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Japan's attack prompted the U.S. to declare war on Japan. That declaration prompted the other Axis powers to declare war on the U.S. It's plausible in terms of
by bena 5y ago
Japan's attack prompted the U.S. to declare war on Japan. That declaration prompted the other Axis powers to declare war on the U.S.
It's plausible in terms of cause and effect. The "if-this-then-that"s follow pretty well.
However, counting on something like Pearl Harbor is pants on head moronic. Japan shipped the majority of its fleet across the Pacific to hit a single target. If the U.S. was counting on an attack, they probably weren't counting on an attack of that scale. Which is poor planning.
And what happens if the Japanese never attack?
Over time, the U.S. would have entered the war, just like it did with World War I. Eventually, trade would have been hindered or too many U.S. ships would have been incidental casualties. The U.S. consistently thought that being across an ocean on either side protected it from being affected by European/Asian affairs and was consistently proven wrong.
- AnimalMuppet 5y ago> That declaration prompted the other Axis powers to declare war on the U.S. That was Hitler's single biggest error.
- _dw7s 5y agoThat's extremely debatable and a very US-centric point of view. The general consensus is that Hitler's single biggest error was the invasion of the Soviet Union.
- thejohnconway 5y agoAs a primary war aim, I'm not sure you could call the invasion of the Soviet Union a strategic error. The whole war was an error, therefore Hitler's biggest error was the invasion of Poland.
- AnimalMuppet 5y agoI'd place that as his second biggest error. And yet... Stalin was going to attack Hitler eventually, maybe 1942 or 1943. So the pre-emptive attack has it's virtues. Could he have conquered England in time to get be ready for war with Russia when it came? And, could Russia have done as well as they did without US materiel? (I freely acknowledge that Russia did most of the bleeding in World War II. I don't want to minimize that at all. But US materiel was also essential to them.)
- _dw7s 5y agoI agree with what you are saying. But US materiel could have come with or without an actual war declaration. Actually, war was declared by Germany on December 11, 1941, and the USSR was declared eligible for lend-lease aid on November 7, 1941. Declaring war on the US or not, Hitler would have still dealt with (partially) US funded Soviets just because it attacked the USSR in June 22, 1941 so that is not an argument. Of course, it's hard to judge, as aid can (and was) accelerated.