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German–Soviet Axis talks

April 21, 2023

German–Soviet Axis talks occurred in October and November 1940 concerning the Soviet Union's potential entry as a fourth Axis Power during World War II. The negotiations, which occurred during the era of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, included a two-day conference in Berlin between Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and Adolf Hitler and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. The talks were followed by both countries trading written proposed agreements.

Joachim von Ribbentrop welcoming Vyacheslav Molotov in Berlin, November 1940

After two days of negotiations from 12 to 14 November 1940, Germany presented the Soviets with a draft written Axis pact agreement that defined the world spheres of influence of the four proposed Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan and the Soviet Union).[1] Hitler, Ribbentrop and Molotov tried to set German and Soviet spheres of influence. Hitler encouraged Molotov to look south to Iran and eventually India, to preserve German access to Finland's resources and to remove Soviet influence in the Balkans.[2]

Molotov remained firm and sought to remove German troops from Finland and gain a warm water port in the Baltic. Soviet foreign policy calculations were predicated by the idea that the war would be a long-term struggle and so German claims that the United Kingdom would be defeated swiftly were treated with skepticism.[3] In addition, Stalin sought to remain influential in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Those factors resulted in Molotov taking a firm line.[2]

According to a study by Alexander Nekrich, on 25 November 1940, the Soviets presented a Stalin-drafted written counterproposal accepting the four power pact but including Soviet rights to Bulgaria and a world sphere of influence, to be centred on the area around Iraq and Iran.[4] Germany did not respond[5][6] and left the negotiations unresolved.

Regarding the counterproposal, Hitler remarked to his top military chiefs that Stalin "demands more and more", "he's a cold-blooded blackmailer" and "a German victory has become unbearable for Russia" so that "she must be brought to her knees as soon as possible."[7] Germany ended the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in June 1941 by invading the Soviet Union.

In the following years, the Soviet Information Bureau published a book titled Falsifiers of History, largely edited by Stalin himself, in which the Soviet premier claimed that he was simply testing his enemy. This became the official version of events that persisted in Soviet historiography up until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Background

 
Ribbentrop and Stalin at the signing of the German-Soviet Pact

German–Soviet agreements in 1939 and past hostilities

Main articles: Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, German–Soviet Commercial Agreement (1939), and Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact negotiations

During the summer of 1939, after it had conducted negotiations with a British-French alliance and with Germany regarding potential military and political agreements,[8] the Soviet Union chose Germany, which resulted in an August 19 German–Soviet Commercial Agreement providing for the trade of certain German military and civilian equipment in exchange for Soviet raw materials.[9][10] Four days later, the countries signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which contained secret protocols dividing the states of Northern and Eastern Europe into German and Soviet "spheres of influence".[11]

Just before the signing of the agreements, the parties had addressed past hostilities, with German Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop telling Soviet diplomats that "there was no problem between the Baltic and the Black Sea that could not be solved between the two of us".[12][13][14] Diplomats from both countries addressed their common ground by stating "there is one common element in the ideology of Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union: opposition to the capitalist democracies",[13][15] "neither we nor Italy have anything in common with the capitalist west" and "it seems to us rather unnatural that a socialist state would stand on the side of the western democracies".[16]

A German official explained that their prior hostility toward Soviet Bolshevism had subsided with the changes in the Comintern and the Soviets' renunciation of a world revolution.[16] A Soviet official characterised the conversation as "extremely important".[16] At the signing, Ribbentrop and Stalin enjoyed warm conversations, exchanged toasts and further discussed their prior hostilities between the countries in the 1930s.[17]

Ribbentrop stated that Britain had always attempted to disrupt Soviet-German relations, was "weak" and wanted "to let others fight for her presumptuous claim to world dominion".[17] Stalin concurred by adding, "If England dominated the world, that was due to the stupidity of the other countries that always let themselves be bluffed".[17] Ribbentrop stated that the Anti-Comintern Pact was directed not against the Soviet Union but Western democracies, and "frightened principally the City of London [the British financiers] and the English shopkeepers".

 
German and Soviet soldiers during the official transfer of Brest to Soviet control in front of picture of Stalin

He added that Berliners had joked that Stalin would yet join the Anti-Comintern Pact himself.[18] Stalin proposed a toast to Hitler, and Stalin and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov repeatedly toasted the German nation, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and Soviet-German relations.[18] Ribbentrop countered with a toast to Stalin and a toast to both countries' relations.[18]

As Ribbentrop left, Stalin took him aside and stated that the Soviet government took the new pact very seriously, and he would "guarantee his word of honor that the Soviet Union would not betray its partner".[18]

Relations during partition of Poland

Further information: Invasion of Poland (1939) and Soviet invasion of Poland

One week after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact had been signed, the partition of Poland started by the German invasion of western Poland.[19]

The Soviet Comintern suspended all anti-Nazi and antifascist propaganda by explaining the war in Europe to be a matter of capitalist states attacking each other for imperialist purposes.[20]

When anti-German demonstrations erupted in Prague, Czechoslovakia, the Comintern ordered the Czech Communist Party to employ all of its strength to paralyze "chauvinist elements".[20] Moscow soon forced the French Communist Party and the Communist Party of Great Britain to adopt an antiwar position.

Two weeks after the German invasion, the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland in co-ordination with German forces.[21] On September 21, the Soviets and the Germans signed a formal agreement coordinating military movements in Poland, including the "purging" of saboteurs.[22] A joint German-Soviet parade was held in L'vov and Brest.[23]

Stalin had decided in August that he was going to liquidate the Polish state, and a German-Soviet meeting in September addressed the future structure of the "Polish region".[23] The Soviets stated in September that they must enter Poland to "protect" their ethnic Ukrainian and Belarusian brethren therein from Germany, but Molotov later admitted to German officials that the excuse had been necessary because the Soviets could find no other pretext for their invasion.[24]

 
Soviet and German generals during the official transfer of Brest to Soviet control, September 23, 1939

Three of the Baltic States described by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) were given no choice but to sign a "Pact of Defence and Mutual Assistance", which permitted the Soviet Union to station troops in them.[25]

Expansion of raw materials and military trading

Main articles: Nazi–Soviet economic relations (1934–1941) and German–Soviet Commercial Agreement (1940)

Hitler's pressing for a German invasion of Poland in 1939 placed tremendous strain on the German war machine, which had been gradually gearing up for total war only in 1942 or 1943.[26] Germany's lack of raw materials meant that it had to seek increased supply from outside.[26] However, a British blockade occurred, which left it increasingly desperate for materials.[26] The only country that could still supply Germany with the oil, rubber, manganese, grains, fats and platinum that it needed was the Soviet Union.[26] Meanwhile, the Soviets' demands for manufactured goods, such as German machines, were increasing, and their ability to import those goods from outside decreased when many countries ceased trading relations after the Soviets had joined the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.[27]

Accordingly, Germany and the Soviet Union entered an intricate trade pact on February 11, 1940, which was over four times larger than the one that both countries had signed in August 1939.[9] The new trade pact helped Germany to circumvent the British blockade.[9]

In the first year, Germany received hundreds of thousands of tons of cereals, oil and other vital raw materials, which were transported through Soviet and occupied Polish territories.[9] In addition, the Soviets provided Germany with access to the Northern Sea Route for both cargo ships and raiders (though only the raider Komet had used the route before June 1941). This forced Britain to protect sea lanes in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.[28]

Deterioration of relations in mid-1940

 
Map depicting most of Central and Eastern Europe and showing 1938 borders along with German (black) and Soviet (red) military and political advances until late 1940

Finland, Baltics and Romania

Main articles: Winter War, Occupation of the Baltic states, and June 1940 Soviet Ultimatum

In November 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland,[29] resulting in stiff losses and the entry of an interim peace treaty in March 1940 that granted to the Soviet Union parts of Karelia and Salla (9% of Finnish territory).[29] In mid-June 1940, while international attention was focused on the German invasion of France, Soviet NKVD troops raided border posts in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia[25][30] and replaced each government with pro-Soviet politicians, who then requested entry for their respective countries to the Soviet Union.[25][31] In June, the Soviets issued an ultimatum demanding Bessarabia and Bukovina from Romania.[32] After the Soviets had agreed with Germany that they would limit their claims in Bukovina to Northern Bukovina, Germany urged Romania to accept the ultimatum.[33] Two days after the Soviet entry, Romania acceded to the Soviet demands, and the Soviet Union occupied the demanded territories and also the Hertsa region, which had not been included in the ultimatum.[32]

The Soviet invasion of Finland, which had been covertly ceded to it under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocols, created domestic problems for Hitler.[34] The German populace did not know about the secret protocols that divided up spheres of influence.[33] Many Germans opposed the Soviet invasion, and Finland had close ties with Germany.[34][35] Hitler had to deflect opposition to Germany's pro-Soviet policies from even Nazi Party stalwarts.[34] Supporting the Soviet invasion became one of the most ideologically and politically-difficult aspects of the pact for the German government to justify.[36]

The secret protocols caused Hitler to be in the humiliating position being forced to evacuate ethnic German families, the Volksdeutsche, in a hurry although they had lived in Finland and the Baltic countries for centuries, all the while to condone the invasions officially.[35][37] When the three Baltic countries, which did not know about the secret protocols, sent letters protesting the Soviet invasions to Berlin, Ribbentrop returned them.[38]

In August, Molotov told the Germans that with the government change, they could close down their Baltic consulates by September 1.[38] The Soviet annexations in Romania caused further strain.[38] Germany had given Bessarabia to the Soviets in the secret protocols but not Bukovina.[38] Germany wanted the 100,000 tons of grain for which they had previously contracted with Bessarabia, guarantees of German property safety, guarantees for 125,000 Volksdeutsche in Bessarabia and Bukovina and the reassurance that the train tracks carrying Romanian oil would be left alone.[37]

Increasing German raw material dependence

Main articles: Nazi–Soviet economic relations (1934–1941) and German–Soviet Commercial Agreement (1940)

In the summer of 1940, Germany grew even more dependent on Soviet imports.[39] German occupations of France, the Netherlands and Belgium created additional demand and decreased avenues for indirect supply.[39] Compared to 1938 figures, the expanded Greater Germany and its sphere of influence lacked, among other items, 500,000 tons of manganese, 3.3 million tons of raw phosphate, 200,000 tons of rubber and 9.5 million tons of oil.[39] Meanwhile, the Baltic invasions resulted in the Soviet occupation of states on which Germany had relied for 96.7 million Reichsmarks of imports in 1938[40] at blackmailed favorable economic terms but from which they now had to pay Soviet prices.[37] Hitler increasingly believed the eventual invasion of the Soviet Union to appear the only way for Germany to solve that resource crisis.[39] No concrete plans had yet been made, but Hitler told one of his generals in June that the victories in Western Europe "finally freed his hands for his important real task: the showdown with Bolshevism".[41] However, German generals told Hitler that occupying Western Russia would create "more of a drain than a relief for Germany's economic situation".[42]

