The German–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact was signed in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
on June 7, 1939, by Estonian and German Foreign Ministers
Karl Selter
Karl Selter (24 June 1898 in Koeru, Estonia – 31 January 1958 in Geneva, Switzerland) was an Estonian politician and a Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia. He served as Minister of Economic Affairs from 1933 to 1938 and as minister of ...
and
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
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 the same day. It was registered in ''League of Nations Treaty Series'' on August 12, 1939.
[''League of Nations Treaty Series'', vol. 198, pp. 50-53.] The pact was intended for a period of ten years.
The pacts were intended to prevent the West or the Soviets from gaining influence in 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 ...
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 ...
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.[
]
See also
* :World War II treaties
References
External links
Text of the treaty
{{DEFAULTSORT:German-Estonian Non-Aggression Pact
1939 in Estonia
1939 in Germany
Treaties of Estonia
World War II treaties
Treaties concluded in 1939
Treaties entered into force in 1939
Treaties of Nazi Germany
Non-aggression pacts