December 11, 1941: Four days after Pearl Harbor, Adolf Hitler made one of the most catastrophic decisions of World War II—he declared war on the United States. Germany was not obligated to do so under the Tripartite Pact with Japan. Hitler could have stayed out, letting America focus its fury on Japan in the Pacific. Instead, he voluntarily brought the full industrial and military might of the United States into the war against Nazi Germany.
This single decision sealed the fate of the Third Reich. By declaring war on America, Hitler guaranteed that the world’s greatest industrial power would mobilize against him. Within months, American factories would outproduce all Axis powers combined. American troops would land in North Africa, then Italy, then France. The two-front war Hitler feared became inevitable—not because he had to fight it, but because he chose to.
This is the story of December 11, 1941—the day Hitler doomed his own chances of victory and ensured the destruction of Nazi Germany.
KEY MOMENTS:
00:00 – Introduction: Hitler’s Fatal Decision
03:30 – Pearl Harbor: Japan Attacks America
08:15 – The Tripartite Pact: Was Germany Obligated?
14:20 – Hitler’s Reasoning: Why Declare War?
20:45 – The Reichstag Speech: December 11, 1941
27:30 – America’s Response: Roosevelt Before Congress
30:15 – Immediate Consequences: U-Boat Campaign
33:40 -Conclusion: The Day That Doomed Hitler
Credit to : Forgotten Allies WW2