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German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
By the early part of 1939 the German dictator Adolf Hitler had become determined to invade and occupy Poland. Poland, for its part, had guarantees of French and British military support should it be attacked by Germany. Hitler intended to invade Poland anyway, but first he had to neutralize the possibility that the Soviet Union would resist the invasion of its western neighbour. Secret negotiations led on August 23–24 to the signing of the <anchor>German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact</anchor> in Moscow. In a secret protocol of this pact, the Germans and the Soviets agreed that Poland should be divided between them, with the western third of the country going to Germany and the eastern two-thirds being taken over by the U.S.S.R.
German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact | History, Facts, & Significance | Britannica
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[German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact](https://www.britannica.com/event/German-Soviet-Nonaggression-Pact)

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[References & Edit History](https://www.britannica.com/event/German-Soviet-Nonaggression-Pact/additional-info) [Quick Facts & Related Topics](/facts/German-Soviet-Nonaggression-Pact)

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[![Joachim von Ribbentrop](https://cdn.britannica.com/20/134320-004-89969A8B/Joachim-von-Ribbentrop.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/20/134320-050-90A86C29/Joachim-von-Ribbentrop.jpg)[![Vyacheslav Molotov](https://cdn.britannica.com/41/9941-004-A2D15023/Molotov.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/41/9941-004-A2D15023/Molotov.jpg)[![Operation Barbarossa: Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union](https://cdn.britannica.com/30/180230-138-7C5FFA4C/Germany-Operation-Barbarossa-Soviet-Union-June-22-1941.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)](/video/180230/Germany-Operation-Barbarossa-Soviet-Union-June-22-1941)[![Learn how the nonaggression pact between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union sealed Poland's fate before World War II](https://cdn.britannica.com/68/22968-138-F054AF68/Vyacheslav-Molotov-Soviet-Joachim-von-Ribbentrop-German-August-1939.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)](/video/22968/Vyacheslav-Molotov-Soviet-Joachim-von-Ribbentrop-German-August-1939)

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# German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

Germany-Soviet Union \[1939\]



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- [Seventeen Moments in Soviet History - Molotov on the Meaning of the Soviet-German Pact](https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1939-2/soviet-territorial-annexations/soviet-territorial-annexations-texts/molotov-on-the-meaning-of-the-soviet-german-pact/)
- [Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine - Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact](https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CM%5CO%5CMolotov6RibbentropPact.htm)
- [S-Space - The Origins of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 1939](https://s-space.snu.ac.kr/bitstream/10371/88002/1/8.%201939%EB%85%84%20%EB%8F%85-%EC%86%8C%20%EB%B6%88%EA%B0%80%EC%B9%A8%20%EC%A1%B0%EC%95%BD%EC%9D%98%20%EA%B8%B0%EC%9B%90.pdf)
- [HistoryNet - Why Did Hitler and Stalin Form the Notorious 'Nazi-Soviet Pact' of 1939?](https://www.historynet.com/devils-agreement/)
- [United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Holocaust Encyclopedia - German-Soviet Pact](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/german-soviet-pact)
- [Western Carolina University - The Effects of the 1939 German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact](https://affiliate.wcu.edu/tuckasegeevalleyhistoricalreview/spring-2020/friends-of-necessity-the-effects-of-the-1939-german-soviet-nonaggression-pact/)
- [Jewish Virtual Library - The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-molotov-ribbentrop-pact-august-1939)

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- [Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine - Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact](https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CM%5CO%5CMolotov6RibbentropPact.htm)
- [S-Space - The Origins of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 1939](https://s-space.snu.ac.kr/bitstream/10371/88002/1/8.%201939%EB%85%84%20%EB%8F%85-%EC%86%8C%20%EB%B6%88%EA%B0%80%EC%B9%A8%20%EC%A1%B0%EC%95%BD%EC%9D%98%20%EA%B8%B0%EC%9B%90.pdf)
- [HistoryNet - Why Did Hitler and Stalin Form the Notorious 'Nazi-Soviet Pact' of 1939?](https://www.historynet.com/devils-agreement/)
- [United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Holocaust Encyclopedia - German-Soviet Pact](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/german-soviet-pact)
- [Western Carolina University - The Effects of the 1939 German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact](https://affiliate.wcu.edu/tuckasegeevalleyhistoricalreview/spring-2020/friends-of-necessity-the-effects-of-the-1939-german-soviet-nonaggression-pact/)
- [Jewish Virtual Library - The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-molotov-ribbentrop-pact-august-1939)

