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Viacheslav
Molotov, the Soviet People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, and
Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German foreign minister, agreed after
hasty negotiations to conclude an economic treaty and a
non-aggression pact that would partition Eastern Europe into Soviet
and German spheres of influence.
Ribbentrop
signed the non-aggression pact during a visit to Moscow on August
23, 1939. The sides undertook neither to attack each other, nor to
help any third party do the same. They agreed to settle bilateral
disputes cordially. The treaty was to be in effect for 10 years.
A secret
appendix to the agreement discussed the apportionment of spheres of
influence and the future locations of borders. The agreement and its
appendix were signed a week before the German invasion of Poland.
After the invasion, Germany and the USSR carved Poland into separate
spheres as stipulated in the agreement.
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