American public opinion opposed intervention in world War II. A little more patience by Hitler could have given him the time to complete his conquests.
In the Autumn of 1941, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was well on his way to a stunning conquest of virtually all of Europe. There was even a good chance of a link-up with his Japanese partner, already deep into China, to achieve Axis domination of the Eurasian land mass, Africa, and the Western Pacific. Keeping the still technically neutral United States of America on the sidelines was the key to his prospects.
Hitler knew that President Franklin Roosevelt was doing everything short of war to help Germany's remaining foes, Britain and the Soviet Union. Arms and supplies from America's revived war industries and weapons stockpiles were flowing across the Atlantic. Roosevelt, seemingly itiching for a fight, had warned the Germans to stay away from U.S. merchant shipping. But the Fuehrer also knew that American public opinion was solidly opposed to intervention in another European war. A Gallup Poll published in October, 1941, showed only 17 percent of Americans favoring war with Germany.
With the numerically superior Luftwaffe pounding Britain from the air and German divisions smashing through western Russia and the Ukraine, it seemed only a matter of time before those enemies were subdued. The choice for the United States would then have been to co-exist with the Axis powers or fight with no bases anywhere near Fortress Europe. But Hitler failed to run out the clock.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the Philippine Islands, and other American installations in the Pacific. At Roosevelt's request, Congress declared war on Japan the next day, and a stricken America might have logically concentrated on defeating the Far Eastern aggressor. But Germany declared war on the U.S. on December 11, and Roosevelt was now free to fight a two ocean war with an outraged and determined public united behind him.
British historian Alistair Horne, writing in the December 16, 1991 issue of the National Review, said that Hitler gave the green light for a Japanese attack in November, 1941, after a long period of discouraging confrontation with the U.S. Was he gambling that a devastating blow in the Pacific would weaken America's ability to aid its European allies or divert it entirely from the Atlantic? Was his declaration of war a pro forma gesture of support for an Axis ally or a bid to share whatever spoils resulted from an American defeat or a settlement. Horne asserts that Hitler's reasoning remains unclear, but that his decision to declare war on America sealed his fate.
Quickly formalizing an alliance that had existed sub rosa for over a year, Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill established a coordinated war effort which began with a decision to concentrate on defeating Hitler before tuning their full might on Japan. While there were many setbacks in both theatres of war before the military balance tipped decisively in their favor, the combining of the Anglo-American resources, the use of England as a base, and more active support of the Soviet Union made the destruction of the Axis bid for world domination inevitable.
