Documents with Commentaries Part 1 Military Defeat and Efforts to Reform the Constitution
This is a collection of the telegrams and cables related to the negotiations carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Switzerland and Sweden concerning the acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. A "Study of the United States of America, United Kingdom, China 'Potsdam' Declaration," carried out by the Bureau of Treaties in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, intended to clearly grasp the intentions of the Allied Powers, is attached at the end of the series of documents. Here are noted the measures, in regard to those the Allied Powers had initiated to democratize the German people, which the Japanese government was to be made to carry out. Particularly, the phrase "revival and strengthening of democratic tendencies," in the Potsdam Declaration, was considered to indicate the Allied Powers' understanding of the trends towards democratization that existed among the Japanese people. Also, the phrase "establishing a peacefully inclined and responsible government," was understood to indicate the need to establish a new government separate and different from the existing government. However, it would be made clear through the reasoning that followed, that the Potsdam Declaration fell outside the bounds of the Meiji Constitution.
| Actual Title of Source | [Potsudamu Sengen Judaku ni Kanshi Suisu, Sueden wo Kaishi Rengokokugawa ni Moushi Ire Kankei] |
|---|---|
| Date | July to August, 1945 |
| Document Number | Diplomatic Records A' 1.0.0.1 <GAI-1, Reel No. A'-0113> in "Matters Regarding Acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration (Volume 1)" |
| Repository (reproduction) | National Diet Library |
| Repository | Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| Note | Microfilm |