Suspension of Soviet raw materials to Germany

In August 1940, the Soviet Union briefly suspended its deliveries under their commercial agreement after relations were strained following a disagreement over policy in Romania, the Soviet-Finnish War, Germany's falling behind in its deliveries of goods under the pact, and Stalin's concern that Hitler's war with the West might end quickly after France had signed an armistice. The suspension created significant resource problems for Germany.[43]

By late August, relations improved again as the countries had redrawn the Hungarian and Romanian borders and settled some Bulgarian claims, and Stalin was again convinced that Germany would face a long war in the west with Britain's improvement in its air battle against Germany and the execution of an agreement between the United States and Britain regarding destroyers and bases.[44]

However, in late August, Germany arranged its own annexation of part of Romania, which targeted oil fields. The move raised tensions with the Soviets, who responded that Germany was supposed to have consulted with the Soviet Union under Article III of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.[45]

Tripartite Pact

Before entering a deal with Italy and Japan, German officials had discussed the feasibility of including the Soviet Union as a fourth member to direct Soviet focus southward, to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf, both of which were in the British sphere of influence. German officials indicated that they would be willing to give the Soviet Union freedom to operate east of the Dardanelles.[46]

Just before the signing of the agreement, Germany informed Molotov that it would enter the pact and that while it was not explicitly stated, the pact was effectively directed against "American warmongers" by demonstrating to them the folly of war with three great powers aligned against them.[47] Moscow had actually been aware of the proposed pact terms from Soviet intelligence sources in Japan.[46]

On September 27, 1940, Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact, which divided the world into spheres of influence and was implicitly directed at the United States. The pact contained an explicit provision (Article 5) that stated it did not concern relations with the Soviet Union.[46] Molotov, worried that the pact contained a secret codicil pertaining specifically to the Soviet Union, attempted to extract information from the Japanese ambassador in Moscow, Togo.[48]

On a home visit, the German military attaché to the Soviet Union, Ernst Köstring, stated on October 31 that "the impression is steadily growing in me that the Russians want to avoid any conflict with us".[48]

Meanwhile, from August to October, Germany conducted a massive air campaign against Britain to prepare for Operation Sea Lion, the plan to invade Britain.[49]

War or a higher-level pact

Throughout the summer, Hitler vacillated between plans to attack the Soviet Union or to offer it part of a deal like the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, except one that would look south, where the Soviets would receive ports only on the west side of the Black Sea, or it might be given the Bosporus if Germany maintained a friendly third-party state with access, such as Bulgaria.[50]

German ambassador to Moscow, Friedrich von der Schulenburg, had been contemplating a potential four-power pact since the collapse of France in June.[51] After he had covertly learned about Hitler's potential Soviet invasion plans, which he opposed, von der Schulenburg and others began attempting to sway Hitler and his contingent at least extend to their agreement as long as Russia's claims remained in the areas of Turkey and Iran.[52] He even concealed in his reports to Berlin the Soviets' doubts on Germany's good faith after the annexations in Romania.[52]

Köstring, von der Schulenburg and others drafted a memorandum on the dangers of a German invasion of the Soviet Union that included that Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic States would end up being only a further economic burden for Germany.[50] German Foreign Office State Secretary Ernst von Weizsäcker argued that the Soviets in their current bureaucratic form were harmless, the occupation would not produce a gain for Germany and "why should it not stew next to us in its damp Bolshevism?"[50]

Stalin–Ribbentrop exchange in October

In October 1940, Stalin requested that Molotov be permitted to discuss with Hitler the countries' future relations.[53] Ribbentrop responded to Stalin in a letter that "in the opinion of the Führer... it appears to be the historical mission of the Four Powers — the Soviet Union, Italy, Japan and Germany — to adopt a long-range policy and to direct the future development of their peoples into the right channels by delimitation of their interests in a worldwide scale".[54]

The delivery of Ribbentrop's letter was delayed to Stalin. That resulted after earlier press stories in the ideas no longer seemed "fresh", which caused Ribbentrop to lash out at the German embassy in Moscow's personnel.[53][55] Delivering the letter, von Schulenburg stated that the Berlin conference would be a preliminary meeting preceding a convening of the four powers.[55]

Stalin was visibly pleased by the invitation for talks in Berlin.[56] Stalin wrote a letter responding to Ribbentrop on entering an agreement regarding a "permanent basis" for their "mutual interests".[57]

On November 6, Köstring wrote that "since Göring has now put our military deliveries in balance with the Russian deliveries, one may hope that the negotiations will end in peace and friendship".[48] During the first two weeks in November, German and Soviet economic negotiators in Moscow enjoyed moderate success.[58] German military-economic negotiators had hoped for success in the negotiations, in part because they felt that it would strengthen their arguments against Hitler's policy, which was increasingly anti-Soviet.[59]

On November 1, the head of the Army General Staff, Franz Halder, met with Hitler and wrote, "The Führer hopes he can bring Russia into the anti-British front".[60] After Franklin D. Roosevelt won the presidential election four days later after he had promised that there would be no foreign wars if he was elected, Goebbels noted that "after his statement, Roosevelt will hardly be able to enter the war in an active capacity".[60] Meeting with Benito Mussolini, Ribbentrop explained the German view of the meetings that the acid test would be the Soviets' stand on the Balkans.[50] With the Balkans and the Bosporus a potential "dangerous overlapping of interests" if the Soviets backed away from it, it would be a peaceful and even a preferable alternative to an invasion.[50]

Hitler revealed to Mussolini that he did not expect to accommodate the Soviets beyond forcing Turkey to yield to some guarantees on the Bosporus.[50] Also, he did not want Stalin taking a Romanian entry point to the Bosporus and stated that "one Romanian bird in the hand is worth more than two Russians in the bush".[55] However, Hitler stated that he was skeptical because he believed that Stalin was obsessed with the Danube and Bulgaria.[55] Germany was aware that the Soviet Union had attempted to extend guarantees to Bulgaria to become its ally and that Bulgaria had turned it down.[61]

Molotov travels to Berlin

 
Molotov just after arrival at the Reichskanzlei at noon
 
Front of Pravda, with photographs of Molotov in Berlin

November 12

Stalin sent Molotov to Berlin to negotiate the terms for the Soviet Union to join the Axis and potentially enjoy the spoils of the pact.[62] Molotov spent much of the trip to Berlin searching his rail car for listening devices.[63] Molotov's train arrived at 11:05 a.m. on November 12.[64][65] It was a bad omen for success that von Schulenburg, the architect of the meeting, was excluded.[50] Molotov was greeted by Ribbentrop at the train station decorated with Soviet and German flags above a large basket of flowers, with an orchestra playing The Internationale in Germany for the first time since 1933.[66] After a brief breakfast, the talks started immediately that day at the Schloss Bellevue Hotel.[64] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a Moscow journal published certain selected correspondence revealing that Stalin was closely supervising Molotov's talks via telegram, but some of those telegrams remain unpublished.[67]

At the outset, Ribbentrop stated, "England is beaten and it is only a question of time when she will admit her defeat.... The beginning of the end has now arrived for the British empire."[65] He further stated that "the entry of the United States into the war is of no consequence at all for Germany. Germany and Italy will never again allow an Anglo-Saxon to land on the European Continent.... This is no military problem at all.... The Axis Powers are, therefore, not considering how they can win the war, but rather how rapidly they can end the war which is already won".[65] He further stated that Germany and the Soviet Union had together "done some good business".[65]

Accordingly, Ribbentrop concluded that the time had come for the four powers (Germany, the Soviet Union, Italy and Japan) to define their "spheres of interest".[65][68] He stated that Hitler had concluded that all four countries would naturally expand "in a southerly direction".[65] Ribbentrop said that he wondered if the Soviets might turn southward toward the sea, and Molotov inquired, "Which sea?" Ribbentrop stated that "in the long run the most advantageous access to the sea for Russia could be found in the direction of the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea".[65][68]

Regarding the division of the world into four spheres of influence, Molotov stated the new idea was "very interesting" and worthy of a discussion in Moscow with Ribbentrop participating.[69] Stalin became annoyed with a telegram to him from Molotov stating that the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was "exhausted" with the exception of the Finnish issue, with Stalin stating that any future agreements would be added to it merely because it served as a fundamental basis for Soviet-German relations.[69]

In the afternoon, Molotov visited Hitler at the Reich Chancellery.[64][65] Hitler also spoke of striking that "final blow against England" and stated that "it is time to think about division of the world after our victory".[64] Regarding the "problem of America", according to Shirer, he stated that it could not "endanger the freedom of other nations before 1970 or 1980".[65] A different account was given by Hitler's interpreter at the meeting, Paul Schmidt. Citing Hitler, Schmidt told in his memoirs (1950): "Hitler went on to call for battle against the United States, who 'not in 1945 but at the earliest in 1970 or 1980 would seriously endanger the freedom of other nations'".[70] Hitler and Molotov agreed that the United States had no business in Europe, Africa or Asia.[65] Hitler stated that there were no fundamental differences between the two countries in their pursuit of aspiring for "access to the ocean".[65] Molotov expressed his agreement with Hitler about the role of America and Britain and about Soviet participation in the Axis pact in principle but only if the Soviets could participate as an active partner.[69][71] The same day, Germany also postponed until the following year its plans to invade Britain because of its failures in the air campaign against Britain.[49]

Molotov agreed with Hitler that there were no unresolved problems between the countries except on Finland.[69] When Molotov returned to his hotel, he stated that he was "relieved at Hitler's amiability".[61] In a telegram to Molotov that night, Stalin insisted that the security of the Soviet Union cannot be ensured "without securing tranquility in the area of the Straits" in reference the Bosporus Straits for entry into the Black Sea.[1] That was linked directly with the Soviet-Bulgarian agreement for passage of Soviet troops for "the defense of entry into the Black Sea".[1] Stalin added that "this question still bears current importance and does not allow any procrastination".[1]

November 13

 
The Bosporus intersects Istanbul in the southwest corner of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is to its north.