Also known as: German-Soviet Treaty of Nonaggression, Hitler-Stalin Pact, Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact


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Table of Contents


[![Joachim von Ribbentrop](https://cdn.britannica.com/20/134320-050-90A86C29/Joachim-von-Ribbentrop.jpg?w=400&h=300&c=crop)](https://cdn.britannica.com/20/134320-050-90A86C29/Joachim-von-Ribbentrop.jpg)

Joachim von Ribbentrop

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Also called: Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, German-Soviet Treaty of Nonaggression, Hitler-Stalin Pact, and Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact_(Show more)_

Date: August 23, 1939 _(Show more)_

Participants: [Third Reich](/place/Third-Reich)[Soviet Union](/place/Soviet-Union)_(Show more)_

Context: [World War II](/event/World-War-II)_(Show more)_

Key People: [Adolf Hitler](/biography/Adolf-Hitler)[Vyacheslav Molotov](/biography/Vyacheslav-Molotov)[Joachim von Ribbentrop](/biography/Joachim-von-Ribbentrop)[Joseph Stalin](/biography/Joseph-Stalin)_(Show more)_

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**German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact**, (August 23, 1939), nonaggression pact between [Germany](https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Germany) and the [Soviet Union](https://www.britannica.com/place/Soviet-Union) that was concluded only a few days before the beginning of [World War II](https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II) and which divided eastern Europe into German and Soviet [spheres of influence](https://www.britannica.com/topic/sphere-of-influence).

[![](https://cdn.britannica.com/41/9941-004-A2D15023/Molotov.jpg?w=300)](https://cdn.britannica.com/41/9941-004-A2D15023/Molotov.jpg)

[Vyacheslav Molotov](https://cdn.britannica.com/41/9941-004-A2D15023/Molotov.jpg)(more)

The Soviet Union had been unable to reach a [collective-security](https://www.britannica.com/topic/collective-security) agreement with Britain and France against [Nazi Germany](https://www.britannica.com/place/Third-Reich), most notably at the time of the [Munich Conference](https://www.britannica.com/event/Munich-Agreement) in September 1938. By early 1939 the Soviets faced the prospect of resisting German military expansion in eastern Europe virtually alone, and so they began searching about for a change of policy. On May 3, 1939, Soviet leader [Joseph Stalin](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Stalin) fired Foreign Minister [Maksim Litvinov](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maksim-Litvinov), who was Jewish and an advocate of [collective security](https://www.britannica.com/topic/collective-security), and replaced him with [Vyacheslav Molotov](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vyacheslav-Molotov), who soon began negotiations with the Nazi foreign minister, [Joachim von Ribbentrop](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joachim-von-Ribbentrop). The Soviets also kept negotiating with Britain and France, but in the end Stalin chose to reach an agreement with Germany. By doing so he hoped to keep the Soviet Union at peace with Germany and to gain time to build up the Soviet military establishment, which had been badly weakened by the purge of the [Red Army](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Red-Army) officer [corps](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/corps) in 1937. The Western democracies’ hesitance in opposing [Adolf Hitler](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler), along with Stalin’s own inexplicable personal preference for the Nazis, also played a part in Stalin’s final choice. For his part, Hitler wanted a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union so that his armies could invade [Poland](https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Poland) virtually unopposed by a major power, after which Germany could deal with the forces of France and Britain in the west without having to simultaneously fight the Soviet Union on a second front in the east. The end result of the German-Soviet negotiations was the Nonaggression Pact, which was dated August 23 and was signed by Ribbentrop and Molotov in the presence of Stalin, in [Moscow](https://www.britannica.com/place/Moscow).

The terms of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact were briefly as follows: the two countries agreed not to attack each other, either independently or in conjunction with other powers; not to support any third power that might attack the other party to the pact; to remain in consultation with each other upon questions touching their common interests; not to join any group of powers directly or indirectly threatening one of the two parties; to solve all differences between the two by negotiation or arbitration. The pact was to last for 10 years, with automatic extension for another 5 years unless either party gave notice to terminate it 1 year before its expiration.

