Week 312 - Hirohito Announces Surrender - War Continues - WW2 - August 17, 1945

[@WorldWarTwo]

On September 2nd, we’re hosting a livestream premiering immediately after a special episode of World War Two in Real Time. You won't want to miss it!

[@lawrenceallen8096]

Strange: "We have ordered our government to communicate with the governments of United Stages, Great Britain, China, and the Soviet Union....their joint declaration." The Soviet Union was not a signatory to the Potsdam Declaration.

[@dervelthecelt]

It seems surreal that the war is over but there is still 3 episodes left.

[@john_in_phoenix]

I for one really appreciate the time and effort your team has put into bringing such high quality content to your viewers. Thank you!

[@kidmohair8151]

18k subs to go!

[@rickden8362]

What happened to final statement at the end of the emperors statement where he says ''The war is over''

[@crazymaniac3000]

"The war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage" Understatement of the freaking century...

[@yourroyalchungusness]

It's actually worded like that to make it so that the Japanese army wouldn't feel embarassedññjñy bun

[@DouglaszillaAweome]

True. Still, it's really quite mind boggling at times using different words/phrases to emphasize and send clear messages albeit it differently. Like instead of "scavenger" use "prospector". Or instead of 'stubborn' use 'adamant'. In this case instead of 'Surrender' use 'Not in favor' or 'Not in advantage'.

[@lukedavis307]

Not to mention that whole part about never intending territorial aggrandizement. That's some real mental gymnastics to make that one seem believable.

[@eruno_]

least shameful way to declare the news

[@sergiojuanmembiela6223]

OTOH, if wording it that way helped people to accept surrender... The video tells also that many people were not informed of the extent of Japan's defeats, so just telling them "They have beaten the crap out of us and we are falling miserably" would have made things worse.

[@theprofessional155]

Hirohito is saying Japan didn’t want to destabilize east Asia and violate the sovereignty of other countries . Well where was he when Japan invaded almost all of East Asia .

[@Yi_Myeongbok_Emperor_of_Korea]

So this guy on his OP zero comes out of nowhere while i was minding my own business and for no reason takes over my country.😡

[@danielwillens5876]

He was in a medieval fantasy land, actually.

[@sapphyrus]

They merely imitated Western imperialists.

[@pianowhizz]

You misheard what was said: It’s quite explicit by the ‘four years’ quote that he 100% clearly means violating the ‘sovereignty’ of the colonial European powers (Singapore, Hong Kong, Pearl Harbor etc). Anti-Humor at its best! 1919 Racial Equality Proposal anyone?! Revenge complete.

[@colinmerritt7645]

​@@danielwillens5876 "Are we the baddies?"

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

"the war should be over with Hirohito's broadcast. But it's not" Not until 1974 for one soldier

[@stephengraham1153]

Without wanting to trivialise, but reminds me of that scene from "Pack Up Your Troubles" starring Laurel and Hardy kzbin.info/www/bejne/boG0emZnrq2NeKMsi=J9c6ulLYLhvECqZl&t=113

[@anthony92399]

Does that mean new WWII episodes till 2053? lol

[@oslonorway547]

He didn't get the memo. He thought it was a prank, bro.

[@nairbvel]

Truth is, if you look at some of the current problems, the war's STILL going on...

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

@@anthony92399 "on this week's episode of WW2, the last Japanese soldier improvises a new recipe with coconut milk and spices taken from nearby villages"

[@davidk6269]

Years ago my mother showed me a black and white photo of my grandfather and some Chinese guerrilla fighters who had fought the Japanese occupation of China gathered around a radio listening to Emperor Hirohito's surrender announcement. The photo was taken to commemorate the realization of the moment they had all struggled so long to help achieve. It is an amazing moment of time captured on film.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for sharing.

[@tkm238-d4r]

Nice of you to mention this. Regrettably the historical revisionism around us has reached a point where mentioning the role of China on the Allied side is practically considered as politically inconvenient. I remembered the 2001 movie Pearl Harbor. The production team appeared mainly concerned not to offend Japanese sentiments. Japanese promotional posters emphasized a love story. Meanwhile, within the movie, the Pearl Harbor event was almost like a background event, not the main part of the story. The movie ended with the main characters taking part in the Doolittle Raid and crash landing in China. I recalled that when watching the scene when one of the characters realized he was fatally wounded after the crash-landing, the Chinese characters appeared as somewhat obscure figures in the background.

[@davidk6269]

@@tkm238-d4r Thanks for your comment! I know what you mean about the US and the West seeming to minimize the contribution that China made towards defeating Japan during WW2. A very large percentage of the Japanese army was tied down fighting in China during the entire war and was a major drain on Japanese manpower and resources.

[@javierganzarain4559]

@@davidk6269 i would kill to see that photo

[@user-cz6mq5mr4o]

@@javierganzarain4559 My grandfather was the second of the brothers, and during his time in Wuhan, China, he was stabbed to death by the Japanese army. The other three brothers fled to different places. The story of the stabbing was told to me by my second great-uncle, who joined the Chinese Red Army, but he passed away last year. My father knows very little about my grandfather’s situation, as our family was scattered. Although our family holds a grudge against Japan, I speak Japanese and have worked in a Japanese company for 20 years. Objectively speaking, Japan hasn’t fundamentally changed and remains highly nationalistic.

