What was the 26 July 1945 Allied demand for Japan’s surrender called?

The Allied demand for Japan’s surrender issued on 26 July 1945 was called the Potsdam Declaration. The United States, the United Kingdom, and China jointly called on Japan to surrender unconditionally or face “prompt and utter destruction.”

The declaration emerged during the Potsdam Conference near Berlin, where Allied leaders discussed the postwar order after Germany’s defeat. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin did not initially sign it because the Soviet Union was not yet at war with Japan.

Japan’s government did not immediately accept the declaration. After the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the Soviet declaration of war, and the bombing of Nagasaki, Japanese leaders moved toward surrender while seeking assurances about the imperial institution.

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September, formalized acceptance of the declaration’s terms. The Potsdam Declaration therefore preceded the ceremony and should not be confused with the later surrender document or the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco.