This 1948 article about the governance of General Douglas MacArthur
(1880 – 1964) over conquered Japan following the close of World War II was written half way through the American occupation period by the well-respected American journalist George Creel (1876 – 1953). Creel pointed out that he had not seen MacArthur since he was an army major in 1917, but seemed very much the same man despite the passage of years. The article clarifies what regime change meant for post-war Japan and the roll that MacArthur’s belief system and character played in the process:
“Why democracy? Because MacArthur believes it and Christianity are the world’s greatest ideas and ideals…On October 4, 1945 [MacArthur] took the bold step of proclaiming a civil-liberties bill that ended totalitarianism, giving Japan the right of free speech, free press, freedom of religion and free assembly.”
Click here to read about August 28, 1945 – the day the occupation began.
Click here to read a far more critical article about MacArthur…
Four years after the Pearl Harbor attack, a Japanese newspaper editorial expressed deep regret for Japan’s aggressiveness in the Second World War, click here to read about it…
