DISINFO: Calling German-Soviet non-aggression pact as Ribbentrop-Molotov pact is re-writing history
SUMMARY
The rewriting of history began during the Cold War when the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact and its secret protocols started to be called after the names of the leaders of these states (Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact or Hitler-Stalin Pact). At the same time, the infamous Munich Agreements have not been called after the names of the countries, which signed them.
Many other non-aggression pacts and agreements signed by the European countries with Nazi Germany are perceived as regular international agreements, which did not have any importance for the war plans of Hitler. Meanwhile, with time, the German-Soviet non-aggression pact was proven to stand in one line with the Gleiwitz incident.
RESPONSE
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 stating that other European countries signed various international agreements with Germany throughout 1930s.
This message contains two disinformation claims – first of all, it perceives the calling of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact or Hitler-Stalin Pact as re-writing of history. Secondly, it suggests that the issue of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact is similar to the Gleiwitz incident, suggesting that there are many fake historical messages connected to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
It is impossible to compare the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with various agreements signed between Germany and other European countries throughout the 1930s. There is no historical evidence that these agreements contained any secret protocols, which assumed common aggressive actions of Germany and these countries against third parties. In the case of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, it is a proven historical fact that it contained the Secret Supplementary Protocol, which assumed the division of Poland and other Eastern European countries between the USSR and Germany. That is why the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact has an extraordinary historical significance and it is often called by the historians as the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact or the Hitler-Stalin Pact.
Secondly, it is impossible to compare the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact to the Gleiwitz incident – in case of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, its authenticity is not questioned by any sides. The Gleiwitz incident was an attempt of Hitler to stage a fake “Polish” attack on a German radio station in order to use this situation to invade Poland on September 1, 1939.
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