What was the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
Terms of the Pact
Public Agreement:
Secret Protocol: Poland would be divided between them:
Why Did Hitler Agree?
Why Did Stalin Agree?
Consequences
Key Points
✅ Use the pact to explain why WWII started
✅ Link it to appeasement — it showed Hitler that Britain & France were weak
✅ Shows Stalin’s distrust of Western powers
✅ Pact was temporary — Hitler broke it in June 1941 when he invaded the USSR (Operation Barbarossa)
- Also known as: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (named after the Soviet and Nazi foreign ministers)
- Date signed: 23rd August 1939
- Between: Nazi Germany (Hitler) and the Soviet Union (Stalin)
Terms of the Pact
Public Agreement:
- A non-aggression pact: Germany and the USSR agreed not to attack each other.
- Would last for 10 years (though it only lasted 2).
Secret Protocol: Poland would be divided between them:
- Germany: western Poland
- USSR: eastern Poland
- Spheres of influence agreed for Eastern Europe (e.g. Baltic States to USSR)
Why Did Hitler Agree?
- Avoid fighting a war on two fronts (France/UK in the west, USSR in the east)
- Wanted to invade Poland without Soviet interference
- Knew Britain and France had promised to defend Poland, so needed USSR neutral
Why Did Stalin Agree?
- Gave him time to build up the Soviet military
- Didn’t trust Britain/France to stand up to Hitler
- Gained territory in Eastern Europe
- Avoided immediate war with Germany
Consequences
- 1st September 1939: Germany invaded Poland from the west
- 17th September 1939: USSR invaded from the east
- 3rd September 1939: Britain and France declared war on Germany
- Start of World War II
Key Points
✅ Use the pact to explain why WWII started
✅ Link it to appeasement — it showed Hitler that Britain & France were weak
✅ Shows Stalin’s distrust of Western powers
✅ Pact was temporary — Hitler broke it in June 1941 when he invaded the USSR (Operation Barbarossa)
