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Originally Posted by Charge 7 Quote: |
He was bound to declare war on the USA by the terms of the Tripartite Act.
| Incorrect, the Tripartite Pact only bound the signers to fight on the others' behalf if they were attacked. As Japan had attacked America it was clearly not binding in that case. |
Article III of the Pact deals with the mutual protection aspect. It merely states that
"Japan, Germany and Italy agree to cooperate in their efforts on the aforesaid lines. They further undertake to assist one another with all political, economic and military means when one of the three Contracting Parties is attacked by a power at present not involved in the European War or in the Sino-Japanese Conflict."
It does not state that the Article is void if one of the signatories is the aggressor. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Otherwise, Japan would not have been duty bound to come to Germany's aid when the latter attacked the Soviet Union in 1941. Such a disclaimer would not have suited an aggressive alliance of powers - it was more likely that the Axis would be the aggressors than the defenders in any future conflicts. At the time of the signing on the Pact on 27 September 1940, the Soviet Union and Germany were of course at peace. So therefore, Germany was still duty bound to come to Japan's aid as they were now being attacked by the US, regardless of who started the conflict.