[@firingallcylinders2949]

It feels like just yesterday I was watching the Pearl Harbor special. I can't believe this has been going for 6 years. I've looked forward to these videos every Saturday. Thanks for all the awesome work you guys did on this series!

[@conscript900]

Its certainly been a long ride.

[@junfour]

It feels like just yesterday I was watching Conrad von Hötzendorf attacking over the Carpathian mountains!

[@davidnemoseck9007]

Ya, same with the D-Day special.

[@schulze25]

Yesss!!! It has gone by so fast!

[@markrix]

I know right?

[@aze94]

IIRC Hirohito's speech was so vaguely worded that a goverment official had to later make a statement to the Japanese people with the clarification that yes, Japan was in fact surrendering. The fact that he spoke in an archaic manner probably didn't help either.

[@bobanobahoba1642]

I lost the thread halfway through just hearing the translation here, lol

[@gunman47]

A sidenote this week on August 13 1945 is that Lieutenant Oscar Perdomo of the 507th Fighter Group of the US Army Air Forces will become the last air ace of the war when he destroyed five Japanese fighters during an offensive sweep over Kyushu island, Japan.

[@artisaprimus6306]

Any relation to the cigar family of the same name?

[@gunman47]

@@artisaprimus6306 No idea on this, but maybe unlikely perhaps?

[@thebigdrew12]

​@@artisaprimus6306 Ah, yet another person of culture

[@WorldWarTwo]

As always gunman, thanks for sharing.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

Just to tack into the above, Oscar Perdomo was also the last "ace in a day" in WW2 and only two other pilots have matched that feat since. All five of his kills occured in a single mission on August 13th. The two subsequent aces in a day were in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 when a Pakistani pilot shot down 5 Indian planes. There has also been a claim made that a Ukrainian pilot did so in 2022, though it's not yet independently verified.

[@mikemoore4033]

Best/worst euphemism in history, " ...the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage. "

[@brianbeattie3305]

If it gets a complete surrender I'll allow some face saving language.

[@jameskuyper]

By failing to acknowledge how horrible the situation really was, it could have led people to think that the situation was not bad enough to justify surrendering.

[@kennethkho7165]

​@@jameskuyper it did though, a new and most cruel bomb leading to the extinction of the human civilization

[@jameskuyper]

@@kennethkho7165 I find your comment confusing, but I'm not quite sure what questions I need answered to resolve my confusion. I guess I'll just start at the beginning: What are you referring to as "it"? What did "it" do?

[@kennethkho7165]

@@jameskuyper i apologize, i meant the emperor stated that the situation is absolutely apocalyptic immediately after the sentence that the war did not go in japan's favor

[@alejeron]

"[insert country here] thought that [insert mountain range/desert/marsh/etc] was impassable" is an incredibly common statement that pretty much always ends poorly

[@901Sherman]

To be fair to the Japanese, they didn't have much of a choice, being so overstretched as they were

[@jakubcesarzdakos5442]

To be fair, there is something of a survivor bias in here. We only hear about the few cases where it ended badly, we don't hear much about those that did not

[@MM22966]

They were probably basing the strategy on the Manchuria short war in '37, where areas like that were a lot harder to get through. Times had changed...

[@MM22966]

Or we DO hear, and the common response is "How could you be that stupid to think it would work?!", i.e. the Japanese themselves trying to cross the Owen Stanley Mountains in New Guinea.

[@Cancoillotteman]

@@jakubcesarzdakos5442 Exactly. Examples of the opposite can also be found accross history (Carrhae, Poltava, Isonzo river, Erzerum 1915 etc)

[@MrMineHeads.]

"the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage" This is such a funny line. Quite the way to characterize total and utter defeat.

[@rrice1705]

Definitely. To me it's up there with the Exxon Valdez's captain saying "uh, evidently we're leaking some oil."

[@tech.noir83]

It's called trying to maintain dignity, almost every defeated nation tries to have as much as possible at the end

[@osrizzo9219]

It could be a couple of things. First, to I guess 'soften' the blow to the Japanese people, army, and navy. But second, it's kind of a thing in the Japanese language, when you are saying something to the negative, you say it softly. Even in modern Japanese, you don't say that you hate something, you say that you don't really like it. [i.e. you wouldn't say kirai desu (I hate it) which sounds uncouth, you'd say anmari suki janai (I don't really like it)] Also, emperor Hirohito's message was in a court dialect which is heavily formal and polite, so the language comes across even softer.

[@jliller]

@@tech.noir83 Japan picked a fight they couldn't win, and they did it for selfish reasons. They had no dignity.

[@chequereturned]

Yeah. It’s the most famous line from the announcement. Would be hilarious if the context weren’t so serious. Hell, it’s still hilarious.

[@maciejkamil]

It was a honor and pleasure to be here since 2018. Thank you.

[@jliller]

Or 2014, for some of us.

[@cesarmarquez8670]

@@jliller”and this, was the Great War” is a well remembered phrase.

[@wesleywilkinson6629]

@@cesarmarquez8670man my soul hurt reading that

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for being here.

