The Lithuanian strip in Soviet-German secret diplomacy, 1939–1941

Abstract

When German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop signed the famous Russo-German Nonaggression Pact in Moscow on 23 August 1939, the public announcement of the pact made no mention of a secret protocol signed between the two parties the same day.1 By terms of this secret protocol the Baltic area, including Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the entire territory of the Polish Republic, was partitioned between the U.S.S.R. and Nazi Germany. The northern boundary of Lithuania provided the dividing line between the two spheres of interest. The Vilnius area was recognized as part of Lithuania. Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and the Polish territories east of the line of the rivers Narev, Vistula, and San were declared the sphere of influence of the U.S.S.R., whereas Lithuania and the Polish territories west of these rivers would constitute the German sphere of influence.2 The ultimate fate of Poland was also sealed in this secret protocol, which provided that whether the interests of both parties make the maintenance of an independent Polish state desirable can be determined only in the course of further political developments. Apparently it was inconceivable for the Germans to abandon completely the entire Baltic area, which had been, after all, the historical battleground of the Teutonic Knights in their pursuit of the German manifest destiny of their Drang nach Osten. Therefore, Lithuania at least was retained by Germany, although later Germany traded it away in rather effective bargaining to extract concessions from the U.S.S.R. Once the potential spoils in Poland and the Baltic States had been thus divided and Russia's neutrality assured, Hitler was convinced that he then could attack Poland to effect the partition envisioned in the secret protocol. He may have thought that Britain, having lost Russia's support, would now withdraw its pledge to Poland, enabling him to continue his course of bloodless conquests.