In 1938–39, the Soviet Union attempted to form strong military alliances with Germany's enemies, including Poland, France, and Great Britain. The effort failed. Stalin and Hitler were quietly negotiating all the while, and Hitler offered Russian control of a large swath of Eastern Europe, including the Baltic countries, and half of Poland, as well as other territories. The agreement provided for large sales of Russian grain and oil to Germany, while Germany would share its military technology with the Soviet Union. The ensuing Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact astonished the world and signaled the war would start very soon. French historian François Furet says, "The pact signed in Moscow by Ribbentrop and Molotov on 23 August 1939 inaugurated the alliance between the USSR and Nazi Germany. It was presented as an alliance and not just a nonaggression pact." Other historians dispute the characterization of this treaty as an "alliance," because Hitler secretly intended to invade the USSR in the future.