[@WinstonMaraj-gx8sm]

Been our pleasure. But what a terrible, terrible time. ​@WorldWarTwo

[@rlauder7210]

I don't want to seem overly melodramatic, but I feel somewhat mournful over the fact that we're finally here. This has been - without doubt - the most amazing series I have ever watched, and as such have contributed monetarily on and off over the years when I can. I'm genuinely feeling gutted it's almost over. Whilst we're all glad the war is over, I don't want the show to end!

[@chequereturned]

There is still a bit to be go, and after that I imagine they’d want to tie up loose ends about the aftermath WW2 that’s still deeply connected to it, eg trials and setting up the occupation of Germany such. Then there’s their Korean War series.

[@rlauder7210]

@@chequereturned I know, it still doesn't make me feel any better! WW2 was the formative event for my Grandparents generation, and what they experienced and it's aftermath has affected my entire family and outlook on life, and as such, I've been fascinated by it from a very young age. I've read extensively on the conflict. But this series has been like taking the myriad of puzzle pieces I knew about, and assembling them into a whole. It's been enlightening and transformative of my knowledge of the subject. I'm like a small child being told I have to go to bed. I don't wanna!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for being a member of the TimeGhost army, we have plenty more we want to do so we aren't going anywhere!

[@daffyduk77]

You make it sound like, after suffering all these 6 years, you've finally battled through against all the odds ! Such fortitude ! 😂 beats "our boys" from back then 🙂

[@chequereturned]

@@daffyduk77 Yeah yeah they went through the Blitz or D-Day or Stalingrad or the Pacific War or the Holocaust… but did they sit through even *one* KZbin video?? I think not.

[@Kubinda12345]

Fun facts about Hirohito's announcement: 1) It doesn't contain the word surrender. 2) It was spoken in a court dialect meaning that normal Japanese didn't understand it.

[@LinkoofHyrule]

part 2 is a myth most japanese would have been able to understand it. it just would have sounded strange. the bigger issue is that barely anyone had access to a radio,

[@torchris1]

If you listen to the recording - which is on KZbin - even to me as someone who doesn’t speak Japanese, it sounds very odd. The sing song diction and vocabulary would almost be like the George VI reading a speech in Shakespearean English.

[@KrisLapler]

Or that was how everyone around him since he could remember spoke and he just thought that is how everyone talked.

[@scottlarson1548]

In "Hiroshima Diary" Dr. Michihiko Hachiya gives a great description of the reaction of the people he was with when they heard it. They *assumed* the Emperor was going to order the women and children into the hills and every man to pick up any weapon they could find to kill as many Americans as possible. They were shocked to hear that instead they were going to surrender! All those years of sacrifice would be for nothing? They simply could not believe it!

[@garyleibitzke4166]

His announcement was also full of utter bullshit.

[@Yamato-tp2kf]

Two very important details that happened between the 14th and the 15th of August: The emperor had to repeat a second time the recording of his speech, because the first recording he spoke in a low voice where it was difficult to hear him, so they repeated again and the second time was good. The second detail was the fact that the officer that tried to stop the surrender never discovered the place where the recordings were because the imperial palace that was built in the 17th century and belonged to the Tokugawa shogunate until 1861 was a palace specially designed to confuse intruders that didn't knew or never entered in the palace, all rooms resemble each other equally all corridors resemble each other, so those who serve with loyalty the emperor and the imperial household hide in one of those rooms between futons (and there's at least more than 50 rooms in there!!!)... They never arrived to inspect all the rooms...

[@EdGee1989]

Plus, the chamberlain that were tasked with protecting the recordings are direct descendants of Tokugawa Shogunate. He later became the head of the Imperial Household Agency.

[@Yamato-tp2kf]

@@EdGee1989 by the way there's a KZbin channel that made a video about the Kyujo incident (which is the name of the attempted coup), you just need to search on KZbin about the Kyujo incident and you will find a one hour video about it with a lot more details

[@dfsengineer]

There's a terrific Toho movie from 1967 called JAPAN'S LONGEST DAY that deals with the decision to surrender and the attempted coup, highly recommenced.

[@EdGee1989]

Or The Emperor in August, a (kinda) remake of the same movie.

[@Chrissbio]

So.... i dont think Steiners Counterattack is coming anymore guys 😢

[@petergray2712]

Untrue. In 1951, he became a founding member of the HIAG, a lobbying group set up to deny, cleanse, and rewrite the historical legacy of the Waffen-SS. So he spent the last fifteen years of his life counterattacking postwar historians and narratives.

[@daffyduck780]

He is mustering his forces in the secret Antarctic base Just wait, be patient.

[@johnmccnj]

Das war ein BEFEHL!😡

[@pnutz_2]

4:20 the australian equivalent of "the kiss in times square" is a guy skipping down the street in front of the cameraman known as "the dancing man". he even got onto a commemorative $1 coin in 2005

[@stevec7770]

That “surrender” announcement was really something

[@WalterReimer]

Gradually, the board changes and the pieces shuffle around to set up for the conflicts to come.

[@rrice1705]

Indeed, the map showing Vietnam divided into a northern "China" zone and a southern "British" zone seems prophetic.

[@andrewsoboeiro6979]

“It being far from our thought either to infringe upon the sovereignty of other nations or to embark upon territorial aggrandizement.” Oh wow gotcha! Thanks for clearing that up, because we were all really confused before…

[@tkm238-d4r]

The Emperor was technically correct if he excluded China from the list. All other conquests were colonies or so-called overseas territories.

