to peactime status for purposes of the 53 laws and regulations cited in the news conference.
Well, in Germany, for two years after the surrender, there were sporadic terrorist and sabotage acts committed by pro-Nazi partisans under Operation Werewolf. Most of them were ill trained fanatical Nazi teenagers who operated from enclaves in the forests and mountains, but they killed more than a thousand people after the war’s end. They started operating shortly before the war’s end, too, and managed to kill an American general in April '45. Most estimates I’ve seen is that more than 1,000 foreigners (aid workers and troops alike) were killed in west Germany by the Werewolf in a span of two years.
Also, in Japan, some Japanese holdouts managed to sustain heavy combat for a year after the Emperor’s surrender. I read one account of a small band of fanatical Japanese soldiers, who, after having hid out for months in a cave on some Pacific island, rampaged a local village sometime in 1946, killing something like 6 or 7 villagers before being gunned down themselves. Dozens of American GIs were killed by suicidal attackers such as that in the immediate year(s) following the surrender of the motherland.
By late 1946, I’m positive most conflict had ended (Werewolf was dying, and few holdouts were still active in the Pacific). Thus, it makes sense for Truman to have declared hostilities ceased by that time.
Is it possible the wording is because the president does not have the power to declare the end of a war (as used in the constitution)?
“War” and “state of hostilities,” are apparently separate things, each with their own legal and constitutional consequences. I guess the president (as CinC of the armed forces?) has the final say on “states of hostilities,” but “war” can only be started and ended by the Congress.
I’m speculating. Hopefully somebody can be more authoritative.
Thanks jklann and Daoloth for your historically enlightening answers. The president’s delaying the declaration of the end of hostilities until the end of 1946 would explain why many sectors of manufacturing in the U.S. (automobiles and radio and television equipment come to mind) did not resume until 1947.
Another motive was probably the desire to keep certain wartime peculiarties instated, i.e. military tribunals for US citizens. The Third Reich Factbook affirms that at least four people born and raised in the US voluntarily joined Hitler’s Waffen SS during the war. At least one Italian-American joined Italy during the war, as well. Furthermore, at least 2 American citizens became Nazi agents on a sabotage mission in the US itself (never came to fruition due to one man’s conscience).
I assume that by the date of Truman’s declaration that all proceedings that fell under the afformentioned categories, or categories affiliated with them, would have been sorted out by that time.
Does anyone happen to know when the state of emergency referenced above came to an end?
If it ever did.
There were probably more than that. There were attempts by the SS to form “volunteer” units composed of American, British, and Canadian POW’s. These units’ main purpose was obviously propaganda and they were never staffed to the level the Germans hoped for, but I have to think there were more than four volunteers in the “SS Amerika” division (or whatever it was called).
Both states of emergency were terminated by President Truman on April 28, 1952, when the peace treaty with Japan entered into force. Of course, by that time we had entered into a new emergency because of Korea. See http://www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title50a/50a_1_3_.html
And if anyone would like to know the full legal and constitutional ramifications of these various states of emergency, states of hostilities, and state of war . . . well, be prepared to spend a lot of time in the nearest law library. And, when you’re done, the current Supreme Court might like your input!