To this public pact of nonaggression was appended a secret [protocol](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/protocol), also reached on August 23, 1939, which divided the whole of eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. Poland east of the line formed by the Narew, Vistula, and San rivers would fall under the Soviet sphere of influence. The protocol also assigned [Lithuania](https://www.britannica.com/place/Lithuania), [Latvia](https://www.britannica.com/place/Latvia), [Estonia](https://www.britannica.com/place/Estonia), and [Finland](https://www.britannica.com/place/Finland) to the Soviet sphere of influence and, further, broached the subject of the separation of Bessarabia from [Romania](https://www.britannica.com/place/Romania). A secret supplementary protocol (signed September 28, 1939) clarified the Lithuanian borders. The Polish-German border was also determined, and [Bessarabia](https://www.britannica.com/place/Bessarabia) was assigned to the Soviet sphere of influence. In a third secret protocol (signed January 10, 1941, by Count Friedrich Werner von Schulenberg and Molotov), Germany [renounced](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/renounced) its claims to portions of Lithuania in return for Soviet payment of a sum agreed upon by the two countries.

[![Operation Barbarossa: Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union](https://cdn.britannica.com/30/180230-138-7C5FFA4C/Germany-Operation-Barbarossa-Soviet-Union-June-22-1941.jpg?w=800&h=450&c=crop)](/video/180230/Germany-Operation-Barbarossa-Soviet-Union-June-22-1941)

Operation Barbarossa: Germany's invasion of the Soviet UnionNazi Germany invading the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, June 22, 1941.(more)

[See all videos for this article](/event/German-Soviet-Nonaggression-Pact/images-videos)

[![Learn how the nonaggression pact between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union sealed Poland's fate before World War II](https://cdn.britannica.com/68/22968-138-F054AF68/Vyacheslav-Molotov-Soviet-Joachim-von-Ribbentrop-German-August-1939.jpg?w=800&h=450&c=crop)](/video/22968/Vyacheslav-Molotov-Soviet-Joachim-von-Ribbentrop-German-August-1939)

Learn how the nonaggression pact between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union sealed Poland's fate before World War IISoviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, having negotiated the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of August 1939, being greeted by German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and other officials in Berlin. From “The Second World War: Prelude to Conflict” (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.(more)

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The public German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact caused consternation in the capitals of Britain and France. After Germany invaded Poland from the west on September 1, 1939, Soviet troops invaded Poland from the east on September 17, meeting the advancing Germans near [Brest-Litovsk](https://www.britannica.com/place/Brest-Belarus) two days later. The partition of Poland was effected on September 29, at which time the dividing line between German and Soviet territory was changed in Germany’s favour, being moved eastward to the [Bug River](https://www.britannica.com/place/Bug-River) (i.e., the current Polish-Soviet frontier). The Soviets soon afterward sought to consolidate their sphere of influence as a defensive barrier to renewed German aggression in the east. Accordingly, the Soviet Union attacked [Finland](https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Finland) on November 30 and forced it in March 1940 to yield the [Isthmus of Karelia](https://www.britannica.com/place/Karelian-Isthmus) and make other [concessions](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concessions). The Baltic republics of [Latvia](https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Latvia), [Lithuania](https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Lithuania), and [Estonia](https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Estonia) were annexed by the Soviet Union and were organized as Soviet republics in August 1940. The Nonaggression Pact became a dead letter on June 22, 1941, when Nazi Germany, after having invaded much of western and central Europe, attacked the Soviet Union without warning in [Operation Barbarossa](https://www.britannica.com/event/Operation-Barbarossa).

The Soviet Union’s borders with Poland and Romania that were established after World War II roughly follow those established by the Nonaggression Pact in 1939–41. Until 1989 the Soviet Union denied the existence of the secret [protocols](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/protocols) because they were considered evidence of its involuntary [annexation](https://www.britannica.com/topic/annexation) of the [Baltic states](https://www.britannica.com/place/Baltic-states). Soviet leaders were initially unwilling to restore prewar boundaries, but the transformations occurring within the Soviet Union in the early 1990s made it virtually impossible for Soviet leaders to combat declarations of independence from the Baltic states in 1991.

[The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica](/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419)This article was most recently revised and updated by [Amy Tikkanen](/editor/Amy-Tikkanen/6393).