The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is the name of an interstate non-aggression agreement between two powerful states - the USSR and Germany. The contract was valid for 10 years. This agreement was signed in Moscow on the night of August 23rd to August 24th, 1939, by German Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and the Head of the Council of People's Commissars, Soviet Commissar Vyacheslav Molotov in the presence of German Ambassador Werner von der Schulenburg and member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU (B.) , member of the Executive Committee, Joseph Stalin. Hence the name of the document itself, which many still call "Ribbentrop-Molotov," can be explained.
The signed pact guaranteed the neutrality of the Soviet Union in the conflict of the Third Reich with Poland and Western countries, and also ensured the return to the Soviet Union of the territories it lost during the First World War. This agreement was based on the 1926 Berlin Treaty and the 1922 Rapallo Treaty .
Together with the non-aggression pact, a secret protocol was signed that established the borders of the mutual interests of the two countries in Eastern Europe and the division of Poland between them during the German attack on this country. The existence of such a secret annex to the pact has long been denied by the government of the Soviet Union. And only in the late eighties of the last century this protocol was really recognized.
Before the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was nevertheless signed, Germany had already included the territory of the Czech Republic and Moravia in the Reich. And to ensure international security and the fight against the German invasion should have been negotiations between the USSR, Britain and France. The consequence was the adoption of a draft mutual assistance agreement on August 2, 1939. However, the document did not become a treaty due to the lack of interest of the countries participating in the negotiations. For example, the Soviet Union, with the adoption of this project, demanded the passage of its armies through the territory of Poland and Romania in the event of an attack on them by German troops. However, neither Poland nor Romania have ever agreed to this.
Therefore, Stalin and Molotov decided to sign a non-aggression agreement with Germany, which was called the "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact." Both the Soviet Union and Germany had different goals. Hitler, actively preparing for an attack on Polish territory, wanted to avoid military conflicts with the Soviet Union and believed that Moscow, wishing to regain its former lands, would comply with the clauses of the agreement. Stalin, in turn, considered the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact an excellent opportunity to prepare for the inevitable military operations, while avoiding unnecessary military conflicts.
According to the adopted agreement, both parties took upon themselves the obligation to peacefully resolve all disagreements that arose, and in no case to support the country that would attack one of the parties to the agreement. And according to the secret protocol, Germany, attacking Poland, did not have the right to move further beyond the Curzon line. Part of Poland, Finland, Latvia, Estonia and Bessarabia remained in the power of the Soviet Union.
After ratification of the treaty by the Soviet Union on September 1, German troops entered Poland. Having received a short delay to provide assistance to those Ukrainians and Belarusians who were threatened by an attack by German troops, Soviet troops entered Polish territory only on September 17, 1939, automatically entering World War II. Poland ceased to exist as a state. As a result of this, Germany and the USSR received a common border. And the possibility of an attack from one country to another, despite the signed agreement, became a matter of time.
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was invalidated on June 21, 41, when the German army attacked the Soviet Union.