A secret appendix agrees the carve-up of East-Central Europe between Germany and the Soviet Union
The world was astonished when it woke up on the morning of 23 August 1939 to read of a treaty signed between dictators Hitler and Stalin. These sworn ideological enemies had committed themselves to a non-aggression pact in which they promised to leave each other to mind their own affairs. Whilst the treaty gave the Third Reich a free hand in Poland, it also ensured the security of its eastern flank if the Western Powers were to declare war on Germany. For his part, Stalin hoped to protect the Soviet Union against German aggression. A secret protocol to the treaty committed the two leaders to recognize defined spheres of interest in the event of the territorial reorganization of Eastern Europe. Hitler wanted most of Poland and Lithuania, whilst the Soviet dictator had designs on eastern Poland, Finland, Estonia and Latvia.
Germany moved into its agreed sphere of influence in Poland a week after signing the pact and following heavy fighting; the Red Army advanced into eastern Poland. The Nazi-Soviet pact was renegotiated at the end of September 1939, when Hitler agreed that Lithuania would fall under the Soviet sphere of influence. None of these undertakings were of any import to Hitler, who intended to break the treaties at some point; he eventually got round to his treachery in 1941 when he ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Other events on this day
1999 Berlin rules again!
Years after reunification, the government of the newly united Germany makes Berlin its capital city
Following the entry into force of the Unification Treaty in 1990, Berlin became the federal capital of the newly reunified Germany. Many opposed the move because the idea of a capital in Berlin evoked bad memories of imperial Germany and the Third Reich. Others were simply daunted by the high costs involved and preferred to remain in the more modest city of Bonn, which had served the only democratic German state well for 40 years. The battle lines were drawn and a decision had to be made. After hours of debate, the Bundestag voted 338 to 320 in favour of moving to Berlin. The Bundesrat initially voted to remain in Bonn but reversed its decision a few years later.
The entire process of moving to Berlin took longer than planned. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder did not start working in his Berlin office until 23 August 1999, and even then, he only had a temporary desk in the former DDR State Council building, as construction of the new Federal Chancellery was behind schedule. Most of the federal ministries and the Bundestag moved to their new home in the same year. The Bundesrat followed in 2000. Ten years after reunification, the executive and legislative bodies were located in Berlin once again.
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