President Karol Nawrocki highlighted the dangers of imperial ambitions as he marked the 86th anniversary of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, a deal between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that paved the way for World War II and the partition of Poland.
The Fourth Partition of Poland. 86th Anniversary of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
The German Reich and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) signed a non-aggression pact on August 23, 1939. The agreement, finalized days before Germany’s invasion of Poland, sealed the fate of the Polish state and Central and Eastern Europe. Known as the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact after its signatories, the document included a secret protocol that outlined a division of spheres of influence in Europe. This protocol established the boundaries of German and Soviet interests along the Narev, Vistula, and San rivers, effectively dividing Poland. The powers also agreed to curtail the sovereignty or fully eliminate the independence of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Romania. Germany and the USSR pledged to cooperate in suppressing Polish aspirations for independence.
Today: European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes
The public part of the pact was a military treaty declaring mutual non-aggression and a promise to remain neutral if one party faced aggression from a third state. Signed in Moscow by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet People’s Commissar Vyacheslav Molotov, the agreement strengthened Germany’s strategic position by securing its eastern front before Hitler’s planned invasion of Poland and Western Europe. Germany attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, while the USSR followed on September 17, violating all treaties signed with the Polish state. August 23 is also recognized as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, established by the European Parliament in 2008 and first observed in Poland in 2011.
Source: Gazeta, https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/fakt#anchorLink, https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/parlament-europejski#anchorLink
