 
The
Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939
Germany
and Russia agreed to bury the hatchet; they agreed to bury it in Poland.
BBC
TV,
Why Appeasement?
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Links
Basic account
Spartacus
site - good documents
Prof Rempel
on the Nazi-Soviet Pact
Wikipedia - very difficult
From
the British point of view
Russian
interpretation
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A
Shock to the System
On
23 August, 1939, the world was shocked when, suddenly, Russia and Germany
signed a 'Non-aggression Pact'.
People would have been even more shocked if they had
known at the time that, in addition, the two countries had made a number
of a 'secret
protocol' agreeing to
'spheres of influence' in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Poland.
It amounted to an agreement to invade and divide the countries of
eastern Europe between them ... with Poland first on the list.
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Eastern
Europe in 1939. Germany and Russia
invade Poland.
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Source
A
This
British cartoon of 1939 shows Hitler and Stalin.
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What elements indicate that they are allied?
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What
indicates that the alliance is not likely to last?
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What
do the storm clouds in the background symbolise?
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What
does the dead figure between them represent?
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Source
B
This
British cartoon of 1939 shows Hitler and Stalin.
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What elements indicate that they are allied?
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What
indicates that the alliance is not likely to last? |
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Stalin
knew that Hitler’s ultimate aim was to attack Russia.
In 1939, he invited Lord Halifax, the British Foreign Secretary to
go to Russia to discuss an alliance against Germany. Britain refused.
The British feared Russian Communism, and they believed that the
Russian army was too weak to be of any use against Hitler.
In August 1939, with war in Poland looming, the British eventually
sent a minor official called Reginald Ranfurly Plunckett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.
He travelled by slow boat, not by plane.
He did not have authority to make any decisions, and had to refer
every question back to London.
The talks dragged on.
The Russians asked if they could send troops into Poland if Hitler
invaded. The British
refused. The talks
broke down.
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Why
did Anglo-Soviet Talks Fail? [SCAB]
Suspicion
a. Chamberlain did
not trust Stalin, who was a Communist and a dictator.
In particular, he would not ever have allowed Russia to control
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
b. The Russians
thought Britain wanted to trick them into war against Germany.
c. Poland did not
trust that the Russians (who wanted to send troops into Poland), once
in, would ever leave.
Choice
a. Britain could not
send troops to fight in Poland, so if Stalin supported Britain, he would
end up fighting a war in Poland on Britain’s behalf.
b. On the other
hand, Hitler was promising him peace, half of Poland and a 'sphere of
influence' over eastern Europe.
Appeasement
After
Munich, Stalin was convinced that Britain would break its promise to
Poland. He was
convinced that Britain would leave Russia fighting Hitler alone.
Britain
delayed
a.
At first, Lord Halifax
refused Stalin’s offer of a meeting.
b.
When the British sent an
official, he could not make any decisions.
Stalin got fed up with British delay.
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In
August 1939, Hitler sent Ribbentrop, a senior Nazi, to Russia.
He offered a Nazi-Soviet alliance – Russia and Germany would not
go to war, but would divide Poland between them.
Stalin
knew Hitler was lying, but he did not trust the British either – the
Munich Agreement had convinced him that Britain and France would never
dare to go to war with Hitler.
Stalin had two choices:
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if he made an alliance with Britain, he would end up
fighting a war with Hitler over Poland.
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if he made an alliance with Germany, he would get half of
Poland, and time to prepare for the coming war with Germany.
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He
chose the latter. On 23
August 1939, he signed the Pact with Hitler.
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Why
did the Nazi-Soviet Pact Happen? [THUG]
Time
to prepare for war
Stalin
said: ‘We got peace for our country for 18 months, which let us make
military preparations’.
Hope
to gain
‘Stalin
was sure that Russia could only gain from a long war in which Britain,
France and Germany exhausted themselves.’
Unhappy
with Britain
Stalin
was insulted by Britain’s slowness to negotiate, and did not trust
Britain. When the
Anglo-Soviet alliance failed [SCAB], he turned to Germany.
Germany
Hitler
wanted the alliance because only Russia could keep Britain’s promise
to defend Poland. He believed that, if he got a promise of peace with
Russia, Britain would be forced to back down over Poland and Danzig.
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Extra:
1. Write
an essay: ‘Why
did Stalin make a Pact with Hitler rather than an Alliance with Britain?’
Your essay will have
TWO sections, each of FOUR paragraphs, each paragraph having a Point, some Evidence
to support it, then an Explanation of how this worked so that Stalin made the
alliance with Hitler rather than Britain.
The FIRST
section will deal - in FOUR paragraphs - with the four reasons that
the Anglo-Soviet talks failed.
The
SECOND section will deal - in FOUR paragraphs - with the four reasons
that the Nazi-Soviet talks succeeded.
2.
Why was the world so surprised by the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
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