Operation Crusader and the Axis search for momentum

Operation Crusader was pushing Axis forces back, winter had checked Germany in the Soviet Union, and the wider British imperial war economy was expanding. Maritime access allowed Britain to marshal Canadian, Australian, Indian, and other resources even before full American entry. One interpretation is that Hitler and Mussolini declared war partly to reclaim the initiative while battlefield events were moving against them. Pearl Harbor had also shifted attention toward Japan, leaving the two European dictators outside the central story for several days. The proposed motive combines a wish to recover military initiative with the personal prestige both dictators attached to commanding events.