[@briantarigan7685]

On this day, 17th August 1945, Indonesia proclaim it's independence, Indonesia suffer horribly in WW2, suffering the 5th largest casualties in the entirety of World War 2, only below Poland and Germany, the most terrifying part is the fact that Indonesia wasn't even an active front in WW2, all those losses are being caused by the cruel policies imposed by the Japanese occupying forces. today on the 17th of August, Republic of Indonesia celebrate 79th Year of it's independence, through all the highs and lows, all the glorious moment and turmoil and all the victories and loses, this country, this civilization, the largest archipelagic state in the world, the 4th most populated country on the planet, and one of the most diverse country in the world with more than 760 ethnicities and thousands of languages, not only still survive but also rapidly growing in terms of it's power, economy and influence, become one of the largest economy in the world and become a strong peaceful neutral power. as an Indonesian i'm grateful that i live in the times of peace, stability and rapid economic growth, we have many challenges ahead, but i'm confident in our abilities to take on all those Challenges, we honour the sacrifice of our predecesors with our deeds and attitudes, and we honour the people by keeping our peace, stability, progress and prosperity Happy Independence Indonesia, MERDEKA !!!

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

Likewise, they caused 2 millions victims in French Indochina. An order of magnitude more than civilian casualties in mainland France, mainly caused by Germany.

[@KSB_DWI]

Merdeka!😊

[@MartinHutasoit09]

After all of the trouble we face in these years, I am still glad Indonesia as a nation survived. Merdeka!

[@Ramzi1944]

Greetings and best wishes from El Salvador

[@901Sherman]

MERDEKA

[@echo_9835]

I love the Big trouble in Little China refference

[@JBRocky007]

Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol' storm right square in the eye and he says, "Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it."

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

"I'm a reasonable guy, but I've just experienced some very unreasonable things." ---How Jack Burton would likely react to the coup to prevent the surrender

[@brettschermeister9389]

What's was that ?.... 6.9 on the Richter scale.

[@iamnolegend2519]

All the roots of the conflicts in Vietnam and China reach far back - “history doesn’t happen in a vacuum”.

[@WreckingWood]

"We still have a few stragglers who are not getting the memo." "Give them a week. They'll come to." (SpongeBob Title Card) *30 YEARS LATER*

[@Nerathul1]

You've got to admire the Japanese comitment to understatement. "The war is not necessarily to our advantage." Like two million soldiers are dead, they have no navy or airforce left, most of japan has been burnt to the ground, two cities have been nuked.

[@DouglaszillaAweome]

Indeed and true. "By resorting to an extraordinary measure." To do something 'extraordinary' in making it 'extraordinary'. And it is really real.

[@adelkheir]

Too much pride to admit defeat.

[@mgway4661]

@@adelkheirI really don’t understand why they are so prideful

[@williamdonnelly224]

@@mgway4661 Yes. Unless I missed it, Hirohito's declaration did not actually use the word "surrender".

[@recoil53]

I think the constant bombings got past the government propaganda and the people knew things weren't going their way.

[@themightyflip]

"A little trouble in a big China" That Sir got a good laugh.

[@Jarlerus]

yeah, a smirk from me ^^

[@michaelfodor6280]

I don't get it.

[@Jarlerus]

@@michaelfodor6280 Search for "Big Trouble in Little China" :)

[@erikturnar6466]

@@michaelfodor6280 It's a reference to the movie Big Trouble in Little China.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

@@michaelfodor6280 Do yourself a favor and watch Big Trouble in Little China ASAP. It's a great, fun movie.

[@mcfahk]

The series on the Indonesian war of independence is indeed brilliant and should be compulsory watching for all my Dutch compatriots. Thanks! And thanks for everything else, obviously!

[@1969Risky]

My grandfather was on HMS Implacable & just before the Japanese surrender, the ships' planes were attacking targets in Honshu and southern Hokkaido. They were due to withdraw to prepare for Operation Olympic but they got word of the Japanese surrender. When the surrender was broadcast among the BPF, everyone cheered but the job was far from over. They were ordered to sail to Sydney where her hangars were refitted to accommodate Allied PoWs and soldiers for repatriation. They left their air group behind in case anything happened.

[@trevorkirby3781]

My father was on HMS Indefatigable. They also were involved in POW repatriation to Australia . Indefatigable was also meant to provide CAP for the surrender ceremony, but an American plane crash landed, putting the flight deck out of action for longer than the kamikaze strike on April 1st.

[@1969Risky]

@@trevorkirby3781 My grandfather told me when they were repatriating POWS, they threw all the planes they had overboard as they didn't need them anymore. Off the coast of Brisbane a lot of ships dumped planes, jeeps & anything not needed overboard & it's an artificial reef.

[@th8973]

During the war, my uncle had a fairly cushy job in the air corps as a B-17 navigator. His unit was stationed in Palms Spring California. Their missions consisted of flights supplying operations through out the Pacific. Although they might last many days, he ended up back in southern California upon completion. He had plenty of time off to plan a career in booming California. He was very anxious to return to civilian life. When this week came with the surrender, plans had to be made how to actually occupy Japan. There were no indications how the occupying troops might be received. It was quite plausible that they could be vigorously resisted. Apparently military leadership felt the first troops might be in real danger. I don't know the details but I understood that men in service were recruited with this this risk in mind to volunteer to be among these first occupiers with the provision that their discharge from military service would be expedited afterwords. My uncle tried to join this group hoping it would speed his exit into civilian life. In any case, I think the occupation ended up being so peaceful that his service was not needed.

