Why Hitler declared War on the USA

Why did Hitler declare war on the United States in December 1941? The Red Army was counter-attacking on the Eastern Front, the treaty with the Japanese did not require him to declare war and previously he avoided hostilities with the United States repeatedly and instructed particularly the Kriegsmarine to "stand down". So why did Hitler declare war now? This video features Dr. Klaus Schmider from the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst who researched this topics over the last few years.
Cover Images:
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»» SOURCES ««
Schmider, Klaus: Hitler’s Fatal Miscalculation: Why Germany declared War on the United States. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2021.
Boog, Horst u. a.: Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg 6: Der Globale Krieg. Bd. 6. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt: Stuttgart, Germany, 1990 (Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg 6).
Mawdsley, Evan: The War for the Seas: A Maritime History of World War II. Yale University Press: New Haven, Connecticut, USA, 2019.
Garzke, William H./Dulin Jr, Robert O./Jurens, William: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History. Seaforth Publishing: Barnsley, UK, 2019.
Hitler, Adolf: Hitler, Mein Kampf: Eine kritische Edition. hg. von Hartmann, Christian u. a. Institut für Zeitgeschichte: München, 2016.
Jacobsen, H.A.: 1939-1945. Der Zweite Weltkrieg in Chronik und Dokumenten. Dritte durchgesehene und ergänzte Auflage, Wehr und Wissen Verlagsgesellschaft: Darmstadt, Germany, 1960.
Glantz, David M./House, Jonathan M.: When Titans clashed: How the Red Army stopped Hitler. Revised and expanded edition, University Press of Kansas: Lawrence, Kansas, USA, 2015 (Modern war studies).
Drea, Edward J.: Japan’s Imperial Army. Its Rise and Fall, 1853-1945. Kansas University Press, USA: 2009.
Stahel, David: Retreat from Moscow: A new History of Germany’s Winter Campaign, 1941-1942. First edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, USA, 2019.
Wagner, Gerhard/Arbeitskreis für Wehrforschung: Lagevorträge der Oberbefehlshabers der Kriegsmarine vor Hitler 1939 - 1945. Lehmann: München, 1972.
Johnson, Danny M.: The Persian Gulf Command and the Lend-Lease Mission to the Soviet Union during World War II
armyhistory.org/the-persian-g...
00:00 Intro
00:45 Three main Areas
01:04 Hitler about Amerika
04:42 Situation Ostfront
08:19 Japan
13:05 US Policy Changes & Incident 1941
19:30 Gutting of Neutrality Act, November 1941
24:06 Pulling the Strings together
25:40 Window of Opportunity
#Hitler,#ww2 ,#WhyHitlerCeclaredWar

[@brennus57]

Thank you. This makes more sense than the notion that Hilter had such a Eurocentric world view that he didn't consider the US to be a significant threat.

[@grizwoldphantasia5005]

Same here. I had never thought of the perfect storm of the Eastern Front counter-offensive, the changed US Neutrality Law, and Pearl Harbor. My brain is going to be buzzing for a while, wondering how a week or two differences in any of these would have changed matters.

[@jackylynn]

Eurocentrism is a disease 🦟 🤢 🤢 🤮

[@CrabTastingMan]

@@grizwoldphantasia5005 This video makes a lot of mistakes and takes on the view that Hitler coerced Japan to do anything or fooled the "innocent" butcher and rapist of 30 million people in Asia in countless undeclared wars to be unaccountable for its war crimes of using biological, chemical, and even attempt nuclear (right up to the end of the war) WMDs not even Germany used in WW2. Japan already cheated UK and US with the naval treaties by increasing its naval tonnage and bombed US ships in Nanjing in 1937 when WW2 was started by attacking China (a nation that would become 1 of 5 members of the permanent security council), then used the classic tactic used in In fact Pearl Harbor in of itself was a rehash of the same tactic used in the Russo-Japanese war. Attack the Russian Crown Prince, then when it fails, feign apology with school girls to hide behind them and insinuate reproach against Japan is to incriminate innocent girls (who are ofc raised on resources exploited off of the backs of other enslaved Asians), bide time, then start an undeclared war against Russia. It was "successful (not, really unable to force Russians to hand them money... which the Allies in WW2 did not do for Japan itself when by all means they should have instead of pumping trillions of Cold War dollars into it as a reward for being an Axis power... just like China would get in the 70s)" but they failed to remember that was only because UK and US kept bailing out the Japanese government multiple times, from total bankruptcy, as part of the Great Game. They didn't realize this would amount to biting the hand that feeds them (and even gave relief funds for the 1923 Earthquake while Japanese civilians were lynching 6,000 Asian foreigners within Japan, blaming the earthquake on them). The Japanese answer to US restricting exports of US Oil and Steel to Japan (and some limitations on some exports like expensive US machinery that drove Japanese industry much like Russians in 2022 realized too late that their industry relies heavily on imported US machinery as well) was to launch more undeclared invasions into Southeast Asia to exploit rubber and oil to fuel their insatiable war machine that 1 billion Asians in 1945 were all too grateful to be rid of when Japan was forced to surrender (not by nukes but by Soviets coming in from the West and like Nazis who butchered ppl in the Eastern Front and fled to the west to avoid life in Soviet gulags, Japan opted to surrender to the West but not the Soviets and have their country split like Germany) "Hitler thought this, Hitler thought that" that doesn't really give an accurate picture of what the Japanese ACTUALLY thought or did. It's like thinking Japan is not a thinking entity itself responsible for its actions but Germany decided everything for them, like someone put a gun to its head and sold 300,000 of Japanese girls overseas to make pimp money to develop Japan (leaders weren't even ashamed of this, praised this as Joshigun, or "Army of Girls") for the glorified Meiji Restoration period alone (samurai as far back as 1500 have been selling girls for Portuguese muskets just like African warlords, and when that wasn't enought started setting overseas brothels to earn war funds), then kidnapped 100s of 1000s of girls all over Asia and gave them 80-man daily rape quotas for soldiers in officially built military sex slave brothels, and executed most of any survivors by the end of the war to hide war crimes, and sent 5-digits of people into kamikazes by plane, boat, submarine, diving suits, etc. and did not care about daily reports of 10s of 1,000s of casualties by the end of the war and was planning Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night, which was to use poison gas manufactured in the WMD production hub in Hiroshima to start bombing America as well... for September of 1945. Any attempt to expose their propaganda of victimhood is met with accusation of racism, of course.

[@grizwoldphantasia5005]

@@CrabTastingMan Is there any actual purpose to your long rant? I don't know why you picked on me.

[@j.langer5949]

Nonsense. Try reading Hitler's second book. Then you will know that he saw the USA as the biggest threat to Europe. And he was right. Today's Europe is just a province strategically dependent on the USA. And Germany, the strongest country in Europe, is literally under the boot of the USA.

[@AFGuidesHD]

It's tragic have many people comment before even watching the video lol Schmider absolutely spells it out hat Hitler was not "insane" nor was he "stupid and underestimated America".

