After we watched that brilliant Russian film about the female sniper who did so much damage to the German invaders, I was puzzled by the part where she was sent to the USA and met Eleanor Roosevelt. I had some idea about why the USA went into war with Japan, after Pearl Harbour, but can't understand why Japan had joined the Tripartite Pact with Gemany and Italy. There's not much about it on this forum apart from CL1 's mention in a Pearl Harbour thread. A quote from Wiki: "The Tripartite Pact was directed primarily at the United States." Why was this? What was the link between Naziism and Japan? Did Germany remember the part that the USA played in WW1? ps here is a link to the film
Covering a fascinating view on the Japanese perspective re. the Tripartite Pact, there's this: Episode 66 – An Unnatural Intimacy, Part 4. "This week, we’ll discuss the Second Konoe Cabinet, which was torn by indecision and plagued by bad leadership. The Japanese leadership will alienate the US by signing the Tripartite Pact, and their attempts to bridge the gap with the US will be plagued by bad management and failure." Also found an audio version (with differing episode numbering) recently posted on youtube now here: "This week, we'll discuss the Second Konoe Cabinet, which was torn by indecision and plagued by bad leadership. The Japanese leadership will alienate the US by signing the Tripartite Pact, and their attempts to bridge the gap with the US will be plagued by bad management and failure." And then on to... "This week, we take the final plunge to Pearl Harbor. Backed into a corner by foolish decision-making and serious misreadings of their situation, the leaders of Japan will scramble at the last minute to avoid war, but refuse to make any serious concessions to do so. In the end, war will happen not because anyone really wants it but because no one wants to avoid it badly enough."
