Likewise, although the Soviet Union survived to halt the Germans at the gates of Moscow in December 1941, a fierce and renewed German offensive was coming.

On the other side of the world, Britain survived, but had not inflicted a major military defeat on Nazi Germany. For the first half of 1942, the Japanese swept from victory to victory across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

In addition, our enemies held the initiative. But with our full industrial mobilization only beginning and those battlefields so remote, the United States could make little immediate impact on the global situation. Savage fighting was taking place far away in the Soviet Union and China that could decisively affect our ability to win the war. Days after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, both Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy declared war, and the United States was confronted not only with a war on two fronts in Europe and Asia, but also hostilities and problems of grand strategy on a truly global scale.

Pacific conquest call of war 1942