[@jimc.goodfellas]

This series has been one of the great ongoing series we've ever had on KZbin. Salute to Indy and team

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you very much for the lovely comment!

[@nukethenatelore]

Ive been watching you guys since 1917, and you guys are amazing. Every week tuning in to top notch high quality historical information, let alone the in-between two wars or your other great specials. Ive never been in a good fincal space to support you guys but i wanted you to know you are some of the best historical documentary makers on the planet.

[@richardadams7326]

1917? You're over 107 years old??

[@WorldWarTwo]

Always put yourself first financially, thanks for the comment and thanks for being with us for so long! We hope you follow us into Korea.

[@dragosstanciu9866]

So much for the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere...

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

Japan (and some countries like South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore) enjoyed quite a bit of prosperity after the war.

[@Guillaume_sono]

@@Duke_of_LorraineSouth Korea was poorer than the north after the war So was Taipei vs mainland China

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

@@Guillaume_sono and they grew rich over time.

[@geenkaas6380]

@@Duke_of_Lorraine Hong kong is not enjoying prosperety

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

@@geenkaas6380 it once had a GDP equivalent to a third of all of China. But yes the CCP is killing the golden goose

[@JustSomeCanuck]

Last week: Dividing this country in two along a chosen latitude won't lead to a future war, right? This week: Dividing this country in two along a chosen latitude won't lead to a future war, right?

[@jonahtwhale1779]

Of course not! US and Canada have not been at war since 1812! Communist aggression might cause different outcomes elsewhere! The real failing of the US in Korea was creating a police state! The failure to develop civil society took half a century to correct!

[@Rasta8889]

German division by (more or less) longitude or in straight lines of random heading (middle east) didn't work well either. Maybe at some point in the future they'll try splitting by altitude ^^ (btw. imho this is done deliberately for divide and conquer reasons)

[@MM22966]

Hey, give it another year or two, and we might see a LONGITUDE line used in Ukraine.

[@hiturbine]

@ WorldWarTwo - Reference the 18:20 mark, the photograph of American OSS personnel alongside Chinese Viet Minh: The man in the back row, 6th from left, is Henry Prunier Jr. - the son of my Great Uncle. My paternal grandmother, Loretta, had two sisters - Della and Winnie. My Aunt Winnie married a man named Henry Prunier. They had a son - Henry Jr. He was an OSS operative during the war. I have a larger full photo of this group, without the ends cutoff, and a few others, including one of Henry just before he passed away, March 17, 2013 - at the age of 91. If you like, I can e-mail you the photos and newspaper links to the history of Henry's OSS career.

[@Taylor1999]

I didn't know about this channel until about late 1943 in terms of videos. I went back and watched them all - and at the same time, read for supplemental reading on the American naval arms aspect, Samuel Eliot Morrison's The Two Ocean war (was gifted it around the same time). Completing both now, seeing the impacts... thank you for all the work. Thank you for bringing up the people unknown to most of history and telling their stories.

[@nicholasconder4703]

I have Samuel Eliot Morrison's "US Naval Operations of WW2". Very good series of books on all of the US Navy's operations, although there are errors and some omissions (because were many sources he didn't have access to in the 1950s).

[@chpsmstr]

When this series started I was in high school, and now I’m going to start my fourth year at university. It’s been a pleasure. Thank you.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Good luck with your studies.

[@ronniecoleman2342]

Finally, the nightmare is coming to an end. These past six years of reporting WW2 by Indie and his team were excellent and 2:29 to the point of showing the true scale of death and destruction. Thank you all for such a fine series.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you very much for the comment!

[@michaeldiaz4563]

The last attempt to prevent the broadcast of Emperor Hirohito's speech which he declares the surrender of his nation fails... The principle instigator, Major Hatanaka, commits suicide just 20 minutes before the broadcast began. He would be joined by the suicide of other military officers and leaders, which includes Vice Admiral Onishi (he bled to death for hours) and War Minister Anami, who refuses to accept a second to behead him.

[@theholyinquisition389]

I've been following you since early 1916 through two terrible World Wars, which are finally now reaching their end. It is incredible how long ago that seems now and how fast time has flown by. Watching your productions grow larger and improve in quality has been quite the journey.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for following us all these years, still plenty more to things we want to cover!

[@nolarobert]

My grandfather was with the 6th Marine Division that had finished the fight for Okinawa. He was greatly relieved at the news of the surrender. He wasn't sure he would survive the invasion of Japan. He'd be sent with a party to secure the Japanese battleship Nagato in Tokyo Bay and witness the surrender ceremony on September 2nd. He then was sent to Tsingtao China for occupation duty before being discharged and sent home in 1946.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

I'm not surprised your father thought his prospects were rather grim. The fight for Sugar Loaf on Okinawa was terrible.

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

Morale of the story when looking at Japan, looking back at the 30s : keep a leash on your army.

