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Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918
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Historical SummaryOn September 17, 1939, while Warsaw was stubbornly defying German siege and several Polish armies were trying to establish a new battle line in southern and eastern Poland, the unhappy republic was invaded by soldiers of the Soviet Union. The U.S.S.R. explained the invasion by saying it wished to protect the Ukrainian and White Russian minorities living in eastern Poland! Soon thereafter Polish organized resistance ended and the two invaders divided the spoils.
World History CHAPTER 12
The Second World War
252–253.
THE PARTITION OF POLAND
252.
THE GERMAN-SOVIET BOUNDARY AND FRIENDSHIP TREATY, SEPTEMBER 28, 19391
The Government of the German Reich and the Government of the U.S.S.R. consider it as exclusively their task, after the collapse of the former Polish state, to re-establish peace and order in these territories and to assure to the peoples living there a peaceful life in keeping with their national character. To this end, they have agreed upon the following:
ARTICLE I. The Government of the German Reich and the Government of the U.S.S.R. determine as the boundary of their respective national interests in the territory of the former Polish state the line marked on the attached map, which shall be described in more detail in a supplementary protocol.
ARTICLE II. Both parties recognize the boundary of the respective national interests established in Article I as definitive and shall reject any interference of third powers in this settlement.
ARTICLE III. The necessary reorganization of public administration will be effected in the areas west of the line specified in Article I by the Government of the German Reich, in the areas east of this line by the Government of the U.S.S.R.
ARTICLE IV. The Government of the German Reich and the Government of the U.S.S.R. regard this settlement as a firm foundation for a progressive development of the friendly relations between their peoples.
ARTICLE V. This treaty shall be ratified and the ratifications shall be exchanged in Berlin as soon as possible. The treaty becomes effective upon signature.
Done in duplicate, in the German and Russian languages.
Moscow, September 28, 1939.
CONFIDENTIAL PROTOCOL
The Government of the U.S.S.R. shall place no obstacles in the way of Reich nationals and other persons of German descent residing in the territories under its jurisdiction, if they desire to migrate to Germany or to the territories under German jurisdiction. It agrees that such removals shall be carried out by agents of the Government of the Reich in cooperation with the competent local authorities and that the property rights of the emigrants shall be protected.
A corresponding obligation is assumed by the Government of the German Reich in respect to the persons of Ukrainian or White Russian descent residing in the territories under its jurisdiction.
Moscow, September 28, 1939.
SECRET SUPPLEMENTARY PROTOCOL
The undersigned Plenipotentiaries declare the agreement of the Government of the German Reich and the Government of the U.S.S.R. upon the following:
The Secret Supplementary Protocol signed on August 23, 1939, shall be amended in item 1 to the effect that the territory of the Lithuanian state falls to the sphere of influence of the U.S.S.R., while, on the other hand, the province of Lublin and parts of the province of Warsaw fall to the sphere of influence of Germany (cf. the map attached to the Boundary and Friendship Treaty signed today). As soon as the Government of the U.S.S.R. shall take special measures on Lithuanian territory to protect its interests, the present German-Lithuanian border, for the purpose of a natural and simple boundary delineation, shall be rectified in such a way that the Lithuanian territory situated to the southwest of the line marked on the attached map shall fall to Germany.
Further it is declared that the economic agreements now in force between Germany and Lithuania shall not be affected by the measures of the Soviet Union referred to above.
Moscow, September 28, 1939.
SECRET SUPPLEMENTARY PROTOCOL
The undersigned Plenipotentiaries, on concluding the German-Russian Boundary and Friendship Treaty, have declared their agreement upon the following:
Both parties will tolerate in their territories no Polish agitation which affects the territories of the other party. They will suppress in their territories all beginnings of such agitation and inform each other concerning suitable measures for this purpose.
Moscow, September 28, 1939.
DECLARATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE GERMAN REICH AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE U.S.S.R. OF SEPTEMBER 28, 1939
After the Government of the German Reich and the Government of the U.S.S.R. have, by means of the treaty signed today, definitively settled the problems arising from the collapse of the Polish state and have thereby created a sure foundation for a lasting peace in Eastern Europe, they mutually express their conviction that it would serve the true interest of all peoples to put an end to the state of war existing at present between Germany on the one side and England and France on the other. Both Governments will therefore direct their common efforts, jointly with other friendly powers if occasion arises, toward attaining this goal as soon as possible.
Should, however, the efforts of the two Governments remain fruitless, this would demonstrate the fact that England and France are responsible for the continuation of the war, whereupon, in case of the continuation of the war, the Governments of Germany and of the U.S.S.R. shall engage in mutual consultations with regard to necessary measures.
Moscow, September 28, 1939.
1 United States, Department of State (Publication No. 3023), Nazi-Soviet Relations 1939–1941. Documents from the Archives of the German Foreign Office, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1948, pp. 105–108. The map and supplementary protocol referred to in Article I are not printed here.
The German-Soviet boundary cut throgh the old Poland approximately along a line reaching from the southwestern tip of Lithuania to the northeastern edge of Hungary. See also Document No. 249 above.—Ed.
Contents:
Chicago: "The Partition of Poland," Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918 in Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918, ed. Walter Consuelo Langsam and James Michael Egan (Chicage: Lippincott, 1951), 859–862. Original Sources, accessed May 4, 2024, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=TWQ7CQ3QDZ775ZZ.
MLA: . "The Partition of Poland." Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918, in Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918, edited by Walter Consuelo Langsam and James Michael Egan, Chicage, Lippincott, 1951, pp. 859–862. Original Sources. 4 May. 2024. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=TWQ7CQ3QDZ775ZZ.
Harvard: , 'The Partition of Poland' in Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918. cited in 1951, Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918, ed. , Lippincott, Chicage, pp.859–862. Original Sources, retrieved 4 May 2024, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=TWQ7CQ3QDZ775ZZ.
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