German–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact

Signing of German–Estonian and German-Latvian nonaggression pacts. Sitting from the left: Vilhelms Munters, Latvian MFA, Joachim von Ribbentrop, German MFA; Karl Selter, Estonian MFA.

German–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact was signed in Berlin on June 7, 1939, by the Estonian and German Ministers of Foreign Affairs Karl Selter and Joachim von Ribbentrop. German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact was also signed on the same day. Ratifications of the German-Estonian pact were exchanged in Berlin on July 24, 1939 and it became effective on the same day. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on August 12, 1939.[1] The pact 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[2] (non-aggression pact with Lithuania was concluded in March after the 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania regarding the Klaipėda Region). These states were to provide a barrier against any Soviet intervention in a planned German–Polish War.[2]

Nazi Germany offered to sign non-aggression pacts with Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden on April 28, 1939.[3] Sweden, Norway, and Finland rejected the proposal. First drafts were prepared the first week of May, but the signing of the treaties was twice delayed due to Latvia's requests for clarification.[3]

References

  1. ↑ League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 198, pp. 50-53.
  2. 1 2 Crampton, R. J. (1997). Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century and After. Routledge. p. 105. ISBN 0-415-16422-2.
  3. 1 2 John Hiden, Thomas Lane, ed. (2003). The Baltic and the Outbreak of the Second World War. Cambridge University Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-521-53120-9.

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See also

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