The Far Eastern Commission (FEC) was an Allied commission which succeeded the Far Eastern Advisory Commission (FEAC), and oversaw the

Allied Council for Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Based in Washington, D.C., it was first agreed on at the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers, and made public in communique issued at the end of the conference on December 27, 1945. The 10 members that comprised the commission were the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. As agreed in the communique, the FEC and the Council were dismantled following the Japanese Peace Treaty of September 8, 1951. The United States was given the dominant position on the Tokyo-based Allied Council for Japan, a concession the USSR was willing to accept due to the underling influence of the informal 1944 percentages agreement. The USSR complied with a Western dominated post-war Japan, alike to the attitude of the United States towards the Soviet dominated spheres of influence in post-war Eastern Europe.

Background

Following the surrender of the Japanese Empire in August 1945, the US government began making preparations for the occupation of Japan as set in

Potsdam Declaration The Potsdam Declaration, or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender, was a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S. Truman, Uni ...

. Friction evolved between the US government and other Allied governments, which were dissatisfied with US dominant position in Japan. In order to give other Allied governments token representation in the occupation of Japan, the US government on August 21, 1945 submitted a proposal for the establishing of the "Far Eastern Advisory Commission" to the governments of the Soviet Union, UK and China. The proposal provided for the council to consist of representatives of those countries whose governments join the agreement. According to that proposal, the powers of the commission were to make policy recommendations to the US government in enforcing the provisions of the instrument of surrender. Agreement about the formation of the commission was reached at the London Conference of Foreign Ministers (September 11 to October 2, 1945), as US Secretary of State James Byrnes and British Foreign Minister

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in th ...

agreed to establish the commission along the lines of the US proposal made on August 21, for the purpose of preparing plans for an Allied Council for Japan. Byrnes emphasized this name change after the 1945 Moscow Conference, "''As early as August 9 we invited the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and China to join with us in carrying out the objectives of the

and the

Terms of Surrender for Japan The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was the written agreement that formalized the surrender of the Empire of Japan, marking the end of hostilities in World War II. It was signed by representatives from the Empire of Japan and from the Allied ...

. The Far Eastern Advisory Commission was established in October, but Great Britain had reservations regarding its advisory character, and the Soviet Union requested a decision regarding control machinery in Tokyo before joining the work of the Commission''". The renaming of the FEAC to FEC reflected the tensions between the three major Allied powers during the last stages of the war that would soon come to head, not only in the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

between the USSR and US, but also the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

between the UK and the US. The Far Eastern Commission formulated policies for Japan to fulfill under the terms of

surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

. It consisted of 10 members who conducted decisions based on majority vote; however, the US, UK, USSR, and Republic of China were awarded veto power over the other members' votes. Between 10 July, 1947 and 23 December, 1948, the FEC enacted 13 policy decisions which fell into three categories: disarmament; democratization; and economic recovery.

Disarmament

In order to further neutralize Japan as a potential threat to the US, the Far Eastern Commission decided to partly de-industrialize post-war Japan. Japanese military and industrial disarmament was deemed to be complete after the scale of Japanese industry had been reduced to the levels of 1930–1934.(Note: A footnote in Gareau also states: "For a text of this decision, see Activities of the Far Eastern Commission. Report of the Secretary General, February, 1946 to July 10, 1947, Appendix 30, p. 85.") (see

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

)

References

Establishment of the Commission

Minter Minter may refer to: Places in the United States * Minter, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Minter Village, California, an unincorporated community *Minter City, Mississippi Minter City is an unincorporated community in Leflore County and ...

to Makin Letter CANBERRA, 3 January 1946. An Historical Publication on the website of the Australian Government's

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and ...

Background

Disarmament

References

Footnotes

Further reading