Nazi Germany Announces a Nonaggression Pact with the Soviet Union
In August 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union announced a surprising nonaggression pact, formally signed just days later. This agreement, forged between Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, marked a significant shift in relations, as both leaders had previously denounced each other's ideologies—Hitler’s Nazis being notably anticommunist and Stalin's regime rooted in Bolshevism. Despite these ideological differences, the two nations shared ambitions for territorial expansion, leading them to prioritize their strategic interests over their enmity. The pact included commitments from both countries to refrain from military aggression against each other, not to ally with third parties against one another, and to resolve disputes through dialogue. The treaty was to last for ten years, with automatic renewal provisions. This unexpected alliance facilitated the invasion of Poland, where both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union acted in concert. However, this cooperation was short-lived, as Hitler broke the pact by invading the Soviet Union in 1941, prompting the USSR to join the Allies in World War II. The pact remains a crucial moment in the lead-up to the war and illustrates the complex political landscape of the time.
Nazi Germany Announces a Nonaggression Pact with the Soviet Union
Nazi Germany Announces a Nonaggression Pact with the Soviet Union
A short-lived treaty of nonaggression between Germany and the Soviet Union was announced on August 21, 1939, and formally executed two days later on August 23. It was signed in Berlin by Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin and came as a shock to the rest of the world.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Hitler and the Nazis of Germany were extremely anticommunist. They denounced the Bolshevik regime—it had taken over Russia after the Russian Revolution and established the Soviet Union (1917–91)—as the enemy of the German people and civilization in general. However, Hitler and Soviet leader Stalin were both ambitious dictators, and their mutual desire for territorial expansion eventually overrode their ideological differences. By August 1939, on the eve of World War II, the two countries were willing to set aside their differences and enter into a “nonaggression pact,” which was, in essence, an alliance.
The terms of that pact included eight articles, beginning with a statement that neither nation shall attack the other. They went on to declare that neither shall ally itself with a third party against the other, nor form a coalition of parties in opposition to the other. Other articles called for an open exchange of information between the two countries and for differences to be settled peacefully through discussion or arbitration. The treaty would be in effect for 10 years, after which time it would be renewed automatically for another five if neither nation had violated its terms.
This agreement, signed by Nazi foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, led directly to the invasion and dismemberment of Poland, which was attacked by both signatory nations. The Nazi-Soviet alliance ended, however, in the summer of 1941 when Hitler decided to invade the Soviet Union, which ultimately resulted in the Soviets joining the Allies.