The World between Two Wars: Western Front

The marriage between Germany and the Soviet Union

As Appeasement continued, Joseph Stalin knew that there would be another war in Europe. In 1930 Stalin became more and more concerned that the Soviet Union would be invaded by Germany, so he believed that the best way of dealing with it was forming an anti-fascist alliance with countries in the west. Stalin argued that even Adolf Hitler wouldn´t start a war against a united Europe.

In April 1939 he tried to minimize the risk of his nations, so he called for an anti-fascist alliance between the USSR, Great Britain and France. They thought Hitler wouldn’t be able to invade Poland if taking that action would have meant war with Russia. But this negotiation failed for 3 main reasons: first, because Chamberlain didn’t like and trust Communist Russia; secondly, the Polish government refused to allow Soviet Forces into Poland making it hard for the USSR to counter attack German invasion; and finally, Stalin saw the British and French reactions to the Sudetenland Crisis, and didn´t believed that the western powers would enter into a war if called upon, so he didn’t trust that they would resist Germany.

After this, Stalin knew that war was inevitable but he also knew that his armed forces were not prepared for a big and long conflict at this moment. At the same time, Hitler was planning his invasion of Poland. In August 1939 Ribbentrop visited Moscow for a meeting with Molotov, the newly appointed Soviet Minister for foreign affairs. Ribbentrop proposed a non-aggression pact with the USSR.

Why they signed an agreement if they hated each other?

Because Hitler was sure he wouldn’t make the same mistake of WWII, he knew how difficult it’s to fight in two fronts. Also he wanted to be assured that when Poland was invaded, the Soviet Union would not intervene, thus making the invasion a much easier task and allowing the Wehrmacht to quickly complete the invasion and prepare to deal with the British and French response.

In the other hand Stalin was convinced that war was about to break out. He knew Hitler was lying, but he did not trust the British, so he had two choices: make an alliance with Britain and probably end up fighting a war with Hitler over Poland or make an alliance with Germany and get half of Poland straight away. This option also provided Stalin with time to rearm for a German invasion of the Soviet Union, which he believed was incredibly likely to happen at some point.

The conclusion is that both signed because of a strong fear and because they knew it was convenience and a strategy.

Ribbentrop and Molotov arranged two pacts - the economic agreement and the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.

To the chancellor of the German Reich, Herr A. Hitler.

I thank you for your letter. I hope that the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact will mark a decisive turn for the better in the political relations between our two countries.

J. Stalin^*

The first pact was an economic agreement, which Ribbentrop and Molotov signed on August 19, 1939.The economic agreement committed the Soviet Union to provide food products as well as raw materials to Germany in exchange for furnished products such as machinery from Germany. During the first years of the war, this economic agreement helped Germany bypass the British blockade.

Four days later Nazi-Soviet Pact or Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was signed and Stalin and Hitler agreed not to attack each other or help another party attack the other side. What means that if Germany attacked Poland, then the Soviet Union would not come to its aid. Thus, if Germany went to war against the West (especially France and Great Britain) over Poland, the Soviets were guaranteeing that they would not enter the war; thus not open a second front for Germany.

In addition to this agreement, Ribbentrop and Molotov added a secret protocol concerning the division of various territories. The Baltic States (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia) and Bessarabia were to be part of the Soviet sphere, while Lithuania's claim of Vilna and its surroundings was acknowledged by the Germans. Poland was to be divided between the two countries.

A week after the second agreement was signed, Germany invaded Poland. The Soviet Union took over the eastern part of the country, including western Belorussia and the western Ukraine, while Germany occupied the rest.The central portion, named the General Gouvernement, became a German protectorate, governed by German civil authorities under the autocratic leadership of Hans Frank. In 1940 the Soviets annexed the Baltic States, Bessarabia, and northern Bukovina.

This pact can be call as a marriage of convenience. It was supposed to last for ten years; it lasted for less than two. It came to an end when Hitler broke his promise and invaded Russia in 1940.

The world was shocked when Russia and Germany signed the pact. The British government knew about the Nazi-Soviet negotiations since the beginning but the Pact came as a complete surprise to the British public, who found it hard to believe that communist, Hitler-hating Russia had made an alliance with Nazi, Communist-hating Germany.

For Germany at first it was a good pact, because they need to neutralize the USSR in the conflict with Poland and the real purpose was because Hitler wanted to win their Lebensraum in Russia, stop communism, control of the resources and of all the Jewish people. But after they took the decision to invade Russia, hoping that this time Britain was already forced to capitulate, and underestimating the USSR they crush with the reality they were not good prepared for a war and Britain was. At the end Germany didn´t benefit with the pact, and finished making the mistake they feared: a war on two fronts.

But with Russia is different, they get many benefits from the beginning winning part of Poland and being able to prepare their army for any war, especially a battle with Germany, that is what they were waiting for.

Here are two videos that explain the Nazi-Soviet Pact