Mr Bruns is gone. We have a work day.
notes:
On December 8, 1941(7th for the Hawaii) Japan simultaneously attacked Pearl Harbor and the American base in the Philippines. Japan also began the invasion of Malaysia.
the 1st 6 months of the war all their battles were victories (Bataan, Chungking).
After the Battle of Midway, the tide of war shifted. Soon after, US troops landed on Japanese-controlled Guadalcanal and Tulagi.
Throughout the years following these defeats, Hirohito continually reported all the ensuing drawn out defeats as victories. The story of these "victories" became less credible when Americans started bombing Japanese cities.
For the first time,In June of 1944, during the Battle of Saipan, the emperor made a public announcement telling Japanese citizens to commit suicide rather than be captured by American forces. He also promised equal spiritual status for those who committed suicide as those who died in combat.
Over 10,000 people followed his advice and committed suicide within 4 days (June 8-12).
Japan was doing basic research on the atomic bomb however Hirohito was opposed to the atomic bomb plan from the beginning. The Emperor thought that use of an atomic bomb would bring about the extermination of mankind.
on August 15, a voice recording of the emperor's surrender speech was broadcast. This was the first time the Japanese people had heard their ruler's voice. This followed the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and the USSR declaring war on Japan.
Hirohito was allowed to stay in power with the surrender, and he stayed in power until the end of his life on January 7, 1989.
Many historians see Emperor Hirohito as responsible for the horrendous war crimes in the Second Sino-Japanese War and in World War II.
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