[@johnye4433]

They didn’t have a full government concept, they were still in a military council as government phase

[@jliller]

Some Americans: I don't understand why civilians who never served a day in their life have authority over the military! Japanese: We know why.

[@Dustz92]

They couldn't. If the army disagreed with any policy, they could force the government to disband, as defined by their constitution. It was a really really shit one.

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

@@Dustz92 their army was a rabid dog, starting some wars in China to grab more land and the government only learning about that when it was a fait accompli.

[@eduardochiscuet3146]

​@@jliller I never understood those maga yanks who go "Dont tread on me. Fuck the govt!!" and right after "ALL HAIL THE NATION, FLAG AND MILITARY"

[@GilbertJones-cv9yf]

One aspect of the Emperor's recording is that most of his subjects heard the Emperor use a form (dialect) of Japanese that was archaic and not in use by and within the nation meaning that there need to be a follow up broadcast to explain what the Emperor meant and what was expected by the nation.

[@RJLNetwork]

Starting watching this whole thing since the days of Between Two Wars. Now, the culmination of all your hard work to this series and all the other side episodes, WAH, OOTF, S&T and such has finally arrived. Great job Time Ghost!

[@pax6833]

Hard to believe we're really here, at the end of the war. When this all started 6 years ago life was so incredibly different for me. I really cannot express enough how amazing you all have been. This is going to be remembered as THE quintessential documentary of the world war. It, unlike anything before it, truly offered the most comprehensive perspective on how the war developed, and how all aspects of the war were interconnected in ways that is difficult to see when individual battles or campaigns are discussed in isolation. Love you work, thank you for your dedication.

[@garcalej]

Hirohito: It’s over. Stand down! Japanese Army in SE Asia: Nothing is over! NOTHING!!!

[@pianowhizz]

Hirohito was quite the wordsmith. Respect! It’s not often that a non-English speaking person teaches me a new word. Word of my day is ‘solicitude’ :)

[@FalseNomen]

I think we should praise the translator, surely :)

[@AwesomeGuy_21]

@@FalseNomen To be fair the original Japanese text of the rescript an even more verbose vocabulary

[@loganw1232]

Wow, time flies. Remember watching this series in 2019

[@weltvonalex]

Incredible, imagine living through that all. Happy that I could enjoy this series from my home.

[@evocorporation6537]

2018, even

[@WorldWarTwo]

It's been a long time, but the series is not over yet!

[@johnevans9751]

Hirohito's announcement seems akin to Imperialist Germany's WW1 acceptance, with its "stab in the back" myth.

[@jacobl960]

Thank you to Indy and the whole team for your absolutely extraordinary work during this whole project. You've done an amazing thing here.

[@rurikhistorik6338]

I was shocked by the film The Sun by the famous Russian director Alexander Sokurov. The film shows how Hirohito comes to the conclusion that it is necessary to end the war in order to preserve the future of the country. The film itself is completely devoid of entertainment, there are no combat scenes, few words, but it is worth watching.

[@rrice1705]

Idea, hear me out. A year-by-year special telling the story of how the end of World War II morphed into the Vietnam War in southeast Asia. This was a terrific episode. You never hear much about how the war went on when it was supposedly "over".

[@billylove5793]

Thats the big question for timeghost...lots of stuff is happening, and everybody assumes that the american vietnam war will get its own special in 3 or 4 years. But how do they keep tabs on the viet minh in the interim?

[@Dave_Sisson]

There are plenty of stages before the Americans arrived in Vietnam. One example is the nasty and prolonged Malayan "Emergency", where British and Australians fought Communist forces over many years.

[@tkm238-d4r]

@@Dave_Sisson The height of the Emergency was in the 1950s and it was over by 1960. What happened later was that rebel remnants held out around the border with Thailand until 1989. Sort of remained as a problem for the years after 1960 but strangely at the same time were largely irrelevant.

[@Dave_Sisson]

@@tkm238-d4r Yes, I realized that. But one outcome was that the Australians learned how to fight communist insurgents in Malaya which is why they were able to clear them from their area of Vietnam, whereas the Americans did not take notice of how the fighting developed in Malaya, so they used a more traditional approach in Vietnam and were less successful.

[@DominicBHaven-qm6nx]

I'm looking forward to hearing the episode about VJ day and I hope you speak about the famous picture of the surrender on the USS Missouri. When I look at the American sailors in that picture, the prevail sentiment seems to be, "can we go home now"? The war weariness is just some apparent on all of their faces. It's one of my favorite pictures and makes a statement about the futility of war. Also, the picture of MacArthur and Hirohito is a great picture too. Japan lost the war, but I think an argument can be made that they won the peace that followed. Thank you and god bless.

[@alphamikeomega5728]

I've read that MacArthur had to force the Japanese press to publish the photo of him standing next to the Emperor during the occupation, since they wouldn't publish it otherwise.

[@mgway4661]

Greatest channel in the history of KZbin! I might be biased but thats my unbiased opinion! Appreciate everything that you do TimeGhost team!

[@billd2635]

It has been an honor to support your channel all these past years. I will continue to support you as well. Korea really messed up my family, and later on, my own life. Bless you in your work all of you.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for sharing, and thanks for being a member of the TImeGhost Army.

