In Moscow on September 28, 1939, Nazi Germany and the USSR sign the Treaty of Border and Friendship - an agreement that defines the division of Poland after the invasion of the two countries. The document is signed by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov.
Just 27 days earlier, Warsaw had been attacked by the German army. Germany began the invasion on September 1, 1939, and on September 17, the Red Army entered Poland from the east. The Polish state found itself between two armies, after Berlin and Moscow had already agreed on their spheres of influence in Eastern Europe with the secret protocol to the Non-Aggression Pact of August 23.
The treaty shapes the new border
On September 28, the day of Warsaw's capitulation, the two governments determined the border between their zones in the territory of former Poland. According to the treaty, Germany took control of the lands west of the line, and the USSR - those east of it. The demarcation line ran approximately along the Bug River.
In the text of the agreement, Berlin and Moscow stated that after the “disintegration of the former Polish state“ their goal was “to restore peace and order in these territories“. The wording presents the occupation as an administrative arrangement, but the treaty in practice legitimizes the division of sovereign Poland between two totalitarian regimes.
With a secret additional protocol, Germany and the USSR also changed the agreements of August. Lithuania was included in the Soviet sphere of influence, and the German-Soviet border in Poland was shifted to the Bug. At the same time, both countries stated that they would reject the interference of third parties in the imposed territorial solution.
The Pact paves the way for war
The Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact was officially a non-aggression treaty with a term of 10 years. However, its secret clauses provided for the division of parts of Eastern Europe between Germany and the USSR. The agreement allowed Adolf Hitler to wage war on Poland without fear of Soviet intervention, while Joseph Stalin was given the opportunity to extend Soviet control westward.
Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, after its troops invaded Poland. The last organized resistance by Polish units ended on October 6. The division of the country marked the beginning of German and Soviet occupation, accompanied by repressions, deportations, and mass crimes against the civilian population.
The agreement between Berlin and Moscow proved to be temporary. On June 22, 1941, Germany violated the agreement and launched an attack on the USSR. By then, the two countries had already managed to redraw Poland's borders and start the largest military conflict in Europe.
Sources: Histories