Politics
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
The German–Soviet non-aggression pact of 23 August 1939. Its secret protocol divided Poland and Eastern Europe into spheres of influence, opening the way for the German and Soviet invasions of Poland.
The pact was signed in the Kremlin in the night of 23–24 August 1939 by the foreign ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov. A secret additional protocol drew the line between the spheres along the Narew, Vistula and San and assigned Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Bessarabia to the USSR. Hitler could attack Poland without fear of a two-front war; on 17 September the Red Army invaded Poland.
The Treaty of Friendship and Borders of 28 September 1939 moved the line to the Bug and placed Lithuania in the Soviet sphere. In 1940 the USSR occupied the Baltic states and Bessarabia. The pact ended on 22 June 1941, when Germany attacked the USSR. For half a century Moscow denied the secret protocol existed, admitting it only in 1989.
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In the chronicle
(97)97 articles use this term.
1919
1934
1938
1939
- 20 MarchThe German ultimatum to Lithuania
- 31 MarchThe British guarantee to Poland
- 3 AprilFall Weiss
- 17 AprilThe Soviet proposal of an alliance with Britain and France
- 28 AprilHitler renounces the naval agreement and the declaration with Poland
- 11 MayThe Battle of Khalkhin Gol begins
- 11 MayThe Battle of Khalkhin Gol
- 17 MayThe Scandinavian countries reject pacts with Germany
- 22 MayThe Pact of Steel
- 7 JuneGermany's non-aggression pacts with Estonia and Latvia
- 10 JulyChamberlain on Danzig
- 23 AugustThe Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
- 25 AugustThe Anglo-Polish alliance
- 25 AugustHitler halts the attack on Poland
- 1 SeptemberGermany invades Poland
- 1 SeptemberGermany annexes the Free City of Danzig
- 1 SeptemberItaly and the neutral states
- 1 SeptemberBritain prepares for war
- 1 SeptemberOperation Tannenberg
- 1 SeptemberInvasion of Poland
- 2 SeptemberMobilisation in France
- 4 SeptemberJapan stays out of the war in Europe
- 6 SeptemberThe Admiralty introduces convoys
- 6 SeptemberRomania declares neutrality
- 11 SeptemberTurkey and Bulgaria stay neutral
- 15 SeptemberThe encirclement of Warsaw
- 17 SeptemberThe Soviet invasion of Poland
- 17 SeptemberSoviet invasion of Poland
- 18 SeptemberThe escape of Orzeł from Tallinn
- 19 SeptemberGerman and Soviet troops meet
- 24 SeptemberSoviet demands on Estonia
- 28 SeptemberThe German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty
- 28 SeptemberThe Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Pact
- 5 OctoberThe Soviet–Latvian Mutual Assistance Pact
- 10 OctoberThe Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty
- 12 OctoberSoviet demands on Finland
- 20 OctoberThe encyclical Summi Pontificatus
- 26 OctoberThe annexation of Polish lands and the General Government
- 1 NovemberThe USSR annexes eastern Poland
- 13 NovemberFinnish–Soviet talks break down
- 30 NovemberThe Soviet Union invades Finland
- 30 NovemberWinter War
- 7 DecemberScandinavia, Italy and the Winter War
1940
- 11 FebruaryThe German–Soviet commercial agreement
- 12 MarchThe Moscow Peace Treaty
- 29 MarchMolotov on Bessarabia
- 3 AprilThe Katyn massacre
- 25 MayThe USSR accuses Lithuania
- 26 JuneThe Soviet ultimatum to Romania
- 3 AugustThe USSR annexes the Baltic states
- 30 AugustThe Second Vienna Award
- 23 OctoberThe meeting at Hendaye
- 12 NovemberMolotov in Berlin
- 25 NovemberSoviet terms for joining the Tripartite Pact
- 8 DecemberFranco refuses to enter the war
- 18 DecemberDirective No. 21: Operation Barbarossa
1941
- 10 JanuaryThe German–Soviet border and commercial agreement
- 13 AprilThe Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact
- 10 MayThe strike of the 100,000
- 13 MayMihailović on Ravna Gora
- 14 JuneThe June deportation
- 22 JuneGermany invades the Soviet Union
- 22 JuneOperation Barbarossa
- 3 JulyStalin’s speech of 3 July
- 3 JulyThe Summer War in Estonia
- 10 JulyThe Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia
- 13 JulyThe uprising in Montenegro
- 25 AugustAnglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
- 27 SeptemberThe founding of EAM
- 8 DecemberThe Japanese invasion of Thailand