San Francisco, Peace Treaty of 1951

a separate peace treaty between Japan and 48 other states, signed at a conference in San Francisco on Sept. 8, 1951.

The groundwork for the San Francisco Peace Treaty was laid, contrary to the Potsdam Declaration of 1945 and a number of other Allied agreements, by the US and British governments without including the other great powers that had fought against Japan. The People’s Republic of China (PRC), the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (PDRK), the Mongolian People’s Republic (MPR), and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) were not invited to the conference. India and Burma refused to take part.

The treaty itself consists of 27 articles in seven chapters, one each on peace, the territorial settlement, security, political and economic provisions, property and claims, and the settlement of disputes and a seventh, concluding chapter. The Soviet delegation observed at the conference that the Anglo-American draft treaty was unsatisfactory, because it did not guarantee the peace, security, and democratic development of Japan. The Soviet delegation proposed several emendations and eight new articles, which provided for Japan’s recognition of the PRC’s sovereignty over Manchuria and Taiwan and several other island territories; recognition of the USSR’s sovereignty over southern Sakhalin and the Kurils; recognition of Japan’s sovereignty over the Ryukyus, Bonins, and other islands; withdrawal of Allied armed forces from Japan within 90 days of the signing of the treaty; a just resolution of the question of reparations; democratization of the political and social life of Japan; and guarantees against the revival of Japanese militarism. The Soviet proposals were supported in their entirety by Poland and Czechoslovakia and in a number of particulars by other conference participants. However, they were not officially brought up for discussion.

In view of the treaty’s serious deficiencies, the USSR, Poland, and Czechoslovakia refused to sign it. Burma, the DRV, India, the PDRK, the PRC, and the MPR, none of which were present at the conference, likewise refused to sign the treaty. Several hours after the treaty was officially signed, a Japanese-American “security pact” was concluded, a pact that granted the USA the right to station ground, air, and sea forces in or near Japan.