[@Chainsaw-ASMR]

5:30 So the Emperor thought the war only lasted 4 years??? That guy had a poor memory; probably should’ve seen a doctor about it because Japan was doing war crimes in the early 1930’s.

[@extrahistory8956]

It's funny to see him just completely ignore China in the same episode where Chiang rejoices about their success after 8 years of warfare.

[@BKT_04]

Joe Biden ahh

[@Gufupandi09th13]

WW2:The war is over ME:Is it -Cold war

[@yes_head]

Holy crap. I had no idea so much of the future conflicts in Asia were kicked off the first *week* after the Japanese surrendered. So much great info in this episode, plus the usual excellent map work. Thanks guys -- I'm going to be sad to see this series come to an end. But there's so much I still need to catch up on! The tiny TG subscription fee is so worth it.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for being a member, whilst it may be approaching the end we aren't going anywhere and there is so much we have planned for this channel!

[@lenoakes2450]

This series is a magnificent achievement. Congratulations to all involved!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you so much!

[@Dogboy1092]

At least my grandfather serving with the Australian air force in Borneo in 1945 his war is now over. According to his unit history a big celebration by troops on the ground. The surrender meant after four long years away he would not have to be away for a fifth.

[@zenothestoic638]

Thanks folks, you have some of the best weekly content on youtube.

[@mbathroom1]

Can't believe we are finally here. It truly is momentous to see this project come to an end. Thank you for educating us for the last 6 years!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for watching!

[@thehobowizard]

It really is wild that after everything, there was still a faction that tried to launch a coup to keep a lost war going.

[@Valdagast]

'not necessarily to Japan's advantage...' yeah that's one way to put it.

[@glensmith491]

And about a half century later, many people began to wonder if Japan came out on top in the long run.

[@Valdagast]

@@glensmith491 Not having to support an army and a navy is a _massive_ advantage. Them bangy things are not cheap.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

@@glensmith491 Peace is more prosperous than war.

[@JoshuaFluter]

Thank you for creating these wonderful series!

[@WorldWarTwo]

And thank you for watching!

[@Ronfost89]

6:10 ol boy is making Japan sound a lot stronger than it was at the time.

[@alexquirel1648]

I was here on the first day and will on the last. I still remember showering while listening to the first episode. I was just about starting my last high school year. Now I'm finishing my last year of university. I have so much fond memories with WW2: Watching the video on Chinese spy agencies while working on my college dissertation (On Chiang Kai-shek's attempts to reconquer the chinese mainland after 1945 and more importantly after 1949), watching the epsiode about the invasion of Iran, half-drunk after a party and before going to sleep, watching the Pearl Harbour special after having absolutely failled a Japanese language test etc I will still be here for the rest and for the Korean War and the other projects of the Time Ghost Army, but I still wanted to thank you all for thoses 6 years of Indy's ties and WW2 day by day.

[@JohnSmith-ef2rn]

You know, if they really thought the Americans would treat them as badly as they treated places like China or PNG, they never would have surrendered. They knew they wouldn't be treated as harshly. Their fight was simply a struggle to hold onto their empire, and because the military was fearful of the shame of defeat. That is my opinion, but one I think I'm going to hold onto.

[@tkm238-d4r]

Agree. The militarists never expected that how quickly they would be forgiven and re-integrated.

[@earlbucklin8323]

Thank you........... You all are doing a great job

[@TrickiVicBB71]

When I caught the premiere I didn't miss to much. But also like to add. Wow, it is over. The war is finally over

[@pnutz_2]

0:50 I was hoping you would cover this since the bombing episode, well done

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for watching.

[@martinross6416]

This channel has been an epic journey. Incredible. By this channel I was there with my father.

[@danielwillens5876]

Wow. I have never seen a documentary that covered the attempted coup in Japan. Almost all anglophone documentaries end with the atomic bombings and hastily say "that's all folks." One note: the emperor's speech was given in a medieval Japanese considered to be appropriate for a god-king. It was as though the British King delivered all of his speeches in Chaucerian English. Also, thank you for covering the Soviet actions against Japan. Something tells me that issues like the possession of certain islands is going to become a major issue in the near future.

[@geoffreylee5199]

The third bomb, another Fatman design, was set for the 19th of August at Kokura.

[@mrlodwick]

You just keep giving - thank you Indy and crew. That speech by the emperor was very inspiring and deep.

[@hannahskipper2764]

I was prepared to write a heartfelt note to mark such a momentus episode as this week deserves. I can only imagine what it was really like to be alive back then. But then, as I watched the episode, so many other thoughts were playing in my head. First off, I just have to comment on the Hirohito's speech. Like, what, dude? Really? It wasn't even politely dipolmatic! I can only imagie what it would've been like to read an English translation in a newspaper, if there were any. Then the Sino-Soviet Agreement sounds really interesting! In a super dupper lie sort of way! And, the seeds of future conflicts being sewn! I can hardly wait to keep going.

[@EdMcF1]

What ought the Emperor have said? Starting with 'As some of you might have noticed....'

[@jan-dorussleutels9161]

Thank you all so very much

[@roberste]

I never heard the entire Hirohito address to his subjects until I saw this video. Thank you all for yet another most enlightening video.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Glad you got to see something new, thanks for watching.

