German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact on:
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The German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact was signed in
The German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact was signed in Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
on June 7, 1939.
In light of the German advance in the east, the Soviet government demanded an Anglo-French guarantee of the independence of the Baltic states
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
during the negotiations for an alliance with the Western Powers. The Latvian and Estonian governments, ever suspicious of Soviet intentions, decided to accept a mutual non-aggression pact with Germany. The German–Estonian and German–Latvian Non-aggression pacts were signed in Berlin on June 7, 1939, by Latvian Foreign Minister Vilhelms Munters
Gothards Vilhelms Nikolajs Munters (, 25 July 1898 in Riga – 11 January 1967, Riga) was a Latvian diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia from 1936 to 1940. He was also a member of the Council of the League o ...
and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945.
Ribbentrop first came to Adolf Hitler's not ...
. The next day, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
received the Estonian and Latvian envoys and, in the course of his interviews, stressed the maintaining and strengthening of commercial links between Germany and the Baltic states. Ratifications of the pact were exchanged in Berlin on July 24, 1939, and it became effective the same day. It was registered in ''League of Nations Treaty Series'' on August 24, 1939''League of Nations Treaty Series'', vol. 198, pp. 106-109. and was intended for a period of ten years.
The pacts were intended to prevent western or Soviet powers from gaining influence in the Baltic states and thus encircling Germany A non-aggression pact with Lithuania was concluded in March after the 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania
The 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania was an oral ultimatum which Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany, presented to Juozas Urbšys, Foreign Minister of Lithuania on 20 March 1939. The Germans demanded that Lithuania give up ...
regarding the Klaipėda Region
The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...
. The states were to provide a barrier against any Soviet intervention in a planned German–Polish war.
Germany offered to sign non-aggression pacts with Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden on April 28, 1939. Sweden, Norway and Finland rejected the proposal. The first drafts were prepared the first week of May, but the signing of the treaties was twice delayed by Latvia's requests for clarification.
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