Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact with a secret protocol dividing spheres of influence.

In the summer of 1939, European security negotiations were failing while Berlin prepared to attack Poland. Moscow was simultaneously conducting diplomatic contacts with several sides.

On 23 August, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression treaty. It was accompanied by a secret protocol defining spheres of influence in Eastern Europe.

The secret arrangements created the conditions for the partition of Polish territories after the German invasion in September. They also affected the fate of the Baltic states.

The pact was not a neutral agreement on peaceful coexistence: its secret provisions became an instrument of territorial division and the loss of sovereignty by neighbouring countries.

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