GERMAN-SOVIET TREATY OF NON-AGGRESSION
(Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)
August 23, 1939

TREATY OF NON-AGGRESSION
BETWEEN GERMANY AND THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS

The Government of the German Reich and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics desirous of strengthening the cause of peace between Germany and the U.S.S.R., and proceeding from the fundamental provisions of the Neutrality Agreement concluded in April 1926 between Germany and the U.S.S.R., have reached the following agreement:

Article I.

Both Contracting Parties obligate themselves to desist from any act of violence, any aggressive action, and any attack on each other, either individually or jointly with other powers.

Article II.

Should one of the Contracting Parties become the object of belligerent action by a third power, the other Contracting Party shall in no manner lend its support to this third power.

Article III.

The Governments of the two Contracting Parties shall in the future maintain continual contact with one another for the purpose of consultation in order to exchange information on problems affecting their common interests.

Article IV.

Neither of the two Contracting Parties shall participate in any grouping of powers whatsoever that is directly or indirectly aimed at the other Party.

Article V.

Should disputes or conflicts arise between the Contracting Parties over problems of one kind or another, both Parties shall settle these disputes or conflicts exclusively through friendly exchange of opinion or, if necessary, through the establishment of arbitration commissions.

Article VI.

The present Treaty is concluded for a period of ten years, with the proviso that, in so far as one of the Contracting Parties does not denounce it one year prior to the expiration of this period, the validity of this Treaty shall automatically be extended for another five years.

Article VII.

The present Treaty shall be ratified within the shortest possible time. The ratification shall be exchanged in Berlin. The agreement shall enter into force as soon as it is signed.

Done in duplicate, in the German and Russian languages.
Moscow, August 23, 1939.

For the Government of the German Reich:
J. v. Ribbentrop

With full power of the Government of the U.S.S.R.:
V. Molotov

SECRET SUPPLEMENTARY PROTOCOL

On the occasion of the signature of the Non-Aggression Treaty between the German Reich and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries of both Parties discussed in strictly confidential conversations the question of the boundary of their respective spheres of influence in Eastern Europe. These conversations led to the following result:

1. In the event of a territorial-political rearrangement of the areas belonging to the Baltic States (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), the northern boundary of Lithuania becomes simultaneously the boundary of the sphere of influence of Germany and the U.S.S.R. Herein, the Lithuania's interests in the Vilna area are recognized by both Parties.

2. In the event of a territorial-political rearrangement of the areas belonging to the Polish state, the spheres of influence of Germany and the U.S.S.R. shall be bounded approximately by the line of the rivers Narew, Vistula, and San.
The question of whether the interests of both Parties make desirable the maintenance of an independent Polish state, and how such a state should be bounded can only be definitely determined in the course of further political developments.
In any event, both Governments will resolve this question by means of a friendly agreement.

3. In regard to South-Eastern Europe, the Soviet Party's interest in Bessarabia is being emphasized. The German Party declares its complete political disinterestedness in these areas.

4. This Protocol shall be treated by both Parties as strictly secret.

Moscow, August 23, 1939.

For the Government of the German Reich:
J. v. Ribbentrop

With full power of the Government of the U.S.S.R.:
V. Molotov

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