Video: '11th December 1941: Nazi Germany declares war on the USA'
(Thursday, December 11, 1941, 2:18 p.m. in Berlin/7:18 a.m. in Washington; during World War II) — Four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and three days after the United States declaration of war against the Japanese Empire, Nazi Germany and her Axis partner, Italy, declared war on the U.S. today.
Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop made the formal declaration on behalf of Germany in a note handed to American Chargé d’Affaires Leland B. Morris, the highest ranking American diplomat in Germany, in Berlin.
Germany and Italy, Adolf Hitler told the Reichstag (in a speech that began at 3:00 p.m. in Berlin/8:00 a.m. in Washington), are honoring their obligations under the tri-power military alliance and coming to the aid of Japan “in the struggle forced upon her.”
Germany, Hitler assured his audience, has the power and foresight to take all necessary measures for the world conflict.
“We will always strike first,” Hitler said. “We will always deal the first blow.”
Video: 'Hitler's declaration of war on the USA'
15 minutes earlier at 2:45 p.m., Italian Premier Benito Mussolini appeared on the balcony of Venice Palace in Rome and announced to the throngs in the square below that the Axis partners have gone to war against the United States.
Although America had remained a neutral country for the first two years of the Second World War, the government under President Roosevelt developed a close relationship with Britain. This strained Germany’s own relationship with the USA, especially as the Navy had begun protecting merchant vessels bound for Britain by attacking German U-Boats in the Atlantic.
A week before the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, the Japanese ambassador had met with Ribbentrop to secure a German commitment to war against the USA. Although the Tripartite Pact only required German support if Japan itself was attacked, Hitler reportedly dismissed his minister’s concerns as he felt it was important to swiftly declare war on America.
Later that day, the U.S. declared war on Germany, with Germany’s action having eliminated any remaining meaningful domestic isolationist opposition to the U.S. joining the European war.