Molotov and Hitler resumed their discussions the next morning.[72] Molotov demanded to know why German troops occupied Finland, and Hitler replied that they were travelling through Finland to Norway and wondered whether the Soviets intended to go to war over Finland.[72] While Hitler agreed that Finland was within the Soviets' sphere of influence, he also stressed that Germany had a legitimate wartime interest in Finland's nickel and wood supply and that any new conflict in the Baltics would lead to a severe strain in relations.[69] Molotov concluded that nothing good could come from further talks about Finland and stated that he saw no signs of any resumption of a Soviet-Finnish conflict.[73] According to Hitler, however, Molotov stated, "Russia felt herself again endangered by Finland, Russia should be able to liquidate Finland", which for him "was the first question which I found difficult to answer. But I could not do otherwise than refuse this".[74]

Molotov conveyed Stalin's interest in reviewing the status of the Bosporus and pressed for a guarantee for Bulgaria, at least in principle.[73] Molotov later noted that Hitler became "markedly agitated" at the request to revoke guarantees to Romania.[61] Molotov stated Stalin's wish to grant a guarantee to Bulgaria similar to the one that Germany and Italy had granted to Romania.[61] Hitler pointed out that the Soviets had entered Bukovina in Romania, which went beyond the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.[75] Hitler stated the parties had made a prior oral agreement that the former Austrian territories, such as the Balkan states within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were to fall within the German sphere of influence.[68] Hitler pointed out that a primary goal of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was to restore the countries' old empires.[68] Stalin, still hoping to get a draft agreement, was monitoring the conversations by telegram and sent a telegram to Molotov to remind Hitler of the importance of securing the Bosporus that explained the events of the Crimean War.[61] Hitler stated that he could not make decisions regarding Bulgaria until he had conversed with Italian leader Benito Mussolini.[73]

Hitler changed the subject to the larger matter of the opportunities available after the conquest of England.[68][72] Hitler told Molotov that:[7]

After the conquest of England, the British Empire would be apportioned as a gigantic world-wide estate in bankruptcy of forty million square kilometres. In this bankrupt estate there would be for Russia access to the ice-free and really open ocean. Thus far, a minority of forty-five million Englishmen had ruled six hundred million inhabitants of the British Empire. He was about to crush this minority.... Under these circumstances there arose world-wide perspectives.... All the countries which could possibly be interested in the bankrupt estate would have to stop all controversies among themselves and concern themselves exclusively with the partition of the British Empire. This applied to Germany, France, Italy, Russia and Japan.

Molotov told Hitler that "the time has now come to discuss a broader agreement between the USSR and Germany", but the Soviet government first wanted to know the precise meaning of "the New Order in Europe" regarding the participating countries and the ultimate aims of the pact.[73] Molotov then was scheduled to meet with Ribbentrop that afternoon.

A telegram that Molotov sent to Stalin on the meeting with Hitler underscored, "Hitler's great interest in reaching an agreement and strengthening friendly relations with the USSR with respect to spheres of influence."[73] Molotov stated that his talk with neither Hitler nor Ribbentrop produced the desired results, as the issues with Turkey and the Balkans had not been addressed.[1]

Because of British aerial bombardment, Ribbentrop and Molotov conducted talks that night in an air-raid shelter.[76] Ribbentrop reiterated that the chief goals were to define the four powers' interests and to reach an agreement with Turkey on the Bosporus issue.[1] Ribbentrop proposed several parallel steps the parties should then take such as Molotov discussing the issues raised in Berlin with Stalin while Ribbentrop discussed them with Japan.[1] Germany, Italy and the USSR would also pressure Turkey to acquiesce to Soviet demands on the Bosporus.[73] Thereafter, the parties would negotiate and draft confidential documents bearing in mind that the final accord would be a Soviet entry into the Axis.[1] What Molotov did not know was that the very night, Hitler issued secret "Instruction No. 18", directing his forces to continue to prepare for war in the east "irrespective of the results yielded by these discussions".[77][78]

German proposed draft agreement

In the air-raid shelter, Ribbentrop gave Molotov a draft agreement with two parts.[1] As had become the practice between the parties, one part was of the agreement that would eventually be made public, and the other contained the secret agreement.[1] The public portion contained an agreement with a ten-year duration whereby the parties would respect each other's natural spheres of interests, and Germany, Italy and Japan would affirm their recognition of existing Soviet borders.[1]

The draft of the secret agreement included the obligation not to join any alliance directed at the four signatories and to assist each other in economic matters.[1] The secret agreement contained a protocol defining the territorial objectives of the four signatories, with Germany laying claims to Central Africa, Italy in North and Northeast Africa, Japan in Southeast Asia and the Soviet zone to the ”center south of the national territory of the Soviet Union in the direction of the Indian Ocean.”[76][79] A second secret protocol provided that Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union would "liberate" Turkey from its international obligations with Britain to guarantee its borders.[79]

Molotov stated that the Soviet Union was concerned with several European issues, such as Turkey and Bulgaria, but also the fates of Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia and Greece.[76] In addition, the Soviets were also interested in the question of Swedish neutrality and the passage from the Baltic Sea.[76] Molotov also cuttingly remarked that if England's fate was sealed, why they were talking in an air raid shelter.[76]

Reaction to Molotov trip

The news that Molotov held talks in Berlin initially stunned world media, with the British press endeavouring to determine whether the Soviets were preparing to join the Axis pact.[79] When Molotov returned, he noted that the meeting produced "nothing to boast about" and that Ribbentrop's projected trip to Moscow was no longer mentioned but that the German draft proposal led to a complacent rather than crisis approach of continuing negotiations through "diplomatic channels".[80] The pro-"Continental Bloc" Germans in Ribbentrop's entourage expected that Stalin would eventually yield, given the weakness of the Red Army.[80] Weizsäcker commented that "we can continue for a long time" and that "war with Russia is impossible as long as we are busy with England, and afterwards it will be unnecessary".[80] On November 14, Köstring reiterated his conviction that the Soviets indeed had no aggressive designs. On the contrary, "Molotov's trip (to Berlin) is for me just further proof of an idea that I have long held namely, that the Soviet Union wants to have peace with us, since it cannot expect any advantage from a conflict with us.... The decisive factor in [evoking] the Soviet desire for peace is and remains the demonstrated strength of our army".[48]

Bulgarian pressure and a surprise

Hitler had already issued a secret directive on the eventual attempts to invade the Soviet Union.[79][81] He had not yet abandoned the possibility of other political outcomes and still talked of a "great worldwide coalition that stretched from Yokohama to Spain", but he had resolved to not give up the Balkans.[82]

Meanwhile, the Soviets immediately summoned the Bulgarian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry and stated that the Soviets needed to do a deal with the Bulgarians before they joined the Axis and that Germany was attempting to make them a puppet state.[82] The Bulgarians turned down the offer and leaked it to Germany.[82] Hitler still hoped to dissuade Stalin from giving guarantees to Bulgaria if the Bosporus issue could be solved, and he pressed the Bulgarian ambassador that the Soviets could be persuaded against resistance if the Bulgarians joined the pact, and he warned about the horrors of Soviet occupation.[82]

The Soviets had meanwhile produced the biggest surprise. In an unannounced November 25 visit in Sofia, the Soviets told Bulgarian Prime Minister Bogdan Filov that if Bulgaria permitted transfer access to Soviet troops, the Soviets were prepared to drop their objections to Bulgaria's entry into the Axis, and most surprisingly, the Soviets stated that it likely would not be an issue, as it would "very probably, almost certainly" lead to the Soviets' own entry into the Axis.[83] The stunned Filov stated that it required further contemplation.[83] The Soviet negotiators had concluded that the Bulgarian government "is already committed to Germany to the hilt".[83]

Soviet counterproposal agreement

Stalin told the head of the Comintern, the Bulgarian Georgi Dimitrov, that Germany wanted Italy in the Balkans, but in the final analysis, it had no choice but to recognise Soviet interests in maintaining Black Sea access and to assure that the Bosporus would not be used against them.[83]

Stalin directed Molotov to draft a new pact with a much greater scope, including the division of Europe, Asia and Africa among the four powers.[84] On November 25, the same day as the surprise statement of Soviet nonresistance to Bulgaria's joining the Axis and a potential Soviet joining of the pact,[85] the Soviets offered a counterproposal to Ribbentrop's draft agreement.[79] It began, "The Soviet government is prepared to accept the draft of the Pact of Four Powers on political cooperation and economic mutual assistance".[79] Instead of two secret protocols, Stalin proposed five:

  1. German troops would depart Finland in exchange for a Soviet guarantee of continued nickel and wood shipments and peace with Finland
  2. A mutual assistance pact to be signed with Bulgaria in the next few months that would permit Soviet bases
  3. The centre of Soviet territorial domination would be south of Baku and Batumi (ports now in Azerbaijan and Georgia, south of which are Iraq and Iran)
  4. Japanese renunciation of rights to northern Sakhalin oil and coal concessions in exchange for appropriate compensation
  5. An affirmation that the Soviet-Bulgaria mutual assistance treaty was a political necessity.[4]

The proposals came concurrently with massively-increased economic offers.[85] The Soviets promised by May 11, 1941 the delivery of 2.5 million tons of grain, 1 million tons above their current obligations.[4] They also promised full compensation for Volksdeutsche property claims.[4]

German reaction

German negotiator Karl Schnurre [de], who could not conceal his delight over the offer, immediately telegrammed Berlin that "in view of the present status of the negotiations here, Molotov's statements today must be viewed as a surprising indication of goodwill on the part of the Soviet Government. Molotov's proposal regarding compensation for property claims in the Baltic states considerably exceeds our expectations".[4]

Hitler, however, saw the Soviet territorial ambitions in the Balkans as a challenge to German interests and saw the plan as effectively making Bulgaria into an adjunct of the Axis Pact.[6] On several occasions, Molotov asked German officials for their response to Moscow's counterproposals, but Germany never answered them.[6][84][86][87] Germany's refusal to respond to the counterproposal worsened relations between the countries.[88] Regarding the counterproposal, Hitler remarked to his top military chiefs that Stalin "demands more and more", "he's a cold-blooded blackmailer" and "a German victory has become unbearable for Russia" so that "she must be brought to her knees as soon as possible".[7]

 
Weisung Nr. 21: Fall Barbarossa

On December 5, Hitler received military plans for the possible invasion and approved them all, with a schedule to begin in May 1941.[78] On December 18, 1940, Hitler signed Führer Directive No. 21 to the German high command for an operation, now codenamed Operation Barbarossa, stating: "The German Wehrmacht must be prepared to crush Soviet Russia in a quick campaign".[78][89] The date for the invasion was set for May 15, 1941.[89] On the other side of the border, Stalin had anticipated an eventual war against Germany. Speaking to his generals in December, Stalin referenced Hitler's references to a Soviet attack in Mein Kampf and stated that they must always be ready to repulse a German attack, that Hitler thought that the Red Army would require four years to ready itself and so "we must be ready much earlier" and that "we will try to delay the war for another two years."[75]

On January 17, 1941, seven days after the German–Soviet Border and Commercial Agreement, Molotov asked German officials whether the parties could then work out an agreement for entry to the Axis Pact.[63][90] Molotov expressed astonishment at the absence of any answer to the Soviets' November 25 offer to join the pact[90] and never received an answer.[90] On March 1, 1941, Bulgaria joined the Axis, which further unsettled Stalin after Germany had continued to ignore Stalin's November 25, 1940 Axis entry proposal.[91] After six months of preparations, Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, which ended any hope for the proposed alliance.

