Comments by "John Burns" (@johnburns4017) on "Why did Hitler declare War on the USA?" video.

  1. The Turning point of WW2 was the Battle of Moscow in Dec 1941. That was when Germany and Japan were doomed. ♦ Japan thought Germany would definitely win defeating the USSR soon after. The German defeat at Moscow would ensure Germany would not defeat the USSR. ♦ The Japanese entered WW2 on a presumption they would be linking up with Germany. It transpired they were alone fighting two massive powers with a third pinning their forces down and eventually fighting all three. Not at all what they wanted. ♦ Germany needed the Japanese to fight the British to keep them away from him as they were building up a massive air fleet to attack him. ♦ Germany needed US production, primarily aircraft, diverted away Germany. Japan would not attack the British empire, Dutch empire and the US unless Germany declared war on the USA. If Germany said no to declaring war on the USA, Japan would never have attacked and there would be no Pacific war. The two theatres were linked. Japan did not want to face alone the USA and the British empire. the worst case scenario. And that is what happened. The Germans attempted to get the Japanese to attack the British in the Far East to divert the British away from Europe. The UK was amassing a large air fleet and also had the world's largest navy. They would not sit by for long only fighting in the desert. The reason Germany attacked the USSR was to get their resources to fight the coming air war with the British. The Japanese repeatedly refused to declare war. Only when the Japanese thought the USSR was about to fall they joined in. The USSR kept 40 divisions opposite the Japanese Kwantung army all though WW2. With superior armour to the Japanese. Japan received assurances from Germany in the Spring of 1941. that they would declare war on the USA. Japan, economically could not sustain war of any length of time against any major power by itself, either the UK or the USA. Especially a war strung over a vast front. They imported most raw materials with their industry primarily artisan based, with little mass production. If going it alone, what the hell attacking the USA and British Empire was to achieve with no back up occupation force at Pearl Harbor defies belief. The Pearl Harbor attack was to fend off the US navy while they gain as much resource rich territory as possible in the south while the USSR threat is moved away from their north in China by the Germans. To Japan the key was the defeat of the USSR, which by Oct/Nov 1941 they thought was a foregone conclusion. All through WW2 the Soviets had approx 40 divisions (most armoured) in Siberia and the Soviet Far East facing the Japanese. Without Germany fighting the USSR anticipating a quick German win, the Japanese would never had attacked the USA and the British Empire. It was madness to do so unilaterally and would entail certain defeat - even the Japanese knew that. The Japanese were to eliminate the US Pacific fleet. The US Atlantic fleet would be occupied by the German U-Boats. The carriers got away at Pearl Harbor. If the carriers were sunk, the Japanese would not have been on the defensive by June 1942, giving them far more breathing space and lots more with the anticipated defeat of the USSR within months by the Germans. If the US carriers were sunk along with the US Pacific fleet, and the USSR defeated by summer 1942 by the Germans, Japan would be in very strong position. The Japanese gained far more territory than they gambled on. They were one day away in Singapore from surrendering, but the British beat them to the white flag. They were expecting more protracted battles in Malaya/Burma and even maybe in the Philippines. Using some common sense tells you the Japanese were not banking on being alone fighting the world's two largest economic powers. They were expecting at least the USSR to be neutralised or eliminated. And then some military aid from the Germans would be nice if it came. The link was enacted with 41 U-Boats operating from Penang. The Germans then would engage the British diverting them away from fighting the Japanese in Burma. Getting rid of the British and the Soviets was a major prize for Japan, and Germany could do the latter and both they thought the former. So was the notion. Wages of Destruction by Prof Adam Tooze in quotes: • The tripartite pact was signed in Sept 1940. If one is attacked the others come to their aid. • "The real nightmare of German strategy was the possibility that Japan might come to terms with the United States, leaving Germany to fight Britain and maybe America alone. To forestall this possibility, Hitler had offered to declare war on the United States in conjunction with Japan already in the Spring of 1941." • Germany had offered to declare war on the US before the June 1941 attack on the USSR. • "But the Japanese had refused to commit themselves and instead entered into a last round of negotiations with the USA." • "It was not until October and the fall of the Konoe government that Berlin could feel sure that the Japanese-USA talks were going nowhere." • "When in November 1941 Tokyo began to signal that Japan was about to commit itself against the West, it was the cause of relief, bordering on euphoria in Berlin. Finally Hitler and Ribbentrop had the chance to complete the global strategic alliance they had been hoping for since 1938. And they did not hesitate." • The Germans immediately started to revise the Tripartite pact, knowing of the Japanese commitment to war, at the German's insistence. • "Without prior knowledge of the Japanese timetable for a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hitler pledged himself to following Japan in a declaration of war on the United States." • 7 Dec 1941, Japanese attack the USA at Pearl Harbor and British territories in Malaya and Hong Kong. • The amended Tripartite pact was signed by all, between the 7 Dec 1941, the attacks on the USA and