When was the non aggression pact

The treaty, which required Germany to make numerous concessions and reparations, was highly unpopular with Hitler and his Nazi Party. It also seemed that Hitler was planning to strike next against its neighbor Poland. The British and French also stepped up diplomatic engagement with the Soviet Union , trying to draw it closer by trade and other agreements to make Hitler see he would also have to face Joseph Stalin if he invaded Poland. But Hitler already knew the Soviets would not stand by if he tried to occupy Poland—an act that would extend the border of Germany right up to the Soviet Union.

It was clear during the tense spring and summer of that little, if anything, could be taken for granted. Through the spring and summer of , Hitler stepped up his demands on the Polish government in Warsaw, and pushed for allowing Germany to reclaim the port city of Danzig a former German city internationalized by the Treaty of Versailles.

Hitler also wanted to put a stop to the alleged mistreatment of Germans living in the western regions of Poland. At the same time, he advanced his plans for attacking Poland in August if his demands were not met. To avoid such a scenario, Hitler had cautiously begun exploring the possibility of a thaw in relations with Stalin.

Several brief diplomatic exchanges in May fizzled by the next month. If Hitler sent his foreign minister to Moscow for a vitally important discussion, would Stalin receive him? Stalin said yes. He was soon inside the Kremlin, face-to-face with Stalin and Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov , who had been working with von Ribbentrop to negotiate an agreement.

The Soviet minister is also the namesake for the incendiary device known as a Molotov cocktail. Ribbentrop carried a proposal from Hitler that both countries commit to a nonaggression pact that would last years. Stalin replied that 10 years would be sufficient. The proposal also stipulated that neither country would aid any third party that attacked either signatory. Finally, the proposal contained a secret protocol specifying the spheres of influence in Eastern Europe both parties would accept after Hitler conquered Poland.

The Agreement shall enter into force as soon as it is signed. In the event of a territorial and political rearrangement in the areas belonging to the Baltic States Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania , the northern boundary of Lithuania shall represent the boundary of the spheres of influence of Germany and U.

In this connection the interest of Lithuania in the Vilna area is recognized by each party. In the event of a territorial and political rearrangement of the areas belonging to the Polish state, the spheres of influence of Germany and the U. The question of whether the interests of both parties make desirable the maintenance of an independent Polish States and how such a state should be bounded can only be definitely determined in the course of further political developments.

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