The Pacific War and the Occupation of Japan, 1941–52

Abstract

The Pacific War broke down the international system which had formerly shaped the Asia Pacific, bringing about major shifts in the international order and creating the basis for postwar relations between Japan and the US. The Roosevelt administration, which pursued a universalist vision for postwar peace on a global scale, formed policies for the occupation of Japan occupation with the aim of rebuilding Japan while also reducing its strength to ensure that it would not pose a threat to international society again. At the same time, the US needed to address the question of who would fill the power vacuum left in East Asia by the demise of Japan. The international framework of postwar Japan–US relations was formed by the realities of the battlefield. Following its surrender in 1945, Japan was occupied by the Allied powers, led primarily by the US. Postwar Japan developed in the context of a complex interplay of cooperation and opposition between Japan and the US over reforms to rebuild Japan into a democratic, peaceful nation. As the Cold War intensified, the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951 saw the official end to the occupation of Japan. Moreover, Japan’s entry into the West defined the course of postwar Japan as a nation that would pursue peaceful development with the guarantee of military security by the US.