ABSTRACT
Reform and change is exactly what the Occupation brought. Recognizing that the vindictive peace imposed on the vanquished after World War I had only fueled further conflict, Americans determined to follow a constructive policy to rebuild Japan into a peace-loving country that would not pose a threat in the future. This meant that the country must be demilitarized. The Americans believed that militarism was imposed on Japan by despotic rulers, and that no free people would of their own accord choose the course of military aggression. Thus, the surest path to demilitarization was through democratization. Demilitarization and democratization were SCAP’s two interdependent goals in the Occupation of Japan.
