- German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation
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Map attached to the German–Soviet Treaty dividing Poland into German and Soviet occupation zones
The German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation (also German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty) was a treaty signed by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union on September 28, 1939 after jointly invading Poland.[1] It was signed by Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov, the foreign ministers for Germany and the Soviet Union respectively. It was a follow up to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, dated August 23. Only a small portion of the treaty was publicly announced.
Secret articles
Several secret articles were attached. These articles allowed the exchange of Russian and German nationals from the other sides partition of Poland, redrew parts of the central European spheres of interest dictated by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and included an agreement to suppress any "Polish agitation". When Wehrmacht advanced against Poland, Germans took control of the Lublin Voivodeship and eastern Warsaw Voivodeship, territories which according to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact were in the Soviet sphere of influence. To compensate the Soviet Union for this loss, the treaty's secret attachment transferred Lithuania, except for a small territory in the Suwałki Region sometimes known as the Suwałki Triangle, to the Soviet sphere of influence. After this transfer, the Soviet Union issued an ultimatum to Lithuania, occupied it on June 15, 1940 and established the Lithuanian SSR.
References
- Eidintas, Alfonsas; Vytautas Žalys, Alfred Erich Senn (September 1999). Ed. Edvardas Tuskenis. ed. Lithuania in European Politics: The Years of the First Republic, 1918–1940 (Paperback ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 170. ISBN 0-312-22458-3.
- ^ Davies, Norman (1996). Europe: a History. Oxford University Press. p. 1001. ISBN 0198201710. http://books.google.com/books?id=jrVW9W9eiYMC&pg=RA1-PA1001&lpg.
External links
- Text of the treaty (English translation) from ElectronicMusem online, Polish-Canadian wesite commemorating Katyn massacre
Media related to German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty at Wikimedia Commons 
Works related to German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty 28 September 1939 at WikisourcePrior antagonism Political Relations before 1941 · Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (negotiations) · Boundary and Friendship Treaty · Population transfers · Axis talks · Gestapo–NKVD ConferencesEconomic Military Invasion of Poland · Soviet invasion of Poland · Occupation of the Baltic states · Winter War · Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina · Naval cruiser Lützow · Soviet offensive plans controversy · Basis Nord · Komet Northern Sea Route Raid · German–Soviet military parade in Brest-LitovskAftermath Operation Barbarossa · Eastern Front · Katyń massacre controversy · Falsifiers of History · Baltic WayCategoryCategories:- Boundary treaties
- 1939 in the Soviet Union
- 1939 in Germany
- Treaties of the Soviet Union
- Secret diplomatic agreements
- Germany–Soviet Union relations
- World War II treaties
- Borders of Germany
- Borders of the Soviet Union
- History of Lithuania (1918–1940)
- Treaties concluded in 1939
- Treaties entered into force in 1939
- Treaties of Nazi Germany
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