Everything about the Soviet-polish Non-aggression Pact totally explained
The
Soviet-Polish Non-Aggression Pact () was an
international treaty of
non-aggression signed in 1932 by representatives of
Poland and the
USSR. The pact was unilaterally broken by the Soviet Union on
September 17,
1939, during the
Nazi and Soviet invasion of Poland.
After the
Polish-Bolshevik War, the Polish authorities pursued a policy of "equal distance" between Germany and the Soviet Union. Most of Polish politicians, both leftist and rightist, believed that Poland should rely mostly on the
crucial alliance with France dating back to
World War I and shouldn't support either Germany or the Soviet Union.
To normalize the bilateral contacts with the Soviet Union, talks were started in January 1926 to prepare a non-aggression treaty. The treaty was to fortify the Polish gains of the
Peace of Riga and was to be balanced by a similar pact signed with Germany. However, the talks with Germany were not started, and the Polish-Soviet talks were interrupted in June 1927, after
Great Britain broke diplomatic relations with the USSR and Soviet plenipotentiary
Pyotr Voykov was murdered in
Warsaw. Instead, Poland applied to the
Briand-Kellogg Pact of 1928. The Polish-Soviet negotiations were resumed in Moscow, in 1931. The pact was finally signed on
July 25,
1932, effective for a three-year period. On
May 5,
1934 it was extended to
December 31,
1945 without amendment. Among other topics, both sides agreed to renounce violence in bilateral relations, to resolve their problems through negotiations and to forgo any armed conflict or alliances aimed at the other side.
On
September 23,
1938, the Soviet Union sent a note to the Polish government informing it that the pact will be considered null and void in the case of Poland's participation in the
occupation of Czechoslovakia (External Link
). However, this threat wasn't carried out, as the Soviet government stated on October 31, after Poland occupied
Zaolzie area, that the pact remained in force
(External Link). and it was reaffirmed by the two powers on
November 26,
1938 (see
(External Link)). Finally the pact was broken by the Soviets on
September 17,
1939, when the
Red Army joined
Nazi Germany's forces in their invasion of Poland, in accordance with the secret protocols of the
Ribbentrop-Molotov Treaty.
The pact was considered at the time as a major success of the Polish diplomacy, much weakened by the
toll war with Germany, renouncement of parts of the
Treaty of Versailles and loosened links with France. It also reinforced the Polish negotiating position with Germany, which resulted in signing of the
German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact eighteen months later.
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