Analysis: German Declaration of War with the United States
The German declaration of war against the United States on December 11, 1941, marked a significant escalation in World War II, occurring just days after the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan and the U.S. declaration of war against Japan. This declaration was influenced by the Tripartite Pact, which bound Germany to support Japan in times of conflict, although it did not mandate an offensive action. Adolf Hitler's decision was driven by his belief that Japan could quickly incapacitate the U.S. and subsequently assist him in the ongoing war against the Soviet Union, where German forces were struggling. Additionally, Hitler held a personal animosity toward U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt due to perceived betrayal of neutrality and support for the Allies.
On the day of the declaration, German diplomats delivered a note to the U.S. State Department, accusing the U.S. of aggression and framing their declaration as a response to American military actions against German vessels. Hitler's subsequent speech to the Reichstag further outlined his rationale for the war. The immediate effect of this declaration was the swift mobilization of American military efforts toward defeating Germany, as the U.S. responded with its own declaration of war just hours later. This pivotal moment shifted the dynamics of the war and solidified alliances against the Axis powers, deeply impacting the course of the conflict in Europe.
Analysis: German Declaration of War with the United States
Date: December 11, 1941
Author: Joachim von Ribbentrop
Genre: letter
Summary Overview
On December 11, four days after the attack by the Japanese on US naval installations at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and three days after the United States declared war on Japan, Adolf Hitler declared war on the United States. Though he was bound by the terms of the Tripartite Pact of 1940 to defend Japan if the country was attacked, Hitler was not obligated to join in an attack. He believed, however, that Japan would reward his loyalty by coming to his aid in the Soviet Union, where the German army was hopelessly bogged down outside of Moscow. He also had a deep abiding hatred for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had provided material support to Great Britain and the Soviet Union against Germany while remaining nominally neutral. In addition, the US Navy hunted down and destroyed German U-boats that had attacked US ships providing support to the Allies. Hitler believed that Japan could cripple the United States fairly quickly and then together they would destroy Russia. This declaration of war turned the focus of American military attention to the defeat of Germany and gave Great Britain a much-needed ally in its fight against Germany.
Defining Moment
On December 7, 1941, shortly before 8 a.m., the naval base at Pearl Harbor was attacked by 353 Japanese fighter planes, launched by six aircraft carriers, and supported by submarines. The attack damaged twenty US ships including eight battleships, of which two were destroyed. Airfields were bombed and strafed simultaneously to prevent counterattack; 188 planes were destroyed and an additional 159 damaged. The entire attack lasted just under two hours, but the United States lost 2,403 personnel, including 68 civilians. The United States declared war on Japan the following day in a joint session of Congress.
Germany had been allied with Japan since 1936 with the Anti-Comintern Pact, which agreed on common defense against Communist governments. Japanese-German relations soured with the 1939 nonaggression agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany. In September 1940, however, Italy, Germany, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact—an agreement stating that Italy and Germany would divide Europe and Japan would control Asia after the war, and all three would come to each other's aid if attacked. Hitler's top diplomat, Joachim von Ribbentrop, had negotiated all three of these agreements. Though Japan and Germany had discussed a preemptive attack on the United States, Germany was given no warning of the attack on Pearl Harbor and was under no treaty obligation to declare war. Hitler and Roosevelt both believed that war between their nations was inevitable, but both were cautious about entangling themselves in further military obligations. Hitler had become convinced, however, that with Allied resources now diverted to Asia, he would be able to press a military advantage in Europe. He also had a personal vendetta against Roosevelt, whom he believed was being influenced by Communists and Jews. Moreover, he viewed Roosevelt's support of the Allies while concomitantly preaching neutrality as the height of duplicity. Hitler believed both that it would embarrass Roosevelt if Germany declared war first and that the United States would take a long time to mobilize. He was wrong on both counts. Germany's declaration of war perfectly suited Roosevelt's portrayal of an innocent nation roused to war against its will, but determined to defend itself, and an unprecedented mobilization effort began immediately.
