These are the steps that lead to the outbreak of World War II

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The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact


From:

http://wheremydogs.at/articles/2007/...ibbentrop-pact

In August 1939, Germany and Russia shocked the Western powers by signing an agreement that finally swayed the balance of power in Germany’s favour.
The agreement, known as the “Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact”,[1] set down the following terms:

• In the official terms the parties agreed on a 10-year non-aggression pact – benevolent neutrality in the case of war
• In the secret clauses Poland was to be divided into spheres of influence between the two countries

Stalin’s motives

Although the Pact surprised many, Stalin felt it in many way to be his only choice in securing the Soviet Union:

• he distrusted the Western democracies just as much as he did Hitler, but their handling of the Munich agreement and the Czech crisis convinced him that they were to weak to offer any security
• the negotiations by these powers with the Soviet Union were only half-hearted (inexperienced junior officials were sent)
• it gave Stalin the vital time to prepare re-armament and re-organise the army, which had suffered under the purges, and
• it avoided a two-front war with Japan, which was growing more and more a threat.

Hitler’s motives

Whether Hitler would attack Poland was dependent on the role the Soviet Union would take. He thus required Soviet neutrality, which the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact offered. With the pact he also avoided a two-front war with France and Britain in the West and the Soviet Union in the East.

Consequences

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact effectively made an attack on Poland inevitable, as Hitler was now convinced that, with the Soviet Union remaining neutral, Britain and France would not risk a general war.
1 Respectively named after the Soviet and German foreign ministers that negotiated the deal