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1941: Germany and Italy declare war on US
Germany and Italy have announced they are at war with the United States. America immediately responded by declaring war on the two Axis powers.
Three days ago, US President Franklin Roosevelt announced America was at war with Japan, the third Axis power, following the surprise attack on its naval base at Pearl Harbor.
Today Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, made his declaration first - from the balcony over the Piazza Venezia in Rome - pledging the "powers of the pact of steel" were determined to win.
Then Adolf Hitler made his announcement at the Reichstag in Berlin saying he had tried to avoid direct conflict with the US but, under the Tripartite Agreement signed on 27 September 1940, Germany was obliged to join with Italy to defend its ally Japan.
"After victory has been achieved," he said. "Germany, Italy and Japan will continue in closest co-operation with a view to establishing a new and just order."
He accused President Roosevelt of waging a campaign against Germany since 1937, blamed him for the outbreak of war in 1939 and said he was planning to invade Germany in 1943.
Over in Washington, President Roosevelt told Congress the free world must act quickly and decisively against the enemy.
"The forces endeavouring to enslave the entire world now are moving towards this hemisphere.
"Delay invites danger. Rapid and united efforts by all peoples of the world who are determined to remain free will ensure world victory for the forces of justice and righteousness over the forces of savagery and barbarism."
Resolutions against Germany and Italy were passed without debate. The only person who did not vote for war was pacifist Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin who had also voted against war with Japan.
In the Senate the vote was unanimous.
Both Democrats and Republicans have agreed to "adjourn politics" for the duration of the war and focus on national defence.
They have passed a new law which allows US servicemen to fight anywhere in the world.
Following the shock of Pearl Harbor, American citizens are flocking to volunteer for the US Navy and Marine Corps which do not take conscripts.
The US Army has already grown tenfold since the draft was introduced last year.
BBC ON THIS DAY | 11 | 1941: Germany and Italy declare war on US
Throughout this period, the neutral United States took measures to assist China and the Western Allies. In November 1939, the American Neutrality Act was amended to allow Cash and carry purchases by the Allies.[48] In 1940, following the German capture of Paris, the size of United States Navy was significantly increased and after the Japanese incursion into Indochina, the United States embargoed iron, steel and mechanical parts against Japan.[49] In September, the United States further agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases.[50] Still, a large majority of the American public continued to oppose any direct military intervention into the conflict well into 1941.[51]
At the end of September the Tripartite Pact between Japan, Italy and Germany formalized the Axis Powers. The pact stipulated, with the exception of the Soviet Union, any country not in the war which attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three.[52] The Soviet Union expressed interest in joining the Tripartite Pact, sending a modified draft to Germany in November and offering a very German-favourable economic deal;[53] while Germany remained silent on the former, they accepted the latter.[54] Regardless of the pact, the United States continued to support the United Kingdom and China by introducing the Lend-Lease policy[55] and creating a security zone spanning roughly half of the Atlantic Ocean where the United States Navy protected British convoys.[56] As a result, Germany and the United States found themselves engaged in sustained, if undeclared, naval warfare in the North Atlantic by October 1941, even though the United States remained officially neutral.[57]
World War II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Don't fucking kid yourselves. By braying on that the US entering Europe in ww2 was MERELY about fighting fascist states you not only ignore the specific details which lead Germany to officially declare war on the US but also totally ignore the fact that we had already been siding with the Allies by the time Pearl Harbor was hit. Hitler didn't see the US as any kind of threat. And the US didn't care to enter the war until we were actually attacked at Pearl Harbor even though we were unofficially less than neutral. Hitler didn't declare war on the US because we were a threat, however. He did so because of the Tripartite pact which mandated such after we declared war on Japan. This, in no way shape or form, amounted to an obligation to enter WW2 on the European front. When you say that we were fighting "fascism", which lets be honest in this day and age of the GWOT sounds like nothing more than a sound bite, ARE YOU NOT SPECIFICALLY MAKING REFERENCE TO SAVING THOSE WHO ARE RULED BY FASCISTS? Jews and Europeans alike must respect the Americans who died for THEIR freedom rather than taking revenge for Pearl Harbor through defeating Hitler. Likewise, when a zionist jew makes a statement about the non-obligation of israel to help Palestine then they ignore the fact that AMERICA was never OBLIGATED to do anything more than DEAL WITH JAPAN for attacking Pearl Harbor given our otherwise tarnished status of neutrality up to the day Japan attacked us.
Now, please... scramble to get your last post in before closing this fucking thread. dick. Basic history, indeed.
