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Was there any official treaty established or did an unconditional surrender obviate the need?
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Is the Japanese “Self Defense Force” restricted in it’s choice of weaponry? Is it allowed to invade a country that has attacked it for the sake of self-defense?
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What was the sanction on the German Air Force? Was it not allowed to have an air force at all or just not allowed to make engines? Did that ban “expire?” If not, will it?
The Luftwaffe exists today. It has some German-built aircraft.
The Treaty of Peace with Japan was signed in San Francisco in 1951, which restored Japan’s sovereignty and defined its territories.
As for the Self Defence Force, I don’t think there is an explicite rule on what they can and cannot own. They have no weapons which are explicitely for attacking foreign countries, such as ICBMs and aircraft carriers. However they have a number of military ships including four Aegis missile cruisers. As I understand it, preemptive strikes for self defence is considered to be unconstitutional. However Japanese forces have been deployed to assist with US and UN peacekeeping operations in non-combat roles. They provided logistical support in the campaign against Afganistan, and just yesterday one of the Aegis cruisers was deployed to the Indian Ocean.
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There certainly were treaties signed with both countries. ‘Unconditional surrender’ basically meant that the allies could dictate whatever tterms they wished in the treaty and the Japanese or Germans had to accept it. However, a case can eb made that WWI and the treatment the Germans received afterwards was a primary cause leading to WWII (as far as Germany is concerned). Given that lesson the Allies were more cognizant of NOT holding the defeated country’s feet to the fire and instead worked to re-build those shattered countries.
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I haven’t read the particulars of the treaty with Japan but as I understand it the Japanese SDF is strictly meant for homeland defense only. Technically they are not allowed to embark on ANY military adventures away from their own country. As a result Japan could not send troops or equipment to help in Desert Storm (although tey could lend logistical aid). That said I’m sure if Japan was directly attacked and they felt they had to take the war to their enemy they’d do so and screw the treaty. The Japanese SDF sounds a lot like a Coast Guard but in actuality they are a fair sized military force in their own right and not to be trifled with. I think they pretty much have their choice of weaponry except for nuclear weapons (although it wouldn’t surprise me if Japan had a few nukes covertly stashed away).
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Germany was in a similar boat as Japan in that it was allowed to maintain what amounted to a self-defense force but was restricted from military actions outside their own borders. However, the Cold War changed some of that so I think the Germans were given a little more wiggle room than the Japanese have.
As it turns out the treaties work to Japan’s and Germany’s favor these days. They need not maintain expensive militaries for themselves. Germany relies on the US and NATO to take care of their protection and Japan relies on the US. The US has made noises that Japan should carry more of the load for themselves but the Japanese don’t especially want to spend the money. Russia likewise doesn’t want a re-armed Japan on their doorstep (Japan feels some islands taken by Russia should be returned). As a signatory to the peace treaty (I’m pretty sure) Russia would have to agree to modifications of that treaty and so far they won’t.
1./Germany: there were surrender agreements signed (see e.g. http://www.unclefed.com/FunStuff/HistDocs/germsur1.html but these covered only the technical aspects of surrender and not any future political dispositions. The status of the two German states and their relations with other countries were defined not in the instruments of surrender (as between the unconditional surrender and the establishment ot the two Germanies there was no German state which could be party to any agreement) but in later treaties. The definitive treaty was the “Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany” of 12 September 1990. This treaty was not called a peace treaty but effectively is.
- After the unconditional surrender of Germany the German air force wasn’t just restricted - it was abolished, along with all German armed forces. Today the restrictions to the German air force are the normal ones applicable to all countries: “all applicable arms limitation treaties”.
Germany and Japan have pretty large armed forces - probably among the ten most powerful conventional armies in the world. Both nations maintain hundreds of thousands of active soldiers and deploy state-of-the-art weaponry.
Japan’s limitations on foreign involvement are part of her CONSTITUTION, not just the peace agreement.
Yeah but wasn’t her Constitution largely dictated to her by the Allies? Or, if not dictated to, subject to approval by the Allies along with the Allies strongly ‘suggesting’ certain inclusions?
There is currently a lot of talk in Japanese newspapers about amending the constitution to allow JDF resources to be used to take more active roles in UN commitments.
Japan launched and routinely launches harrasment flights of aircraft into Russia. Japan is the only country that has the balls to do this sort of thing routinely.
I resent the implication that Shogun MacArthur was open to foreign influence when he was writing Japan’s constitution.
To balance my previous hit and run post, here’s an interesting essay I found promoting an alternative to that popular perception:
Ficer67, your statement interests me. Do you have any cites with more information about these harrassment runs? I ask because I spent a couple of years teaching English to the pilots at the Hamamatsu ASDF base and none of them ever mentioned these missions.
Technically, Russia and Japan are the only two countries still fighting World War II.