“It is His Majesty's heart's desire to see the swift termination of the war.”

—  Howard Zinn

Regarding the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in a ZNet forum reply (13 July 1999) http://forum.zmag.org/~ZNetCmt/read?3235,7
Context: To put it briefly: the evidence is quite overwhelming on this matter. The Japanese had sent an envoy (Ambassador Sato) to Moscow (still officially a neutral) to work out a negotiated surrender. An instruction from Foreign Minister Togo came in a telegram (intercepted by American intelligence, which had broken the Japanese code early in the war), saying: "Unconditional surrender is the only obstacle to peace... It is His Majesty's heart's desire to see the swift termination of the war." The Japanese had one condition for surrender which the U. S. refused to meet — recognizing the sanctity of the Emperor. It seemed the U. S. was determined to drop the bomb before the Japanese could surrender — for a variety of reasons, none of them humanitarian. After the war, the official report of the U. S. Strategic Bombing Survey, based on hundreds of interviews with Japanese decision-makers right after the war, concluded that the war would have ended in a few months by a Japanese surrender "even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated."

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It is His Majesty's heart's desire to see the swift termination of the war." by Howard Zinn?
Howard Zinn photo
Howard Zinn 69
author and historian 1922–2010

Related quotes

John Flavel photo

“Christ bounds and terminates the vast desires of the soul; He is the very Sabbath of the soul.”

John Flavel (1627–1691) English Presbyterian clergyman

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 559.

İsmail Enver photo

“The transformation of the Islamic world into one of revolution, as His Majesty has desired, had been in preparation for some time and had now been put into action.”

İsmail Enver (1881–1922) Turkish military officer and a leader of the Young Turk revolution

August 19, 1914. Quoted in "A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility" - by Taner Akcam - History - 2007 - Page 132.

Muhammad photo

“The prayer of a person is (in reality) a light in his heart, so whoever desires, can illuminate his heart”

Muhammad (570–632) Arabian religious leader and the founder of Islam

by means of prayers
Kanzul `Ummal, Volume7, Tradition 18973
Shi'ite Hadith

Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak photo

“The compassionate heart of his majesty finds no pleasure in cruelties or in causing sorrow to others; he is ever sparing of the lives of his subjects, wishing to bestow happiness upon all.”

Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (1551–1602) vizier

About Akbar. Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl. quoted from Lal, K. S. (1999). Theory and practice of Muslim state in India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 2

Akbar photo

“The compassionate heart of his majesty finds no pleasure in cruelties or in causing sorrow to others; he is ever sparing of the lives of his subjects, wishing to bestow happiness upon all.”

Akbar (1542–1605) 3rd Mughal Emperor

Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl. quoted from Lal, K. S. (1999). Theory and practice of Muslim state in India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 2

George William Russell photo
Edna St. Vincent Millay photo

“Pity me that the heart is slow to learn
What the swift mind beholds at every turn.”

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) American poet

Source: The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems

George Gordon Byron photo

“She was his life,
The ocean to the river of his thoughts,
Which terminated all.”

Stanza 2; this can be compared to: "She floats upon the river of his thoughts", Henry W. Longfellow, The Spanish Student, act ii, scene 3.
The Dream (1816)

Karl Kraus photo

“A fine world in which man reproaches woman with fulfilling his heart's desire!”

Karl Kraus (1874–1936) Czech playwright and publicist

Half-Truths and One-And-A-Half Truths (1976)

“Smooth are his words, his voice as honey sweet,
Yet war is in his heart, and dark deceit!”

Moschus Ancient Greek poet

'The Stray Cupid', tr. R. Polwhele, lines 14–15
Compare: "The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords." Psalm 55:21 (KJV)
The Idylliums of Moschus, Idyllium I

Related topics