Abstract: As Congress prepared a declaration of war against Japan after Pearl Harbor, one of the biggest questions they faced was whether they should also declare war on Germany. Many argued that the United States should declare war only on Japan, since Germany was not involved in the attack. The matter was soon resolved when Hitler acted first and declared war on the United States. But why did he declare war on the United States, a country with an almost limitless military potential? The Axis Treaty required Germany to support Japan only if it were attacked, not if it were the attacker. Next to the invasion of the Soviet Union, this was the worst strategic decision that the Germans made, dooming them to a two-front war they could not win. This paper argues that it was a strategic deception operation conducted by Britain in the years before Pearl Harbor that manipulated the United States' move from a neutral power -- determined to stay out of the war -- to an all but declared ally of Britain. Thus, to Hitler, the declaration of war was a mere formality that acknowledged the de facto state of war that already existed between Germany and the United States.
| Limitations: |
 APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE |
| Description: |
Research paper |
| Pages: |
38 |
| Report Date: |
16-Mar-2009 |
| Report Number: |
A190994 |
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