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== German declaration of war ==
On [[December 7]], Japan attacked the [[United States]]' naval bases at [[Pearl Harbor]]. According to the stipulation of the Tripartite Pact, Nazi-Germany was required to come to the defense of her allies '''only''' if they were attacked. Since Japan had made the first move and attacked, Germany was not obliged to aid her. Nevertheless, on [[December 11]], Hitler ordered the ''[[Reichstag (institution)#The Reichstag as the German Parliament|Reichstag]]'' to formally declare war on the United States.
Hitler made speech in [[Reichstag]] on [[December 11]], [[1941]] and made the following speech saying that
<blockquote>''Germany and Italy have been finally compelled, in view of this, and in loyalty to the Tri-Partite act, to carry on the struggle against the U.S.A. and England jointly and side by side with Japan for the defense and thus for the maintenance of the liberty and independence of their nations and empires...As a consequence of the further extension of President Roosevelt's policy, which is aimed at unrestricted world domination and dictatorship the U.S.A. together with England have not hesitated from using any means to dispute the rights of the German, Italian and Japanese nations to the basis of their natural existence.''</blockquote>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/hitler_declares_war.html]
This declaration of war against the United States was arguably the greatest mistake made by the Third Reich and played directly into the desires of the U.S. President, [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]; it allowed the United States to join [[Great Britain]] in its war against Germany without the constraints of neutrality. Consequently, Americans participated in both the strategic bombardment of Germany and the invasion of the continent, effectively ending German domination in Western Europe. However, Hitler was aware of such plans and skeptical of American loyalties even before the war began. Based on the information at their disposal, the Germans were well aware of [[Rainbow Five]] and the proposed American military buildup that was issued at the start of the war. As a result, the Germans expected war with the United States no later than 1943. As was the case in 1917, American war industries were already engaged in keeping Britain afloat in 1941, the same year that mass military recruitment also commenced.
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