What was the name of the U.S. order directing Japan’s forces to surrender in 1945?

General Order No. 1 directed Japan’s forces to surrender in 1945.

The order was prepared by the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff and approved by President Harry Truman on August 17, 1945. General Douglas MacArthur issued it after Japan accepted the Allied surrender terms, and Japan’s Imperial General Headquarters transmitted it to Japanese forces on September 2.

The order told Japanese troops to cease hostilities, surrender to designated Allied commanders, reveal their military positions, and preserve equipment for disarmament. It also established how Japanese forces in different regions would surrender to different Allied authorities.

One especially important provision divided Korea at the 38th parallel for surrender purposes. Japanese forces north of that line were ordered to surrender to Soviet commanders, while those south of it surrendered to U.S. forces. This military arrangement contributed to the later division of Korea, although the eventual political division became a much larger Cold War issue. General Order No. 1 was therefore more than a battlefield instruction: it helped shape the immediate postwar map of East Asia.