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German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty

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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 known as the German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty) was a treaty signed by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union on September 28, 1939 after their joint invasion and occupation of Poland.[1] It was signed by Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov, the foreign ministers of Germany and the Soviet Union respectively. The treaty was a follow up to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which the two countries had signed on August 23, prior to their invasion of Poland and the start of World War II in Europe. Only a small portion of the treaty was publicly announced.

Secret articles

Several secret articles were attached to the treaty. These articles allowed for the exchange of Soviet and German nationals between the two occupied zones of Poland, redrew parts of the central European spheres of interest dictated by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and also stated that neither party to the treaty would allow on its territory any "Polish agitation" directed at the other party. During the western invasion of Poland, the German Wehrmacht had taken 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 to the Soviet sphere of influence, with the exception of a small territory in the Suwałki Region, sometimes known as the Suwałki Triangle. 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 (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. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  1. ^ Davies, Norman (1996). Europe: a History. Oxford University Press. p. 1001. ISBN 0-19-820171-0.

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