DISINFO: Nazi-Soviet pact was not the cause of WWII
SUMMARY
Russia has become locked in a dispute with Poland and the Baltic States over the origins of WWII after the European Parliament passed a resolution in September on the history of the conflict. The resolution claimed that the 1939 non-aggression treaty between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany led to the start of the war. The responsibility for WWII lies with the Polish elite who ruled the country in the 30s, who were the first to conclude a non-aggression pact with Hitler in 1934, who were allied to him, who participated in the division of Czechoslovakia with Hitler and who received territorial acquisitions from the Munich conspiracy when Czechoslovakia was surrendered to Hitler.
Historians in the West, in Poland, in Europe, in the USA even earlier have held the point of view that allegedly the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact initiated the Second World War.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative distorting the events of the Second World War and accusing Poland of historical revisionism.
The European Parliament resolution in question stresses the fact that WWII was an immediate result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. It aims to promote historical remembrance of the Second World War, and is supported by broad consensus on the causes of its outbreak.
The "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact" was accompanied by a secret supplementary protocol on the delimitation of areas of mutual interest in Eastern Europe. In particular, Hitler and Stalin agreed to divide Poland. The agreement also indicated that the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, as well as Bessarabia and Finland, also belonged to the respective areas of interest of Germany and the USSR. Just a week after the signing of the Pact, the German attack on Poland started World War II. Two weeks later, Soviet troops entered Polish territory.
See similar cases about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact here, here, here, here and here.
Read more about the Pact here.