On 11 December 1941, four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and
the United States declaration of war against the Japanese Empire, Nazi Germany
declared war against the United States, in response to what was claimed to be
a series of provocations by the United States government when the U.S. was
still officially neutral during World War II. The decision to declare war was
made by Adolf Hitler, apparently offhand, almost without consultation. It has
been referred to as Hitler's "most puzzling" decision of World War II.
Publicly, the formal declaration was made to American Chargé d'Affaires
Leland B. Morris by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in the
latter's office. Later that day, the U.S.