(01-11-2018 11:17 AM)miko33 Wrote:  I haven't read the entire thread, but IMO the ultimate determinant on which side was going to win was whether the U.S. jumps into the war or stays out of it. If the Japanese never attack Hawaii and the U.S. are never drawn into the war, the Axis wins the war. Since the U.S. entered on the side of the Allies, the WWII would have been won by the allies sooner or later. The U.S.had attributes that the Axis could not overcome - like a large population base, significant natural resources, the best manufacturing base in the world and the advantage of being located far away from the major battlefields. Despite the late technological advances made by the Germans with the jet engine, V1 and V2 missiles and the research on the atomic bomb - all of that was too little and too late.

I imagine a lot of brits would roll their eyes at this statement, because its a very "American" way to view things. You are right in the sense that the US entering the war makes it almost impossible for the axis to win (And both Germany and Japan knew a war with the US was a losing battle) The thing is, I don't think the US stays out regardless.

It's very likely even without Pearl Harbor that the US enters the war eventually anyway. By the time Pearl Harbor happened, the US had already agreed to the land lease deal with Britain, and were already supplying the allied forces. Public Sentiment was already starting to turn in favor of fighting.

Even if you look at Europe, I think there is little chance the US stays neutral forever. FDR was convinced after Dunkirk that the Britiah would surrender. He had already begun to try and work out and arrangement for the UK to sail its Navy into American and Canadian harbors, so the Germans could not make use of them. Those are not actions of a "neutral country"

We were always looking for a way to enter that war. All we needed was a reason. Eventually that reason would have been provided...with or without Pearl Harbor.