1 h 22 min, 23 août 1939 ans - German- Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

Description:

On 23 August 1939–shortly before World War II broke out in Europe – the rivals of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union stunned the world by joining the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two nations agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. On his part, Hitler desired a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union so that his troops could occupy Poland practically unopposed by a major power, after which Germany could contend with France's and Britain's powers in the West without having to fight the Soviet Union on a second front in the East concurrently. By May 1939 Hitler and Stalin began to consider seriously the strategic advantages of an agreement. With Germany, a non-aggression pact will protect against a two-front conflict, and neutralise a British embargo awaiting an exchange of German equipment with Russian raw materials.