The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact signed in 1939 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that included secret clauses dividing Eastern Europe between the two countries and neutrality if either went to war; it allowed Hitler to avoid war on two fronts and gave Stalin time and space as a buffer against Germany, though it was only a temporary alliance between the two dictators.

1. MOLOTOV-RIBBENTROP
PACT
IGCSE HISTORY
REVISION

2. DEFINITION
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed in 1939 and it was a non-
aggression pact signed between the USSR and Nazi Germany.

3. Question 1
By what other names is this agreement
often known?

4. Answer 1
The Nazi-Soviet Pact and the Hitler-Stalin Pact.

5. Question 2
What were the two main provisions of
the pact?

6. Answer 2
The two countries agreed not to go to war with each other for 10 years.
Both sides pledged neutrality in the event that either became involved
in a war.

7. Question 3
The pact included several secret
clauses. What did these provide for?

8. Answer 3
The carving up of Poland, Finland, Lithuania and Latvia.

9. Question 4
How did the Nazi and Soviet leaders
each benefit from the pact?

10. Answer 4
Hitler avoided the threat of war on two fronts (east and west), while
Stalin gained time and space as barriers against Germany.

11. Important
This was a temporary “marriage of convenience” between two
dictators. It made over Poland inevitable and ended any possibility of
an east-west alliance to surround Nazi Germany.