11.12. 1941 Germany and Italy declared war on the USA

On December 8, 1941, Congress declared war on Japan at Roosevelt's suggestion. In accordance with the provisions of the Tri-Power Pact of 1940, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on December 11. This created a major global conflict.

When the Japanese conquered Indochina in the summer of 1940 after invading France and began to exert pressure on the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies, their Greater East Asia Sphere of Shared Prosperity took on clearer contours. The non-aggression pact concluded with the Soviet Union in April 1941, with the government in Tokyo keeping the back door open for further territorial gains.

The US and Britain responded to the Japanese invasion of China and the 'Pacific Rim' areas with progressively tighter economic sanctions. From the moment oil was included in the sanctions, it was already a complete boycott. During negotiations with the Japanese ambassador, begun in early 1941 in Washington, Secretary of State Cordell Hull insisted on a complete Japanese withdrawal from China.

The Tojo government, in power since October 1941, was in any case prepared to surrender...only if the U.S. and Great Britain stopped aid to China and lifted the oil embargo. When Hull refused this last offer in 1941, the Japanese decided on a preemptive strike against the US. They hoped that this would give them up to two years to carry out their expansion plan while securing their sphere of influence.

"During a surprise strike by Japanese aircraft on an American naval base inPearl Harbor, Hawaii, eight battleships, three cruisers and three destroyers were sunk or severely damaged, 200 aircraft were knocked out of action. Three aircraft carriers located at sea or on the American West Coast were spared. American casualties were over 2,400 dead and about 1,000 wounded," write Heideking Jürgen and Mauch Christof in A History of the United States.

On December 8, Congress declared war on Japan at Roosevelt's suggestion. In accordance with the provisions of the 1940 Pact of the Three Powers, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on 11 December, relieving Roosevelt of the obligation to convince their countries of the necessity of waging war on two fronts.

Hitler welcomed Japan's entry into the war and assured Tokyo that he would not negotiate a separate peace with the US. Seen through American optics, the wars begun as early as 1937 in Asia and 1938-39 in Europe were linked into one, truly global war.

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