HITLER'S SECRET MILITARY SUMMIT CONFERENCES AT THE BERGHOF, JULY 1940

As documented in the World Future Fund Report, General Plan East: The Nazi Revolution in German Foreign Policy,  the foundation of Hitler's geopolitical plans was the conquest of the European part of the Soviet Union.  Hitler had hoped that he could reach a nonaggression pact with England before the war and launch this campaign in conjunction with a Japanese invasion of Russia from the east.

In 1938 and 1939 British and French opposition to German plans for expansion in eastern Europe led to a situation in early 1939 where Germany was facing an ultimatum from Britain not to invade Poland.  Hitler had absolutely no interest in attacking France or England, but the March 1939 agreement between England and Poland forced Hitler to totally reverse course and reach an agreement with Stalin concerning a division of Poland, similar to the agreement reached between Frederick the Great and Catherine the Great in the late 18th century.

Hitler had hoped that this would intimidate England and France and make them willing to accept a German conquest of western Poland.  He was dead wrong, and in September 1939 England and France declared war on Germany, turning a territorial dispute between Germany and Poland into a world war.  Ironically, England and France did not declare war on the other partner in the conquest of Poland, the Soviet Union?  England and France also violated their solemn assurances to the Poles that any German attack on them would immediately lead to a French invasion of Germany.  As a result, Hitler was able to concentrate almost all German forces in the east and crush the Poles while Britain and France sat behind their defences in the west and sent no aid to the Polish forces.

The pathetic collapse of the numerically superior Anglo-French military forces in May 1940 and the fall of France caused Hitler to again turn his attention to his primary goal.  It is an example of the depth of geopolitical obsession with conquering Russia that even without reaching a peace agreement with England (now being backed by America) he began active planning for an eastern invasion..