Throughout the coming hours and days, Hitler would express relief that Japan’s actions would tie down substantial British and American resources in the Far East, accepting not merely that he would have to deliver on his draft treaty commitments to Tokyo, but that it was in his vital interest to prevent his ally from going down to defeat on its own. In any case, he was convinced that he was effectively already at war with America. And this time, unlike in 1917, the Reich would not wait to be openly attacked by the United States. Hitler would strike first.
