page_title: Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
section_title: Modification of secret protocols
hierarchical_section_title: Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact / Consequences in Finland, Poland, the Baltic States and Romania / Modification of secret protocols
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Russischer Offiziersbesuch in Lublin. Die sowjetrussischen Offiziere, die zu Verhandlungen mit den deutschen Militärbehörden über die Festsetzung der Grenze zwischen den beiderseitigen Interessengebieten im besetzten Polen in Lublin eintrafen, waren von zwei Panzerspähwagen der russischen Armee begleitet. Wie unser Bild zeigt, fand[en] diese Fahrzeuge bei unseren Soldaten verständliches Interesse. Urhebervermerk: PK-Scherl 3.10.39 [Herausgabedatum] 12026-39 ADN-ZB/Archiv II.Weltkrieg 1939 - 45; Der Feldzug in Polen, September 1939 Deutsche Soldaten besichtigen zwei sowjetische Panzerspähwagen, mit denen Offiziere der Roten Armee am 22.9. nach Lublin zu Verhandlungen über die Demarkationslinie zwischen Deutschland und der UdSSR gekommen sind. 12026-39 [Fotograf: Höllenthal]
context_page_description: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that enabled those two powers to partition Poland between them. The pact was signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and was officially known as the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
  Its clauses provided a written guarantee of peace by each party towards the other and a commitment that declared that neither government would ally itself to or aid an enemy of the other. In addition to the publicly-announced stipulations of non-aggression, the treaty included the Secret Protocol, which defined the borders of Soviet and German spheres of influence across Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. The secret protocol also recognised the interest of Lithuania in the Vilno region, and Germany declared its complete disinterest in Bessarabia. The rumour of the existence of the Secret Protocol was proved only when it was made public during the Nuremberg Trials.
  Soon after the pact, Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939.
context_section_description: Eleven days after the Soviet invasion of the Polish Kresy, the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was modified by the German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation, allotting Germany a larger part of Poland and transferring Lithuania, with the exception of the left bank of the River Scheschupe, the "Lithuanian Strip", from the envisioned German sphere to the Soviet sphere. On 28 September 1939, the Soviet Union and German Reich issued a joint declaration in which they declared:
  After the Government of the German Reich and the Government of the USSR have, by means of the treaty signed today, definitively settled the problems arising from the collapse of the Polish state and have thereby created a sure foundation for a lasting peace in the region, they mutually express their conviction that it would serve the true interest of all peoples to put an end to the state of war existing at present between Germany on the one side and England and France on the other. Both Governments will, therefore, direct their common efforts, jointly with other friendly powers if the occasion arises, toward attaining this goal as soon as possible.
  Should, however, the efforts of the two Governments remain fruitless, this would demonstrate the fact that England and France are responsible for the continuation of the war, whereupon, in case of the continuation of the war, the Governments of Germany and of the USSR shall engage in mutual consultations with regard to necessary measures.
  On 3 October, Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg, the German ambassador in Moscow, informed Joachim Ribbentrop that the Soviet government was willing to cede the city of Vilnius and its environs. On 8 October 1939, a new Nazi–Soviet agreement was reached by an exchange of letters between Vyacheslav Molotov and the German ambassador.
  The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were given no choice but to sign a so-called "Pact of Defence and Mitual Assistance", which permitted the Soviet Union to station troops in them.
caption: Soviet and German soldiers in Lublin
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