Timeline of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
Encyclopedia
The timeline of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact is a chronology of events, including Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact negotiations, leading up to, culminating in, and resulting from the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The Treaty of Non-Aggression between the Nazi Germany
and the Soviet Union
was signed in the early hours of August 24, 1939, but was dated August 23.
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was signed in the early hours of August 24, 1939, but was dated August 23.
Prelude
- 7 November 1917: Bolshevik revolution breaks out in RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, following the Russian civil warRussian Civil WarThe Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. - 3 March 1918: The peace treaty of Brest-LitovskTreaty of Brest-LitovskThe Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918, mediated by South African Andrik Fuller, at Brest-Litovsk between Russia and the Central Powers, headed by Germany, marking Russia's exit from World War I.While the treaty was practically obsolete before the end of the year,...
between the Russian SFSR and the Central PowersCentral PowersThe Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
. - 11 November 1918: The armisticeArmistice with Germany (Compiègne)The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
between the Allies and GermanyGerman EmpireThe German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
ends the First World WarWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
on the Western FrontWestern Front (World War I)Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
. After Germany's collapse, BritishUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and JapaneseJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
troops intervened in the Russian civil war. - 28 June 1919: The Treaty of VersaillesTreaty of VersaillesThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
formally ends the First World War. - 16 April 1922: The Treaty of RapalloTreaty of Rapallo, 1922The Treaty of Rapallo was an agreement signed at the Hotel Imperiale in the Italian town of Rapallo on 16 April, 1922 between Germany and Soviet Russia under which each renounced all territorial and financial claims against the other following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and World War I.The two...
between GermanyWeimar RepublicThe Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
and Soviet RussiaRussian Soviet Federative Socialist RepublicThe Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
renounced all territorial and financial claims against the other. A secret annex allowed Germany to train its military in the Soviet territory. - 21 January 1924: The Soviet leader Vladimir LeninVladimir LeninVladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
dies. Within few years Joseph StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
gains full power. - 24 April 1926: The Treaty of Berlin between the Soviet Union and Germany signed, guaranteed neutrality in the event of an attack on the other by a third party. A renewal was signed in 1931, ratified in 1933.
- 28 September 1926: The Soviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression PactSoviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression PactSoviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact was a non-aggression pact, signed between the Soviet Union and Lithuania on September 28, 1926. The pact confirmed all basic provisions of the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty of 1920...
signed. - 21 January 1932: The Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact signed.
- 5 February 1932: The Soviet–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact signed.
- 4 May 1932: The Soviet–Estonian Non-Aggression PactSoviet–Estonian Non-Aggression PactSoviet–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact was a non-aggression pact, signed between the Soviet Union and Estonia on May 4th, 1932....
signed. - 25 July 1932: The Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact signed.
- 30 January 1933: Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
came to powerMachtergreifungMachtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
. - 26 January 1934: The German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact signed.
- 2 May 1935: The Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual AssistanceFranco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual AssistanceThe Franco–Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance was a bilateral pact between the two countries with the aim of containing Nazi Germany's aggression in 1935. It was pursued by Louis Barthou, who was the French Foreign Minister but he was assassinated before negotiations were finished...
signed. - 18 June 1935: The Anglo-German Naval AgreementAnglo-German Naval AgreementThe Anglo-German Naval Agreement of June 18, 1935 was a bilateral agreement between the United Kingdom and German Reich regulating the size of the Kriegsmarine in relation to the Royal Navy. The A.G.N.A fixed a ratio whereby the total tonnage of the Kriegsmarine was to be 35% of the total tonnage...
signed. - 17 July 1936: The Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil WarThe Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
breaks out. The Soviet Union and Mexico supports RepublicansSecond Spanish RepublicThe Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
; Germany and Italy supports Nationalists. - 25 November 1936: The Anti-Comintern PactAnti-Comintern PactThe Anti-Comintern Pact was an Anti-Communist pact concluded between Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan on November 25, 1936 and was directed against the Communist International ....
signed between Nazi Germany and Empire of JapanEmpire of JapanThe Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
. The pact was against the Communist International in general, and the Soviet Union in particular. - 29 September 1938: The Munich AgreementMunich AgreementThe Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
permits German annexation of CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
's SudetenlandSudetenlandSudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
. - 15–16 March 1939: Germany invades Czechoslovakia; the Protectorate of Bohemia and MoraviaProtectorate of Bohemia and MoraviaThe Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was the majority ethnic-Czech protectorate which Nazi Germany established in the central parts of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia in what is today the Czech Republic...
was established. - 1 April 1939: The Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil WarThe Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
ends to victory of German-Italian supported Francisco FrancoFrancisco FrancoFrancisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
.
