The Potsdam Declaration announced the Allied terms for Japan's surrender on July 26, 1945.
The declaration was issued by the United States, the United Kingdom, and China during the Potsdam Conference. It demanded the surrender of all Japanese armed forces and warned that refusal would bring “prompt and utter destruction.” The Soviet Union did not sign the initial declaration because it was still neutral in the war against Japan at that time.
The document described the intended postwar limits on Japanese sovereignty, the disarmament of the Japanese military, and the removal of leaders associated with militarism. Japan's government initially rejected the ultimatum publicly by using the term mokusatsu, whose meaning and intended nuance remain debated.
After Hiroshima, the Soviet declaration of war, and Nagasaki, Japan accepted the declaration's terms. The Potsdam Declaration is therefore the key Allied statement that defined the surrender conditions later accepted by Japan.