The German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact was signed in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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 or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

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 List of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia from 1936 to 1940. He ...

and German Foreign Minister

Joachim von Ribbentrop Ulrich Friedrich-Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician and diplomat who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. ...

. The next day,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

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 On 20 March 1939, Nazi Germany's foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop presented an oral ultimatum to Juozas Urbšys, foreign minister of Lithuania. Germany demanded that Lithuania give up the Klaipėda Region (also known as the Memel Territo ...

regarding the

Klaipėda Region The Klaipėda Region () or Memel Territory ( 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 Memelland, it was put under the administr ...

. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:German-Latvian Non-Aggression Pact 1939 in Germany Treaties of Latvia World War II treaties 1939 in Latvia June 1939 in Europe Treaties concluded in 1939 Treaties entered into force in 1939 Treaties of Nazi Germany Non-aggression pacts