If You Could Just Sign This For Me, Please…

The Non-Aggression Pact of 1939

By: Josh Posante

Preparing For War

• In 1939, Adolph Hitler was preparing for war. (About.com)

• He was hoping to acquire Poland without force. (About.com)

Preparing For War

• Hitler didn’t want another two-front war. (textbook)

• Germany had previously fought a two-front war in WWI. (About.com)

Preparing For War

• Hitler refused to repeat the same mistakes as the ones made in WWI.

• He planned ahead and made a pact with the Soviets.

• August 14, 1939, German foreign minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, to arrange a deal.  (About.com)

Getting Down To Business

• The two foreign ministers met and together arranged two pacts.

• The Economic Agreement & the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. (about.com)

http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/images/highres_30003871%20copy.jpg

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01482/Molotov-Ribbentrop_1482654a.jpg

http://histclo.com/imagef/date/2008/03/65s.jpg

Getting Down To Business

• The Economic Agreement:

• Signed on august 19, 1939

• It committed the Soviet Union to provide food and raw materials to the Germans in exchange for Furnished products such as machinery. (about.com)

Getting Down To Business

• Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact:

• Signed 4 days after the economic agreement on August 23, 1939

• Stated that the Soviet Union and Germany would not attack each other. (about.com)

Getting Down To Business

• This pact appeared to Guarantee the Soviet Union security on the country’s western and Baltic fronts. (WWII encyclopedia)

• If there was ever a problem between the two countries, the plan was for them to resolve it peacefully.

• It was designed to last for 10 years. (about.com)

Shhh…

• In addition to the two agreements, the two countries created a secrete protocol

• For the soviets agreeing to not join this possible future war, Germany gave the Soviets the Baltic states ( Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) (about.com)

Shhh…

• Poland was also to be divided

• These new territories gave the Soviet Union the protection that it needed to feel safe from an invasion from the west. (about.com)

Impacts

• 9/1/1939, Germany attacked Poland while the Soviets just stood by and watched.

• Just a couple days later, Britain declared war on Germany. (about.com)

• WORLD WAR TWO HAS NOW BEGUN

Those 10 Years Sure Flew By Fast!

• Two years later, Germany surprised the Soviet Union with an invasion on the 22nd of June, 1941.

Quiz

• # 1) What two countries was the non-aggression pact between?

• #2) What was the other pact that the two countries arranged at the same time?

• #3) How long did the non-aggression pact take to be broken?

Bibliography

•Textbook: Lapansky-Werner; Roberts, Randy; Levy, Peter; Chavez, John R.; Taylor, Alan; Viola,

Herman; Kinsella, Kate; Feldman, Kevin. United States History; Boston MA; Upper Saddle River, NJ; Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

• WWII Encyclopedia: Russo-German Non-Aggression Pact; Encyclopedia of the Second World War. 1989. Print.

• About.com: http://history1900s.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/nonaggression.htm