Hey Daniel,

It's not like I overlooked that. The Japanese certainly didn't see it as an obligation to declare war on the Soviets in June of '41 so the Germans had an "out" if they wanted it....that's the mystery I was referring to.


>>Yeah, one of history's mysteries. Why on Earth did Germany declare war on the US? It's not as if the Japanese were helping the Nazis with the Soviets.
>
>Because of the Tripartite Pact signed in 1940. See also http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/11/newsid_3532000/3532401.stm
>
>...Adolf Hitler made his announcement at the Reichstag in Berlin saying he had tried to avoid direct conflict with the US but, under the Tripartite Agreement signed on 27 September 1940, Germany was obliged to join with Italy to defend its ally Japan.