redlightning
Banned
What if after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Germany refused to declare war on the United States in 1941?
What if after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Germany refused to declare war on the United States in 1941?
What if after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Germany refused to declare war on the United States in 1941?
What if after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Germany refused to declare war on the United States in 1941?
It'll take more than a destroyer. Either a US convoy gets attacked by a wolf-pack in the Atlantic with serious losses, or a convoy heading for the Philippines meets some Japanese forces. If the example of the Atlantic is anything to go on, both sides will shoot first and ask questions later.
I think it's almost a foregone conclusion that we're GOING to go to war with Germany reasonably soon anyway. There will be some provocation or we'll just keep getting more involved with England.
That being said, if Germany and Italy didn't declare war, it would delay our actions in Europe a while. It would be much harder for FDR to justify war with Germany and Italy after Pearl. Therefore, FDR would be forced to focus more on Japan at least for a while.
If Germany waits then it foregoes Drumbeat, which means the Allies retain 3.1 million tons of shipping, which is a huge boon to their war effort over OTL.
What I think people who attach much importance to Germany's declaring war neglect is the overwhelming evidence that Pearl Harbor had changed popular attitudes toward *Germany*, not just toward Japan.