British Empire, and Germany declaring war on the USA on 11 Dec 1941. • 11 Dec 1941 Germany declares war on the USA. Wages of Destruction is clear that the Germans were informed by the Japanese in November 1941 that they were to declare war. The attacks on the US and British Empire was no surprise to Hitler. He never knew the date or where. Wages of Destruction also states that Germany was repeatedly attempting to get Japan to declare war on the British empire to get them away from him. The Japanese knew exactly what the Germans wanted and what they would do. It all fits. As it turned out: ♦ The USSR was not defeated and maintained a large army opposite the Japanese - the Japanese had already been mauled by the Soviets in Manchuria in 1939. ♦ Japan was facing the worst case scenario, the scenario it feared - fighting alone against the British empire and USA, the world's two largest economic superpowers. ♦ This was not in the forecasting. The German army defeated militarily superior France within weeks and since June 1941 were mauling the USSR so badly it was obvious to the Japanese in late 1941 the USSR would be defeated. ♦ The week in which the Japanese attacked the USA and British Empire, the Soviets counter attacked at Moscow with a battering ram of superior T-34 tanks pushing the Germans back taking 30,000 prisoners, so ending any chance of Germany defeating the USSR in one swoop. A protracted war against the USSR would ensue. ♦ In Spring 1941, the Germans feared fighting the USA & the British alone - a worst case scenario for them. They were desperately worse off, fighting the British, USA and the USSR alone. ♦ If the Soviet counter attack had been one month earlier the Japanese would not have attacked the British and the USA - and most probably signed a pact with the USA which was in ongoing talks virtually to the attack on the British, Dutch and Americans.
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  2. The RAF was defeating the Luftwaffe with the Royal Navy vastly superior to anything the Germans and Italians combined could put to sea. The British were able to out-produce the Germans in aircraft even prior to the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Although Germany had access to the industrial plant of Northern Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands they were not able to use it to match either the Soviets or the British in war production. Ironically, the 1940 conquests only burdened the German war economy since Western Europe was a net importer of food (animal & human), and raw materials burdening Germany to support them - the Royal Navy blockade was effective. French aircraft production aimed for Germany was minuscule. France had access to manufacturing plant and supplies of bauxite however was not able to produce as it imported coal from Britain for its electricity production. With the RN blockade the main source of coal for France became Germany. However Germany was not able to increase its production sufficiently to overcome the short fall. The amount of food produced in Europe fell. Previously the production of meat and dairy products in countries such as Denmark had been dependant on the import of grain and animal feed from the Americas. That was not available and the amount of food available for the dairy industry collapsed as did food production. In the rest of Europe food production had been based on the widespread use of chemical fertilizer. Apart from the issues of the RN blockade huge amounts of the chemicals used for fertilizer production was diverted to the making of explosives affecting agriculture. On January 10th, 1942 the Italians informed the Germans that their navy’s supplies of fuel had dropped to 90,000 tons. During these months, the bottom was hit with reserves down to 14,000 tons. The Italian navy at no time had enough fuel to perform all operations they wanted. French workers were moved on to subsistence rations and as the country had been dependant on motorized transportation. Most of France's oil imports came from abroad. Agricultural produce could not be distributed because of no fuel, and vehicles taken by the Germans, with milk being literally being poured away. In Germany on the outbreak of war the only available oil products came from Romania or from synthetic oil made in Germany. This was barely enough for the needs of the German armed forces and not enough to keep the Italian Navy operational. France reverted to a pre-petroleum transport economy. This economic background partially influenced Hitler's decision to invade the USSR. The USSR had the natural resources, including vital oil, that would enable European industry to out-produce Britain and America and face the coming air war with Britain. The two of them could only really get at each other in a big way by air. Roosevelt in May 1940 stated the US would build 50,000 planes a year - they built over 90,000 in 1944 alone. Hitler knew the lead time was approximately 18 months for a plane and that these planes, plus British production, which was greater than Germany's, would be coming his way. The British empire would not talk peace and would not sit back with Hitler knowing that. He had to be prepared with an equal air force. Even as German forces moved into the USSR in June 1941, German industry was moving over from army production to Luftwaffe production in preparation. Had Hitler won against Stalin, he would have gained unrestricted access to resources he needed to fight the British in an air war. The conquest of the Soviets was a key step in Hitler's strategy and not irrational. However the Soviets were able stand up to an invasion and better able to marshal their resources outlasting the Germans. The USSR in 1942 out-produced the USA in arms. Germany had 2.5 times the per capita GDP of the USSR. Invading the USSR was critical because Western European industry was dependent upon exports, with the RN blockade cutting them off.
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