Von der Schulenburg was executed as one of the conspirators in the July 20, 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler.[92]

Postwar Soviet reactions: Falsifiers of History

In 1948, one month after Nazi government foreign ministry documents describing the negotiations had been publicly released by the United States, the Soviet Foreign Information Bureau wrote a response in a book, Falsifiers of History.[93][94] After receiving translations of the newly-released documents, Stalin personally edited, struck and rewrote by hand entire sections of drafts he had been given of Falsifiers before the book's release in February 1948.[95]

In Falsifiers, Stalin claimed that he was merely "probing out" Germany in Axis negotiations and to have outright rejected Hitler's proposal to share a division of the world.[79] That version persisted without exception in all historical studies, official accounts, memoirs and textbooks published in the Soviet Union until 1990.[79]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 201
  2. ^ a b Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov Leaves Berlin after Four-Power Talks
  3. ^ Wienberg 1954, p. 144.
  4. ^ a b c d e Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 203
  5. ^ Roberts 2006, p. 57.
  6. ^ a b c Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 204
  7. ^ a b c Shirer 1990, p. 725
  8. ^ Shirer 1990, pp. 515–540
  9. ^ a b c d Shirer 1990, p. 668
  10. ^ Ericson 1999, p. 57
  11. ^ Text of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, executed August 23, 1939
  12. ^ Roberts 2006, p. 30
  13. ^ a b Fest 2002, pp. 589–90
  14. ^ Vehviläinen, Olli, Finland in the Second World War: Between Germany and Russia, Macmillan, 2002, ISBN 0-333-80149-0, page 30
  15. ^ Bertriko, Jean-Jacques Subrenat, A. and David Cousins, Estonia: Identity and Independence, Rodopi, 2004, ISBN 90-420-0890-3 page 131
  16. ^ a b c Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 115
  17. ^ a b c Shirer 1990, p. 539
  18. ^ a b c d Shirer 1990, p. 540
  19. ^ Roberts 2006, p. 82
  20. ^ a b Cohen, Yohanon, Small Nations in Times of Crisis and Confrontation, SUNY Press, 1989, ISBN 0-7914-0018-2, page 110
  21. ^ Roberts 2006, p. 43
  22. ^ Nerkich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 130
  23. ^ a b Nerkich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 131
  24. ^ Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, pp. 128–129
  25. ^ a b c Wettig, Gerhard, Stalin and the Cold War in Europe, Rowman & Littlefield, Landham, Md, 2008, ISBN 0-7425-5542-9, page 20-21
  26. ^ a b c d Ericson 1999, pp. 63–4
  27. ^ Ericson 1999, p. 66
  28. ^ Philbin III 1994, pp. 130–142
  29. ^ a b Kennedy-Pipe, Caroline, Stalin's Cold War, New York: Manchester University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-7190-4201-1
  30. ^ Senn, Alfred Erich, Lithuania 1940: Revolution from Above, Amsterdam, New York, Rodopi, 2007 ISBN 978-90-420-2225-6
  31. ^ Simon Sebag Montefiore. Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. p. 334.
  32. ^ a b Roberts 2006, p. 55
  33. ^ a b Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 181
  34. ^ a b c Philbin III 1994, p. 71
  35. ^ a b Shirer 1990, p. 665
  36. ^ Philbin III 1994, p. 129
  37. ^ a b c Ericson 1999, p. 134
  38. ^ a b c d Shirer 1990, p. 794
  39. ^ a b c d Ericson 1999, pp. 127–8
  40. ^ Hehn 2005, p. 212
  41. ^ Ericson 1999, pp. 129–130
  42. ^ Ericson 1999, p. 138
  43. ^ Philbin III 1994, p. 48 & 59
  44. ^ Philbin III 1994, p. 60
  45. ^ Shirer 1990, p. 720
  46. ^ a b c Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 196
  47. ^ Shirer 1990, p. 721
  48. ^ a b c d Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 197
  49. ^ a b Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 192
  50. ^ a b c d e f g Gorodetsky 2001, pp. 69–70
  51. ^ Gorodetsky 2001, p. 67
  52. ^ a b Gorodetsky 2001, p. 68
  53. ^ a b Shirer 1990, p. 722
  54. ^ Philbin III 1994, pp. 49–50
  55. ^ a b c d Gorodetsky 2001, p. 71
  56. ^ Gorodetsky 2001, p. 72
  57. ^ Roberts 2006, p. 58
  58. ^ Ericson 1999, p. 143
  59. ^ Ericson 1999, p. 144
  60. ^ a b Berthon & Potts 2007, p. 44
  61. ^ a b c d e Gorodetsky 2001, p. 74
  62. ^ Brackman 2001, p. 341
  63. ^ a b Murray & Millett 2001, p. 111
  64. ^ a b c d Berthon & Potts 2007, p. 45
  65. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Shirer 1990, p. 723
  66. ^ Gorodetsky 2001, p. 73
  67. ^ Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 198
  68. ^ a b c d e Brackman 2001, p. 342
  69. ^ a b c d e Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 199
  70. ^ Cited in Max Ostrovsky, The Hyperbola of the World Order, (Lanham: University Press of America, 2007, p 272).
  71. ^ Weinberg 1995, p. 200
  72. ^ a b c Shirer 1990, p. 724
  73. ^ a b c d e f Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 200
  74. ^ Adolf Hitler Explains His Reasons for Invading the Soviet Union
  75. ^ a b Berthon & Potts 2007, p. 47
  76. ^ a b c d e Shirer 1990, pp. 726–7
  77. ^ Weeks, Albert L., Stalin's Other War: Soviet Grand Strategy, 1939–1941, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003, ISBN 0-7425-2192-3, page 74–75
  78. ^ a b c Overy 2004, p. 489
  79. ^ a b c d e f g h Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 202
  80. ^ a b c Gorodetsky 2001, pp. 75–6
  81. ^ Roberts 2006, p. 59
  82. ^ a b c d Gorodetsky 2001, p. 77
  83. ^ a b c d Gorodetsky 2001, pp. 80–1
  84. ^ a b Lukacks 2006, p. 65
  85. ^ a b Weinberg 1995, p. 201
  86. ^ Donaldson, Robert H. and Joseph L. Nogee, The Foreign Policy of Russia: Changing Systems, Enduring Interests, M.E. Sharpe, 2005, ISBN 0-7656-1568-1, pages 65–66
  87. ^ Churchill, Winston, The Second World War, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1953, ISBN 0-395-41056-8, pages 520–21
  88. ^ Ericson 1999, p. 146
  89. ^ a b Brackman 2001, p. 344
  90. ^ a b c Weinberg 1995, p. 202
  91. ^ Nekrich, Ulam & Freeze 1997, p. 208
  92. ^ Shirer 1990, p. 1392
  93. ^ Henig 2005, p. 67
  94. ^ Roberts 2002, p. 96
  95. ^ Roberts 2002, p. 98

References

  • Berthon, Simon; Potts, Joanna (2007), Warlords: An Extraordinary Re-creation of World War II Through the Eyes and Minds of Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, Da Capo Press, ISBN 978-0-306-81538-6
  • Brackman, Roman (2001), The Secret File of Joseph Stalin: A Hidden Life, Frank Cass Publishers, ISBN 0-7146-5050-1
  • Erickson, John (2001), The Soviet High Command: A Military-political History, 1918–1941, Routledge, ISBN 0-7146-5178-8
  • Ericson, Edward E. (1999), Feeding the German Eagle: Soviet Economic Aid to Nazi Germany, 1933–1941, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0-275-96337-3
  • Fest, Joachim C. (2002), Hitler, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, ISBN 0-15-602754-2
  • Figes, Orlando (2007), The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia, Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-8050-7461-1
  • Grenville, John Ashley Soames; Wasserstein, Bernard (2001), The Major International Treaties of the Twentieth Century: A History and Guide with Texts, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-415-23798-X
  • Gorodetsky, Gabriel (2001), Grand Delusion: Stalin and the German Invasion of Russia, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-08459-5
  • Harrison, Mark (2000), The Economics of World War II: Six Great Powers in International Comparison, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-78503-0
  • Hehn, Paul N. (2005), A Low Dishonest Decade: The Great Powers, Eastern Europe, and the Economic Origins of World War II, 1930–1941, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 0-8264-1761-2
  • Henig, Ruth Beatrice (2005), The Origins of the Second World War, 1933–41, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-33262-1
  • Lukacs, John (2006), June 1941: Hitler and Stalin, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-11437-0
  • Murray, Williamson; Millett, Allan (2001), A War to be Won: Fighting the Second World War, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-00680-1
  • Nekrich, Aleksandr Moiseevich; Ulam, Adam Bruno; Freeze, Gregory L. (1997), Pariahs, Partners, Predators: German–Soviet Relations, 1922–1941, Columbia University Press, ISBN 0-231-10676-9
  • Overy, R. J. (2004), The Dictators: Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia, W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 0-393-02030-4
  • Overy, Richard (1997), Why the Allies Won, W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 0-393-31619-X
  • Philbin III, Tobias R. (1994), The Lure of Neptune: German–Soviet Naval Collaboration and Ambitions, 1919–1941, University of South Carolina Press, ISBN 0-87249-992-8
  • Roberts, Geoffrey (2006), Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939–1953, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-11204-1
  • Roberts, Geoffrey (2002), Stalin, the Pact with Nazi Germany, and the Origins of Postwar Soviet Diplomatic Historiography, vol. 4
  • Shirer, William L. (1990), The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, Simon and Schuster, ISBN 0-671-72868-7
  • Wegner, Bernd (1997), From Peace to War: Germany, Soviet Russia, and the World, 1939–1941, Berghahn Books, ISBN 1-57181-882-0
  • Weinberg, Gerhard L. (1995), A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-55879-4

