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Stalin Motives:

1. Appeasement
- Appeared to Stalin as if Britain and France were weak and unwilling to fight
against Hitler, which he believed would encourage Hitler to expand into Eastern
Europe as part of his Lebensraum policy. According to recent information found
in Soviet Archives, the change in foreign policy regarding Germany came about
due to Stalins loss of trust in Britain and France. Stalin believed that Russia was
being trapped in a war against Germany, which Britain and France werent willing
to fight.
- Neither France nor Britain denied Hitlers Anschluss with Austria, despite this
being against Versailles

2. Military Weaknesses
- Stalin believed the war against Germany was inevitable, however in 1939 the Soviet
Army was weak. Purges of military officials and army members left a smaller pool of
labour, and conflicts with Japan in Manchuria, Mongolia, Changkufeng and Khalkhin
Gol meant that the army had suffered large numbers of human losses
- The signing of the pact prevented a two front war against Japan and Germany, which
was possible due to the Anti-Comintern pact between Germany and Japan
- Signing the pact would delay a war and allow the Soviet Red Army to grow until the
war (2 years in the end). in the end this didnt work as Soviet army grew
proportionally less compared to German army
- The pact allowed Stalin to head off any aggressive actions from Japanese forces in
Manchuria
- Stalin also needed an immediate settlement in Europe so that he could focus on
Japan

3. Benefits of the pact


- Stalin moved away from collective security and the Nazi Soviet Pact seemed like the
best alternative
- The divide of Poland would increase Russian land, giving them raw materials, living
room, allow them to spread communism, and would give them buffer zones from
Hitlers Germany, which was necessary as he believed a European war was inevitable.
Soviets wanted eastern Poland as it was historically Russian.
- May-August 1938 Japan fought Russia at the battle of Khalkhin Gol. Stalin believed
that the Nazi Soviet pact would delay war, giving him time to either defeat or retreat
from Japan. He knew that he had to delay war as all his army and resources were
being directed towards Japan, and he knew that there would be no chance in winning
a 2 front war. Soviet tanks, aircraft and artillery were all deployed in Japan
- The signing of the pact convinced Japan that the balance of power had changed
against them
Hitler Motives:

1. Avoid a 2 front war, which would have been likely if Russia was joined by Britain and
France
2. German economy was left in shreds after high focus was placed on wartime
production. Germany needed labour and raw materials, which were available in
Poland. Hitler didnt want to invade Poland without the support of Russia, as they
would, as he believed, deter Britain and France from attacking Germany. In 1939
German foreign policy was aimed at isolating Poland, and the Nazi Soviet Pact did
this.
3. Hitler believed economic issues couldnt be solved without expansion
4. Hitler saw the LON as discredited after they failed to take action against Mussolini for
his invasion of Abyssinia, he took advantage of this by remilitarising the Rhineland.
This shifted the balance of power towards Hitler,

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