On the morning of December 11, 1941, a note was delivered to the American chargé d'affaires in Berlin declaring war on the United States and blaming US aggression. Because of the time difference, the note that was delivered in the United States was subsequent to the declaration in Germany, but was also delivered in the morning. The German chargé d'affaires, Hans Thomsen, and the first secretary of the German embassy, Von Strempel, delivered the note declaring war to Ray Atherton, chief of the European division of the US State Department.
Also on the afternoon of December 11, Hitler addressed the Nazi party faithful in the Reichstag, the parliament of the Nazi government. He laid out his own version of the war to that point, and railed against Roosevelt, whom he blamed for the entire war. Just hours after the delivery of the declaration to the State Department, at 3:05 p.m. EST, the United States in turn declared war on Germany, and then on Italy a minute later.
Author Biography
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was born in Wesel, Germany, on April 30, 1893. He was educated in schools in Germany and Switzerland, and he traveled in Europe and North America with his family, who eventually settled in Canada. In 1914, Ribbentrop left Canada to join World War I on the German side. He served on both the eastern and western fronts and was later stationed in Turkey. In 1920, Ribbentrop married Anna Elisabeth Henkell, with whom he had five children.
Ribbentrop met Hitler in 1932, and became quickly involved in the Nazi party in its early years. In the 1930s, however, he became one of Hitler's most trusted and most radical foreign policy advisors, in part because Hitler did not trust career diplomats, and in part because of Ribbentrop's unfailing support of Hitler's ideas. In 1936, Ribbentrop was appointed ambassador to Great Britain, a position that he held for two years until his appointment in 1938 as Germany's minister of foreign affairs. He negotiated the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of August 23, 1939, which laid the foundation for the invasion of Poland that began World War II. During the war, Ribbentrop was primarily a mouthpiece for Hitler. He was arrested by the Allies in June 1945, and though he denied knowledge of Nazi concentration camps and mass murder, he was tried at the Nuremberg Trials and found guilty. He was executed on October 16, 1946.
Document Analysis
This selection begins with a description of the delivery of the declaration of war to the State Department. The delivery of this note was monumental and meticulously recorded, as anything said or done during this meeting took on grave importance. “The German Charge d'Affaires, Dr. Hans Thomsen, and the First Secretary of the German Embassy, Mr. von Strempel, called at the State Department at 8:00 A.M. on December 11, 1941.” They were received an hour and a half later, and delivered a copy of the note that was also given to the US representative in Germany. Thomsen quickly turned his attention to the safety of himself and his staff, reminding the State Department that they, too, had personnel that they would like returned home safely. The receipt of the note required a statement to the effect that the German declaration of war was only the most recent development in a long series of German threats to democracy and freedom. The German contingent—assured that they would be given their passports, but warned that their return home would likely take some time, and would depend on the reciprocal return of American diplomats—left the State Department.
The text of the declaration was not a surprise. It accused the United States of repeatedly violating its neutrality and acting against Germany, until it finally engaged in “open military acts of aggression.” It listed three ships, the Greer, the Kearney, and the Reuben James, as engaging in hostile military actions against Germany, though the United States claimed in all three cases the ships had been fired upon by German submarines before returning fire. The so-called shoot-on-sight order was issued by the US Navy in response to what they saw as unprovoked attacks on US vessels. The declaration claimed that Germany was the aggrieved party, and that the nation “has strictly adhered to the rules of international law in her relations with the United States during every period of the present war,” a claim which the United States certainly disputed. Germany claimed that the United States had created “a state of war” and that this declaration was simply a formalization of existing hostilities.
Bibliography and Additional Reading
Beevor, Antony. The Second World War. New York: Little, 2012. Digital file.
Bloch, Michael. Ribbentrop. London: Abacus, 1994. Print.
Weitz, John. Hitler's Diplomat: The Life and Times of Joachim von Ribbentrop. Boston: Houghton, 1992. Print.