Italian declaration of war on the United States

On December 7, 1941, 353 aircraft of the Empire of Japan attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, inflicting mass destruction on American life and property and drawing the United States into the Second World War. On December 8, in response to the attack, the United States declared war on Japan. , 1938 Three days later, at 2:45 PM on December 11, 1941, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini announced—from the balcony overlooking the Piazza Venezia in Rome—that Italy and Germany would "participate from today on the side of heroic Japan" against the United States. stood alongside Mussolini during the speech. German ambassador Hans Georg von Mackensen was also present. At 2:30 PM on December 11, just before Mussolini's speech, Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano called for chargé d'affaires Wadsworth and revealed that Italy was at war with America, to which Wadsworth responded: "It is very tragic." 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.” 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. Mussolini "expressed no reservations about war with America," and laid responsibility for the conflict at the feet of President Roosevelt. == Text of the declaration ==

during Mussolini's speech, December 11, 1941. Published in ''L'Illustrazione Italiana''.|275x275pxContrary to Hitler's nearly 90-minute tirade against America, Mussolini's war declaration lasted a brief four minutes. However, this made it only slightly shorter than President Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" speech on December 8. Foreign Minister Ciano described the speech as "brief and cutting," noting its "very pro-Japanese setting." "News of the naval victories [of Japan] has excited the Italian imagination," Ciano remarked. The English-language translation of Mussolini's speech was published as follows: ==See also==