External links

 
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Adolf Hitler Explains His Reasons for Invading the Soviet Union
  • HITLER AND MOLOTOV MEETINGS, BERLIN, NOVEMBER 12 AND 13, 1940, OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS
  • Memorandum of the Conversation Between the Führer and the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars and People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Molotov, November 12, 1940
  • Memorandum of the Conversation Between the Führer and the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Molotov, November 13, 1940

April 21, 2023
german, soviet, axis, talks, occurred, october, november, 1940, concerning, soviet, union, potential, entry, fourth, axis, power, during, world, negotiations, which, occurred, during, molotov, ribbentrop, pact, included, conference, berlin, between, soviet, fo. German Soviet Axis talks occurred in October and November 1940 concerning the Soviet Union s potential entry as a fourth Axis Power during World War II The negotiations which occurred during the era of the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact included a two day conference in Berlin between Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and Adolf Hitler and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop The talks were followed by both countries trading written proposed agreements Joachim von Ribbentrop welcoming Vyacheslav Molotov in Berlin November 1940 After two days of negotiations from 12 to 14 November 1940 Germany presented the Soviets with a draft written Axis pact agreement that defined the world spheres of influence of the four proposed Axis powers Germany Italy Japan and the Soviet Union 1 Hitler Ribbentrop and Molotov tried to set German and Soviet spheres of influence Hitler encouraged Molotov to look south to Iran and eventually India to preserve German access to Finland s resources and to remove Soviet influence in the Balkans 2 Molotov remained firm and sought to remove German troops from Finland and gain a warm water port in the Baltic Soviet foreign policy calculations were predicated by the idea that the war would be a long term struggle and so German claims that the United Kingdom would be defeated swiftly were treated with skepticism 3 In addition Stalin sought to remain influential in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia Those factors resulted in Molotov taking a firm line 2 According to a study by Alexander Nekrich on 25 November 1940 the Soviets presented a Stalin drafted written counterproposal accepting the four power pact but including Soviet rights to Bulgaria and a world sphere of influence to be centred on the area around Iraq and Iran 4 Germany did not respond 5 6 and left the negotiations unresolved Regarding the counterproposal Hitler remarked to his top military chiefs that Stalin demands more and more he s a cold blooded blackmailer and a German victory has become unbearable for Russia so that she must be brought to her knees as soon as possible 7 Germany ended the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact in June 1941 by invading the Soviet Union In the following years the Soviet Information Bureau published a book titled Falsifiers of History largely edited by Stalin himself in which the Soviet premier claimed that he was simply testing his enemy This became the official version of events that persisted in Soviet historiography up until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 Contents 1 Background 1 1 German Soviet agreements in 1939 and past hostilities 1 2 Relations during partition of Poland 1 3 Expansion of raw materials and military trading 2 Deterioration of relations in mid 1940 2 1 Finland Baltics and Romania 2 2 Increasing German raw material dependence 2 3 Suspension of Soviet raw materials to Germany 3 Tripartite Pact 4 War or a higher level pact 5 Stalin Ribbentrop exchange in October 6 Molotov travels to Berlin 6 1 November 12 6 2 November 13 6 3 German proposed draft agreement 6 4 Reaction to Molotov trip 7 Bulgarian pressure and a surprise 8 Soviet counterproposal agreement 9 German reaction 10 Postwar Soviet reactions Falsifiers of History 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 External linksBackground Edit Ribbentrop and Stalin at the signing of the German Soviet Pact German Soviet agreements in 1939 and past hostilities Edit Main articles Molotov Ribbentrop Pact German Soviet Commercial Agreement 1939 and Molotov Ribbentrop Pact negotiations During the summer of 1939 after it had conducted negotiations with a British French alliance and with Germany regarding potential military and political agreements 8 the Soviet Union chose Germany which resulted in an August 19 German Soviet Commercial Agreement providing for the trade of certain German military and civilian equipment in exchange for Soviet raw materials 9 10 Four days later the countries signed the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact which contained secret protocols dividing the states of Northern and Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence 11 Just before the signing of the agreements the parties had addressed past hostilities with German Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop telling Soviet diplomats that there was no problem between the Baltic and the Black Sea that could not be solved between the two of us 12 13 14 Diplomats from both countries addressed their common ground by stating there is one common element in the ideology of Germany Italy and the Soviet Union opposition to the capitalist democracies 13 15 neither we nor Italy have anything in common with the capitalist west and it seems to us rather unnatural that a socialist state would stand on the side of the western democracies 16 A German official explained that their prior hostility toward Soviet Bolshevism had subsided with the changes in the Comintern and the Soviets renunciation of a world revolution 16 A Soviet official characterised the conversation as extremely important 16 At the signing Ribbentrop and Stalin enjoyed warm conversations exchanged toasts and further discussed their prior hostilities between the countries in the 1930s 17 Ribbentrop stated that Britain had always attempted to disrupt Soviet German relations was weak and wanted to let others fight for her presumptuous claim to world dominion 17 Stalin concurred by adding If England dominated the world that was due to the stupidity of the other countries that always let themselves be bluffed 17 Ribbentrop stated that the Anti Comintern Pact was directed not against the Soviet Union but Western democracies and frightened principally the City of London the British financiers and the English shopkeepers German and Soviet soldiers during the official transfer of Brest to Soviet control in front of picture of Stalin He added that Berliners had joked that Stalin would yet join the Anti Comintern Pact himself 18 Stalin proposed a toast to Hitler and Stalin and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov repeatedly toasted the German nation the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact and Soviet German relations 18 Ribbentrop countered with a toast to Stalin and a toast to both countries relations 18 As Ribbentrop left Stalin took him aside and stated that the Soviet government took the new pact very seriously and he would guarantee his word of honor that the Soviet Union would not betray its partner 18 Relations during partition of Poland Edit Further information Invasion of Poland 1939 and Soviet invasion of Poland One week after the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact had been signed the partition of Poland started by the German invasion of western Poland 19 The Soviet Comintern suspended all anti Nazi and antifascist propaganda by explaining the war in Europe to be a matter of capitalist states attacking each other for imperialist purposes 20 When anti German demonstrations erupted in Prague Czechoslovakia the Comintern ordered the Czech Communist Party to employ all of its strength to paralyze chauvinist elements 20 Moscow soon forced the French Communist Party and the Communist Party of Great Britain to adopt an antiwar position Two weeks after the German invasion the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland in co ordination with German forces 21 On September 21 the Soviets and the Germans signed a formal agreement coordinating military movements in Poland including the purging of saboteurs 22 A joint German Soviet parade was held in L vov and Brest 23 Stalin had decided in August that he was going to liquidate the Polish state and a German Soviet meeting in September addressed the future structure of the Polish region 23 The Soviets stated in September that they must enter Poland to protect their ethnic Ukrainian and Belarusian brethren therein from Germany but Molotov later admitted to German officials that the excuse had been necessary because the Soviets could find no other pretext for their invasion 24 Soviet and German generals during the official transfer of Brest to Soviet control September 23 1939 Three of the Baltic States described by the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact Estonia Latvia and Lithuania were given no choice but to sign a Pact of Defence and Mutual Assistance which permitted the Soviet Union to station troops in them 25 Expansion of raw materials and military trading Edit Main articles Nazi Soviet economic relations 1934 1941 and German Soviet Commercial Agreement 1940 Hitler s pressing for a German invasion of Poland in 1939 placed tremendous strain on the German war machine which had been gradually gearing up for total war only in 1942 or 1943 26 Germany s lack of raw materials meant that it had to seek increased supply from outside 26 However a British blockade occurred which left it increasingly desperate for materials 26 The only country that could still supply Germany with the oil rubber manganese grains fats and platinum that it needed was the Soviet Union 26 Meanwhile the Soviets demands for manufactured goods such as German machines were increasing and their ability to import those goods from outside decreased when many countries ceased trading relations after the Soviets had joined the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact 27 Accordingly Germany and the Soviet Union entered an intricate trade pact on February 11 1940 which was over four times larger than the one that both countries had signed in August 1939 9 The new trade pact helped Germany to circumvent the British blockade 9 In the first year Germany received hundreds of thousands of tons of cereals oil and other vital raw materials which were transported through Soviet and occupied Polish territories 9 In addition the Soviets provided Germany with access to the Northern Sea Route for both cargo ships and raiders though only the raider Komet had used the route before June 1941 This forced Britain to protect sea lanes in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans 28 Deterioration of relations in mid 1940 Edit Map depicting most of Central and Eastern Europe and showing 1938 borders along with German black and Soviet red military and political advances until late 1940 Finland Baltics and Romania Edit Main articles Winter War Occupation of the Baltic states and June 1940 Soviet Ultimatum In November 1939 the Soviet Union invaded Finland 29 resulting in stiff losses and the entry of an interim peace treaty in March 1940 that granted to the Soviet Union parts of Karelia and Salla 9 of Finnish territory 29 In mid June 1940 while international attention was focused on the German invasion of France Soviet NKVD troops raided border posts in Lithuania Estonia and Latvia 25 30 and replaced each government with pro Soviet politicians who then requested entry for their respective countries to the Soviet Union 25 31 In June the Soviets issued an ultimatum demanding Bessarabia and Bukovina from Romania 32 After the Soviets had agreed with Germany that they would limit their claims in Bukovina to Northern Bukovina Germany urged Romania to accept the ultimatum 33 Two days after the Soviet entry Romania acceded to the Soviet demands and the Soviet Union occupied the demanded territories and also the Hertsa region which had not been included in the ultimatum 32 The Soviet invasion of Finland which had been covertly ceded to it under