[@earltaylor1893]

Very informative. I didn’t know about all of the nuances and reluctance on Germany’s part to declare war on the US. I incorrectly thought that it was a dismissive decision on Hitlers part. Also, I love the collaboration of historians on this channel!

[@ragnarokgzlr8522]

Hitler's declaration of War against the US itself contains most points why he made this decision. Unfortunatly it was censored on youtube, but may be found on odyssey or bit chute. On this regard, also the declaration of War against the USSR is interesting.

[@madensmith7014]

Japan's reluctance is already well known, but it's really interesting that every Axis nation had their gripes about dragging the USbinto the war. What's more interesting for me is that Germany had influence over Japan's non-aggression pact with the Soviets and then sticking to the Southern strike doctrine.

[@skurdibbles7913]

they are leaving out failed negoiations between nazi germany and the us. the us was pretty close to joining the axis powers. theres all kinds of photos and events that took place showing that the us was friendly to the nazi party. sold out madison square garden rallies to senators and congressmen hosting nazis at the capital and their homes.

[@skurdibbles7913]

and then the fact that we assimilated 15k nazis in the middle of the chaos that was left after germany failed in weeks. we would have trouble doing project paper clip in modern times in the time frame they did in 39

[@Castragroup]

Oh no hes a human

[@88porpoise]

Prior to watching the video, because the US was already engaging in an undeclared war against Germany? Basically, the German declaration of war is a pretty decent summary of the situation.

[@jackylynn]

USA USA USA 😎😎😎

[@glenmcgillivray4707]

Prior to video. Why didn't Hitler declare war on Japan? Unprovoked attacks and aggression. And he would have elicited some confused Americans to think positively about Germany standing against their invaders, the Japanese. And Germany wouldn't have to do anything to actually engage in war against the Japanese, merely confusing the situation by standing by the Americans and pledging to offer military support to them when able. So Japan could be informed of the plan and ploy to destroy the foes while they remain scattered. Instead of a 2 sided war between various allies, it could fracture the possibility of military alliance and be seen that the USA government was funding a war against a friendly power who supported their people, if not their current government.

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

@@glenmcgillivray4707 Japan and Germany were allies, they got cozy in the 30's.

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

I'm not sure if you call it a undeclared war, but they were not at all acting like neutrals.

[@88porpoise]

@@TheEvilmooseofdoom When the US announced it would attack German vessels on sight, I would upgrade it to an undeclared war. Regardless, by December 7, 1941, the point of no return was well crossed (as noted in the video it is less claear when that line was crossed, but it was crossed before Pearl Harbor) and the US was going to war with Germany. Roosevelt had wanted to go to war with Germany for some time and with the Japanese attacks on Britain and then the US, he absolutely had the leverage he needed as a commitment to keeping the UK strong in Europe would facilitate the British Empire's fight against Japan. Germany not declaring war would allow the US to benefit from its "neutrality" until they declared war on their terms.

[@YksiSuomalainen]

I would be extremely interested to hear more from this guy. He seems to have a deep knowledge and understanding of this era.

[@peterplotts1238]

These guys are great. I can highly recommend them.

[@mrd7067]

Framing is everything. It`s always very interesting what german historians who work or worked in the UK for the UK goverment say and also what they tend not to touch Lets not foreget that the UK has destroyed classified archives from that time which had to be opened to the public in defiance to their own laws: So it had nothing to do with the fact that the US was already in the war, although somewhat covertly? Let`s just forget about asia for this (although the US was involved there too before Pearl Harbour). The US provided personal and marerial to the enemies or the axis even before that. Here are a few points in chronological order: July 1940, William J . Donovan (who then became the head of the forerunner of the OSS and then the USS) was send to the UK and then established things. Destroyers for Bases Agreement aka „Destroyer Deal“ (not to forget the Tyler Kent affair before that, it included Joseph Kennedy, the father of John F. Kennedy, part of it was opened to the public as part of the Watergate affair, part of it was classified until atleast 2015 [i don`t know if they have been declassified yet]) September 2, 1940 Lend-Lease Act March 11, 1941 Operation Barbarossa June 22, 1941 The destroyer USS Niblack attacked a German U-boat: the U-52 April 10, 1941 Greer Incident (aggression by the US, although it`s mostly framed differently by only mentioning a part of the story) September 4, 1941 The order for US ships to shoot at german and italian ships outside of US territorial waters September 9, 1941 USCGC Northland destroyed a German weather station in northeast Greenland. September 14, 1941 Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 Presidential Proclamation No. 2526 (Alien Enemies--German) December 8, 1941 German declaration of war against the United States December 11, 1941

[@IvanTre]

He also has a very charming accent that I like listening to.

[@davidelliott5843]

Check out TIK (KZbinr) on the same subject. He explains the uncomfortable truths with regard to Hitler.

[@peterplotts1238]

@@davidelliott5843 Are there any comfortable truths concerning A. H.? I don't know. But thanks for the tip. I will certainly check it out.

[@nicholasperry2380]

Dr. Schmider is an excellent educator. I'd love to hear more from him, he has a depth of knowledge and non-partisan approach that is all too rare. Very good episode. You are getting better all the time and started ahead of many in the first place.

[@camdenmcandrews]

Huzzahs for Kr. Klaus Schmider! He is a real historian, one who actually learns what people were thinking at the time. This is a huge contrast to the vast majority of self-appointed "historians" who mindlessly spew war propaganda from nearly a century ago.

[@oslier3633]

Not like "real" historians who also spew propaganda from more than a century ago.

[@UnreasonableOpinions]

It is always good when you get more historians on the channel, expertise and new research are rare in KZbin history circles.

[@johngeverett]

You Always dig deeply into original documentation for your presentations, and this is one of the best examples of your diligence. Thanks so much for all you do!

[@desert_jin6281]

Super interesting ! Thank you for your work !

[@jrherita]

I love these deep strategy discussions - thank you!

[@davidnemoseck9007]

Wow. Cool. Love getting new info like this. Makes the picture more clearer.

[@keepyourbilsteins]

Terrific work. Your content is improving by leaps and bounds over an already excellent baseline.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

Thank you very much!

[@CR055H41RZ]

This is a very important video on the history of this topic. I hope you might interview Dr. Schmider again with more insights!

