German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty (28 September 1939)
독소 우호·국경 조약 (1939년 9월 28일)
Part of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
The second supplementary protocol to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, signed in Moscow on 28 September 1939 by Molotov and Ribbentrop. It adjusted the partition of Poland to reflect the results of the joint invasion, and in compensation for German-occupied territories in Lublin and eastern Warsaw, transferred Lithuania from the German to the Soviet sphere of influence. Immediately afterward the USSR imposed mutual-assistance treaties on the three Baltic states, securing military bases that became the bridgehead for their full annexation in June 1940.
In depth
Background: Revising the August Secret Protocol
The secret protocol of 23 August 1939 divided Poland along the Narew–Vistula–San line and placed Lithuania in the German sphere. But in the actual September campaign the Wehrmacht overran the Lublin Voivodeship and eastern Warsaw Voivodeship, territory originally assigned to the Soviet sphere. On 28 September, the day Warsaw fell, Ribbentrop flew again to Moscow. With Stalin present, the new treaty fixed the border along the Narew–Bug–San line and transferred Lithuania (except for the left bank of the Šešupė River, the 'Lithuania Strip') to the Soviet sphere. By this 'swap' the USSR secured German non-interference and immediately began pressuring the Baltic states.
The Treaty's Structure and Secret Clauses
The five public articles declared the border final, excluded third-power interference, assigned 'state reconstruction' on each side to the respective occupying government, and spoke of developing friendly relations. Three supplementary protocols accompanied the treaty: one confidential protocol governing population exchanges between the two occupation zones, and two secret protocols adjusting the spheres of influence and committing each side to suppress 'Polish agitation' on its territory. Under the population-exchange terms the USSR was to receive Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Rusyns while Germany took ethnic Germans; the Soviet side refused to accept refugees of other nationalities (predominantly Jews) and returned them to the German zone. The treaty came into force upon signature, with ratifications exchanged in Berlin on 15 December 1939.
Consequences: The Loss of the Baltic States
Immediately after the treaty the USSR concluded mutual-assistance pacts in rapid succession: Estonia on 28 September, Latvia on 5 October, and Lithuania on 10 October 1939. Lithuania received about one fifth of the Vilnius region, including its historic capital, but the price was the stationing of Soviet troops. Each pact affirmed respect for sovereignty, yet the basing rights became the bridgehead for full occupation and annexation in June 1940. On 10 January 1941 a third secret protocol sold Germany's remaining claim to a slice of Lithuanian territory to the USSR for $7.5 million; five months later the German invasion voided every treaty.
Related people
Related historical events
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) overview: second supplementary protocol to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Lithuania transfer, secret articles, aftermath via Baltic mutual-assistance treaties
- Wikipedia (RU) Russian article: full treaty text (articles I–V), three protocols, population exchange including refusal of Jewish refugees, compensation with Lithuania, ratification 15 December 1939, voided 22 June 1941
- germanhistorydocs.org German History in Documents and Images: map and summary of the demarcation line along Narew–Bug–San, Baltic base establishment and June 1940 annexation
- old.lituanus.org Lituanus 35/1 (1989): detailed account of the secret protocol's authenticity, the 28 September 1939 treaty as the instrument that moved Lithuania into the Soviet sphere, and Stalin's leaks of its contents while pressuring Baltic ministers in Moscow