Chapter 148 Chapter Twenty-Four "The Door to the Dark Room" (5)

For the past two years, Hitler had been careful not to confront the United States.He firmly believed that the entire country of the United States was controlled by the "Jewish Group".This group not only ruled Washington, but also controlled newspapers, radio stations and movies.Therefore, in the face of Roosevelt's increasing aid to Britain, Hitler had to try his best to control himself.While he despises Americans as warriors, he does acknowledge their industrial might.He therefore endeavored to keep them neutral--until he was properly prepared to deal with them. Although war materials were constantly being shipped to the British Isles, he forbade attacks on U.S. naval and merchant ships to avoid accidents.He ordered: "Arms may only be used if the American ship fires the first shot." But Roosevelt's quick response to Barbarossa threatened to end Hitler's patience.The day after Hitler attacked Russia, the President authorized acting Secretary of State Semnal Wells to issue a statement.The statement declared that Hitler must be stopped even if it meant providing aid to another totalitarian state.Roosevelt was vague about how to do this, but he was quick to clarify it.First, he unfrozen some $40 million in Soviet assets, and then declared that the provisions of the Neutrality Act did not apply to the Soviet Union—thus opening the port of Vladivostok to American ships.

Two weeks later, on July 7, Germany stepped up its propaganda.Roosevelt was intervening in the European war.It was revealed that American armed forces had arrived in Iceland to eventually replace the British forces occupying the strategic location.Hans Thomsen, Chargé d'affaires ad interim of Germany in Washington, telephoned Wilhelmstrasse to say that this was a further attempt by Roosevelt to provoke Hitler into attacking the United States through some sort of naval incident in order to declare war on Germany. These reports disturbed Hitler. In mid-July, Hitler made a proposal to Ambassador Oshima, a radical change in his previous decision to limit Japan's mission to resisting Britain and neutralizing the United States. "The US and the UK will always be our enemies," he said. "This understanding should be the basis of our foreign policy." This is the sacred belief that comes after a long period of careful consideration. "The United Kingdom and the United States will always oppose any country that they see as isolated. Today, there are only two countries whose interests do not conflict with each other. These two countries are Germany and Japan."The United States under Roosevelt's rule was bent on imperialism, and it alternately exerted pressure on the living space of Europe and Asia.Isn't this obvious? "So," he said, "my opinion is that we must destroy them together." As a decoy, he suggested that Japan should help "clean up" the "assets" of the defeated Soviet Union and occupy its Far Eastern part.

After receiving this proposal, Tokyo showed both politeness and reservations.Japan had already decided not to attack Russia from the east, but to go south to Indochina.They did; it quickly occupied Indochina, prompting Roosevelt to respond swiftly on July 26.Heeding the advice of Harold Ickes and others, who had long urged him to take strong action against all aggressors, the President ordered a freeze of Japanese assets in the United States.This action deprived Japan of its main source of oil. "The New York Times" believes that this action "is the most drastic blow except war."In the eyes of Japanese leaders, this was the last step in the four-power encirclement of Japan by the United States, Britain, China, and the Netherlands; a denial of Japan's legitimate status as the leader of Asia and a challenge to its existence.In any case, it was a giant step toward the war in the Far East and—in the eyes of some observers—a giant step toward Roosevelt fighting Hitler through the back door.

A month later, the president and Churchill met off the coast of Newfoundland to sign the Atlantic Charter—a joint statement of war goals between Britain and the United States.In this way, the president goes even further.From the terms of the statement, there was no doubt that Roosevelt was Hitler's irreconcilable enemy.Ironically, however, the statement disappointed the Führer's domestic enemies because it failed to draw a distinction between Nazis and anti-Nazis. People in the "Resistance Movement" saw the charter as Roosevelt's unofficial declaration of war on all Germans.They were particularly disgusted by point eight, which required that all Germans be disarmed after the war; a requirement, Hassell wrote in his magazine, "destroyed every reasonable chance of peace."

Roosevelt's determination to destroy Hitler ran counter to the feelings of millions of Americans.On the right, Charles Lindbergh's "American Founders" and "German-American League" and the traditional isolationist organization "Midwest", although they sympathized with Britain and China, were unwilling to participate in bloody wars.Other Americans, hating communism, opposed any aid to the Soviet Union.Despite fierce attacks from newspapers and radio stations, Roosevelt remained unwavering.In a radio address on September 11, he said: "From now on, if German or Italian ships dare to enter these waters (that is, Iceland and other similar islands protected by the United States), they will be endangered." Although this was a ready-made excuse for Hitler to lift the last restrictions on submarine warfare, he would not lose his popularity because of it.He ordered Admiral Raeder to avoid any merchant shipping incidents in the war "before mid-October."By then, he explained, the war with Russia was over.

On October 31, while escorting a merchant convoy, the American destroyer USS Reuben James was torpedoed 600 miles west of Iceland.Thus, Hitler's hopes of avoiding trouble were dashed.The destroyer sank to the bottom of the sea with 100 Americans on board.Roosevelt declined to comment on the matter, but his Secretary of the Navy told a group of marines that the French liner Normandie, carrying 400 planes bound for Murmansk, would be seized.The San Francisco Chronicle demanded immediate repeal of the Neutrality Act; Cleveland's Candide demanded immediate "action."However, Senator Niay, an isolationist, called for moderation: "You can't do it without a fight if you're involved in a barroom brawl!" Another Senator, who was not an isolationist, advised: "Let's keep calm."