[@CrabTastingMan]

This video makes a lot of mistakes and takes on the view that Hitler coerced Japan to do anything or fooled the "innocent" butcher and rapist of 30 million people in Asia in countless undeclared wars to be unaccountable for its war crimes of using biological, chemical, and even attempt nuclear (right up to the end of the war) WMDs not even Germany used in WW2. Japan already cheated UK and US with the naval treaties by increasing its naval tonnage and bombed US ships in Nanjing in 1937 when WW2 was started by attacking China (a nation that would become 1 of 5 members of the permanent security council), then used the classic tactic used in In fact Pearl Harbor in of itself was a rehash of the same tactic used in the Russo-Japanese war. Attack the Russian Crown Prince, then when it fails, feign apology with school girls to hide behind them and insinuate reproach against Japan is to incriminate innocent girls (who are ofc raised on resources exploited off of the backs of other enslaved Asians), bide time, then start an undeclared war against Russia. It was "successful (not, really unable to force Russians to hand them money... which the Allies in WW2 did not do for Japan itself when by all means they should have instead of pumping trillions of Cold War dollars into it as a reward for being an Axis power... just like China would get in the 70s)" but they failed to remember that was only because UK and US kept bailing out the Japanese government multiple times, from total bankruptcy, as part of the Great Game. They didn't realize this would amount to biting the hand that feeds them (and even gave relief funds for the 1923 Earthquake while Japanese civilians were lynching 6,000 Asian foreigners within Japan, blaming the earthquake on them). The Japanese answer to US restricting exports of US Oil and Steel to Japan (and some limitations on some exports like expensive US machinery that drove Japanese industry much like Russians in 2022 realized too late that their industry relies heavily on imported US machinery as well) was to launch more undeclared invasions into Southeast Asia to exploit rubber and oil to fuel their insatiable war machine that 1 billion Asians in 1945 were all too grateful to be rid of when Japan was forced to surrender (not by nukes but by Soviets coming in from the West and like Nazis who butchered ppl in the Eastern Front and fled to the west to avoid life in Soviet gulags, Japan opted to surrender to the West but not the Soviets and have their country split like Germany) "Hitler thought this, Hitler thought that" that doesn't really give an accurate picture of what the Japanese ACTUALLY thought or did. It's like thinking Japan is not a thinking entity itself responsible for its actions but Germany decided everything for them, like someone put a gun to its head and sold 300,000 of Japanese girls overseas to make pimp money to develop Japan (leaders weren't even ashamed of this, praised this as Joshigun, or "Army of Girls") for the glorified Meiji Restoration period alone (samurai as far back as 1500 have been selling girls for Portuguese muskets just like African warlords, and when that wasn't enought started setting overseas brothels to earn war funds), then kidnapped 100s of 1000s of girls all over Asia and gave them 80-man daily rape quotas for soldiers in officially built military sex slave brothels, and executed most of any survivors by the end of the war to hide war crimes, and sent 5-digits of people into kamikazes by plane, boat, submarine, diving suits, etc. and did not care about daily reports of 10s of 1,000s of casualties by the end of the war and was planning Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night, which was to use poison gas manufactured in the WMD production hub in Hiroshima to start bombing America as well... for September of 1945. Any attempt to expose their propaganda of victimhood is met with accusation of racism, of course.

[@mostlyshorts7462]

Japan - We successfully attacked some American war ships Germany- YOU DID WHAT!!

[@modest_spice6083]

Eh. Hitler actually welcomed the development and he enthusiastically went to war with the United States himself, as he wanted to finally have a go at those American ships convoying British supply lines.

[@JamesRichards-mj9kw]

The Japanese had informed Hitler on 17 November that they would attack the US.

[@crystallineentity]

Thank you Bernard for quoting Stahel, his books are superb

[@JamesRichards-mj9kw]

Roosevelt's "Arsenal of Democracy" speech on 29 December 1940 was a de facto declaration of war against the Axis.

[@Lady_boom_hypoxia]

Thank you for this detailed history information and I'm always curious about why he declared war on USA

[@andrewcoley6029]

Really interesting video. Thank you for for presenting some new insights.

[@FinsburyPhil]

A great episode, thank you.

[@TactWendigo]

I would love to attend a seminar by this man.

[@AFGuidesHD]

too bad he only does them in non public settings i.e. Sandhurst and MOD. This channel should bring him on more if possible.

[@NJP-Supremacist]

I too would love to attend a seminar by AH

[@user-wj6dt5bq3w]

Buy his book, its about Hitler declaring war on America.

[@capnstewy55]

Japan attacking the USSR instead of the USA would have been great for Germany. It would have drawn off multiple Soviet divisions and delayed the American involvement in the war if not prevented it.

[@DieNextInLINE]

Isn't this what the IJA wanted to do eventually? I may have been misinformed but I thought remember reading about how the IJN and it's allies in Government eventually gained effective control of the majority of resources for their own forays into the pacific.

[@haniwadog]

@@DieNextInLINE The IJA was extremely unprepared for a war with the USSR and lost early skirmishes with them near Mongolia. Germany made several attempts at convincing Japan to join an official alliance against the Soviets because they were ideologically against communism, but Japan knew they wouldn't win that. It didn't benefit Germany all that much to switch its alliance from nationalist China to Japan in the long run.

[@jadenhiggins7167]

Yes axis powers thinking they could defeat the American and Russian at same time bad mistake

[@stevejones148]

@@jadenhiggins7167Japan attacked America because they essentially had to to secure pacific strategic oil reserves. It was either try and knock out the US with one attack or give up its imperialist desires. They chose to try and take out all the US aircraft carriers in one go. That obviously didn’t happen. Pearl Harbor being nothing short of total annihilation of the US in pacific meant japan was screwed. Pearl Harbor was a Hail Mary.

[@kragor420]

I have to agree with you. Not bringing America into the war, shouldve been their primary objective. Had Japan joined the axis powers in a fight against Russia, instead of attacking pearl harbor. Things would have been very different.

[@susiduo3438]

Excellent video.

[@ashfox7498]

"A great power does not allow itself to be declared war on; it declares it on others" - Ribbentrop

[@Wallyworld30]

Germany invaded every country they could and never gave an official declaration of war beforehand. He was just performing lip service.

[@ashfox7498]

@@Wallyworld30 But that's different, Germany was still the actor and not the one being acted upon. It's not like they were worried Austria was going to invade Germany. In this case though it's a pride and arrogance thing.

[@ragnarokgzlr8522]

@@ashfox7498 Germany didn't invade Austria. Most Austrians welcomed the Anschluss, which just fulfilled the desire for the großdeutsche Lösung.

[@ashfox7498]

@@ragnarokgzlr8522 Yeah I should have said poland maybe, same issue though; Germany didn't not declare war on them out of the same arrogance that lead them to declare war on America.

[@Wallyworld30]

@@ashfox7498 It was hubris just as it was when Goering said “If one enemy bomb falls on Berlin, you can call me Meyer.” In a bit of dark humor after the Allies started bombing Berlin and Ruhr on the daily basis the locals called the air raid sirens "Meyers trumpets".

[@beesod6412]

I could listen to Dr. Schmider talk ww2 all day long! superb video!

[@phettywappharmaceuticalsll8842]

Fun fact: if you switch from a southern US accent to a German accent it’s a perceived +20 intelligence

[@jamessullivan4391]

That's fucked up my dude.

[@hennessyblues4576]

Huh?

[@noco7243]

Grow up.

[@frankgulla2335]

A fascinating insight into the world of German-Japanese politics and the "thinking "of Hitler. Thank you.

[@jannegrey593]

OK. As a Polish guy, I'm interested and you have my attention. Even though I know at least rough outlines, you always have some amazing details. Thank You!

