Why did the Soviet Union readily agree to the "Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact"?

In 1917, when the First World War was in full swing, the February Revolution broke out in Russia. Although it called for an end to the war as soon as possible, the provisional government's continued war also aroused strong uneasiness in Germany, because the two-front war had already made them exhausted and exhausted. Once Russia withdraws, it can attack France with all its strength.

How to take advantage of the contradiction between the Soviet regime and the Provisional Government to force Russia to withdraw from the war? has become an urgent issue for Germany. They thought of Lenin, who had been living in exile in Switzerland, and arranged for his return to Russia. He gave speeches around Petersburg, calling for an end to the war and resistance to the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks continued to grow in Russia.

In order to support Lenin’s revolutionary activities, Germany provided financial assistance of approximately 26 million marks, equivalent to 750 million yuan today. Although the provisional government ordered to continue attacking the German army, the soldiers who were unwilling to fight simply killed their officers and disbanded and went home. Immediately afterwards, the famous "October Revolution" broke out in Russia.

In order to stabilize the fragile Soviet power, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. This "Contract" was very harsh for the Soviet Union. It not only lost about 1 million square kilometers of land in Finland, Latvia, and Estonia, but also lost most of the coal and iron ore areas, and 1/ 3 industrial equipment.

What the Soviets did not expect was that Germany did not directly occupy the ceded territories, but declared that these areas could be free and independent. In other words, although Germany was quickly defeated and a large amount of compensation and terms were no longer implemented, these ceded territories had irreversibly become independent countries and left the Soviet Union.

The desire to regain lost territory greatly affected the Soviet Union’s foreign policy before World War II. The Soviet Union was well aware of the Western countries' intention to divert misfortunes to the east, but Germany once again took advantage of the contradiction and signed a "Non-Aggression Pact" with the Soviet Union. The reason why the Soviet Union readily agreed was because the secret clause stipulated that these territories would be returned to the Soviet Union.

After Russia withdrew from the war, most of the German troops were transferred to the Western Front and stepped up their attack on France. It can be seen that the main reason why Germany declared its independence instead of occupying the acquired territory was because it had no troops to send. This inadvertently caused the Soviet Union to lose a large area of ??territory and further intensified the conflict with Western countries.

So, there was the Paris Peace Conference, ignoring the existence of the Soviet Union.

In 1918, as the sailors launched a mutiny, Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate, Germany announced its surrender, and World War I ended. The victorious countries held a meeting in Paris to discuss how to deal with the defeated countries. However, unexpectedly, Russia, which withdrew from the war early, was neither a victor nor a defeated country, but became the target of Western countries' crusade.

First of all, denounce the Soviet Union's "treachery". During World War I, Britain, France, Russia, and Italy signed the Treaty of London, which stipulated that no country could sign a separate treaty with Germany. However, the Soviet Union not only signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, but also unilaterally withdrew from the war, allowing Britain to , the French coalition forces suffered heavy losses, and Western countries were very angry about this.

Secondly, the Soviet Union failed to repay its debts. After the October Revolution, there was not much to say about the ideological differences. During the Tsarist period, Russia owed as much as 60 billion francs in foreign debt to Western countries, but it was written off in one fell swoop, and stocks, bonds and other marketable bonds were abolished. You must know that this was a huge sum of money at the time. Not only was it a repudiation, but there was no explanation.

What annoys Western countries even more is that the Soviet Union exported revolution to Europe. Under the influence of the Soviet Union, all European countries faced the threat of the proletariat seizing power. They not only confiscated the businesses and properties of capitalists, but also wanted their lives. Behind these movements, there was the support of large sums of funds from the Soviet Union.

In the World War I that had just ended, all countries really had no power to launch another war against the Soviet Union. They had no choice but to form a blockade of anti-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe to prevent further expansion of its power. At the same time, it was also decided not to invite the Soviet Union to the Paris Peace Conference and adopt a policy of indifference to it, which was the so-called "ignoring the existence of the Soviet Union."

However, after World War I, the Soviet Union had been busy with domestic affairs. Of course, we also know that the ideological contradictions are irreconcilable. As the saying goes, we have different paths and do not seek each other, and we almost no longer participate in international activities.

Since then, Europe has lost an important force in maintaining regional balance, and the two sides have not interacted with each other until the outbreak of World War II.

It is not difficult to understand that before the outbreak of World War II, Britain, France and other countries adopted "appeasement policies" towards European countries. In addition to self-protection, they attempted to "send misfortune eastwards" and provoke a war between the Soviet Union and Germany. Among them, there are not only "new and old grudges", but also the hope to use Germany's power to eliminate "enemies" that have different values ????from its own.

It was also Britain and France's ignorance of the Soviet Union that prevented the three countries from signing the "Mutual Assistance Treaty". As everyone knows, the Soviet Union also readily signed a "Non-Aggression Pact" with Germany for its own interests, especially for the lost territory. For Western countries, this is both unexpected and "shooting themselves in the foot".

If Britain, France, and the Soviet Union formed an alliance before World War II, would Germany still attack Poland? Welcome to leave a message to discuss together.

References: "World War II", "The Complete History of World War II"

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