the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact s secret protocols created domestic problems for Hitler 34 The German populace did not know about the secret protocols that divided up spheres of influence 33 Many Germans opposed the Soviet invasion and Finland had close ties with Germany 34 35 Hitler had to deflect opposition to Germany s pro Soviet policies from even Nazi Party stalwarts 34 Supporting the Soviet invasion became one of the most ideologically and politically difficult aspects of the pact for the German government to justify 36 The secret protocols caused Hitler to be in the humiliating position being forced to evacuate ethnic German families the Volksdeutsche in a hurry although they had lived in Finland and the Baltic countries for centuries all the while to condone the invasions officially 35 37 When the three Baltic countries which did not know about the secret protocols sent letters protesting the Soviet invasions to Berlin Ribbentrop returned them 38 In August Molotov told the Germans that with the government change they could close down their Baltic consulates by September 1 38 The Soviet annexations in Romania caused further strain 38 Germany had given Bessarabia to the Soviets in the secret protocols but not Bukovina 38 Germany wanted the 100 000 tons of grain for which they had previously contracted with Bessarabia guarantees of German property safety guarantees for 125 000 Volksdeutsche in Bessarabia and Bukovina and the reassurance that the train tracks carrying Romanian oil would be left alone 37 Increasing German raw material dependence Edit Main articles Nazi Soviet economic relations 1934 1941 and German Soviet Commercial Agreement 1940 In the summer of 1940 Germany grew even more dependent on Soviet imports 39 German occupations of France the Netherlands and Belgium created additional demand and decreased avenues for indirect supply 39 Compared to 1938 figures the expanded Greater Germany and its sphere of influence lacked among other items 500 000 tons of manganese 3 3 million tons of raw phosphate 200 000 tons of rubber and 9 5 million tons of oil 39 Meanwhile the Baltic invasions resulted in the Soviet occupation of states on which Germany had relied for 96 7 million Reichsmarks of imports in 1938 40 at blackmailed favorable economic terms but from which they now had to pay Soviet prices 37 Hitler increasingly believed the eventual invasion of the Soviet Union to appear the only way for Germany to solve that resource crisis 39 No concrete plans had yet been made but Hitler told one of his generals in June that the victories in Western Europe finally freed his hands for his important real task the showdown with Bolshevism 41 However German generals told Hitler that occupying Western Russia would create more of a drain than a relief for Germany s economic situation 42 Suspension of Soviet raw materials to Germany Edit In August 1940 the Soviet Union briefly suspended its deliveries under their commercial agreement after relations were strained following a disagreement over policy in Romania the Soviet Finnish War Germany s falling behind in its deliveries of goods under the pact and Stalin s concern that Hitler s war with the West might end quickly after France had signed an armistice The suspension created significant resource problems for Germany 43 By late August relations improved again as the countries had redrawn the Hungarian and Romanian borders and settled some Bulgarian claims and Stalin was again convinced that Germany would face a long war in the west with Britain s improvement in its air battle against Germany and the execution of an agreement between the United States and Britain regarding destroyers and bases 44 However in late August Germany arranged its own annexation of part of Romania which targeted oil fields The move raised tensions with the Soviets who responded that Germany was supposed to have consulted with the Soviet Union under Article III of the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact 45 Tripartite Pact EditBefore entering a deal with Italy and Japan German officials had discussed the feasibility of including the Soviet Union as a fourth member to direct Soviet focus southward to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf both of which were in the British sphere of influence German officials indicated that they would be willing to give the Soviet Union freedom to operate east of the Dardanelles 46 Just before the signing of the agreement Germany informed Molotov that it would enter the pact and that while it was not explicitly stated the pact was effectively directed against American warmongers by demonstrating to them the folly of war with three great powers aligned against them 47 Moscow had actually been aware of the proposed pact terms from Soviet intelligence sources in Japan 46 On September 27 1940 Germany Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact which divided the world into spheres of influence and was implicitly directed at the United States The pact contained an explicit provision Article 5 that stated it did not concern relations with the Soviet Union 46 Molotov worried that the pact contained a secret codicil pertaining specifically to the Soviet Union attempted to extract information from the Japanese ambassador in Moscow Togo 48 On a home visit the German military attache to the Soviet Union Ernst Kostring stated on October 31 that the impression is steadily growing in me that the Russians want to avoid any conflict with us 48 Meanwhile from August to October Germany conducted a massive air campaign against Britain to prepare for Operation Sea Lion the plan to invade Britain 49 War or a higher level pact Edit Ambassador Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg Throughout the summer Hitler vacillated between plans to attack the Soviet Union or to offer it part of a deal like the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact except one that would look south where the Soviets would receive ports only on the west side of the Black Sea or it might be given the Bosporus if Germany maintained a friendly third party state with access such as Bulgaria 50 German ambassador to Moscow Friedrich von der Schulenburg had been contemplating a potential four power pact since the collapse of France in June 51 After he had covertly learned about Hitler s potential Soviet invasion plans which he opposed von der Schulenburg and others began attempting to sway Hitler and his contingent at least extend to their agreement as long as Russia s claims remained in the areas of Turkey and Iran 52 He even concealed in his reports to Berlin the Soviets doubts on Germany s good faith after the annexations in Romania 52 Kostring von der Schulenburg and others drafted a memorandum on the dangers of a German invasion of the Soviet Union that included that Ukraine Belarus and the Baltic States would end up being only a further economic burden for Germany 50 German Foreign Office State Secretary Ernst von Weizsacker argued that the Soviets in their current bureaucratic form were harmless the occupation would not produce a gain for Germany and why should it not stew next to us in its damp Bolshevism 50 Stalin Ribbentrop exchange in October EditIn October 1940 Stalin requested that Molotov be permitted to discuss with Hitler the countries future relations 53 Ribbentrop responded to Stalin in a letter that in the opinion of the Fuhrer it appears to be the historical mission of the Four Powers the Soviet Union Italy Japan and Germany to adopt a long range policy and to direct the future development of their peoples into the right channels by delimitation of their interests in a worldwide scale 54 The delivery of Ribbentrop s letter was delayed to Stalin That resulted after earlier press stories in the ideas no longer seemed fresh which caused Ribbentrop to lash out at the German embassy in Moscow s personnel 53 55 Delivering the letter von Schulenburg stated that the Berlin conference would be a preliminary meeting preceding a convening of the four powers 55 Stalin was visibly pleased by the invitation for talks in Berlin 56 Stalin wrote a letter responding to Ribbentrop on entering an agreement regarding a permanent basis for their mutual interests 57 On November 6 Kostring wrote that since Goring has now put our military deliveries in balance with the Russian deliveries one may hope that the negotiations will end in peace and friendship 48 During the first two weeks in November German and Soviet economic negotiators in Moscow enjoyed moderate success 58 German military economic negotiators had hoped for success in the negotiations in part because they felt that it would strengthen their arguments against Hitler s policy which was increasingly anti Soviet 59 On November 1 the head of the Army General Staff Franz Halder met with Hitler and wrote The Fuhrer hopes he can bring Russia into the anti British front 60 After Franklin D Roosevelt won the presidential election four days later after he had promised that there would be no foreign wars if he was elected Goebbels noted that after his statement Roosevelt will hardly be able to enter the war in an active capacity 60 Meeting with Benito Mussolini Ribbentrop explained the German view of the meetings that the acid test would be the Soviets stand on the Balkans 50 With the Balkans and the Bosporus a potential dangerous overlapping of interests if the Soviets backed away from it it would be a peaceful and even a preferable alternative to an invasion 50 Hitler revealed to Mussolini that he did not expect to accommodate the Soviets beyond forcing Turkey to yield to some guarantees on the Bosporus 50 Also he did not want Stalin taking a Romanian entry point to the Bosporus and stated that one Romanian bird in the hand is worth more than two Russians in the bush 55 However Hitler stated that he was skeptical because he believed that Stalin was obsessed with the Danube and Bulgaria 55 Germany was aware that the Soviet Union had attempted to extend guarantees to Bulgaria to become its ally and that Bulgaria had turned it down 61 Molotov travels to Berlin Edit Molotov just after arrival at the Reichskanzlei at noon Front of Pravda with photographs of Molotov in Berlin November 12 Edit Stalin sent Molotov to Berlin to negotiate the terms for the Soviet Union to join the Axis and potentially enjoy the spoils of the pact 62 Molotov spent much of the trip to Berlin searching his rail car for listening devices 63 Molotov s train arrived at 11 05 a m on November 12 64 65 It was a bad omen for success that von Schulenburg the architect of the meeting was excluded 50 Molotov was greeted by Ribbentrop at the train station decorated with Soviet and German flags above a large basket of flowers with an orchestra playing The Internationale in Germany for the first time since 1933 66 After a brief breakfast the talks started immediately that day at the Schloss Bellevue Hotel 64 After the dissolution of the Soviet Union a Moscow journal published certain selected correspondence revealing that Stalin was closely supervising Molotov s talks via telegram but some of those telegrams remain unpublished 67 At the outset Ribbentrop stated England is beaten and it is only a question of time when she will admit her defeat The beginning of the end has now arrived for the British empire 65 He further stated that the entry of the United States into the war is of no consequence at all for Germany Germany and Italy will never again allow an Anglo Saxon to land on the European Continent This is no military problem at all The Axis Powers are therefore not considering how they can win the war but rather how rapidly they can end the war which is already won 65 He further stated that Germany and the Soviet Union had together done some good business 65 Accordingly Ribbentrop concluded that the time had come for the four powers Germany the Soviet Union Italy and Japan to define their spheres of interest 65 68 He stated that Hitler had concluded that all four countries would naturally expand in a southerly direction 65 Ribbentrop said that he wondered if the Soviets might turn southward toward the sea and Molotov inquired Which sea Ribbentrop stated that in the long run the most advantageous access to the sea for Russia could be found in the direction of the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea 65 68 Regarding the division of the world into four