Occupation

General Mac Arthur's troops occupied Japan immediately after the surrender, and he became supreme commander in that area, although Emperor Hirohito remained on his throne. An Allied commission advised General MacArthur, but neither the Soviet Union nor Great Britain opposed his decisions. Korea, which had been a Japanese territory, was occupied in the north by the Soviet Union, and in the south by the United States.

Germany was partitioned among the Allies for a period of indefinite occupation. The Soviet occupation zone included most of eastern Germany except for the western part of Berlin. The United States, Great Britain, and France occupied the rest of Germany and the western part of Berlin. Austria was also divided into zones for occupation by the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain, and France.