[@jackylynn]

Polak = Superior Slav

[@jamessullivan4391]

My girlfriend is Polish and is studying ballet. She is a pole dancer.

[@MilesStratton]

Very interesting. Learned something new today!

[@i_smoke_ghosts]

very good. thank you sirs !

[@AREZD1]

Deine Werner Herzog Imitation ist großartig!

[@shooter2055]

--caught the 'al dente' gag. Multo grazie!

[@creighton8069]

Really love your channel! I love how you use sources and how you teach actual history!

[@NJP-Supremacist]

How is this actual history?

[@TheDoctor1225]

@@NJP-Supremacist If you have to genuinely ask the question and aren't just being another in a long line of unimaginative, banal trolls, then you're on the wrong channel.

[@NJP-Supremacist]

@@TheDoctor1225 Why can't anyone genuinely ask this question? You think it's impossible to answer honestly? I'm not a troll, you answer the question, otherwise you're a malicious actor who isn't serious about any political issue.

[@boandersson8626]

Tack!

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

Thank you!!!

[@Inpreesme]

Thank you

[@stuartdollar9912]

Superb job as always. Dr. Schmeider (sp?) clearly knows his stuff.

Very interesting Video. I always just assumed that this decision was done to honour the Treaty. Great to know better now.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ginabrogan1825]

gr9 vidya m8

[@timothybrady2749]

Dr. Schmider is marvelous! I was never aware of the German policy twists and turns leading up to the German declaration of war on the U.S. A really wonderful and well researched presentation. All of your efforts are really appreciated.

[@russwoodward8251]

Thank you.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

You're welcome!

[@fsaldan1]

Brilliant!

[@itzamia]

Short answer, we sided with England who already declared war on Germany.

[@samray2895]

Just several years go when I was still a junior in collage, I was doing my research on this exact same topic. The official explanation of this topic is far simple and superficial. Although there are some primary sources from German perspective but those often dubbed as right-wing revisonist. This is an excellent video trying to explicate this topic in a more historically accurate approach. Good job, I hope there will be more informative videos like this.

[@samstewart4807]

Amost excellent video.@4 minutes who is "bust" of behind the professor?

[@ejdotw1]

Excellent

[@tokencivilian8507]

Amazing stuff MHV.

[@Tbone1492]

I remember my grandfather telling me he went to the conference in NYC. He said Germans from all over the U.S came. They had many rallies to join Germany after that!

[@Rob774]

Watch Ken Burns Holocaust. They talk about this.

[@TimPerfetto]

Can't stand your voice but love your presentation. Thank you

[@sinax8283]

I'm constantly confused how so many historians seem to think the UK and US can be co-billigents in a war against Japan with the US remaining disinterested towards the situation Europe when German occupation of the Netherlands, France and threat to the British Isles has enabled the very Japanese military expansion they now have to contend with. I also favour the more straightforward argument that Hilter declared war on the US because he expected to win. Or at least he never expected the German Army to lose on the Battlefield to such an extent that a peace would be unfavorable to a Germany now in control of most of Europe.

[@mrd7067]

Framing is everything. It`s always very interesting what german historians who work or worked in the UK for the UK goverment say and also what they tend not to touch Lets not foreget that the UK has destroyed classified archives from that time which had to be opened to the public in defiance to their own laws: So it had nothing to do with the fact that the US was already in the war, although somewhat covertly? Let`s just forget about asia for this (although the US was involved there too before Pearl Harbour). The US provided personal and material to the enemies or the axis even before that. Here are a few points in chronological order (be aware some were mentioned): July 1940, William J . Donovan (who then became the head of the forerunner of the OSS and then the OSS) was send to the UK and then established things. Destroyers for Bases Agreement aka „Destroyer Deal“ (not to forget the Tyler Kent affair before that, it included Joseph Kennedy, the father of John F. Kennedy, part of it was opened to the public as part of the Watergate affair, part of it was classified until atleast 2015 [i don`t know if they have been declassified yet]) September 2, 1940 Lend-Lease Act March 11, 1941 Operation Barbarossa June 22, 1941 The destroyer USS Niblack attacked a German U-boat: the U-52 April 10, 1941 Greer Incident (aggression by the US, although it`s mostly framed differently by only mentioning a part of the story) September 4, 1941 The order for US ships to shoot at german and italian ships outside of US territorial waters September 9, 1941 USCGC Northland destroyed a German weather station in northeast Greenland. September 14, 1941 Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 Presidential Proclamation No. 2526 (Alien Enemies--German) December 8, 1941 German declaration of war against the United States December 11, 1941

[@71kimg]

When the Anglo-American alliance went as deep as it deep as it were - Germany were in war with USA and Britain - German/Hitler thinking about US neutrality is purely about direct/hot attacks -which as said in this video - the Americans were sure would happen.

[@michlo3393]

It's no secret that Hitler thought of Americans as decadent and weak. And perhaps, had Pearl Harbor never happened, he may have had a point.

[@truebeliever5233]

Hitler was not stupid as he has been portrayed. He knew the might of the US and was actively trying to win over those in powerful positions in the US. Why else would he allow the British army at Dunkirk to go back to England unmolested during their retreat if he truly wanted to fight Great Britain? It was a show of restraint and a lack of aggression against England when Hitler could have massacred the British forces there and scored a tactical victory and a propaganda bonanza which would have demoralized allied troops knowing how their comrades were slaughtered. Hardly a choice a raving blood thirsty lunatic would make if set on global domination.

[@mrd7067]

@@truebeliever5233 There were a bunch of german peaceoffers to objective very sensible conditions from the german side, while germany was winning from the beginning. It has been alledged that Rudolf Heß, when he flew and parachuted into the UK did so on a secret peacemission to meet the King of the UK but was caught by uk security services who had their loyalties to the prime minister. If this was true this would be another ignoring of the Hague Convntion (i think the allies ignored pretty much all points of it in regards to germany). This peace thing has to my understanding been nudged on by the UK high command (i don`t remember which one). Don`t forget that the UK has bombed german population centers for about a year until german high command allowed to bomb mainland UK and even then limited it to military targets according to the rules of war. There is a lot more.

[@magicintelligence6625]

According to MHV, Italians are best-served soft-to-the-bite after 10 mins. of boiling. Also, is that Manhan-class model used for Uss Greer?

[@roberttherrien352]

Damn, now I have to buy the book.

[@robertmarsh3588]

Thank you for creating this enlightening video. Great to hear from such a knowledgeable source. Hitler's seemingly bizarre decision to declare war on the US makes a lot more sense from the context explained. Bizarre, no, rash or misguided, yes.

