The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,[1][2] and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact[3][4] and the Nazi–Soviet Pact,[5] was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, with a secret protocol establishing Soviet and German spheres of influence across Eastern Europe.[6]
The pact was signed in Moscow on 24 August 1939 (backdated 23 August 1939) by Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop.[7]
The treaty was the culmination of negotiations around the 1938–1939 deal discussions, after tripartite discussions with the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and France had broken down, and committed neither government would aid or ally itself with an enemy of the other, for the next 10 years. Under the Secret Protocol, Poland was to be shared, while Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Bessarabia went to the Soviet Union.
The protocol also recognized the interest of Lithuania in the Vilnius region. In the west, rumoured existence of the Secret Protocol was proven only when it was made public during the Nuremberg trials.[8]
A week after signing the pact, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland.
On 17 September, one day after a Soviet–Japanese ceasefire came into effect after the Battles of Khalkhin Gol,[9] and one day after the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union approved the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact,[10]
Stalin, stating concern for ethnic Ukrainians and Belarusians in Poland, ordered the Soviet invasion of Poland. After a short war ending in military defeat for Poland, Germany and the Soviet Union drew up a new border between them on formerly Polish territory in the supplementary protocol of the German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty.
In March 1940, parts of the Karelia, and eastern parts of Salla and Kuusamo regions as well, in Finland were annexed by the Soviet Union following the Winter War.
The Soviet annexation of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and parts of Romania (Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region) followed.
Stalin's invasion of Bukovina in 1940 violated the pact, since it went beyond the Soviet sphere of influence that had been agreed with the Axis.[11]
The territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union following the 1939 Soviet invasion east of the Curzon line remained in the Soviet Union after the war and are now in Ukraine and Belarus.
Vilnius was given to Lithuania. Only Podlaskie and a small part of Galicia east of the San River, around Przemyśl, were returned to Poland.
Of all the other territories annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939–1940, those detached from Finland (Western Karelia, Hanko) Estonia (Estonian Ingria and Petseri County) and Latvia (Abrene) remain part of Russia, the successor state to the Russian SFSR and the Soviet Union after the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
The territories annexed from Romania were also integrated into the Soviet Union (such as the Moldavian SSR, or oblasts of the Ukrainian SSR). The core of Bessarabia now forms Moldova.
Northern Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region now form the Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine. Southern Bessarabia is part of the Odessa Oblast, which is also now in Ukraine.
The pact was terminated on 22 June 1941, when Germany launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded the Soviet Union, in pursuit of the ideological goal of Lebensraum.[12]
The Anglo-Soviet Agreement succeeded it. After the war, Ribbentrop was convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials and executed in 1946, whilst Molotov died in 1986.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact
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Smolensk air disaster
Polish Air Force Flight 101
Date 10 April 2010
Summary Controlled flight into terrain near Smolensk North Airport
Site Smolensk, Russia
54°49′26″N 32°03′05″E
Aircraft type Tupolev Tu-154M
Operator 36 SPLT, Polish Air Force
ICAO flight No. PLF101
Call sign POLISH AIRFORCE 101
Registration 101[1]
Flight origin Frédéric Chopin Airport Warsaw, Poland
Destination Smolensk North Airport Smolensk, Russia
Occupants 96
Passengers 89
Crew 7
Fatalities 96
Survivors 0
On 10 April 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft operating Polish Air Force Flight 101 crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing all 96 people on board.
Among the victims were the president of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, and his wife, Maria; the former president of Poland-in-exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski; the chief of the Polish General Staff and other senior Polish military officers;
the president of the National Bank of Poland; Polish government officials; 18 members of the Polish parliament; senior members of the Polish clergy; and relatives of victims of the Katyn massacre.
The group was arriving from Warsaw to attend an event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the massacre, which took place not far from Smolensk.
The pilots were attempting to land at Smolensk North Airport — a former military airbase — in thick fog, with visibility reduced to about 500 metres (1,600 ft). The aircraft descended far below the normal approach path until it struck trees, rolled, inverted and crashed into the ground, coming to rest in a wooded area a short distance from the runway.[2]
Both the Russian and Polish official investigations found no technical faults with the aircraft, and concluded that the crew failed to conduct the approach in a safe manner in the given weather conditions. The Polish authorities found serious deficiencies in the organization and training of the Air Force unit involved, which was subsequently disbanded. Several high-ranking members of the Polish military resigned following pressure from politicians and the media.
Various conspiracy theories have been circulated alleging that the plane had been deliberately brought down by the Russians in an act of political assassination, and that the 2011 investigations constituted a cover-up and that the Polish government of the time — primarily controlled by the Civic Platform party as opposed to Lech Kaczyński's Law and Justice party — was complicit in or aware of the plot, or at least aided in the efforts to cover it up.[3]
These conspiracy theories are regularly promoted by Law and Justice, particularly by party leader Jarosław Kaczyński (twin brother of Lech Kaczyński) and deputy party leader Antoni Macierewicz.[4][5][6][7]
Following Law and Justice's return to government, a new investigation was opened into the disaster, chaired by Macierewicz; its 2022 conclusion alleged a Russian plot.[8][9]
The new report did not produce any evidence that could conclusively challenge the 2011 reports,[3] was later indicated to have been the subject of tampered evidence,[10] and was revoked in December 2023 after a non-Law and Justice government came into power.[11][12]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolensk_air_disaster
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