Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact

Examples of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in the following topics:

• German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship

  • It was signed by Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov, the foreign ministers of Germany and the Soviet Union respectively, in the presence of Joseph Stalin.
  • The treaty was a follow-up to the first secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact signed on August 23, 1939 between the two countries prior to their invasion of Poland and the start of World War II in Europe.
  • During the western invasion of Poland, the German Wehrmacht had taken control of the Lublin Voivodeship and eastern Warsaw Voivodeship - territories which according to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact were in the Soviet sphere of influence.
  • The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, also known as the Nazi-Soviet Pact, was a neutrality pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by foreign ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov, respectively.
  • Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov signs the German–Soviet Pact in Moscow, September 28, 1939; behind him are Richard Schulze-Kossens (Ribbentrop's adjutant), Boris Shaposhnikov (Red Army Chief of Staff), Joachim von Ribbentrop, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Pavlov (Soviet translator).

• September 1, 1939

  • The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, while the Soviet invasion commenced on 17 September following the Molotov-Tōgō agreement that terminated the Russian and Japanese hostilities in the east on 16 September. 
  • While those two countries had pacts with Poland and had declared war on Germany on 3 September, in the end their aid to Poland was very limited.
  • The Soviet Red Army's invasion of Eastern Poland on 17 September, in accordance with a secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, rendered the Polish plan of defence obsolete.
  • The Second Polish Republic, one of the three original allies of World War II was invaded and divided between the Third Reich and Soviet Union, acting together in line with the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, dividing Central and Eastern Europe between the two countries.

• The Expanding Axis

  • In September 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact, agreeing to provide military and economic support to each other.
  • The Tripartite Pact, also known as the Three-Power Pact, Axis Pact, Three-way Pact, or Tripartite Treaty, was a pact signed in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1940, which established the Axis Powers of World War II.
  • The pact was signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan.
  • The pact supplemented the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936 and helped heal the rift that had developed between Japan and Germany following the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union.
  • A Japanese propaganda poster promoting the Tripartite Pact between Japan, Germany, and Italy.

• The Cold War Begins

  • The division of the world along US-Soviet lines was reflected in the NATO and Warsaw Pact military alliances, respectively.
  • During the opening stages of World War II, the Soviet Union laid the foundation for the Eastern Bloc by directly annexing several countries as Soviet Socialist Republics that were initially ceded to it by Nazi Germany in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
  • The Soviet Union's alternative to the Marshall plan, which was purported to involve Soviet subsidies and trade with eastern Europe, became known as the Molotov Plan.

• Origins of the Cold War

  • A series of events during and after World War II exacerbated tensions, including the Soviet-German pact during the first two years of the war leading to subsequent invasions, the perceived delay of an amphibious invasion of German-occupied Europe, the western allies' support of the Atlantic Charter, disagreement in wartime conferences over the fate of Eastern Europe, the Soviets' creation of an Eastern Bloc of Soviet satellite states, western allies scrapping the Morgenthau Plan to support the rebuilding of German industry, and the Marshall Plan.
  • Many of these were originally countries effectively ceded to it by Nazi Germany in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, before Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

• The European Theater

  • Although Germany and the Soviet Union were sworn enemies, on August 23, 1939, the Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop signed a non-aggression treaty known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
  • By late March 1941, following Bulgaria's signing of the Tripartite Pact, the Germans were in position to intervene in Greece.
  • The Yugoslav government had signed the Tripartite Pact, only to be overthrown two days later by a British-encouraged coup.

• Yalta's Legacy

  • But at Yalta, Roosevelt and Churchill largely conceded to Stalin's demands to annex the territory which in the Nazi-Soviet Pact he and Hitler had agreed to the Soviet Union controlling, including Kresy, and to carry out Polish population transfers (1944–1946).
  • Following Yalta, when Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov expressed worry that the Yalta Agreement's wording might impede Stalin's plans, Stalin responded "Never mind.