Why did Hitler declare war on the United States?

[amiam*]

Why did Hitler declare war on the United States?

 

[JakeStarkey]

Because of his alliance with the Empire of Japan. Germany declared war on America two days after it declared war on Japan.

 

[Oddball]

The pact with Japan, as I understand it.

Why he honored it I do not know, as it wouldn't have been the first time he had told those with whom he had treaties to go pound sand.

 

[JakeStarkey]

I really don't know either then the pact, but as Dude points out, Hitler did not keep always keep commitments.

 

[☭proletarian☭]

The same reason he attacked Russia and tried to invade during winter: because he was an idiot.

 

[Oddball]

Barbarossa was launched in June, college boy.

 

[☭proletarian☭]

Did he or did he not attempt to continue his push into Russia when winter came?

Has or has not every invading force in Russia's history been defeated by the winter and Russia's 'scorched earth' philosophy?

If you fail to move into Russia and establish a secure hold on the region and the most secure supply lines ever seen by winter, you do not push onward or you will die.

 

[B L Zeebub]

His Mum Doris Hitler told him to.

 

[Luissa]

I think the agreement with japan was just an excuse, for one Japan was not attacked. I think Hitler was an ego maniac, underestimated the US thinking we were only good for support and producing goods. Plus we were already aiding Britain and selling most of their enemies arms and other supplies.

 

[☭proletarian☭]

I vaguely recall reading of Hitler promising Mexico it could have the US if it attacked us and helped him take us out.

 

[Xenophon]

I vaguely recall reading of Hitler promising Mexico it could have the US if it attacked us and helped him take us out.

That was the Kaiser.

 

[Xenophon]

The USA had been in an undeclared war vs Germany since 1940, hitler was sure that once Japan was in the war the USA would find a way to make it a declared war vs Germany.

He also hoped the Japanese would open a second front vs the Soviets in asia, something the japanese absolutely refused to do as they had lost two battles to Russia in the 1930s.

Hitler was also a gambler, he believed that if the war with the USA went from cold to hot there was a chance to interdict allied shipping to Russia and Britain (he was right, in the first 6 months German U boats ran wild off teh US coast) which was hurting Germany badly.

Hitler was not stupid, he knew it was coming so he decided to try the war on his terms instead of waiting for a US declaration which might catch teh germans in no postion to oppose it.

 

[elvis]

because von Ribbentropf was an idiot. The entire war can be blamed on him.

 

[☭proletarian☭]

I vaguely recall reading of Hitler promising Mexico it could have the US if it attacked us and helped him take us out.

That was the Kaiser.

So it was.

Not the first time my memory has failed me.

 

[code1211]

The USA had been in an undeclared war vs Germany since 1940, hitler was sure that once Japan was in the war the USA would find a way to make it a declared war vs Germany.

He also hoped the Japanese would open a second front vs the Soviets in asia, something the japanese absolutely refused to do as they had lost two battles to Russia in the 1930s.

Hitler was also a gambler, he believed that if the war with the USA went from cold to hot there was a chance to interdict allied shipping to Russia and Britain (he was right, in the first 6 months German U boats ran wild off teh US coast) which was hurting Germany badly.

Hitler was not stupid, he knew it was coming so he decided to try the war on his terms instead of waiting for a US declaration which might catch teh germans in no postion to oppose it.

In 1941, the USA was not a military Super Power. It still had 10% unemployment and a very active isolationist movement. Germany had not yet lost the war on the Eastern Front. Japan was running wild in the Far East and had already beaten the Brits.

Japan's Pacific Fleet was far superior to that of the US and the Battle hardened soldiers of Japan were more than a match for the US.

That was December 6, 1941.

On December 8, 1941, every American male who could stand was trying to enlinst and the whole military industrial complex, a thing that did not exist on December 6, was geering up for the greatest re-tool that has ever occurred before or since.

Hitler may not have understood this. This date was past the time when he was making decisions that seemed psychic.

He knew for sure and for certain, though, that if he was not at war in alliance with the Japanese when America fell, he'd have no rights to the vast natural resources of the country or the industry.

The Battles of Coral Sea and Midway changed the world as did the Battles of Stalingrad and Moscow.

 

[L.K.Eder]

hitler hated the US for their freedoms

 

[amiam*]

I vaguely recall reading of Hitler promising Mexico it could have the US if it attacked us and helped him take us out.

That was the Kaiser.

No. It was Arthur Zimmerman the acting foreign minister of Germany. He was the author of the Zimmerman telegram to Mexico proposing a war alliance. Initially the telegram was thought to be a forgery by the English to get the United States into the war. Strangely after the Mexican government called the telegram a forgery, Arthur Zimmerman confirmed the authentic nature of the telegram. Shortly afterward the United States declared war on Germany.

One can wonder, why Zimmerman did not lie and so confirm Mexico's version of a forgery by the English.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

It was a calculated easy odds gamble: Germany controlled all the real estate from France to the gates of the Kremlin, the war on the Eastern front was supposed end in about 3 months, so by the time the USA was able to meaningfully enter the war Germany would have been able to station entire panzer armies to oppose the landing zones

 

[rightwinger]

Because of his alliance with the Empire of Japan. Germany declared war on America two days after it declared war on Japan.

Hitler also had an alliance with the Soviet Union. None of his other alliances or treaties meant anything to Hitler. If he could have given up Japan so that the war with Japan would have been the US's primary focus he could have extended his war in Europe. I still think the USSR would have defeated him, but he would have held offf much longer and possibly salvaged something. Germany provide no support to Japan so the alliance was meaningless.

Either way, I think FDR would have found an excuse to go to war with Germany

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Yeah, FDR really needed to get us in WWII because none of his economic "remedies" were working.