On 11 December 1941, four days after Pearl Harbor, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States while already fighting on several fronts. The strategic question is what either government expected to gain from adding another opponent. Audience suggestions include obligations to allies, prestige, pride, and the dictators' own judgment. These proposed motives lead into the counterfactual possibilities of one or both European Axis powers withholding a declaration.
Chapter · 8:04-12:45
Why Germany and Italy declared war on America
The declarations of 11 December 1941 raise a strategic question: why add the United States to an already extensive war?