August 23, 1939 – Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact; World War II begins just over a week later
On August 23, 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the “Treaty of Non-aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics”, where both sides agreed not attack the other or be alliance to or assist the enemy of either side. The treaty became known in the West as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, so named for the foreign ministers Vyacheslav Molotov of the Soviet Union and Joachim von Ribbentrop of Germany.
The treaty included a secret protocol that delineated each side’s spheres of influence in the regions between them: Poland, Romania, the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Finland. The non-aggression treaty was made public, but the secret protocol became known only at the end of World War II from the German copy of the document found in Nazi archives. The treaty ended when Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.
The treaty allowed Germanyfree rein to attack Polandon September 1, 1939, launching what would unexpectedly become the global WorldWar II.
(Taken from Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe)
Background to the German Invasion of Poland Britain and France, which had pursued appeasement toward Hitler, had become wary after the German occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia, which had a non-ethnic German majority population, which was in contrast to what Hitler had said that he only wanted returned those German-populated territories. Britain and France were now determined to resist Germany diplomatically and resolve the crisis through firm negotiations. On March 31, 1939, Britain and France announced that they would “guarantee Polish independence” in case of foreign aggression. Since 1921, as per the Franco-Polish Military Alliance, France had pledged military assistance to Poland if that latter was attacked.
In fact, Hitler’s intentions on Poland was not only thereturn of lost German territories, but the elimination of the Polish state andannexation of Poland as part of Lebensraum (“living space”), German expansioninto Eastern Europe and Russia. Lebensraum called for the eradication of the native populations in theseconquered areas. For Poland specifically, on August 22,1939 in the lead-up to the German invasion, Hitler had said that “the object ofthe war is … to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children ofPolish descent or language. Only in thisway can we obtain the living space we need.” In April 1939, Hitler instructed the German military High Command tobegin preparations for an invasion of Poland, to be launched later in thesummer. By May 1939, the German militaryhad drawn up the invasion plan.
In May 1939, Britainand France held high-leveltalks with the Soviet Union regarding forming a tripartite military allianceagainst Germany, especiallyin light of the possible German invasion of Poland. These talks stalled, because Poland refused to allow Soviet forces into itsterritory in case Germanyattacked. Unbeknown to Britain and France,the Soviet Union and Germanywere also conducting (secret) separate talks regarding bilateral political,military, and economic concerns, which on August 23, 1939, led to the signingof a non-aggression treaty. This treaty,which was broadcast to the world and widely known as the Molotov RibbentropPact (named after Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German ForeignMinister Joachim von Ribbentrop), brought a radical shift to the European powerbalance, as Germany was now free to invade Poland without fear of Sovietreprisal. The pact also included asecret protocol where Poland,Finland, Estonia, Latvia,Lithuania, and Romaniawere divided into German and Soviet spheres of influence.
One day earlier, August 22, with the non-aggression treatyvirtually assured, Hitler set the invasion date of Poland for August 26, 1939. On August 25, Hitler told the Britishambassador that Britain mustagree to the German demands on Poland,as the non-aggression pact freed Germany from facing a two-front warwith major powers. But on that same day,Britain and Poland signed a mutual defense pact, whichcontained a secret clause where the British promised military assistance if Poland was attacked by Germany. This agreement, as well as British overturesthat Britain and Poland were willing to restart the stalled talkswith Germany,forced Hitler to abort the invasion set for the next day.
