Lesson 9 - Nazi-Soviet Pact and the Invasion of Poland

Question 1

Why was the signing of the Nazi Soviet Pact a surprise to other European other powers?

Answer 1

• Hitler had always stressed that communism and the Soviet Union was his main enemy.
• The Soviets also hated the Nazis.

Question 2

What were the public agreements of the Nazi-Soviet Pact?

Answer 2

• There would be 10 years peace between the two sides.
• Germany would pay the Soviet Union 200,000 marks in return for wheat, timber, iron ore and petrol over the next 2 years.

Question 3

What were the secret agreements of the Nazi-Soviet Pact?

Answer 3

Both countries had agreed to invade Poland and split it in two.

Question 4

Why could the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact be considered as a masterstroke by Hitler?

Answer 4

• It left Poland isolated.
• It destroyed any attempts that Britain and France might make to bring the Soviet Union into an alliance against Germany.
• It meant that Germany could avoid being dragged into a war on two front.
  provided vital raw materials from the Soviet Union that could be used to support German rearmament.
• It raised Hitler’s hopes that if he got a promise of peace from Russia, then Britain would back down over their guarantees of Polish independence.

Question 5

How did Hitler justify the invasion of Poland on the 1st September 1939?

Answer 5

He claimed that the Polish military had attacked German forces on their border and that they were acting in self-defence. However, these were just staged by the German military.

Question 6

Why did Britain declare war on Germany in the 3rd September 1939?

Answer 6

Germany had not responded to the British ultimatum that demanded German troops withdraw from Poland.