What was the official U.S. military order directing Japanese forces to surrender in 1945?

General Order No. 1 was the U.S. military order directing Japanese forces to surrender in 1945.

The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff prepared the order, and President Harry Truman approved it on August 17, 1945. Douglas MacArthur then issued it to Japan’s representatives, after which the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters transmitted it to Japanese forces throughout the empire.

The order specified which Allied commanders would receive the surrender of Japanese forces in different regions. It also required Japanese commanders to provide information about military deployments and to preserve equipment for later disarmament. These provisions turned the broad surrender announcement into a detailed military process.

General Order No. 1 also assigned surrender responsibilities in Korea, where the 38th parallel separated Soviet and American zones. It therefore connected the end of World War II with the beginning of the postwar occupation structure in East Asia. The order was not the surrender instrument itself; the instrument was the document signed aboard USS Missouri on September 2.