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Disinfo: A two-day visit of Ribbentrop to the USSR could not be the reason for WWII outbreak

Summary

it is unfair to claim that the two-day visit to Moscow of Nazi Foreign Minister Ribbentrop was the main reason for the start of the Second World War.

Disproof

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism and an attempt to erode the disastrous historical role of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact by the statements that the USSR was forced to sign this pact; other European countries signed various international agreements with Adolf Hitler, Munich Agreement triggered WWII and various historical conspiracies saying that the Western democracies wanted to inspire a war between Nazism and Communism.

A “two-day” visit of Ribbentrop to the USSR resulted in the signing of the Secret Supplementary Protocol to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which assumed the partition of Central and Eastern Europe between Nazi Germany and the USSR. This Secret Protocol was the direct reason for the outbreak of WWII - the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact enabled the German and Soviet military aggression against Poland in September 1939,  triggering the beginning of WWII.

Read similar examples of the Russian historical revisionism concerning this issue - Signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact thwarted the UK’s expansionist plans in Europe, The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact did not violate the rights of the Polish state, The shift of all blame for WWII outbreak at the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact the best example of manipulation of history.

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publication/media

Sputnik Poland (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 202
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 19/06/2020
  • Language/target audience: Polish
  • Country: Russia, Germany
  • Keywords: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, USSR, Historical revisionism, WWII, Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Putin, Joseph Stalin, Nazi/Fascist

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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Disproof

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Disproof

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Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinformation about the illegal annexation of Crimea, and trying to hide the real reason why Naftogaz stopped working near the peninsula.

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