Ft. @professortom
World War II Almost Didn't End...For 2 Minutes
Canadian General Lawrence Moore Cosgrave had a problem: when he was serving in WW I, he was wounded and blinded in his left eye. Roughly twenty-five years later, this would cause a diplomatic problem that could have led to World War II never ending–or at least not ending aboard the USS Missouri. So, what happened and why was General Cosgrave in the center of this diplomatic faux pa? Preparing the Articles of Surrender When it was signaled to the Allies (read: the Americans) that Japan was willing to surrender unconditionally, the physical documents were hastily created once the wording had ben worked out. There were to be two copies of the Instruments of Surrender: a copy for the Americans and a copy for the Japanese. Interestingly, both copies were printed in English. Whether or not this was done to humiliate the Japanese by having to accept a document not in their own language remains unclear. What is clear was that the Americans didn’t want any ambiguities due to translation, so they wrote the Articles of Surrender in English so there would be no misunderstanding1. Parchment was found for both copies in a monastery and the documents were prepared by General McArthur’s staff. The Americans put their copy in a leather folder with gold tooling and embossed seals2 whereas the Japanese copy was put into a canvas with irregular stitching and no seals or embellishments. Again, this was not to insult the Japanese, it was more due to a lack of resources in a war zone on short notice. Both copies had the same eight paragraph text on the verso and signatures on the recto. The Japanese signatures were on the top of the recto and the Allied signatures were underneath. There was a line where each signatory was to sign with their title underneath the line. When it came time to sign the documents, the Japanese signatories, Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and General Yoshijirō Umezu, signed first. When it was each man’s turn to sign, they signed both the Allied and Japanese copies of the Articles of Surrender as did each of the Allied signatories. The Allies signed in printed order from top to bottom with General Douglas MacArthur signing first. As with the Japanese signatories, both documents were signed by each signatory when it was their turn to sign. MacArthur was followed by Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz for the United States, General Hsu Yung-chang for China, Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser for the United Kingdom, Lieutenant General Kuzma Derevyanko for the Soviet Union, General Sir Thomas Blamey for Australia, Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave for Canada, Général de Corps d’Armée Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque for France, Lieutenant Admiral Conrad Helfrich for the Netherlands and finally Air Vice-Marshal Leonard M. Isitt for New Zealand. Cosgrave’s Error When General Cosgrave signed the Japanese copy of the Articles of Surrender, he skipped his line and signed on the line below where he was supposed to sign. Hauteclocque, Helfrich and Isitt signed below Cosgrave’s signature. The error was pointed out to General Richard K. Sutherland, MacArthur’s Chief of Staff. See, this was a legal document. A very important legal document. If it wasn’t filled out correctly, it may not have the force of law behind it. The Japanese3 could have claimed that World War II, therefore, did not properly end. The Japanese could have fought on, though this likely would not have occurred given they were severely resource constrained. In order to rectify the situation, Sutherland crossed out the printed titles and hand wrote them under the representatives’ signatures. The Japanese were still not happy with measure, so Sutherland initialed each of his changes. At this point, the Japanese accepted their copy of the document and World War II officially ended. 1 Have you ever heard of the aphorism, “The sun never set on the British Empire”? Well, one of the consequences of the truth in that aphorism is that the English language was spread around the globe. As a consequence of that, it turns out that English in 1945 made for a reasonable choice for diplomatic language. In fact, Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu was fluent in English and was the only defendant during the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (held the following year in 1946) to answer and participate in English! It’s amazing to me to think that the British Empire covered more ground than did the Roman Empire. How can such a tiny island nation have colonized so much? 2 Seals like, in a generic sense, the Presidential seal. 3 Well, really, either side, but the Japanese were more likely to protest since they were the ones surrendering.
World War II Almost Didn't End...For 2 Minutes
Canadian General Lawrence Moore Cosgrave had a problem: when he was serving in WW I, he was wounded and blinded in his left eye. Roughly twenty-five years later, this would cause a diplomatic problem that could have led to World War II never ending–or at least not ending aboard the USS Missouri. So, what happened and why was General Cosgrave in the center of this diplomatic faux pa? Preparing the Articles of Surrender When it was signaled to the Allies (read: the Americans) that Japan was willing to surrender unconditionally, the physical documents were hastily created once the wording had ben worked out. There were to be two copies of the Instruments of Surrender: a copy for the Americans and a copy for the Japanese. Interestingly, both copies were printed in English. Whether or not this was done to humiliate the Japanese by having to accept a document not in their own language remains unclear. What is clear was that the Americans didn’t want any ambiguities due to translation, so they wrote the Articles of Surrender in English so there would be no misunderstanding1. Parchment was found for both copies in a monastery and the documents were prepared by General McArthur’s staff. The Americans put their copy in a leather folder with gold tooling and embossed seals2 whereas the Japanese copy was put into a canvas with irregular stitching and no seals or embellishments. Again, this was not to insult the Japanese, it was more due to a lack of resources in a war zone on short notice. Both copies had the same eight paragraph text on the verso and signatures on the recto. The Japanese signatures were on the top of the recto and the Allied signatures were underneath. There was a line where each signatory was to sign with their title underneath the line. When it came time to sign the documents, the Japanese signatories, Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and General Yoshijirō Umezu, signed first. When it was each man’s turn to sign, they signed both the Allied and Japanese copies of the Articles of Surrender as did each of the Allied signatories. The Allies signed in printed order from top to bottom with General Douglas MacArthur signing first. As with the Japanese signatories, both documents were signed by each signatory when it was their turn to sign. MacArthur was followed by Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz for the United States, General Hsu Yung-chang for China, Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser for the United Kingdom, Lieutenant General Kuzma Derevyanko for the Soviet Union, General Sir Thomas Blamey for Australia, Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave for Canada, Général de Corps d’Armée Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque for France, Lieutenant Admiral Conrad Helfrich for the Netherlands and finally Air Vice-Marshal Leonard M. Isitt for New Zealand. Cosgrave’s Error When General Cosgrave signed the Japanese copy of the Articles of Surrender, he skipped his line and signed on the line below where he was supposed to sign. Hauteclocque, Helfrich and Isitt signed below Cosgrave’s signature. The error was pointed out to General Richard K. Sutherland, MacArthur’s Chief of Staff. See, this was a legal document. A very important legal document. If it wasn’t filled out correctly, it may not have the force of law behind it. The Japanese3 could have claimed that World War II, therefore, did not properly end. The Japanese could have fought on, though this likely would not have occurred given they were severely resource constrained. In order to rectify the situation, Sutherland crossed out the printed titles and hand wrote them under the representatives’ signatures. The Japanese were still not happy with measure, so Sutherland initialed each of his changes. At this point, the Japanese accepted their copy of the document and World War II officially ended. 1 Have you ever heard of the aphorism, “The sun never set on the British Empire”? Well, one of the consequences of the truth in that aphorism is that the English language was spread around the globe. As a consequence of that, it turns out that English in 1945 made for a reasonable choice for diplomatic language. In fact, Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu was fluent in English and was the only defendant during the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (held the following year in 1946) to answer and participate in English! It’s amazing to me to think that the British Empire covered more ground than did the Roman Empire. How can such a tiny island nation have colonized so much? 2 Seals like, in a generic sense, the Presidential seal. 3 Well, really, either side, but the Japanese were more likely to protest since they were the ones surrendering.