unconditional surrender

(noun)

A surrender in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party.

Related Terms

Examples of unconditional surrender in the following topics:

  • The End of the War

    • Germany offered its unconditional surrender to the Allied forces in May 1945.
    • German forces in northwest Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands also surrendered.
    • News of the German unconditional surrender broke in the West on May 8, 1945, and celebrations erupted throughout Europe.
    • The end of World War II in Asia came on August 14-15, 1945, when the Japanese surrendered to the United Nations.
    • The surrender came just over three months after the surrender of the Axis forces in Europe.

  • Terms of Surrender

    • The unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945 and Japan on September 2, 1945 brought World War II to an end and various documents and treaties placed stringent terms on Axis powers to prevent future hostilities.
    • By 3 January 1944, the Working Security Committee in the EAC proposed, "that the capitulation of Germany should be recorded in a single document of unconditional surrender."
    • The first part consisted of a brief preamble "The German Government and German High Command, recognising and acknowledging the complete defeat of the German armed forces on land, at sea and in the air, hereby announce Germany's unconditional surrender."
    • Together with the United Kingdom and China, the United States called for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945—the alternative being "prompt and utter destruction."
    • "We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action.

  • The Potsdam Conference

    • In July 1945, Allied leaders met in Potsdam, Germany, confirmed earlier agreements about post-war Germany, and reiterated the demand for unconditional surrender of all Japanese forces by Japan, specifically stating that "the alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction."
    • Stalin, Churchill, and Truman—as well as Attlee, who participated alongside Churchill while awaiting the outcome of the 1945 general election, and then replaced Churchill as Prime Minister after the Labour Party's defeat of the Conservatives—gathered to decide how to administer the defeated Nazi Germany, which had agreed to unconditional surrender nine weeks earlier, on 8 May (V-E Day).
    • It was agreed that British forces would take the surrender of Japanese forces in Saigon for the southern half of Indochina, whilst Japanese troops in the northern half would surrender to the Chinese.
    • Towards the end of the conference, Japan was given an ultimatum to surrender or meet "prompt and utter destruction," which did not mention the new bomb.
    • However, to some the timing has suggested that Truman did not want Stalin involved in the terms of Japan's surrender.

  • War Aims and Strategy

    • The conference produced a unified statement of purpose, the Casablanca Declaration, which announced to the world that the Allies would accept nothing less than the "unconditional surrender" of the Axis powers.
    • The priority of the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany.
    • They gathered to decide how to administer the defeated Nazi Germany, which had agreed to unconditional surrender nine weeks earlier, on May 8.
    • In addition to the Potsdam Agreement, on July 26, Churchill, Truman, and Chiang Kai-shek issued the Potsdam Declaration which outlined the terms of surrender for Japan during World War II in Asia.

  • The Allied Push to Berlin

    • The war in Europe concluded with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet and Polish troops and the subsequent German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945.
    • German forces surrendered in Italy on 29 April.
    • Total and unconditional surrender was signed on 7 May, to be effective by the end of 8 May.
    • The Allied invasion of Germany started with the Western Allies crossing the River Rhine in March 1945 before fanning out and overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to Austria in the south before the Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945.
    • The city's garrison surrendered to Soviet forces on 2 May, but fighting continued to the north-west, west, and south-west of the city until the end of the war in Europe on 8 May as German units fought westward so that they could surrender to the Western Allies rather than to the Soviets.

  • Converging Military Fronts

    • Allied victories in the Western and Pacific fronts eventually led to the surrender of both Germany and Japan.
    • Following Hitler's suicide on April 30, 1945, German forces surrendered unconditionally.
    • They demanded unconditional surrender of Japanese forces, and when Japan ignored the Potsdam terms, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August.
    • On 15 August, 1945 Japan surrendered, with the surrender documents finally signed on 2 September 1945, ending the war.

  • The Truman Presidency

    • Nazi Germany surrendered on Truman's birthday (May 8) just a few weeks after he assumed the presidency, but the war with Imperial Japan raged on and was expected to last at least another year.
    • After Japan refused surrender, Truman authorized the use of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
    • Japan quickly surrendered and World War II came to an end on September 2, 1945.
    • It is thought to be one of the principal factors that forced Japan's immediate and unconditional surrender.

  • The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    • The Japanese, facing the same fate, refused to accept the Allies' demands for unconditional surrender and the Pacific War continued.
    • Together with the United Kingdom and China, the United States called for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945—the alternative being "prompt and utter destruction."
    • On September 2, it signed the instrument of surrender, effectively ending World War II.
    • The bombings' role in Japan's surrender and their ethical justification are still debated.
    • The role of the bombings in Japan's surrender and the U.S.'

  • The West and the Civil War

    • Foote’s naval flotilla, which consisted of both ironclads and wooden ships, bombarded the fort into surrender.
    • Fort Donelson surrendered to the Union the next day, February 16, in what was considered a tremendous victory for the Union in terms of rebels captured and arms seized.
    • The surrender was particularly significant for Grant’s demand that the Confederates agree to, “No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender.”
    • From then on, he was colloquially referred to as “Unconditional Surrender” Grant.
    • Isolated from events in the East, the Civil War continued at a low level in the Trans-Mississippi theater for several months after Lee's surrender in April 1865.

  • The Allied Push

    • German forces surrendered in Italy on April 29.
    • Total and unconditional surrender was signed on May 7, to be effective by the end of May 8.
    • On August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered, with the surrender documents finally signed aboard the deck of the American battleship USS Missouri on September 2, 1945, ending the war.
    • Japanese foreign affairs minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on board the USS Missouri, 2 September 1945.
    • Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Japanese Government, on board USS Missouri (BB-63), September 2, 1945.