A quick summary. Why did Hitler declare war on the United States three days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor? Because he hoped the Japanese would return the favor by declaring war on the Soviet Union. It didn't happen.
Hitler had blundered, true, but he knew that Russian and Japanese forces faced each other on Russia's eastern border. The two nations had been adversarial since the Japanese had defeated the Russian navy in 1904. It seems like a long time ago but it was only about 35 years, about as far back for the Russians and Japanese as the Vietnam war is to us.
President Roosevelt had done all he could to help Churchill and the Brits but even in 1940 about 80% of Americans opposed entry into the war in Europe. The assistance of the USA to England was an irritant and a provocation for Germany, so Hitler wasn't particularly disposed to avoid war with America anyway. He saw the US as "a nation of gangsters," an image probably gleaned from viewing movies of the 1930s like "Public Enemy."
At any rate it was a mistake in more ways than one. He'd grossly underestimate the industrial power of the United States, a mistake that Japan hadn't made, at least not Admiral Yamamoto, who had played poker with the boys at Harvard and knew what was up. Hitler also was disappointed that the Japanese had not declared war on the Soviet Union. Japan's failure to do so released all the Russian troops at the border, promptly deployed against the Nazis.
Hitler had blundered, true, but he knew that Russian and Japanese forces faced each other on Russia's eastern border. The two nations had been adversarial since the Japanese had defeated the Russian navy in 1904. It seems like a long time ago but it was only about 35 years, about as far back for the Russians and Japanese as the Vietnam war is to us.
President Roosevelt had done all he could to help Churchill and the Brits but even in 1940 about 80% of Americans opposed entry into the war in Europe. The assistance of the USA to England was an irritant and a provocation for Germany, so Hitler wasn't particularly disposed to avoid war with America anyway. He saw the US as "a nation of gangsters," an image probably gleaned from viewing movies of the 1930s like "Public Enemy."
At any rate it was a mistake in more ways than one. He'd grossly underestimate the industrial power of the United States, a mistake that Japan hadn't made, at least not Admiral Yamamoto, who had played poker with the boys at Harvard and knew what was up. Hitler also was disappointed that the Japanese had not declared war on the Soviet Union. Japan's failure to do so released all the Russian troops at the border, promptly deployed against the Nazis.