[@mrd7067]

Framing is everything. It`s always very interesting what german historians who work or worked in the UK for the UK goverment say and also what they tend not to touch Lets not foreget that the UK has destroyed classified archives from that time which had to be opened to the public in defiance to their own laws: So it had nothing to do with the fact that the US was already in the war, although somewhat covertly? Let`s just forget about asia for this (although the US was involved there too before Pearl Harbour). The US provided personal and material to the enemies or the axis even before that. Here are a few points in chronological order (be aware some were mentioned): July 1940, William J . Donovan (who then became the head of the forerunner of the OSS and then the OSS) was send to the UK and then established things. Destroyers for Bases Agreement aka „Destroyer Deal“ (not to forget the Tyler Kent affair before that, it included Joseph Kennedy, the father of John F. Kennedy, part of it was opened to the public as part of the Watergate affair, part of it was classified until atleast 2015 [i don`t know if they have been declassified yet]) September 2, 1940 Lend-Lease Act March 11, 1941 Operation Barbarossa June 22, 1941 The destroyer USS Niblack attacked a German U-boat: the U-52 April 10, 1941 Greer Incident (aggression by the US, although it`s mostly framed differently by only mentioning a part of the story) September 4, 1941 The order for US ships to shoot at german and italian ships outside of US territorial waters September 9, 1941 USCGC Northland destroyed a German weather station in northeast Greenland. September 14, 1941 Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 Presidential Proclamation No. 2526 (Alien Enemies--German) December 8, 1941 German declaration of war against the United States December 11, 1941

[@AMeanDude]

I like this old guy, he's well spoken and seems smart!

[@MakeMeThinkAgain]

I think his thinking was the same as the German thinking in the Great War. He hoped that, with the help of the Japanese, he could drive the UK out of the war if the U-boats were unlimited in the Atlantic. This would also force the Soviets to quit. Both Japan and Germany needed to win in 1942 or not at all.

[@watching99134]

Yes although I think defeating the Soviets was to be more or less simultaneous with winning the Battle of the Atlantic (which would deprive the U.S. of a base from which to project its strength into Europe if it chose to fight Germany more or less alone).

[@mrd7067]

Framing is everything. It`s always very interesting what german historians who work or worked in the UK for the UK goverment say and also what they tend not to touch Lets not foreget that the UK has destroyed classified archives from that time which had to be opened to the public in defiance to their own laws: So it had nothing to do with the fact that the US was already in the war, although somewhat covertly? Let`s just forget about asia for this (although the US was involved there too before Pearl Harbour). The US provided personal and material to the enemies or the axis even before that. Here are a few points in chronological order (be aware some were mentioned): July 1940, William J . Donovan (who then became the head of the forerunner of the OSS and then the OSS) was send to the UK and then established things. Destroyers for Bases Agreement aka „Destroyer Deal“ (not to forget the Tyler Kent affair before that, it included Joseph Kennedy, the father of John F. Kennedy, part of it was opened to the public as part of the Watergate affair, part of it was classified until atleast 2015 [i don`t know if they have been declassified yet]) September 2, 1940 Lend-Lease Act March 11, 1941 Operation Barbarossa June 22, 1941 The destroyer USS Niblack attacked a German U-boat: the U-52 April 10, 1941 Greer Incident (aggression by the US, although it`s mostly framed differently by only mentioning a part of the story) September 4, 1941 The order for US ships to shoot at german and italian ships outside of US territorial waters September 9, 1941 USCGC Northland destroyed a German weather station in northeast Greenland. September 14, 1941 Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 Presidential Proclamation No. 2526 (Alien Enemies--German) December 8, 1941 German declaration of war against the United States December 11, 1941

[@thebigm7558]

I always appreciate a sober view on the Second World War.

[@marcoflumino]

Thank you for clearing out that period, when I was in uni we had no info about those insides of the german command and hittler himself. we always learn that it was mostly the pact with japan that was the fulcrum of the reason to declare war to the usa.

[@Jesusandbible]

One of the biggest military blunders of all time.

[@poetcomic1]

Young soldiers in Rommel's beaten Desert Corps became U.S. POW's and crossed America from New York to places like Kansas and saw immense industrial cities and sprawling farmlands and knew at once they were on the losing side.

[@FelipeSilva-tu8tc]

Nice video …

[@timothyodering6299]

A very thought provoking episode. History turns on a dime at critical moments, in seems. I very much like this, 'behind the scenes' view. I imagine that ordinary soldiers would hardly envisage the complexity of decisions at the top. This begs the question 'how did Hitler, an ordinary soldier, become this (arguably) brilliant stratigraphic mastermind? Could any thoughtful soldier with appropriate support fill this role. And what part did his WW1 field experience play in his decisions and strategys in WW2?

[@WalterBurton]

1: Egomania. 2: Doesn't require being "thoughtful" (this implies an unnecessary amount of moral rumination); only requires intelligence. And, well, see #1. 3: Who gives a shit?

[@timothyodering6299]

Millions of German people gave their lives to support him. Millions more people fought to supress him. He was a man from nowhere with no past and no prospects at the end of WW1. How did this MONSTER get created? Did the Devil do it? Did God ? It is SUCH a strange, unlikely story. But listen... Mr canon fodder speaks.... 'who gives a shit?', says he To ignore the failings of the past is to repeat those failures. So YOU kind sir, should give a shit.

[@WalterBurton]

@@timothyodering6299 : You give humans far too much credit. The evidence suggests that they're easily led into catastrophe. Charisma and intelligence is all that's required to separate a man from men. No wisdom, no particularly special attributes. No, no. Your romanticism blinds you to reality. Most of these pompous windbags contribute nothing to society. Many of them steal from society. And many of them make wars in service of their ego. Check your infatuation with Hitler---because that's exactly what it is, infatuation. Regardless of what you think of the "Great Man" theory of history, there's literally no evidence to suggest that Hitler was great in any measure excepting opportunity. He was a charlatan. He contributed nothing positive to civilization.

[@robdgaming]

Thank you very much for presenting the extensive research on the German perspective for this decision. On a related note, in Churchill's postwar memoirs he states that the "Germany first" policy was agreed with FDR prior to Pearl Harbor. He also recalls going to bed happy on hearing that Pearl Harbor had got the US into the war. And waking up disappointed that HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk off Malaysia hours later. So I wonder why the US didn't declare war on Germany immediately. And I've always thought the US would've got round to it fairly soon. Or is Churchill's memoir now discredited?

[@Fronzel41]

Congress had yet to completely abdicate its responsibility to determine when the USA goes to war.

[@watching99134]

The U.S. (English-speaking countries in general in my opinion) have a cultural predilection for always trying to let the other guy fire the first shot in order to look like they were merely forced into fighting (references to Lusitania/Zimmermann Telegramm, resupplying Fort Sumter, fake news at Tonkin Gulf, fake news when Maine blew up in Cuba, WMDs in Iraq, Brits using excuse of Belgian and then Polish neutrality, etc. [Hitler emulated at Gleiwitz of course].)

[@tancreddehauteville764]

The US could not declare was on Germany because there wasn't support for this in Congress. Roosevelt needed congressional approval to declare war, but Hitler saved him the trouble.

[@stuartdollar9912]

It would have been a harder sell for the US to declare war on Germany and Italy. The US might have shed isolationism (or had it bombed out of them), but there was a very big push within the US to go after Japan alone, or failing that, to go after Japan first. Roosevelt was on board with Germany First. The Chiefs of the Army (Marshall) and Navy (King) were much harder sells, and weren't exactly pleased with Roosevelt's Germany First Agreement.