Diplomacy in 1939
- 10 March 1939: Stalin's speech to the Eighteenth Party Congress18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (b)The 18th Congress of the Russian Communist Party was held during 10-21 March 1939 in Moscow. This is the first Congress to be dominated by the "purified" leadership of the Soviet Union after the Great Purge...
. - March 1939: Tripartite talks begin between the Soviet Union, United Kingdom and France.
- 31 March 1939: United Kingdom and France offer guarantees the independence of Poland, Belgium, Roumania, Greece, and Turkey.
- 28 April 1939: Hitler denounces the 1934 German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact and the 1935 Anglo-German Naval AgreementAnglo-German Naval AgreementThe Anglo-German Naval Agreement of June 18, 1935 was a bilateral agreement between the United Kingdom and German Reich regulating the size of the Kriegsmarine in relation to the Royal Navy. The A.G.N.A fixed a ratio whereby the total tonnage of the Kriegsmarine was to be 35% of the total tonnage...
. - 3 May 1939: Stalin replaces Foreign Minister Maxim LitvinovMaxim LitvinovMaxim Maximovich Litvinov was a Russian revolutionary and prominent Soviet diplomat.- Early life and first exile :...
with Vyacheslav MolotovVyacheslav MolotovVyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
. - 22 May 1939: The Pact of SteelPact of SteelThe Pact of Steel , known formally as the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy, was an agreement between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany signed on May 22, 1939, by the foreign ministers of each country and witnessed by Count Galeazzo Ciano for Italy and Joachim von Ribbentrop...
(the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy) signed. - 7 June 1939: The German–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact and the German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact signed.
- 19 August 1939: The German–Soviet Commercial Agreement signed.
- 23/24 August 1939: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact signed.
Aftermath
- 25 August 1939: The Anglo-Polish military alliance signed.
- 1 September 1939: Germany invades PolandInvasion of Poland (1939)The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
. - 3 September 1939: United Kingdom and France declare war on Germany
- 17 September 1939: The Soviet Union invades PolandSoviet invasion of PolandSoviet invasion of Poland can refer to:* the second phase of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 when Soviet armies marched on Warsaw, Poland* Soviet invasion of Poland of 1939 when Soviet Union allied with Nazi Germany attacked Second Polish Republic...
. - 28 September 1939: The German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation signed.
- 29 September 1939: The Soviet–Estonian mutual assistance pact signed.
- 5 October 1939: The Soviet–Latvian mutual assistance pact signed.
- 10 October 1939: The Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance TreatySoviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance TreatyThe Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty was a bilateral treaty signed between the Soviet Union and Lithuania on October 10, 1939. According to provisions outlined in the treaty, Lithuania would acquire about one fifth of the Vilnius Region, including Lithuania's historical capital, Vilnius,...
signed. - 30 November 1939: The Soviets troops assault Finland, starting the Winter WarWinter WarThe Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
, lasting 105 days. - 12 March 1940: The Moscow Peace Treaty between the Soviet Union and Finland signed.
- June–August 1940: The Soviet Union occupies and annex the Baltic states.
- 28 June 1940: The Soviet Union occupies Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina.
- 27 September 1940: The Tripartite PactTripartite PactThe Tripartite Pact, also the Three-Power Pact, Axis Pact, Three-way Pact or Tripartite Treaty was a pact signed in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1940, which established the Axis Powers of World War II...
of Germany, Italy and Japan signed. - 12–15 November 1940: Molotov's visit to Berlin.
- 13 April 1941: The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact signed.
- 22 June 1941: Germany assaults the Soviet UnionOperation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
.