[@keithnorris6348]

What an epic series about an epic time I shall miss it when it ends. Thank you Indy and the team for the addition of an important historical publication to the strangest period in human history.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you! Really appreciate your support throughout the years- -TimeGhost Ambassador

[@joshfish2]

Probably important to say, this week was when Mongolia joined the war, probably the last belligerent to join the war, barely within 2-3 weeks before the official end of the war

[@pictureel5863]

Absolutely fascinating and a brilliant telling of these almost unbelievable events!

[@NigelDeForrest-Pearce-cv6ek]

Brilliant Episode on the War That Wouldn’t End!!!

[@jim7700]

this was the first time i heard about vietnam, probably nothing happened there since......

[@CamelNotation222]

I remember the first episode, feels like yesterday. Then I remembered where was I when I watched it, where i lived, job, pandemic, timeline that feels like the start of WW3. A lot happened for the past 6 years. Thank you for all the hard work.

[@TheEvenBiggerPicture]

Great show, watched every episode from the beginning, and all I can say is "Great work". Educational, entertaining, and leaving a lasting positive impression. My weekends won't be the same from now on.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you, hope you can find something new to watch on weekends. -TimeGhost Ambassador

[@Tancred73]

Accountability is apparently not part of Japanese culture..

[@Beans244]

No, it isn't. There's a lot of Japanese today that still deny the atrocities that Imperial Japan committed.

[@HansLasser]

Working with Japanese since two decades, still the case today for most of them.

[@tancreddehauteville764]

@@HansLasser Better than the relentless self-flagellation Germans have inflicted on themselves for decades and still do.

[@malkano8621]

Hope there isn't some guy named Hiroo Onoda somewhere after this otherwise this is going to be a very long series :)

[@chrisnelms7995]

Yessss!!! A Big Trouble in Little China reference!!! Thank you! You guys are the best

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you!

[@BLUEBARRY55]

My favorite history channel...thank you for another great chapter.

[@kty1245]

My grandpa was 13 years old at the time and listened to the broadcast along with his family and neighbors. As the speech used formal wording and included a lot of noise, most were like "I think he's saying we lost the war...right?" By the way, most knew they were losing the war, especially when even the local cities were being bombed.

[@extrahistory8956]

I feel like a lot of the sentiment about the Japanese fighting to the death are exaggerated and extrapolated from the most extreme reactions of the Japanese government. I mean, how deluded would someone have to be to look at the sheer destruction raining down upon you for months on end and say _"yeah, this is fine"_

[@jsmith4liberty]

"The war situation has developed not necessarily to our advantage" I mean, he wasn't wrong tbf

[@Spiderfisch]

5:41 he says the funny line

[@excelon13]

Luckily for Japan Hirohito saw what Hitler couldn’t: a negotiated surrender being better for his country than total destruction. Given the dynamic between the military and leadership in Japan it’s interesting to see an attempted to coup for all the *Wrong* reasons.

[@daveanderson3805]

Except that for Germany there was no hope of negotiating anything. All that was on offer was unconditional surrender. Which is why the germans kept on fighting, and why a successful Operation Valkyrie wouldn't have made any difference. The allies and the USSR wouldn't have been inclined to negotiate anything.

[@garyspence2128]

But didn't the series cover an attempt by Himmler to negotiate a surrender behind Hitler's back sometime in the early part of 1945 thru the Swiss or some other European diplomat? Or even the Vatican? I can't believe I imagined that..! Great series, folks. Thought I knew more than a little about WW2, since I'm a boomer, and my parents told me some of the story, along with history in school. But you folks really expanded my knowledge. Thanks to Indy, Spartacus, and the whole crew!

[@901Sherman]

@@daveanderson3805 The last thing the Allies needed was a repeat of Versailles. In spite of it's flaws, the unconditional surrender demand was the best of options that ranged from not too good to flat out awful.

[@tkm238-d4r]

Strictly speaking it was not that different from Germany other than a bit of face-saving for Japan and that there was no post-war division. Japan was still Japan. The Japanese establishment thought it would be in a miserable situation in the years to come. Ironically, just as their actions aided the Red Tide, this Red Tide would indirectly helped them a few years later. With the focus on fighting the Reds, the Japanese establishment was quickly re-integrated into the so-called Free World. Japan was hosting the Olympics less than 20 years after the end of the war.

[@mrgunn2726]

I learned quite a bit from this video. Prior to this video, I had no idea that the Soviets engaged the Japanese in such significant way in China. Thanks TiGhAr aka Time Ghost Army.

[@vincenz145]

Thank you so much for ALL your videos. I watch everything you make and I love all of it. Excelsior!

[@davidantonio5512]

"Never have I've been so lucky, starting to watch a series that has been wrapped up entirelly a few hours early today." ~me

[@jeffydarko9479]

Thanks!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you so much for the super chat.

[@radishinglad998]

A special note on Hirohito's speech- he was using an extremely formal and archaic form of Japanese when recording this speech - since as Indy mentioned, people rarely heard the emperor speak at all. So apparently the declaration of surrender wasn't even that clear to the public, since they were listening to an outdated kind of Japanese.

[@hangtimecentral420]

I feel after all the fighting we can all agree on three things. 1: War is terrible. 2: Don’t believe people saying they can fix everything 3: DONT TOUCH AMERICA’S BOATS