On this date, August
23, 1939, Nazi Germany and
the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty,
the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret addition to the pact, the Baltic
states, Finland, Romania, and Poland are divided between the two nations. I
will post information about this historical event from Wikipedia and other
links.
 |
|
Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov
signs the German-Soviet non-aggression pact in Moscow, August 23, 1939; behind
him are Richard Schulze-Kossens (Ribbentrop's adjutant), Boris Shaposhnikov
(Generalstabschef der Roten Armee), Joachim von Ribbentrop, Joseph Stalin,
Vladimir Pavlov (Soviet translator). Alexey Shkvarzev (Soviet ambassador in
Berlin), stands next to Molotov.
|
 |
|
Stalin and Ribbentrop at the signing of the
Non-Aggression Pact, 23 August 1939
|
The
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov
and the Nazi German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, officially the
Treaty of Non-aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics, and also known as the Ribbentrop–Molotov Pact or Nazi–Soviet Pact,
was a non-aggression pact signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939.
The
pact's publicly stated intentions were a guarantee of non-belligerence by
either party towards the other and a commitment that neither party would ally
itself to or aid an enemy of the other party. This latter provision ensured
that Germany would not support Japan in its undeclared
war against the Soviet Union along the Manchurian-Mongolian border,
ensuring that the Soviets won the Battles of
Khalkhin Gol.
In
addition to stipulations of non-aggression, the treaty included a secret
protocol that divided territories of Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia,
Estonia and Finland into Nazi and Soviet "spheres of
influence", anticipating potential "territorial and
political rearrangements" of these countries. Thereafter, Germany invaded
Poland
on 1 September 1939. After the Soviet-Japanese ceasefire agreement took effect
on 16 September, Stalin ordered his own invasion of Poland on 17 September.
Part of southeastern (Karelia) and Salla
region in Finland were annexed by the Soviet Union after the Winter War. This was followed by Soviet annexations
of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and parts of Romania (Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina
and the Hertza region).
The
pact remained in force until the German government broke it by invading the Soviet
Union on 22 June 1941.
Of
the territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union between 1939 and 1940,
the region around Białystok and a minor
part of Galicia
east of the San river around Przemyśl were the only ones returned to the Polish state at
the end of World War II. Of all other territories annexed by the USSR in
1939–40, the ones detached from Finland (Karelia, Petsamo), Estonia (Ingrian area and Petseri County) and Latvia (Abrene) remained part of the Russian Federation,
the successor state of the Soviet Union, after
1991. Northern Bukovina, Southern Bessarabia and Hertza remain part
of Ukraine.
 |
|
The picture shows Hitler and Stalin and how
they are drinking and cheering and acting all happy together, being the fact
that it might have happened after Hitler and Stalin signed the Molotov
Ribbentrop Europe treaty. [PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.markville.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/history/genocide/genocide_bloodlands_carolynb.html]
|
INTERNET SOURCE: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact
The
Government of the German Reich and The Government of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics
Desirous
of strengthening the cause of peace between Germany and the U.S.S.R., and
proceeding from the fundamental provisions of the Neutrality Agreement
concluded in April, 1926 between Germany and the U.S.S.R., have reached the
following Agreement:
Article
I
Both
High Contracting Parties obligate themselves to desist from any act of
violence, any aggressive action, and any attack on each other, either
individually or jointly with other Powers.
Article
II
Should
one of the High Contracting Parties become the object of belligerent action by
a third Power, the other High Contracting Party shall in no manner lend its
support to this third Power.
Article
III
The
Governments of the two High Contracting Parties shall in the future maintain
continual contact with one another for the purpose of consultation in order to
exchange information on problems affecting their common interests.
Article
IV
Should
disputes or conflicts arise between the High Contracting Parties, neither shall
participate in any grouping of Powers whatsoever that is directly or indirectly
aimed at the other party.
Article
V
Should
disputes or conflicts arise between the High Contracting Parties over problems
of one kind or another, both parties shall settle these disputes or conflicts
exclusively through friendly exchange of opinion or, if necessary, through the
establishment of arbitration commissions.
Article
VI
The
present Treaty is concluded for a period of ten years, with the proviso that,
in so far as one of the High Contracting Parties does not advance it one year
prior to the expiration of this period, the validity of this Treaty shall
automatically be extended for another five years.
Article
VII
The
present treaty shall be ratified within the shortest possible time. The
ratifications shall be exchanged in Berlin. The Agreement shall enter into
force as soon as it is signed.
Secret
Additional Protocol
Article
I
In
the event of a territorial and political rearrangement in the areas belonging
to the Baltic States (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), the northern
boundary of Lithuania shall represent the boundary of the spheres of influence
of Germany and U.S.S.R. In this connection the interest of Lithuania in the
Vilna area is recognized by each party.
Article
II
In
the event of a territorial and political rearrangement of the areas belonging
to the Polish state, the spheres of influence of Germany and the U.S.S.R. shall
be bounded approximately by the line of the rivers Narev, Vistula and San.
The
question of whether the interests of both parties make desirable the
maintenance of an independent Polish state and how such a state should be
bounded can only be definitely determined in the course of further political
developments.
In
any event both governments will resolve this question by means of a friendly
agreement.
Article
III
With
regard to Southeastern Europe attention is called by the Soviet side to its
interest in Bessarabia. The German side declares its complete political
disinterest in these areas.
Article
IV
This
protocol shall be treated by both parties as strictly secret.
Moscow,
August 23, 1939.
For
the Government of the German Reich v. Ribbentrop
Plenipotentiary
of the Government of the U.S.S.R. V. Molotov
Microfilm copy of Secret
Additional Protocol to Nazi–Soviet Pact
 |
|
The secret appendix to the Molotov-Ribbentrop
Pact naming the German and Soviet spheres of interest. The document is signed
by Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German Foreign Minister
Joachim von Ribbentrop.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment