Documentary Analysis: Secret Supplementary Protocols of the Molotov Ribbentrop Non-

Aggression Pact, 1939

The Molotov-Ribbentrop (Non-Aggression Pact) was concluded on 23rd August 1939 between
Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia and was signed by the German and Soviet Foreign Ministers
Ribbentrop and V.M. Molotov, respectively. The 'Secret Supplementary Protocols' that the Pact
contained were intended for official use only by the Foreign Ministry of both governments and
were out of access to the general public. By this time, i.e. August 1945, the 'Great Depression'
(1930) and the resultant economic and political turmoil eventually led to the rise of dictatorship
in Germany, Italy and Japan. By emerging to the political forefront, Hitler had formed alliances
with other right-wing regimes in Italy and Japan and had a firm conviction to avenge the Treaty
of Versailles (1919) imposed upon Germany after the First World War. To pursue this aim of
challenging the terms of the Treaty, Hitler first set out to rearm Germany in 1933, in defiance of
the Treaty that had called for her disarmament. Later, in 1936, Hitler again contravened the
Treaty by sending troops to the Rhineland. This zone was to remain permanently demilitarized
and to be occupied by the Allied Powers for at least ten years. Also, in 1936, the Spanish Civil
War became a 'proxy' war for both the USSR and Germany since both countries were found to be
on opposing sides, i.e. Germany supported the Nationalists, while the USSR sided with the
Republicans, thus taking their rivalry to another peak. The 'Munich Agreement' (1938) failed
when Hitler gave up on his promise to respect the territorial integrity of the rest of
Czechoslovakia as long as he could have his wanted share of Sudetenland. Instead, he launched
an invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. However, the negotiations failed and marked the
end of the 'appeasement' policy when Hitler went against his words and invaded the rest of
Czechoslovakia.
The Pact sheds light upon the 'Secret Supplementary Protocols' signed between the German and
the Soviet Foreign Ministry. The first secret Protocol (signed on 23rd August 1939) pertained to
the "issue of delimiting the spheres of mutual interest in Eastern Europe" between Nazi Germany
and Soviet Russia. It outlined several key points related to this: firstly, Poland was to be divided
between Germany and Russia "along the Pisa, Narew, Vistula, and San rivers" and questions
regarding the independence and autonomy of the "Polish state" and "what the borders of that
state will be" would depend on the "course of future political development"; secondly, the Baltic
states encompassing Finland, Estonia, and Latvia (these were granted independence in the 1917
Russian Revolution but were later ceded to Germany in the Treaty of Brest Litovsk) were
assigned to the Soviet sphere, and Lithuania was recognized as a sphere of interest by both
countries; thirdly, in south-eastern Europe, Bessarabia was declared as the USSR's sphere of
interest and "complete political disinterest" was shown for it by Hitler; lastly, an emphasis was
placed upon maintaining "strict secrecy by both sides". Moreover, in the third secret Protocol
signed on 10th January 1941 by Count Friedrich Werner von Schulenberg (German Ambassador)
and Molotov (USSR's Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars), Germany gave up its
rights to a piece of Lithuania in exchange for a Soviet payment of 7,500,000 gold dollars or
31,500,000 German marks. About one-eighth of the payment by the USSR would be made "in
deliveries of nonferrous metals over a three-month period", and the remaining seven-eighths of it
would be done "through deductions from German payments of gold that the German side has to
make". Furthermore, in another secret Protocol (signed on 28th September 1939), both the
German and Russian governments undertook the commitment not to "impede" citizens of one
country (i.e. either Germany or Russia) or other people sharing that particular country's ancestry
"should they desire to move to" the other country (i.e. either Germany or Russia) or to its
"spheres of interest" to ensure that the "property rights of the resettled persons will not be
infringed". This clause would apply to both the citizens of "German" as well as "Ukrainian" or
"Belorussian ancestry". In addition to that, another secret Protocol (signed on 28th September
1939) redefined the borders of Lithuania, whereby it stated that the "territory of the Lithuanian
state" would be included as part of the "sphere of interest of the USSR", whereas the "Lublin
voivodeship and parts of Warsaw voivodeship" and the "Lithuanian territory that lies southwest
of the line" would be counted to be in the "sphere of interest of Germany". Apart from that, the
Protocol also mentions that the economic agreements drawn between Germany and Lithuania,
which are "now in force", would remain and "must not be broken". On top of that, the last secret
Protocol mentions that neither of the sides would allow "any sort of Polish agitation affecting the
territory of the other country" but will instead "abort such agitation" on their own and "inform
each other" to effectively "accomplish" it.
Analyzing all of the secret Protocols, it can be easily ascertained that the USSR had been
suffering from intense fear and paranoia from Germany, and most of the clauses of the secret
Protocols highlight this fear. A range of factors could substantiate this: Hitler's strong resentment
for communism and the harsh treatment he had inflicted upon the communists in Nazi Germany,
the inability of Stalin to reach any lasting agreement with Britain and France in the 1930s, the
powerlessness of the League of Nations in front of Mussolini's aggression in Abyssinia and the
emergence of the Spanish Civil War despite the existence of the League, and lastly, the recent
Munich Agreement (1938) that raised Stalin's concerns about the hypocrisy of the Allied Powers
(who didn't consult Stalin during the negotiations and gave in to the 'appeasement' policy) and
their helplessness in front of Hitler. Considering these clauses in the wider context, it can be
deciphered that Hitler was using the Pact as a way to launch an invasion of Poland. For E.g. the
fact Pact mentions that the "borders of the state" would depend upon the "course of future
political development", meaning that the German state was free to pursue its interests there, and
there was could be no questioning by the other party. Additionally, the fact that the Pact
emphasized the need to maintain "strict secrecy" also implies that it allowed both parties to
further their national and strategic interests. Lastly, the last clause of the Protocol that deals with
countering Polish agitation and informing the other country about it also ties in with how Hitler
plans to take over Poland and avert any Polish uprising or dissent. This was because Hitler had a
sense that since the Polish people weren’t consulted in any of the negotiations or Pacts, it was
inevitable that they would eventually revolt. Hitler's obsession with the notion of 'lebensraum'
(living space) and his firm conviction that this could only be attained eastwards (towards Russia)
also fed into his desire to control Poland. The Pact cleared the way for Hitler to invade Poland.
On 1st September 1939, he eventually launched an invasion of Poland, where he was met with
little resistance, and in response to which Britain and France declared war on Germany.