For Roosevelt, the outbreak of the storm of anti-German thought could not have happened at this time.A week later, he ordered the Lend-Lease Office to make every effort to provide military and economic assistance to the Soviet Union.To this end, an immediate allocation of 1 billion US dollars. The next day, November 8, Hitler delivered a belligerent speech in Munich.It actually excused the sinking of the Ruben James. "President Roosevelt has ordered his ships to fire on sight of German ships!" he shouted. "I have given orders to German ships not to fire on sight of American ships. However, if attacked, they must defend themselves." Although on the surface The fury shows that the Führer still wants to avoid a war.Whatever he said, he was terrified of Franklin D. Roosevelt and America's industrial might.

In an interview at "Wolf's Lair" early that autumn, he could not help divulging a lot of information. "I will outlive your President Roosevelt," he explained to Pierre Huss, a reporter for the International Press Agency. "I can afford to wait. I can take my time and win this war in my own way." Because it was outdoors, Hitler put on a long gray military coat.He stood with his hands folded behind his back, his eyes staring blankly ahead in thought.He said suddenly: "I am the head of an empire, and I can live in safety for a thousand years." He slapped the palm of his left hand with his glove. "Now, there is no force that can shake the Germanic Empire. God's will has called me to complete the task of the Germanic nation." Although he was talking about his own destiny, he still had a grudge against Churchill and Roosevelt, who he regarded as small figures on the world stage. bosom. "They sit in the pockets of plutocrats, politics, surrounded and enslaved by things that have proven obsolete in the past 10 years. Behind the scenes are the cash cows and the Jews. Their people's rights are already running low, and they are being treated by parliamentary clowns I have my people behind me. They trust me, they trust their Führer." The two continued their walk (followed by a group of guards and junior personnel), Hitler again complaining about the "lunatics" who had forced him into war. "I have a plan for the next fifty years of service to my people. I don't need a war like Daladier and Chamberlain to stay in office. So does Mr. Roosevelt for that matter."

Huss noticed a slight frown at the mention of the president. "I suddenly felt, and felt very clearly," Huss recalled, "I touched a secret in the Führer's heart, a secret that he would never reveal and never admit." Hitler was instinctively afraid of Franklin. D Roosevelt. "Yes, Mr. Roosevelt—and his Jews!" sighed Hitler. "He wants to take over the whole world and won't even give us a place on the sun. When he says he's going to save Britain, he means he's going to be the ruler and heir to the British Empire." Hitler's increasingly tough attitude towards the United States was also reflected in Ribbentrop. On the evening of November 28, he summoned General Oshima and urged Japan to declare war on Britain and the United States.Oshima felt strange. "Does Your Excellency say that there is actually a state of war between Germany and the United States?" said Ribbentrop, not going that far. "Roosevelt is a madman," he explained. "What he will do, no one knows." He promised that if Japan deliberately attacked the United States, Germany would ally with it. "Under such circumstances, Germany will never make a separate peace with the United States. The head of state has made up his mind on this point."

For the Japanese high command, the news was a big boost.A task force of aircraft carriers had set off for Pearl Harbor. On the last day of November, Oshima was ordered to inform Hitler and Ribbentrop immediately that Britain and the United States were planning to send troops to the Far East, and that countermeasures had to be taken: ... Tell them in secret that there is a high probability that war will break out suddenly through some kind of armed conflict between Japan and the Anglo-Saxon countries.Also tell them that the war may start sooner than anyone thinks. No sooner had these instructions been issued than instructions for him to obtain concrete guarantees from the Germans were sent.However, when Oshima visited Ribbentrop in the middle of the night on December 1, the foreign minister deliberately avoided him, which made him very strange.He made the excuse that he had to consult with the Führer first, and the Führer was still in the "wolf's lair".It was clear to both of them that Hitler didn't have much time for the drama that was brewing on the other side of the world.Therefore, Oshima was not surprised that he received a draft of the treaty at 3 o'clock in the morning on the 5th.In the treaty, Germany pledged to form an alliance with Japan to go to war with the United States and never make a separate peace.

At Wolf's Lair, the first to hear of Pearl Harbor was Otto Dietrich. On the evening of December 7, he hurried into the Führer's bunker, saying that he had a very important message to report.Due to the depressing reports just received from the Russian front.Hitler was afraid that Dietrich would bring more bad news.As his chief press officer finished reading the telegram, a look of amazement came to his face.He was in high spirits, and asked very excitedly, "Is the news conclusive?" Dietrich said he received a call from his office confirming the news.Hitler grabbed the telegram, and without a coat or hat, he strode towards the military bunker.Seeing him holding a telegram in his hand with a "surprised" expression on his face, Keitel and Yoddle couldn't help being dumbfounded.Keitel felt that the war between Japan and the United States immediately lifted Hitler's "nightmare burden".The Führer could hardly hide his delight at being with Hevel. "We will not lose the war!" he shouted. "Now, we have a partner who has not been defeated in three thousand years!"