| Declaration of war on the United States | |
|---|---|
 Mussolini announces the declaration of war | |
| Presented | 11 December 1941; 83 years ago (11 December 1941) |
| Location | Palazzo Venezia, Rome,Italy |
| Author | Benito Mussolini |
| Purpose | Declaring war on the United States so that "Fascist Italy andNationalist Socialist Germany" would "participate from today on the side of...Japan" |
| Full text | |
 Italian declaration of war on the United States atWikisource | |
On December 11, 1941,Italy declared war on theUnited States. The declaration followed theJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor four days earlier, and came the same day asGermany's declaration of war against the United States.[1]Benito Mussolini publicly made the announcement in Rome on December 11.[1][2] Shortly before Mussolini's speech, Italian Foreign MinisterGaleazzo Ciano delivered the news to thehead U.S. diplomat in Italy,George Wadsworth II.[3]
The Italian,German, andJapanese governments had all signed theTripartite Pact in 1940, formally allying the three powers with one another. Italy and Germany also signed thePact of Steel military alliance in 1939. Italy had declared war on theUnited Kingdom andFrance on June 10, 1940, as Mussolini implemented the Pact of Steel and leveraged the German alliance to winadvantages for Italy.[4] Prior to Hitler's declaration of war against America there was little, if any, doubt that Italy would once again "follow Germany's lead."[5]
TheUnited States Congress immediately responded bydeclaring war on Italy andGermany, bringing the United States into theEuropean theater of theSecond World War.[2] TheAxis powers also signed the "No Separate Peace Agreement" on December 11, pledging Italy, Germany, and Japan to not independently make peace with Britain orAmerica.[6] Mussolini is said to have "expressed no reservations" about war with America, blaming the conflict on PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt.[3]
On December 7, 1941, 353 aircraft of the Empire of Japan attacked theU.S. naval base atPearl Harbor, inflicting mass destruction on American life and property, and drawing theUnited States into the Second World War. On December 8, the United Statesdeclared war on Japan in response to the attack.
Three days later, at 2:45 PM on December 11, 1941, Italian dictatorBenito Mussolini announced—from the balcony overlooking thePiazza Venezia inRome—that Italy and Germany would "participate from today on the side of heroic Japan" against the United States.[3][7]Adolf Hitler made his war announcement at theReichstag inBerlin that same day, stating that while he had tried to avoid direct conflict with the U.S., Germany was obliged to join with Italy to defend Japan under the Tripartite Pact of 1940. Hitler also stated, "After victory has been achieved, Germany, Italy, and Japan will continue in closest co-operation with a view to establishing a new and just order."[1]
A memo that U.S.chargé d'affaires to ItalyGeorge Wadsworth II sent to theU.S. Secretary of State on December 9, 1941 confirmed that if Germany declared war, Italy would do likewise, stating: "Opinion in well-informed Rome circles is divided on the crying question of the day whether Germany will declare war on the United States. Italy, it is assumed without question, will follow Germany’s lead whatever it be as a matter of course."[5]
At 2:30 PM on December 11, just before Mussolini's speech, Italian Foreign MinisterGaleazzo Ciano called for chargé d'affaires Wadsworth and revealed that Italy was at war with America, to which Wadsworth responded: "It is very tragic."[2][6] Ciano recorded his thoughts on the occasion, saying, “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.”[2]
On December 11, the Axis powers also signed the "No Separate Peace Agreement," pledging each nation to not independently make peace with Britain or America, a decision that theoretically bound Italy, Germany, and Japan to a common fate.[6] Mussolini "expressed no reservations about war with America," and laid responsibility for the conflict at the feet of President Roosevelt.[3]
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Contrary to Hitler's nearly 90-minute tirade against America, Mussolini's war declaration lasted only four minutes.[6][3] Even so, this made it only slightly shorter than PresidentRoosevelt's "Day of Infamy" speech of December 8.[3] Foreign Minister Ciano described the speech as "brief and cutting," noting its "very pro-Japanese setting."[6] "News of the naval victories [of Japan] has excited the Italian imagination," Ciano remarked.[6] The English-language translation of Mussolini's speech was published as follows:
This is another day of solemn decision in Italy's history and of memorable events destined to give a new course to the history of continents.
The powers of the steel pact, Fascist Italy and Nationalist Socialist Germany, ever closely linked, participate from today on the side of heroic Japan against the United States of America.
The Tripartite Pact becomes a military alliance which draws around its colors 250,000,000 men determined to do all in order to win.
Neither the Axis nor Japan wanted an extension of the conflict.
One man, one man only, a real tyrannical democrat, through a series of infinite provocations, betraying with a supreme fraud the population of his country, wanted the war and had prepared for it day by day with diabolical obstinacy.
The formidable blows that on the immense Pacific expanse have been already inflicted on American forces show how prepared are the soldiers of the Empire of the Rising Sun.
I say to you, and you will understand, that it is a privilege to fight with them.
Today, the Tripartite Pact, with the plenitude of its forces and its moral and material resources, is a formidable instrument for the war and a certainty for victory.
Tomorrow, the Tripartite Pact will become an instrument of just peace between the peoples.
Italians! Once more arise and be worthy of this historical hour!