spheres of influence Molotov stated the new idea was very interesting and worthy of a discussion in Moscow with Ribbentrop participating 69 Stalin became annoyed with a telegram to him from Molotov stating that the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact was exhausted with the exception of the Finnish issue with Stalin stating that any future agreements would be added to it merely because it served as a fundamental basis for Soviet German relations 69 In the afternoon Molotov visited Hitler at the Reich Chancellery 64 65 Hitler also spoke of striking that final blow against England and stated that it is time to think about division of the world after our victory 64 Regarding the problem of America according to Shirer he stated that it could not endanger the freedom of other nations before 1970 or 1980 65 A different account was given by Hitler s interpreter at the meeting Paul Schmidt Citing Hitler Schmidt told in his memoirs 1950 Hitler went on to call for battle against the United States who not in 1945 but at the earliest in 1970 or 1980 would seriously endanger the freedom of other nations 70 Hitler and Molotov agreed that the United States had no business in Europe Africa or Asia 65 Hitler stated that there were no fundamental differences between the two countries in their pursuit of aspiring for access to the ocean 65 Molotov expressed his agreement with Hitler about the role of America and Britain and about Soviet participation in the Axis pact in principle but only if the Soviets could participate as an active partner 69 71 The same day Germany also postponed until the following year its plans to invade Britain because of its failures in the air campaign against Britain 49 Molotov agreed with Hitler that there were no unresolved problems between the countries except on Finland 69 When Molotov returned to his hotel he stated that he was relieved at Hitler s amiability 61 In a telegram to Molotov that night Stalin insisted that the security of the Soviet Union cannot be ensured without securing tranquility in the area of the Straits in reference the Bosporus Straits for entry into the Black Sea 1 That was linked directly with the Soviet Bulgarian agreement for passage of Soviet troops for the defense of entry into the Black Sea 1 Stalin added that this question still bears current importance and does not allow any procrastination 1 November 13 Edit The Bosporus intersects Istanbul in the southwest corner of the Black Sea Bulgaria is to its north Molotov and Hitler resumed their discussions the next morning 72 Molotov demanded to know why German troops occupied Finland and Hitler replied that they were travelling through Finland to Norway and wondered whether the Soviets intended to go to war over Finland 72 While Hitler agreed that Finland was within the Soviets sphere of influence he also stressed that Germany had a legitimate wartime interest in Finland s nickel and wood supply and that any new conflict in the Baltics would lead to a severe strain in relations 69 Molotov concluded that nothing good could come from further talks about Finland and stated that he saw no signs of any resumption of a Soviet Finnish conflict 73 According to Hitler however Molotov stated Russia felt herself again endangered by Finland Russia should be able to liquidate Finland which for him was the first question which I found difficult to answer But I could not do otherwise than refuse this 74 Molotov conveyed Stalin s interest in reviewing the status of the Bosporus and pressed for a guarantee for Bulgaria at least in principle 73 Molotov later noted that Hitler became markedly agitated at the request to revoke guarantees to Romania 61 Molotov stated Stalin s wish to grant a guarantee to Bulgaria similar to the one that Germany and Italy had granted to Romania 61 Hitler pointed out that the Soviets had entered Bukovina in Romania which went beyond the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact 75 Hitler stated the parties had made a prior oral agreement that the former Austrian territories such as the Balkan states within the Austro Hungarian Empire were to fall within the German sphere of influence 68 Hitler pointed out that a primary goal of the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact was to restore the countries old empires 68 Stalin still hoping to get a draft agreement was monitoring the conversations by telegram and sent a telegram to Molotov to remind Hitler of the importance of securing the Bosporus that explained the events of the Crimean War 61 Hitler stated that he could not make decisions regarding Bulgaria until he had conversed with Italian leader Benito Mussolini 73 Hitler changed the subject to the larger matter of the opportunities available after the conquest of England 68 72 Hitler told Molotov that 7 After the conquest of England the British Empire would be apportioned as a gigantic world wide estate in bankruptcy of forty million square kilometres In this bankrupt estate there would be for Russia access to the ice free and really open ocean Thus far a minority of forty five million Englishmen had ruled six hundred million inhabitants of the British Empire He was about to crush this minority Under these circumstances there arose world wide perspectives All the countries which could possibly be interested in the bankrupt estate would have to stop all controversies among themselves and concern themselves exclusively with the partition of the British Empire This applied to Germany France Italy Russia and Japan Molotov told Hitler that the time has now come to discuss a broader agreement between the USSR and Germany but the Soviet government first wanted to know the precise meaning of the New Order in Europe regarding the participating countries and the ultimate aims of the pact 73 Molotov then was scheduled to meet with Ribbentrop that afternoon A telegram that Molotov sent to Stalin on the meeting with Hitler underscored Hitler s great interest in reaching an agreement and strengthening friendly relations with the USSR with respect to spheres of influence 73 Molotov stated that his talk with neither Hitler nor Ribbentrop produced the desired results as the issues with Turkey and the Balkans had not been addressed 1 Because of British aerial bombardment Ribbentrop and Molotov conducted talks that night in an air raid shelter 76 Ribbentrop reiterated that the chief goals were to define the four powers interests and to reach an agreement with Turkey on the Bosporus issue 1 Ribbentrop proposed several parallel steps the parties should then take such as Molotov discussing the issues raised in Berlin with Stalin while Ribbentrop discussed them with Japan 1 Germany Italy and the USSR would also pressure Turkey to acquiesce to Soviet demands on the Bosporus 73 Thereafter the parties would negotiate and draft confidential documents bearing in mind that the final accord would be a Soviet entry into the Axis 1 What Molotov did not know was that the very night Hitler issued secret Instruction No 18 directing his forces to continue to prepare for war in the east irrespective of the results yielded by these discussions 77 78 German proposed draft agreement Edit In the air raid shelter Ribbentrop gave Molotov a draft agreement with two parts 1 As had become the practice between the parties one part was of the agreement that would eventually be made public and the other contained the secret agreement 1 The public portion contained an agreement with a ten year duration whereby the parties would respect each other s natural spheres of interests and Germany Italy and Japan would affirm their recognition of existing Soviet borders 1 The draft of the secret agreement included the obligation not to join any alliance directed at the four signatories and to assist each other in economic matters 1 The secret agreement contained a protocol defining the territorial objectives of the four signatories with Germany laying claims to Central Africa Italy in North and Northeast Africa Japan in Southeast Asia and the Soviet zone to the center south of the national territory of the Soviet Union in the direction of the Indian Ocean 76 79 A second secret protocol provided that Germany Italy and the Soviet Union would liberate Turkey from its international obligations with Britain to guarantee its borders 79 Molotov stated that the Soviet Union was concerned with several European issues such as Turkey and Bulgaria but also the fates of Hungary Romania Yugoslavia and Greece 76 In addition the Soviets were also interested in the question of Swedish neutrality and the passage from the Baltic Sea 76 Molotov also cuttingly remarked that if England s fate was sealed why they were talking in an air raid shelter 76 Reaction to Molotov trip Edit The news that Molotov held talks in Berlin initially stunned world media with the British press endeavouring to determine whether the Soviets were preparing to join the Axis pact 79 When Molotov returned he noted that the meeting produced nothing to boast about and that Ribbentrop s projected trip to Moscow was no longer mentioned but that the German draft proposal led to a complacent rather than crisis approach of continuing negotiations through diplomatic channels 80 The pro Continental Bloc Germans in Ribbentrop s entourage expected that Stalin would eventually yield given the weakness of the Red Army 80 Weizsacker commented that we can continue for a long time and that war with Russia is impossible as long as we are busy with England and afterwards it will be unnecessary 80 On November 14 Kostring reiterated his conviction that the Soviets indeed had no aggressive designs On the contrary Molotov s trip to Berlin is for me just further proof of an idea that I have long held namely that the Soviet Union wants to have peace with us since it cannot expect any advantage from a conflict with us The decisive factor in evoking the Soviet desire for peace is and remains the demonstrated strength of our army 48 Bulgarian pressure and a surprise EditHitler had already issued a secret directive on the eventual attempts to invade the Soviet Union 79 81 He had not yet abandoned the possibility of other political outcomes and still talked of a great worldwide coalition that stretched from Yokohama to Spain but he had resolved to not give up the Balkans 82 Meanwhile the Soviets immediately summoned the Bulgarian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry and stated that the Soviets needed to do a deal with the Bulgarians before they joined the Axis and that Germany was attempting to make them a puppet state 82 The Bulgarians turned down the offer and leaked it to Germany 82 Hitler still hoped to dissuade Stalin from giving guarantees to Bulgaria if the Bosporus issue could be solved and he pressed the Bulgarian ambassador that the Soviets could be persuaded against resistance if the Bulgarians joined the pact and he warned about the horrors of Soviet occupation 82 The Soviets had meanwhile produced the biggest surprise In an unannounced November 25 visit in Sofia the Soviets told Bulgarian Prime Minister Bogdan Filov that if Bulgaria permitted transfer access to Soviet troops the Soviets were prepared to drop their objections to Bulgaria s entry into the Axis and most surprisingly the Soviets stated that it likely would not be an issue as it would very probably almost certainly lead to the Soviets own entry into the Axis 83 The stunned Filov stated that it required further contemplation 83 The Soviet negotiators had concluded that the Bulgarian government is already committed to Germany to the hilt 83 Soviet counterproposal agreement EditStalin told the head of the Comintern the Bulgarian Georgi Dimitrov that Germany wanted Italy in the Balkans but in the final analysis it had no choice but to recognise Soviet interests in maintaining Black Sea access and to assure that the Bosporus would not be used against them 83 Stalin directed Molotov to draft a new pact with a much greater scope including the division of Europe Asia and Africa among the four powers 84 On November 25 the same day as the surprise statement of Soviet nonresistance to Bulgaria s joining the Axis and a potential Soviet joining of the pact 85 the Soviets offered a counterproposal to Ribbentrop s draft agreement 79 It began The Soviet government is prepared to accept the draft of the Pact of Four Powers on political cooperation and economic mutual assistance 79 