The Foreign Service Journal, December 2021

58 DECEMBER 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL mate blame for a world war rested with the Jewish race, and the only answer was their annihilation. In December 1941, contends historian Klaus P. Fischer, Hitler “crossed the line separating a brutal dictator from a mass murderer.” Was the declaration of war on the U.S. a suicidal and irrational decision? Why wage war on the U.S. with the mass of the Weh- rmacht locked in titanic winter combat at the gates of Moscow and in an air and African ground war with Great Britain? Historians point to Hitler’s belief that the United States was already at war with Germany. Indeed, FDR’s un-neutral neu- trality—a “Destroyer for Bases” deal with Britain, Lend Lease, a Western Hemisphere security zone, the Atlantic Charter, “shoot- on sight” orders—were all, in Hitler’s view, warlike acts. Even before Pearl Harbor, the Germans reaffirmed unwavering commitment to the Tripartite Pact binding Germany to Italy and Japan. Although surprised by the attack on Pearl Har- bor, according to premier Hitler biographer Ian Kershaw, the Nazi leader exclaimed, “We can’t lose the war at all. We now have an ally which has never been conquered in 3,000 years.” On Dec. 8, he authorized Admiral Erich Raeder’s U-boats to attack U.S. shipping anywhere on the high seas. Undoubtedly Hitler, with his self- proclaimed instinctive genius, was dismissive of U.S. military and industrial capabilities and the tenacity of its leaders and citizens. Now, he embarked on a war he could not win. b In Rome at 2:30 p.m., Benito Mussolini’s Foreign Minis- ter (and son-in-law) Galeazzo Ciano summoned U.S. Chargé George Wadsworth. This “good man, somewhat timid,” confided Ciano to his diary, “thinks I have called him to discuss the arrival of certain newspapermen, but I disillusion him imme- diately. He listens to the declaration of war, turns pale. Wad- sworth’s response: ‘It is very tragic.’” In a brief speech from the Palazzo Venezia’s balcony, Mus- solini denounced FDR as an “authentic and democratic despot” responsible for the outbreak of war with “diabolical pertinac- ity.” He termed Italy’s alliances the guarantor of victory and the future artificer and organizer of just peace among the people. “Italians … rise to your feet once more,” Il Duce exhorted. “Be worthy of this great hour. We will win.” Ciano recorded sourly: “It was three o’clock in the afternoon, the people were hungry, and the day was quite cold. These are all elements that do not make for enthusiasm.” On this day, too, a revised version of the September 1940 Tripartite Pact commit- ting the Axis powers to wage war together and pursue victory in order to bring about a “just new order” was signed in Berlin. b Germany’s dashing chargé in Washing- ton, D.C., and loyal Nazi, Hans Thomsen, and an aide arrived at the Department of State at 8:20 a.m., one hour after the Ribbentrop-Morris encounter. His instruc- tions: Deliver the war message to Secretary of State Cordell Hull, then ask for your passport and a repatriation plan. At about 9:30 a.m., the Secretary brushed past the Nazi envoy. The State Department’s press release reported, “The Secretary, otherwise engaged, directed they [the Germans] be received by the Chief of the European Bureau.” New York Times diplomatic correspondent Bertram Hulen described the atmo- sphere as “frigid,” but also marked by “a complete absence of excitement or dramatics.” The rebuffed German climbed the stairs to the office of chief of the European Division, Ray Atherton. Upon receiving Thomsen’s message, Atherton made it clear that since 1939, the United States had recognized the threat and purposes of an aggressive Germany “toward the Hemisphere and our free American civilization,” as stated in another State press release. In an elevator on the way out, press photographers jostled Thomsen, whose comment was captured also by Hulen: “This is German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in London, March 1936. In December 1941, contends historian Klaus P. Fischer, Hitler “crossed the line separating a brutal dictator from a mass murderer.” ETH-BIBLIOTHEK