A Soviet-Nazi Alliance - The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact | BETWEEN 2 WARS I 1939 Part 2 of 3 - YouTube (2)
that their guarantee to Poland is directed solely against Germany.
This has some pretty dark implications.
The Baltic States fear Moscow's territorial ambitions and have no desire to have their
“security” guaranteed by the Soviets, and why would the guarantee for Poland not
be against all enemies?
The French and British are unenthusiastic about such strict terms, and the proposal
makes little headway.
Well, Stalin sacks Litvinov in early May and replace him with Vyacheslav Molotov.
Now, there is a flurry of speculation at the time, which continues to intrigue historians
today, that this is a prelude to Stalin cultivating an alliance with the Nazis.
Litvinov is Jewish and supposedly favours an alliance with the Western powers so maybe
his firing is a goodwill gesture?
The Nazi government certainly seem to think so.
The German press is instructed to cease all polemics against the Soviet Union, and the
German ambassador in Moscow, Friedrich-Werner von der Schulenburg, tells German Foreign
Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, that he believes Stalin desires “an understanding
with the Rome-Berlin Axis”.
But we can't actually definitely say that this is Stalin's intention.
Molotov is perhaps the closest to Stalin, both politically and personally.
And with Stalin wanting to take a much more active role in Soviet foreign policy, the
new Foreign Affairs Commissar can be trusted to follow through on whatever he desires.
Plus the new appointment does not see any immediate change in Soviet policy towards
Germany anyway, despite the latter's repeated efforts to work out a deal – which I'll
come to shortly.
The Anglo-French-Soviet bartering continues throughout the summer.
The Western powers gradually give more and more ground to the Soviet position of an all-out
defensive alliance and eventually agree to formal negotiations.
Talks open in Moscow on August 12, but a hurdle emerges pretty quickly.
Soviet diplomats demand that the Red Army have free passage through Poland and Romania.
This is not a mere strategic demand.
Though there is continual debate on his motivation behind it, Stalin does have clear territorial
ambitions in Eastern Europe.
The most innocent interpretation here is that he wants to create a buffer zone between the
USSR and Germany.
A more cynical interpretation recognises that, although the Soviets are supposedly committed
to “anti-imperialism”, Stalin sees this as his chance to expand his borders and powers
to match the old borders of the Russian Empire and beyond.
But the Allies just aren't willing to let that happen.
The Soviet condition basically means selling out Poland and the Baltic states in the name
of their “security”.
They refuse the demand, the negotiations break down just 9 days after they began.
Looking back 80 years later in hindsight, Poland and the Baltic states were absolutely
right about Stalin's motivations and his territorial ambitions to take their lands
one way or another.
I mean, even at the simplest level, if, for example, Poland is to be a buffer, then you
don't need the Baltics as a buffer.
So why come down on them too, unless you want their territory?
Well, the negotiations also fail because Stalin now has another alternative.
While all this is going on, Germany has also been trying to woo the Soviets.
On June 28, Ambassador Schulenburg meets with Molotov and tells him that Germany not only
wants to normalize relations with the U.S.S.R. but improve them, assuring him that Hitler
has no “Napoleonic” plans in Russia.
Indeterminate backs and forths like this continue throughout July and early August, with both
Ambassador Schulenburg and Foreign Minister Ribbentrop repeating their desire for better
relations.
Molotov and Stalin slowly warm to the idea and finally on August 17, when Anglo-Soviet–French
negotiations are underway, Molotov hands Schulenburg a formal proposal for a non-aggression pact,
along with a “secret protocol”.
Schulenburg pushes for his boss Ribbentrop to be invited to Moscow, and on the 19th,
Molotov agrees that he can the 26th.
But this is not soon enough.
On August 21st, Schulenburg hands Molotov a personal letter from Hitler to Stalin, which
tells him that "The tension between Germany and Poland has become intolerable.
Polish demeanour toward a great power is such that a crisis may arise any day".
Stalin concedes, and Ribbentrop arrives in Moscow on August 23.
Stalin does most of the talking, and matters are soon settled.
Molotov and Ribbentrop sign a non-aggression pact whose first article states that “Both
High Contracting Parties obligate themselves to desist from any act of violence, any aggression,
and any attack on each other either individually or jointly with other powers.”
The announcement shocks the world, and people immediately start asking questions.
Britain and France have been pushing for a treaty for months, what is Hitler offering
that they can't?
Moscow insists that talks with the Western powers failed not because Germany offered
a better deal, but because Britain and France were insincere in their negotiations.
But this is a lie, and observers are right to be fearful.
The agreement is much more than a non-aggression pact, and is instead an alliance for the territorial
division and domination of Eastern Europe.
Appended to the public treaty is a secret protocol defining German and Soviet spheres
of interest “in the event of a territorial and political rearrangement” of Poland and
the Baltic states.
Hitler has given Stalin what the Allies didn't, a free hand in Eastern Europe and the opportunity
to revise its borders for the first time in decades.
And Stalin has given Hitler the final thing he needs to pursue his conquest.
Nothing now stands in his way.
As you'll see in our next episode, the general consensus of the world at large is that without
soviet assistance, which they now have no chance of getting, the Allies have little
chance of saving Poland if Germany invades it.
They have consistently appeased Nazi aggression, not only enabling Hitler to grow and expand,
but also alienating Stalin, who sees their passivity as an active plot to destroy his
Soviet Union.
Their inaction has blown up in their faces.
Hitler's army already finalized invasion plans for Poland back in June, and he is convinced
the West won't fight for Poland alone.
He tells his commanders in a conference on August 22 that “our enemies are tiny little
worms.
I saw them at Munich”.
But what will those worms do?
Is Eastern Europe lost, if so, will its fall inspire France and Britain to action?
In just a few days, those Allies will be forced to make that decision.
If and when Hitler invades, will they live up to their promise to guarantee Polish sovereignty
and be dragged, along with perhaps the entire world, into war?
If you'd like to verify for yourself that Stalin wanted to take over the Baltics, you
click right here to watch that happen in 1940 on our WW2 in real time channel, Our TG Army
member of the week is Andrew Goss, it is because of people like Andrew that we can continue
making content such as this.
Our B2W series is nearly over but we have a series on the Indonesian Revolution coming
up next and many exciting things ahead.
So do the right thing and join the army at Patreon.com or TG.tv to make TimeGhost ever
more the go-to channel for all things history.
And thinking back over everything we've covered today, you may remember what Abraham
Lincoln once said, “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”
