Which Allied declaration issued on July 26, 1945, set the terms Japan was asked to accept?

The Potsdam Declaration set the terms Japan was asked to accept on July 26, 1945.

The declaration was issued by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek during the Potsdam Conference. It called for the unconditional surrender of Japan’s armed forces and warned that refusal would bring “prompt and utter destruction.” The Soviet Union did not sign it at the time because it had not yet entered the war against Japan.

The document outlined major postwar principles, including Japanese disarmament, punishment of war criminals, occupation of designated points, and limits on Japanese sovereignty. It also stated that Japan would not be enslaved as a race or destroyed as a nation.

The declaration is sometimes confused with the Cairo Declaration of 1943, which addressed Allied aims concerning Japanese-occupied territories. Japan’s government initially did not publicly accept the Potsdam terms. Acceptance was announced in August, followed by the formal surrender signing in September.