Instead of two secret protocols Stalin proposed five German troops would depart Finland in exchange for a Soviet guarantee of continued nickel and wood shipments and peace with Finland A mutual assistance pact to be signed with Bulgaria in the next few months that would permit Soviet bases The centre of Soviet territorial domination would be south of Baku and Batumi ports now in Azerbaijan and Georgia south of which are Iraq and Iran Japanese renunciation of rights to northern Sakhalin oil and coal concessions in exchange for appropriate compensation An affirmation that the Soviet Bulgaria mutual assistance treaty was a political necessity 4 The proposals came concurrently with massively increased economic offers 85 The Soviets promised by May 11 1941 the delivery of 2 5 million tons of grain 1 million tons above their current obligations 4 They also promised full compensation for Volksdeutsche property claims 4 German reaction EditGerman negotiator Karl Schnurre de who could not conceal his delight over the offer immediately telegrammed Berlin that in view of the present status of the negotiations here Molotov s statements today must be viewed as a surprising indication of goodwill on the part of the Soviet Government Molotov s proposal regarding compensation for property claims in the Baltic states considerably exceeds our expectations 4 Hitler however saw the Soviet territorial ambitions in the Balkans as a challenge to German interests and saw the plan as effectively making Bulgaria into an adjunct of the Axis Pact 6 On several occasions Molotov asked German officials for their response to Moscow s counterproposals but Germany never answered them 6 84 86 87 Germany s refusal to respond to the counterproposal worsened relations between the countries 88 Regarding the counterproposal Hitler remarked to his top military chiefs that Stalin demands more and more he s a cold blooded blackmailer and a German victory has become unbearable for Russia so that she must be brought to her knees as soon as possible 7 Weisung Nr 21 Fall Barbarossa On December 5 Hitler received military plans for the possible invasion and approved them all with a schedule to begin in May 1941 78 On December 18 1940 Hitler signed Fuhrer Directive No 21 to the German high command for an operation now codenamed Operation Barbarossa stating The German Wehrmacht must be prepared to crush Soviet Russia in a quick campaign 78 89 The date for the invasion was set for May 15 1941 89 On the other side of the border Stalin had anticipated an eventual war against Germany Speaking to his generals in December Stalin referenced Hitler s references to a Soviet attack in Mein Kampf and stated that they must always be ready to repulse a German attack that Hitler thought that the Red Army would require four years to ready itself and so we must be ready much earlier and that we will try to delay the war for another two years 75 On January 17 1941 seven days after the German Soviet Border and Commercial Agreement Molotov asked German officials whether the parties could then work out an agreement for entry to the Axis Pact 63 90 Molotov expressed astonishment at the absence of any answer to the Soviets November 25 offer to join the pact 90 and never received an answer 90 On March 1 1941 Bulgaria joined the Axis which further unsettled Stalin after Germany had continued to ignore Stalin s November 25 1940 Axis entry proposal 91 After six months of preparations Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 which ended any hope for the proposed alliance Von der Schulenburg was executed as one of the conspirators in the July 20 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler 92 Postwar Soviet reactions Falsifiers of History EditIn 1948 one month after Nazi government foreign ministry documents describing the negotiations had been publicly released by the United States the Soviet Foreign Information Bureau wrote a response in a book Falsifiers of History 93 94 After receiving translations of the newly released documents Stalin personally edited struck and rewrote by hand entire sections of drafts he had been given of Falsifiers before the book s release in February 1948 95 In Falsifiers Stalin claimed that he was merely probing out Germany in Axis negotiations and to have outright rejected Hitler s proposal to share a division of the world 79 That version persisted without exception in all historical studies official accounts memoirs and textbooks published in the Soviet Union until 1990 79 See also EditSoviet offensive plans controversyNotes Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 201 a b Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov Leaves Berlin after Four Power Talks Wienberg 1954 p 144 sfn error no target CITEREFWienberg1954 help a b c d e Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 203 Roberts 2006 p 57 a b c Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 204 a b c Shirer 1990 p 725 Shirer 1990 pp 515 540 a b c d Shirer 1990 p 668 Ericson 1999 p 57 Text of the Nazi Soviet Non Aggression Pact executed August 23 1939 Roberts 2006 p 30 a b Fest 2002 pp 589 90 Vehvilainen Olli Finland in the Second World War Between Germany and Russia Macmillan 2002 ISBN 0 333 80149 0 page 30 Bertriko Jean Jacques Subrenat A and David Cousins Estonia Identity and Independence Rodopi 2004 ISBN 90 420 0890 3 page 131 a b c Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 115 a b c Shirer 1990 p 539 a b c d Shirer 1990 p 540 Roberts 2006 p 82 a b Cohen Yohanon Small Nations in Times of Crisis and Confrontation SUNY Press 1989 ISBN 0 7914 0018 2 page 110 Roberts 2006 p 43 Nerkich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 130harvnb error no target CITEREFNerkichUlamFreeze1997 help a b Nerkich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 131harvnb error no target CITEREFNerkichUlamFreeze1997 help Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 pp 128 129 a b c Wettig Gerhard Stalin and the Cold War in Europe Rowman amp Littlefield Landham Md 2008 ISBN 0 7425 5542 9 page 20 21 a b c d Ericson 1999 pp 63 4 Ericson 1999 p 66 Philbin III 1994 pp 130 142 a b Kennedy Pipe Caroline Stalin s Cold War New York Manchester University Press 1995 ISBN 0 7190 4201 1 Senn Alfred Erich Lithuania 1940 Revolution from Above Amsterdam New York Rodopi 2007 ISBN 978 90 420 2225 6 Simon Sebag Montefiore Stalin The Court of the Red Tsar p 334 a b Roberts 2006 p 55 a b Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 181 a b c Philbin III 1994 p 71 a b Shirer 1990 p 665 Philbin III 1994 p 129 a b c Ericson 1999 p 134 a b c d Shirer 1990 p 794 a b c d Ericson 1999 pp 127 8 Hehn 2005 p 212 Ericson 1999 pp 129 130 Ericson 1999 p 138 Philbin III 1994 p 48 amp 59 Philbin III 1994 p 60 Shirer 1990 p 720 a b c Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 196 Shirer 1990 p 721 a b c d Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 197 a b Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 192 a b c d e f g Gorodetsky 2001 pp 69 70 Gorodetsky 2001 p 67 a b Gorodetsky 2001 p 68 a b Shirer 1990 p 722 Philbin III 1994 pp 49 50 a b c d Gorodetsky 2001 p 71 Gorodetsky 2001 p 72 Roberts 2006 p 58 Ericson 1999 p 143 Ericson 1999 p 144 a b Berthon amp Potts 2007 p 44 a b c d e Gorodetsky 2001 p 74 Brackman 2001 p 341 a b Murray amp Millett 2001 p 111 a b c d Berthon amp Potts 2007 p 45 a b c d e f g h i j k Shirer 1990 p 723 Gorodetsky 2001 p 73 Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 198 a b c d e Brackman 2001 p 342 a b c d e Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 199 Cited in Max Ostrovsky The Hyperbola of the World Order Lanham University Press of America 2007 p 272 Weinberg 1995 p 200 a b c Shirer 1990 p 724 a b c d e f Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 200 Adolf Hitler Explains His Reasons for Invading the Soviet Union a b Berthon amp Potts 2007 p 47 a b c d e Shirer 1990 pp 726 7 Weeks Albert L Stalin s Other War Soviet Grand Strategy 1939 1941 Rowman amp Littlefield 2003 ISBN 0 7425 2192 3 page 74 75 a b c Overy 2004 p 489 a b c d e f g h Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 202 a b c Gorodetsky 2001 pp 75 6 Roberts 2006 p 59 a b c d Gorodetsky 2001 p 77 a b c d Gorodetsky 2001 pp 80 1 a b Lukacks 2006 p 65harvnb error no target CITEREFLukacks2006 help a b Weinberg 1995 p 201 Donaldson Robert H and Joseph L Nogee The Foreign Policy of Russia Changing Systems Enduring Interests M E Sharpe 2005 ISBN 0 7656 1568 1 pages 65 66 Churchill Winston The Second World War Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 1953 ISBN 0 395 41056 8 pages 520 21 Ericson 1999 p 146 a b Brackman 2001 p 344 a b c Weinberg 1995 p 202 Nekrich Ulam amp Freeze 1997 p 208 Shirer 1990 p 1392 Henig 2005 p 67 Roberts 2002 p 96 Roberts 2002 p 98References EditBerthon Simon Potts Joanna 2007 Warlords An Extraordinary Re creation of World War II Through the Eyes and Minds of Hitler Churchill Roosevelt and Stalin Da Capo Press ISBN 978 0 306 81538 6 Brackman Roman 2001 The Secret File of Joseph Stalin A Hidden Life Frank Cass Publishers ISBN 0 7146 5050 1 Erickson John 2001 The Soviet High Command A Military political History 1918 1941 Routledge ISBN 0 7146 5178 8 Ericson Edward E 1999 Feeding the German Eagle Soviet Economic Aid to Nazi Germany 1933 1941 Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 0 275 96337 3 Fest Joachim C 2002 Hitler Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ISBN 0 15 602754 2 Figes Orlando 2007 The Whisperers Private Life in Stalin s Russia Macmillan ISBN 978 0 8050 7461 1 Grenville John Ashley Soames Wasserstein Bernard 2001 The Major International Treaties of the Twentieth Century A History and Guide with Texts Taylor amp Francis ISBN 0 415 23798 X Gorodetsky Gabriel 2001 Grand Delusion Stalin and the German Invasion of Russia Yale University Press ISBN 0 300 08459 5 Harrison Mark 2000 The Economics of World War II Six Great Powers in International Comparison Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 78503 0 Hehn Paul N 2005 A Low Dishonest Decade The Great Powers Eastern Europe and the Economic Origins of World War II 1930 1941 Continuum International Publishing Group ISBN 0 8264 1761 2 Henig Ruth Beatrice 2005 The Origins of the Second World War 1933 41 Routledge ISBN 0 415 33262 1 Lukacs John 2006 June 1941 Hitler and Stalin Yale University Press ISBN 0 300 11437 0 Murray Williamson Millett Allan 2001 A War to be Won Fighting the Second World War Harvard University Press ISBN 0 674 00680 1 Nekrich Aleksandr Moiseevich Ulam Adam Bruno Freeze Gregory L 1997 Pariahs Partners Predators German Soviet Relations 1922 1941 Columbia University Press ISBN 0 231 10676 9 Overy R J 2004 The Dictators Hitler s Germany and Stalin s Russia W W Norton amp Company ISBN 0 393 02030 4 Overy Richard 1997 Why the Allies Won W W Norton amp Company ISBN 0 393 31619 X Philbin III Tobias R 1994 The Lure of Neptune German Soviet Naval Collaboration and Ambitions 1919 1941 University of South Carolina Press ISBN 0 87249 992 8 Roberts Geoffrey 2006 Stalin s Wars From World War to Cold War 1939 1953 Yale University Press ISBN 0 300 11204 1 Roberts Geoffrey 2002 Stalin the Pact with Nazi Germany and the Origins of Postwar Soviet Diplomatic Historiography vol 4 Shirer William L 1990 The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich A History of Nazi Germany Simon and Schuster ISBN 0 671 72868 7 Wegner Bernd 1997 From Peace to War Germany Soviet Russia and the World 1939 1941 Berghahn Books ISBN 1 57181 882 0 Weinberg Gerhard L 1995 A World at Arms A Global History of World War II Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 55879 4External links Edit Wikisource has original text related to this article Adolf Hitler Explains His Reasons for Invading the Soviet Union HITLER AND MOLOTOV MEETINGS BERLIN NOVEMBER 12 AND 13 1940 OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS Memorandum of the Conversation Between the Fuhrer and the Chairman of the Council of People s Commissars and People s Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov November 12 1940 Memorandum of the Conversation Between the Fuhrer and the Chairman of the Council of People s Commissars Molotov November 13 1940 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title German Soviet Axis talks amp oldid 1136964796, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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