Editing Potsdam Declaration (section)

==Drafting==
At the start of the conference, the United States delegation considered a proclamation demanding Japan's unconditional surrender by the heads of governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, the [[Soviet Union]] and China.<ref name="Dougall21"/> The Potsdam Declaration went through many drafts until a version acceptable to all was found.{{sfn|Hasegawa|2005|pp=145–148}} Soviet leader [[Joseph Stalin]] ultimately declined to endorse the ultimatum at Potsdam, since the Soviet Union was not yet at war with Japan, and instead committed to subscribing to the declaration upon Soviet entry in the war which was scheduled for early August.

Knowing on 24 July that the "[[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] had reached an agreement on ... military strategy", Truman gave Churchill a copy of the draft proclamation, which didn't mention the Soviet Union. The United States Delegation adopted all the suggested British amendments.<ref name="Dougall21">{{cite book |editor1-last=Dougall |editor1-first=Richardson |title= Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference), 1945, Volume II |date=1960 |publisher=Department of State |location=Washington |pages=1265–1284 |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945Berlinv02/d1244 |access-date=29 July 2024 |chapter=Ch 21: Far Eastern Questions}}</ref> Since Chiang Kai-shek had not been invited to the conference in a [[Berlin]] suburb, China did not participate in the drafting of the Potsdam Declaration.<ref name="Lin">{{cite news |last1=Lin |first1=Siyun |title=蒋介石的眼泪 |trans-title= Chiang Kai-shek's Tears |url=https://www.china-week.com/html/1712.htm |access-date=29 July 2024 |work=China Newsweek |publisher=China News Service |date=18 May 2003 |language=Chinese}}</ref>  Chinese agreement on the issuance of the proposed proclamation was sought by telegram on 24 July. [[Patrick J. Hurley|Ambassador Hurley]] delivered the message the next day in [[Chongqing]]. Chiang Kai-shek concurred with one amendment to the text, the listing of “President of the National Government of the Republic of China” before the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and the telegraphic reply sent from Chongqing at 11:05&nbsp;a.m. on 26 July.<ref name="Dougall21"/> Thus, Churchill could authorize the text as British Prime Minister, before submitting his resignation later that evening.<ref name ="Kynaston">{{cite book |last=Kynaston |first=David |author-link=David Kynaston |title=Austerity Britain 1945–51 |date=2008 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-0-7475-9923-4 |pages=70–71}}</ref> In reality, the “signatures” of the [[Chiang Kai-shek|Generalissimo]] and Prime Minister were in Truman’s handwriting.<ref name="Dougall24"/>