[@mycaleb8]

One should take EVERYTHING Churchill has ever said with a mountain of salt.

[@blackzero786]

Pretty sure he was angry that Disney get Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs out on time.

[@michaelmace9257]

Hitler specifically mentioned the sinking of the German freighter Rhine,which had been shadowed by U.S. destroyers in 1940 as it left a Mexican port and tried to make a run for Germany.The U.S. destroyers made contact with a Dutch warship which then closed in and engaged the German freighter,which caused the crew to set the ship on fire.The crew was rescued by the Dutch ship and the U.S. ships returned to port.

[@jakobc.2558]

Very good video. Learning about why Hitler liked the U.S. before the war realy is something oftain not talked about, yet it is an important topic and it even helps to understand current U.S. politics.

[@Maysens]

Of course he did not hate the US and not even the UK. The so called "racist legislation" which the Herr Professor talked about was likely the restricted immigration act of the 20s. Hilarious.

[@watching99134]

You mean we're supplying someone right now in a war but acting like we're neutral lol?

[@Rob774]

@@watching99134 We never said we were neutral in Ukraine. Stop making stuff up.

[@RedRabbitEntertainment]

@@watching99134 No we're not. Our country is firmly and openly against the invasion. We're not being secret about our funding of Ukraine.

[@stevenmark4407]

@@watching99134 the US isn’t neutral. Their president has stated multiple times they are supporting Ukraine and not Russia. Are you not paying attention to international news? Edit: Just realized you’re American. Which makes your comment even dumber.

[@TheRealPrecaseptica]

Essentially, the argument for considering what the rational, strategical basis for a decision was before considering it insane wins again.

[@BlackMasterRoshi]

the story of a man who came to truly know how bad things really are

[@Jairion]

The automatic subtitles translated Roosevelt as rulesworld...

[@airplayn]

He named his private train "Amerika"

[@Khajithief]

Is this over british long term happiness ideologies?

[@nyarlathotep616]

Interesting guy. I could listen to him talk for quite awhile I'm sure.

[@avengefulbadger7565]

Hello mr. Kant, are you thinking about releasing a video on the recent police raids in Germany? Your view would be super interesting!

[@vampolascott36]

I saw the title of your video and I said yes, that is a good question! The historical consensus is that Hitler didn't give much thought to the consequences when he declared war on the US.

[@jtgd]

2:37 heh, was the first thing I thought

[@smubro]

Some (maybe unwanted) feedback: I really like your in-depth approach and visual style, but I think your audio quality is something that really holds back your production quality. It somewhat diminishes the seriousness of the topics and gives it a low effort and cheap vibe. The biggest points are definitely the audio quality itself: the sound is very thin and has a lot of reverb. This is especially apparent in contrast to the parts of Dr. Schmieder. Second major point is the very thick accent, I get that with a lot of ww1&2 topics that may be a feature, but I find myself cringing to listen, even though I'm interested in the video. Maybe experiment with getting a narrator. Just my opinion, I love your content and just want you help improve. Keep up the good work.

[@xxxlonewolf49]

Wait wait wait....Dr Claw?

[@BnB810]

all sounds like a movie...hmmm who were the writers?

[@AFGuidesHD]

The real history is very fascinating "Hitler was torn between war and an off ramp". Could he have chosen war due to all his previous off-ramps being rejected by the British ? It would have been quite interesting and also damaging for Germany, if they tried to offer an off-ramp with the Anglo-Americans just as Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Though as it turned out, it actually wouldn't have mattered. The German-Japanese alliance didn't seem to do all that much.

[@jackylynn]

Anglo American stock 💪 💪💪😎

[@AFGuidesHD]

@@Reiman33 "Winston Churchill was not going to negotiate with the Germans. Period. The end." Which is likely why Hitler veered towards war instead of making yet another peace offer.

[@robdgaming]

Not that I've studied it in detail, but from what I've read the Japanese consensus for war 1937-41 was usually anything but brittle. They kept attacking further and further south in East Asia until FDR put together the US-Anglo-Dutch oil embargo over China. And then they attacked virtually all of Southeast Asia simultaneously. It appears Hitler had quite a different view of this in early December 1941; perhaps he'd heard of the various widely separated places that were attacked on 7-8 December and assumed the Japanese had overextended themselves, thus would need at least moral support from Germany.

[@fips711]

What consensus? The Japanese government didn't even decide to go to war with China, some local military hotheads first took over Manchuria and later invaded them, with the government just having to go along with it, lest they risk being outright murdered. They wouldn't have dared taking over European colonies if the latter they hadn't been busy with war in Europe. And until the American oil embargo the Japanese army was more interested in revanche against the Russians. Absolutely erratic, particularly to anyone dealing with them diplomatically since the foreign ministry didn't know what the army would do next.

[@robdgaming]

@@fips711 I'm interpreting "consensus" as you described the situation, the army does what it wants and the gov has to go along. The army kept attacking into more and more territory; Mongolia was their only setback. And it was the army that moved into southern Indochina, finally provoking the American economic response. No lack of motivation for war on the Japanese army's part. You mentioned something I missed, that maybe Hitler was hearing a lack of commitment from Japanese diplomats, who of course didn't represent the erratic military officers who were de facto in charge.

[@TheGrandslam89]

​@Fips One does not randomly happenstance into invading all of Southeast Asia without prior aspirations and political will behind it even in those first few tentative steps.

[@jackieking1522]

Wow...that was quite some production. Thank you and thank goodness those Siberian divisions didn't counterattack a couple of weeks sooner.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Piper44LMF]

Something that many of us need to consider is the geopolitics. Its not just the local politics, economies, military machines, doctrines, battles and so on. I have found that over 48 years of reading mostly of the era between 1918 to 1945 their is a lot of missing information coming to light that was all happening simultaneously across the globe. Each perspective whether leaders, groups etc. is often viewed through a narrow lens due to their beliefs, political structure or group view. This presentation confirmed what I thought was always the case when it came to Hitler's miscalculation to declare war on America. Yet even when knowing what the eventual end result was going to be he still did it. Thank you MHV for having this presentation I will add Dr Schmider's book to my long list of books to read.

[@ahlussunnahacademia8813]

Quite convincing

[@pierren___]

Is it true that Amenrican boats were allowed to shot at axis members around 1936~ ?

[@richardcutts196]

Lend lease cut a couple of years off the time needed for the US to ramp up it's war production.

[@salt27dogg]

Hitler’s Lebersraum was similar to our Manifest Destiny in terms of living space . Now as far as racial purity, he looked at us as decadent .

[@stoggafllik]

Hitler praised the United States and it's racial eugenics structure before the war

[@nightshade4186]

The USA wanted to enter the war anyway on UK's side. "Democracy" is an ideology of its own, 2 week after France fell, the US government ordered a dozen Aircraft carriers. So they prepared already, just needed some time and later an excuse to enter war. Excuse wasn't necessary as Japan attacked and Hitler declared war after.

