The German decision to declare war on America after Pearl Harbor wasn’t entirely without strategic reasoning, it’s just that all their considerations turned out to be wrong.
The German decision to declare war on America after Pearl Harbor wasn’t entirely without strategic reasoning, it’s just that all their considerations turned out to be wrong.
It was a calculated move. They were just bad at math
AlterWanabee on
They failed to understand that the US has enough military might to handle war at two different fronts.
Kalraghi on
Germany also expected Imperial Japan to attack and open a second front against USSR. Instead, Japan kept on 1941 non-aggression pact with USSR without fuss, even not touching any lend-lease fleet from US to USSR.
Actually after WW2, Japan accused USSR of war crime for breaching the pact, which nobody took seriously.
Curious-Big8897 on
It wouldn’t have made any difference if they didn’t declare war. FDR had been trying to get involved in the European conflict since it began, as he made clear to Churchill during their correspondence.
YogoshKeks on
Just like so much of history: it seemed like a good idea at the time. Turns out, it wasnt.
EnergyHumble3613 on
I mean Hitler also declared war on America in solidarity with their ally, Japan, with the hope they would declare war on the USSR and split the Red Army up… but they didn’t… because Japan knew from experience that the Red Army could, and would, kick their ass so they stayed out of that fight with the hopes the Soviets would stay out of the fight with America… which they did. Riiiight up until August of ‘45 when their agreement to declare war 90 days after defeating Germany was up.
If they had perhaps General Zhukov would have been tied up dealing with the IJA while Barbarossa rolled on. Might not have made a major difference but it would have done more than nothing from Germany’s POV.
A good meme might be the Anakin and Padme meme with Anakin going “I have attacked Pearl Harbour and declared war on the US and UK!”, Padme, “All right I will declare war on the US too! You are going to declare war on the USSR too, right?” *Anakin silence, worried Padme face*, “Y-you are going to declare war on the USSR, right?!”
DRose23805 on
It failed in large part because they had far too few Uboats and not many of them were really long range boats. Before the war they thought they needed something like 200 plus to effectively blockade England. In fact they had far fewer when the war started. This caused them to lose out when antisubmarine forces were at their weakest.
Then they tended to spread out rather than concentrating on traffic to England, and maybe harassing Russia bound convoys so some escorts would still have to go that way. But if they had forced England out, The Soviets would have lost their supply line.
However, declaring war on the US was a very stupid thing to have done. It was probably inevitable though. After Pearl Harbor, Americans would have been much more willing to declare war on Germany themselves if they kept sinking US merchant ships.
Zardozin on
You miss the fact that they’d agreed to the alliance, in part as a deterrent to America entering the war and to encourage Japan to bedevil the British war machine
8 Comments
It was a calculated move. They were just bad at math
They failed to understand that the US has enough military might to handle war at two different fronts.
Germany also expected Imperial Japan to attack and open a second front against USSR. Instead, Japan kept on 1941 non-aggression pact with USSR without fuss, even not touching any lend-lease fleet from US to USSR.
Actually after WW2, Japan accused USSR of war crime for breaching the pact, which nobody took seriously.
It wouldn’t have made any difference if they didn’t declare war. FDR had been trying to get involved in the European conflict since it began, as he made clear to Churchill during their correspondence.
Just like so much of history: it seemed like a good idea at the time. Turns out, it wasnt.
I mean Hitler also declared war on America in solidarity with their ally, Japan, with the hope they would declare war on the USSR and split the Red Army up… but they didn’t… because Japan knew from experience that the Red Army could, and would, kick their ass so they stayed out of that fight with the hopes the Soviets would stay out of the fight with America… which they did. Riiiight up until August of ‘45 when their agreement to declare war 90 days after defeating Germany was up.
If they had perhaps General Zhukov would have been tied up dealing with the IJA while Barbarossa rolled on. Might not have made a major difference but it would have done more than nothing from Germany’s POV.
A good meme might be the Anakin and Padme meme with Anakin going “I have attacked Pearl Harbour and declared war on the US and UK!”, Padme, “All right I will declare war on the US too! You are going to declare war on the USSR too, right?” *Anakin silence, worried Padme face*, “Y-you are going to declare war on the USSR, right?!”
It failed in large part because they had far too few Uboats and not many of them were really long range boats. Before the war they thought they needed something like 200 plus to effectively blockade England. In fact they had far fewer when the war started. This caused them to lose out when antisubmarine forces were at their weakest.
Then they tended to spread out rather than concentrating on traffic to England, and maybe harassing Russia bound convoys so some escorts would still have to go that way. But if they had forced England out, The Soviets would have lost their supply line.
However, declaring war on the US was a very stupid thing to have done. It was probably inevitable though. After Pearl Harbor, Americans would have been much more willing to declare war on Germany themselves if they kept sinking US merchant ships.
You miss the fact that they’d agreed to the alliance, in part as a deterrent to America entering the war and to encourage Japan to bedevil the British war machine
They just kept their word