Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939

A treaty of August 23, 1939, in which Adolf Hitler's Germany and Josef Stalin's Soviet Union pledged friendship and cooperation as well as to refrain from aggression against each other. The secret protocols of the treaty provided for spheres of influence in Eastern Europe and a pledge by each signatory not to interfere should the other choose to invade and conquer one or more of the states assigned to its influence. The Nazi-Soviet Pact appears to have had two major outcomes: it effectively neutralized the Soviet Union long enough for Germany to attack and defeat Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway, France, and the Low Countries, and it lulled Stalin into complacency and led to his failure to prepare the Soviet Union for the war with Nazi Germany which began in 1941.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.