[@MarkHarrison733]

He never declared war.

[@JamesRichards-mj9kw]

The US was already at war.

[@rjsuvakjr]

I saw "Why did Hitler attack the USA?" and my first thought was "he didn't. He declared war on us because he was allied with Japan."

[@jamessullivan4391]

You best try again and this time, don't be so obtuse.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

The treaty didn't require a declaration of war from Germany. It was essentially defensive in nature, the signing powers were required to go to war on behalf of each other if another power initiatized war against them. Since Japan had attacked the U.S. rather than the other way around, neither Germany or Italy was required to go to war with the United States. It's also why Japan did not declare war on the Soviet Union when Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, aside from their own strategic reasons for staying out, they had no treaty obligation with Germany to join the war.

[@stoggafllik]

​@@jamessullivan4391Are your parents also this dumb?

[@JamesRichards-mj9kw]

@@ahorsewithnoname773 The US was already at war with Germany.

[@shannonkohl68]

Fascinating... But I really doubt the US would have stayed out of the European war. We were doing everything we could to get an excuse to enter it, and it was only a matter of time before that happened. Maybe we would have stayed out had we not been attacked, but once we were fighting any war, I think we would have inevitably joined the whole war. So at worst Hitler sped up our entry in the war by something like half a year or so. Maybe it was a mistake on his part, but not one that likely had a dramatic impact on the war. Then again, had our entry into the European war been delayed, Germany would have still been in the war in August of 45, which would have meant they got nuked instead of Japan.

[@tehice23]

I wouldn't be to sure about that. Ww1 was quite devestating for US populus, moraly, economy was getting on its feet after depression (war helped us economy here, alot)... it is a fact usa was preparing for war (250k total military personel in 1939, 450k in 1940, 1.8m by 1941..), but doing anything to join? Nah man, facts show US was quite pacifistic and isolatistic in the early-mid 1900 with an army smaller then portugals or bulgaria. Totaly different USA from todays USA. Without Japans attack on US home territory and hitlers declaration, direct involvement in eu would come very late, if it would even come. We do know that majority of usa populus and military wanted japan 1st, eu later, meybe later. Germans at the Moscows gates was probably the reason europe got priority in the end. .. one fun fuct, hitler somehow admired usa, especily its racial laws at the time

[@Mr_Bunk]

I think a lot of this can be summed up in a quote of his, stated immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor: “Now we have an ally who has not been defeated in 3000 years!”

[@userequaltoNull]

...except for that time that America beat them so hard they were forced to open up to the world.

[@program4215]

I think I remember hearing that quote or maybe it was a different quote where he says the same thing and more. But it also included something about how Italy always ends up on the winning side. Could you tell me where you got this quote? I have lost it.

[@Mr_Bunk]

@@program4215 It’s from Ian Kershaw’s biography on Hitler, I believe. I first heard it on the real-time documentary channel ‘WW2 in Real Time’ by Timeghost.

[@metarus208]

But Korea had defeated Japan in the invasion of 1592-1598

[@jakehyams8659]

I can't believe the amount of 'experts' in the comments that see a 30 minute video with citations and external sources but still reckon they know best. You might have played World at War but you might not know everything

[@mrgunn2726]

I liked this presentation and it filled in many gaps in my knowledge. However, an area that was not discussed is the US people and Congress' view of war with Germany. The attack on Pearl Harbor had the country and Congress baying for retaliation against Japan. Hitler did not have to declare war on the US, and Roosevelt may not have had the votes or popular support to declare war on Germany if Hitler had expressed sympathy for the US and maintained Germany's neutrality with the US, however tenuous it may actually been. Instead, Germany's declaration of war on the US played right into Churchill and Roosevelt's plan, after all the US pivoted to a Germany first strategy immediately.

[@CrabTastingMan]

This video makes a lot of mistakes and takes on the view that Hitler coerced Japan to do anything or fooled the "innocent" butcher and rapist of 30 million people in Asia in countless undeclared wars to be unaccountable for its war crimes of using biological, chemical, and even attempt nuclear (right up to the end of the war) WMDs not even Germany used in WW2. Japan already cheated UK and US with the naval treaties by increasing its naval tonnage and bombed US ships in Nanjing in 1937 when WW2 was started by attacking China (a nation that would become 1 of 5 members of the permanent security council), then used the classic tactic used in In fact Pearl Harbor in of itself was a rehash of the same tactic used in the Russo-Japanese war. Attack the Russian Crown Prince, then when it fails, feign apology with school girls to hide behind them and insinuate reproach against Japan is to incriminate innocent girls (who are ofc raised on resources exploited off of the backs of other enslaved Asians), bide time, then start an undeclared war against Russia. It was "successful (not, really unable to force Russians to hand them money... which the Allies in WW2 did not do for Japan itself when by all means they should have instead of pumping trillions of Cold War dollars into it as a reward for being an Axis power... just like China would get in the 70s)" but they failed to remember that was only because UK and US kept bailing out the Japanese government multiple times, from total bankruptcy, as part of the Great Game. They didn't realize this would amount to biting the hand that feeds them (and even gave relief funds for the 1923 Earthquake while Japanese civilians were lynching 6,000 Asian foreigners within Japan, blaming the earthquake on them). The Japanese answer to US restricting exports of US Oil and Steel to Japan (and some limitations on some exports like expensive US machinery that drove Japanese industry much like Russians in 2022 realized too late that their industry relies heavily on imported US machinery as well) was to launch more undeclared invasions into Southeast Asia to exploit rubber and oil to fuel their insatiable war machine that 1 billion Asians in 1945 were all too grateful to be rid of when Japan was forced to surrender (not by nukes but by Soviets coming in from the West and like Nazis who butchered ppl in the Eastern Front and fled to the west to avoid life in Soviet gulags, Japan opted to surrender to the West but not the Soviets and have their country split like Germany) "Hitler thought this, Hitler thought that" that doesn't really give an accurate picture of what the Japanese ACTUALLY thought or did. It's like thinking Japan is not a thinking entity itself responsible for its actions but Germany decided everything for them, like someone put a gun to its head and sold 300,000 of Japanese girls overseas to make pimp money to develop Japan (leaders weren't even ashamed of this, praised this as Joshigun, or "Army of Girls") for the glorified Meiji Restoration period alone (samurai as far back as 1500 have been selling girls for Portuguese muskets just like African warlords, and when that wasn't enought started setting overseas brothels to earn war funds), then kidnapped 100s of 1000s of girls all over Asia and gave them 80-man daily rape quotas for soldiers in officially built military sex slave brothels, and executed most of any survivors by the end of the war to hide war crimes, and sent 5-digits of people into kamikazes by plane, boat, submarine, diving suits, etc. and did not care about daily reports of 10s of 1,000s of casualties by the end of the war and was planning Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night, which was to use poison gas manufactured in the WMD production hub in Hiroshima to start bombing America as well... for September of 1945. Any attempt to expose their propaganda of victimhood is met with accusation of racism, of course.

