Timeline - Hirohito's War
| 1930 | January, June, November |
| 1931 | September |
| 1932 | May, October |
| 1933 | January - March |
| 1934 | July - October |
| 1935 | January - September |
| 1936 | February - December |
| 1937 | June - December |
| 1938 | January - November |
| 1939 | March - December |
| 1940 | March - December |
| 1941 | March - November |
| December | |
| 1942 | January |
| February | |
| March | |
| April - June | |
| July - September | |
| October - December | |
| 1943 | January - March |
| April - June | |
| July - September | |
| October - December | |
| 1944 | January - March |
| April - June | |
| July - September | |
| October - December | |
| 1945 | January - March |
| April - June | |
| July - October | |
PACIFIC WAR TIMELINE
JULY 1945
1 July: German: Allied troops, US, British and French move into Berlin.
4 July: America: Combined Policy Committee (including British representatives) given formal approval for use of atom bomb against Japan.
5 July: Philippines: Liberation of the Philippines declared by MacArthur though heavy fighting continues until the surrender of Japan on 15 August.
10 July: Japan: 1,000 bomber raid against the Japanese mainland. By the end of General Curtis LeMay’s incendiary bombing campaign almost 1 in 3 Japanese houses have been burnt to the ground. Some cities had over 80 per cent of their housing stock burnt out.
16 July: America: atom bomb successfully tested in the Jornada de Muerto desert in New Mexico.
17 July: Potsdam: News of the successful testing of the atom bomb is delivered to Truman.
POTSDAM Conference begins with Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin in attendance.
25 July: Potsdam: Truman tells Stalin that they have a destructive new weapon to use against Japan. Stalin encourages its use but immediately berates his military subordinates to get their own nuclear efforts up to speed.
26 July: Tinian: USS Indianapolis docks at Tinian with atom bomb on board.
Potsdam Declaration calls for the unconditional surrender of Japan otherwise utter destruction is threatened. The declaration is made in the knowledge that the US has the power to do this now the atom bomb has been successfully trialed in New Mexico.
Labour leader Attlee, after winning the British election, replaces Churchill at Potsdam.
27 July: America: Using intercepted Japanese diplomatic traffic a US Naval Intelligence Unit report suggests that the Japanese leaders were still unwilling to surrender.
29 July: Pacific Ocean: USS Indianapolis sunk by submarine resulting in 881 American crewmen los.
AUGUST 1945
6 August: Japan: Enola Gay drops atom bomb on Hiroshima killing 60,000 inhabitants.
8 August: Russia: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan.
9 August: Japan: Atom bomb is dropped on Nagasaki but war cabinet led by General Anami, War Minister, believe that better peace terms can be negotiated with the United States.
10 August: Japan: Emperor Hirohito announces to his senior ministers that Japan must surrender. Cable is sent to neutral embassies in Bern (Switzerland) and Stockholm (Sweden).
12 August: America: Tokyo receives message from US Secretary of State Byrnes that the terms of the Japanese surrender, vague on the subject of conditionality regarding the position of the Emperor, are accepted.
13 August: Japan: War Council in Tokyo still remains deadlocked on issue of surrender. Generals Anami and Umezu, joined by Prime Minister Suzuki recommend rejection.
14 August: Japan: Emperor Hirohito announces Japan’s unconditional surrender.
SEPTEMBER 1945
2 September: The Philippines: General Yamashita ‘the Tiger of Malaya’ captured.
OCTOBER 1945
24 October: United Nations comes into being.