DISINFO: The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the USSR did not contribute to the start of WWII
SUMMARY
From a historical perspective, attempts to blame Moscow for the outbreak of WWII are pathetic and ridiculous. Firstly, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was actually the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union. After Moscow's unsuccessful attempts to reach agreements with Britain and France to oppose Nazi Germany, there was nothing surprising or criminal about the treaty. It was a logical step to delay the war by almost two years. Secondly, Hitler signed similar treaties with many European countries, including the 1933 Pact of Four, the 1934 Pilsudski-Hitler Pact, the 1935 Maritime Agreement with Great Britain, and others.
RESPONSE
The claim advances a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative distorting the events leading up to the Second World War, in particular denying USSR responsibility for starting WWII after signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939.
The Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact of August 1939 contained a secret supplementary protocol that resulted in a coordinated Nazi-Soviet campaign against Poland and decided the carving up of Eastern Europe between the USSR and the Third Reich.
The secret protocol was revealed after Germany's defeat in 1945, although hints about its provisions had been leaked much earlier.
See here for our debunking of the claim that the Soviet Union was "forced" to conclude an agreement with Hitler. Read more about the Pact here.
See similar disinformation cases on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in our database: West rewriting history by claiming USSR colluded with Nazi Germany; Poland re-writes history claiming the USSR attacked it in September 1939; the West tries to revise history, questioning the decisions of the Nuremberg trial; Europe is to blame for the outbreak of WWII.