How Did The Influence Of Adolf Hitler's Tripartite Pact
At the very moment his troops were being decimated on the outskirts of Moscow in early December 1941, Adolf Hitler's attention was riveted elsewhere. On Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japanese warplanes had attacked the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The next day, responding to the devastating air raid which killed over 2,400 American sailors and wounded another thousand, the United States declared war on Japan.
This had enormous implications for Hitler. By this time, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, along with Fascist Italy, had entered into a strategic agreement known as the Tripartite Pact, pledging to provide mutual military assistance in the event any one of them was attacked by a nation not already involved in the war. The year-old Pact had been crafted mainly to intimidate America and to discourage it from helping Britain.
As an added measure, outside of the formal agreement, Hitler had given a verbal promise to the Japanese Foreign Minister that Germany would join the fight if Japan attacked America. It was a promise that would change history.
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From a racial viewpoint, he gleefully expressed a low opinion of America, describing multiracial United States as a "mongreloid" nation, unlike pure-bred Germany. For that reason alone, Hitler asserted, the fighting ability of the U.S. Army would pale in comparison to superior Germany. He also reasoned it would take years for the U.S. to adequately rearm. By that time, he believed, Nazi Germany would be victorious in Europe, while Japan would triumph in East Asia and the South Pacific by waging its own brand of
This had enormous implications for Hitler. By this time, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, along with Fascist Italy, had entered into a strategic agreement known as the Tripartite Pact, pledging to provide mutual military assistance in the event any one of them was attacked by a nation not already involved in the war. The year-old Pact had been crafted mainly to intimidate America and to discourage it from helping Britain.
As an added measure, outside of the formal agreement, Hitler had given a verbal promise to the Japanese Foreign Minister that Germany would join the fight if Japan attacked America. It was a promise that would change history.
ADVERTISEMENT …show more content…
From a racial viewpoint, he gleefully expressed a low opinion of America, describing multiracial United States as a "mongreloid" nation, unlike pure-bred Germany. For that reason alone, Hitler asserted, the fighting ability of the U.S. Army would pale in comparison to superior Germany. He also reasoned it would take years for the U.S. to adequately rearm. By that time, he believed, Nazi Germany would be victorious in Europe, while Japan would triumph in East Asia and the South Pacific by waging its own brand of