The fourth partition of Poland: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, 86 years on

TVP World ^ | 8/23/2025 | Alex Webber

[marcusmaximus]

Saturday marks the 86th anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, an agreement concluded between Moscow and Berlin that would effectively lead to the carve up of Poland and condemn the world to six years of war.

In hindsight, it is abundantly clear that a major global conflict had long been brewing, however, it was the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that is now viewed as the final treachery that would lead to war.

While, in essence, the pact was billed as a non-aggression agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, it contained a secret annex that divided Central Eastern Europe into two separate spheres of influence.

“In the event of territorial and political transformations in the territories belonging to the Polish State, the border of the interest zones of Germany and the USSR will run approximately along the line of the Narew, Vistula and San rivers,” this addendum asserted.

“The question of whether it is desirable in mutual interests to maintain an independent Polish state, and what the borders of this state will be, will only be clarified over the course of further political events. In any case, both governments will resolve this issue by means of a friendly agreement,” it continued.

The business-like formality of the language belied its meaning – at the stroke of a pen, both sides had agreed on the division of Poland.

These final details had not taken long to hammer out. Germany’s foreign minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, had flown into Moscow on the afternoon of August 23, 1939. Greeted by a military band and the sight of fluttering Nazi banners that had been hurriedly acquired from a film set, Ribbentrop and his entourage were then spirited by limousine to the Kremlin.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: 1939; 193908; 19390823; alexwebber; anydaynowukrainewins; communists; germany; history; joachimvonribbentrop; marcusridiculous; marcusridiculouse; molotov; molotovribbentrop; moscow; mrpact; nazis; pact; poland; russia; stalin; tpworld; ww2

[mass55th]

The pact was a fraud from the beginning. Hitler knew at the time of the pact that he was going to invade Russia at some point. He was just waiting for the right time to do it.