The Nazi-Soviet Pact

Background Information When the war ended Europe saw major economic depression, and from this there emerged 5 major powers. (USSR, Italy, France, Britain and the Soviet Union) All plans for peace failed because selfish nationalism came before internationalism and Hitler was determined to take over. Hitler took advantage of Britain’s policy of appeasement so by early 1939 another world war seemed inevitable. The Nazi-Soviet Pact could have tipped the balance.

What did Hitler Want? After the destruction of Czechoslovakia, it was clear that Poland was Hitler’s next target. Hitler had obvious claims on parts of Poland that Germany had lost in the Treaty of Versailles. He wanted these back. Despite all this the Poles enjoyed a friendly relationship with Hitler, and at first they found it hard to take his threats seriously. They tried to keep away from both Germany and the Soviet Union. Hitler could not be sure the Soviet Union would allow this, so he needed a truce.

Britain’s Promise Britain made a guarantee to preserve the independence of Poland which lulled them into a false sense of security, where in fact there was a large chance of German invasion. Discussions between the UK, France and the Soviet Union took place in August 1939 but collapsed because of distrust between the two sides and the Poles would not let Soviet troops enter their land in advance of a German invasion. The Soviet Union thought Britain and France would be happy to sit back and watch them fight their war. They were wrong.

The terms of the pact On the 23 rd of August 1939 the foreign ministers of Germany and the Soviet union met in. They agreed a non-aggression pact. In secret they also had agreed to divide Poland up between themselves. Fascist Germany and communist Soviet union gave every appearance of being bitter enemies. Nobody thought that this made any difference to their mutual hatred, so why did they agree to sign the pact? This was probably some tactical thinking by Hitler to gain Poland, and then to attack the Soviets.

What was the importance of the pact? The pact fulfilled what Hitler had wanted it to do, leave Britain and France to fight alone. When Britain signed the pact with Poland Hitler almost had second thoughts as he did not think they would go to war over Poland. This time they could not back down in the face of Nazi aggression. If they did it would signal to the world that they were no longer a major power and unlike in 1938, because of re-armament, Britain would be ready for war. It only took a few days for Hitler to regain his nerve, and he ordered Poland be invaded by the 1 st of September. When he finally ignored Britain’s ultimatum to call off the attack they declared war on the 3 rd of September. Within 3 weeks, due to the Blitzkrieg, Poland had been defeated. Soviet forces then attacked from the east.

Advantages For Germany: I can invade Poland without the worry of the Soviet Union. I will achieve what I want in terms of foreign policy. There will be no alliance between the Soviet Union and Britain to prevent me carrying out my plans. For the Soviet Union: We will not be drawn into a war with Germany. We will not have to ally with Britain. We will also regain land lost in wars in the 1920’s. This gives me time to regroup my armies for the eventual war with Germany.

Thank You For Listening!