  :Speculation indeed.  My guess is that the fact that France did not attack during the Poland campaign means that they would never attack, so Hitler could ignore them.  :As to the article, I had already made the chage above which resolves that issue for now.  I would prefer if someone more knowledgable would expand the sentense into a proper paragraph.  But not to just leave it as it was.  :I am also a little concerned about the following statement, which reads as if Hitler was forced to act.  ::Halder argued that, as Germany's strategic position seemed hopeless anyway, even the slightest chance of a decisive victory outweighed the certainty of ultimate defeat implied by inaction.  :  