[@azoniarnl3362]

Problem is that US was not neutral towards Germany... shipping tons and tons of equipment and fuel to Britain is not being neutral. If the US truly wanted to stay out of the war they would have acted different. The fact is that US wanted war but had no way to convince the population, a problem the Japanese solved for them.

[@mrgunn2726]

@@azoniarnl3362 Correct the Roosevelt administration viewed Germany as a threat. However, Japan attacking the US did not mean Germany had to declare war on the US. It was a misstep on Hitler's part.

[@azoniarnl3362]

@@mrgunn2726 I see your point but as I said the US was already acting as a war industry for the Allies, on paper they were at peace but in practice they werent. The US was hiding behind neutrality to prevent Germans from sinking their ships, ships that carried war materials.. just listen to full declaration of war and you will see that Germans in their mind were already at war with the US but just not on paper.

[@johnshelton1141]

I have a theory that if the attack on Pearl harbor had been replused, hitler might have delayed declaring war on the US for 6 months to a year.

[@bl.it.z]

Since when did Hitler attack the United States of America…? If I’m not mistaken, that was Japan Thumbnail wrong

[@tancreddehauteville764]

Hitler completely misunderstood the USA. My view is that he already believed the US was in the war given the considerable assistance they were providing to the British and Soviets, so that a declaration of war would change little. He deeply misunderstood that a formal state of war would enable Roosevelt to get the whole American economy into war production, with Germany, not Japan, as the prime enemy. The 11 December 1941 declaration of war on the US was Hitler's biggest mistake by far.

[@304Selene]

Hitler was making plans to take out NYC with rockets. He was toying with plotters & pilot manned rockets. If he succeeded he believed the USA would fold & surrender

[@tancreddehauteville764]

@@304Selene Hitler made a lot of plans, mostly totally unrealistic.

[@BillehBobJoe]

How do you lose 452,000 soldiers? Thats just incomprehensible..

[@daddybaker1586]

Japan and Germany: You see that huge guy over there let's go fuk him up real quick! 😅

[@davidengel8900]

Interesting. But there wasn't enough discussion about the German advantage with the submarines in December 1941 in what is regarded as the Battle of the Atlantic. Hitler was looking to cut off Britain from U.S. supplies. While Hitler probably thought the advantage with the submarines would be permanent, the Allies completely reversed the advantage in May 1943. Hitler also failed to appreciate how much better the United States would be at producing weapons than the Germans and how much better the U.S. would be at developing technology than the Germans.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

This is just speculation since most of the decisions Germany made during the war rested on Hitler's whims & he shot himself without leaving much of a paper trail on why some decisions were made...but he probably did not anticipate the U.S. adopting a Germany first policy in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attacks, likely underestimated the speed at which the U.S. could mobilize or wage a two front war, probably understimated how long it would take to deply U.S. forces in significant numbers to the European theater (the U.S. had much less merchant shipping in WW1, and as a result along with some other factors the process had been much slower), and probably expected that U.S. naval contributions to the Battle of the Atlantic would be minimized by the threat posed by the Japanese navy, which he also expected (which is documented) to win.

[@mop330]

The simple answer: Roosevelt wanted war with Germany long before Pearl Harbor, or even the outbreak of WW2. If Hitler hadn't declared war then Roosevelt would have.

[@stoggafllik]

Some said Roosevelt manufactured pearl harbor exactly like how 9/11 was

[@FelipeJaquez]

So in summary: Overconfidence in the war with the Soviets, paranoia due to new American legislation, and desire to formulate some sort of stable alliance with Japan is what led to the declaration of war after Pearl Harbor. Declaring war against America would of course be quickly recognized as a severe miscalculation only a few months afterwards, however, it does give some insight into the reasoning behind the decision by Hitler who did not have the foresight we do now.

[@MarkHarrison733]

The US was already at war with Germany in 1940, as Admiral King had confirmed at the time.

[@zenster1097]

I heard that the IJA diplomat came to Germany to discuss operation Barbarossa. Hitler wants Japan's aid. However, due to the IJA decline in power and the IJN coming to power, it won and decided to go the naval route that the land route to secure resources.

[@AMeanDude]

Is there any further elaboration on why and how Tokyo was so eratic in it's foreign policy and how this manifested itself? I would love to know more about this but don't know where to look.

[@SlinkyTWF]

It wasn't erratic. It was all pursuant to the junta's desire to control East Asia. c.f. "The Origins of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific" -- Akira Iriye (1987)

[@AMeanDude]

@@SlinkyTWF I'll have a look into it. I mean I know the whole "land vs navy" rivalry the country had and how it changed to a doctrine that is more navy focused after the defeat of Kalking Gol and all that, but I'm not sure if that is what he is referring to.

[@andrei19238]

military often acted autonomonously from the gov

[@Jedsa009]

The main issue was that no one in the Japanese higher echelons had a final say in dictating policies. For the United States, the president made a final decision. Japan’s political system, however, was in an awful mess. Both army and navy had their seats in the cabinet. Furthermore, they technically answered directly to the emperor, not the prime minister. A bunch of extremist groups also fuel political turmoil. The assassination of members of opposition parties occurred so often that Admiral Yamamoto felt safer when he was at sea rather than on land.

[@ahorsewithnoname773]

Japan often functioned as an army with a government, rather than a government with an army. Foreign policy was not infrequently dictacted not by Tokyo but by the schemes of mid-level officers in the field, without prior approval of their government or even higher command. The war in China essentially came about that way as did the fighting at Khalkin Gol. War with the United States & Britain was a bit of an exception in that it had originated with Tokyo.

[@bobthompson4133]

FYI Germany didn’t invade Poland alone. Stalin invaded at the same time and split Poland. Why was war only declared on Germany?

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

> FYI Germany didn’t invade Poland alone. yeah, man, tell me about it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqLMeZ13g7-EjsU

[@bobthompson4133]

@@MilitaryHistoryVisualized not mention Hitlers direct order stopping the annihilation of the BEF at Dunkirk and an offer of peace with England if they left the war. Hess’ flight with peace offers. Guards were forbidden to talk with Hess in Spandau prison. English and American men died for nothing.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

> not mention Hitlers direct order stopping the annihilation of the BEF at Dunkirk that is utter hogwash, I looked at this claim and the data does not support it all: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWq7oKeXiLhsirs > an offer of peace with England if they left the war. that is mostly correct.

[@bobthompson4133]

@@MilitaryHistoryVisualized read original sources not the textbooks with a narrative used today. I read many interesting papers in the imperial war museum and the smithsonian plus the library of Congress. But I’m sure your European mindset won’t allow such thinking. Don’t forget to schedule the next booster. Bwahahaha

[@bobthompson4133]

@@MilitaryHistoryVisualized the Dunkirk situation was confirmed by a Wehrmacht junior officer in Rommels command. Rommel was not happy and knew it would be a mistake not destroying the British professional army.