Germany–Soviet Union relations before 1941
Before 1941, Germany and Soviet Union were not very good friends. Imagine you have two friends who have always been jealous of each other and they don't like to share their toys. That's pretty much how it was between Germany and Soviet Union.
In the 1930s, Germany was ruled by a man named Adolf Hitler, who wanted to expand his country's power and influence in Europe. He believed that Germany should be the strongest country in the world and that other countries, including Soviet Union, were in the way of that goal.
At the same time, the Soviet Union was ruled by Josef Stalin, who was also interested in expanding his country's power and influence. He believed that communism was the only way to achieve that goal and that other countries, including Germany, were enemies of his country.
So, both leaders were pretty stubborn and did not want to work together. In fact, they saw each other as enemies and had a lot of disagreements.
Despite this, in August 1939, Germany and Soviet Union signed a treaty called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The treaty was meant to be a non-aggression pact, which means that the two countries would not attack each other.
However, secretly, the treaty also contained a plan for the two countries to divide up parts of Europe between themselves. Germany would get the western part, and Soviet Union would get the eastern part.
So, even though they pretended to be friends, they were really plotting against each other behind the scenes.
This arrangement did not last long. In June 1941, Germany broke the pact and invaded Soviet Union. This started a very long and brutal war, which lasted until 1945.
In summary, before 1941, Germany and Soviet Union were not friends because they had different goals and saw each other as enemies. Although they signed a treaty to pretend to be friends, they were really plotting against each other, which led to the start of the war in 1941.
In the 1930s, Germany was ruled by a man named Adolf Hitler, who wanted to expand his country's power and influence in Europe. He believed that Germany should be the strongest country in the world and that other countries, including Soviet Union, were in the way of that goal.
At the same time, the Soviet Union was ruled by Josef Stalin, who was also interested in expanding his country's power and influence. He believed that communism was the only way to achieve that goal and that other countries, including Germany, were enemies of his country.
So, both leaders were pretty stubborn and did not want to work together. In fact, they saw each other as enemies and had a lot of disagreements.
Despite this, in August 1939, Germany and Soviet Union signed a treaty called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The treaty was meant to be a non-aggression pact, which means that the two countries would not attack each other.
However, secretly, the treaty also contained a plan for the two countries to divide up parts of Europe between themselves. Germany would get the western part, and Soviet Union would get the eastern part.
So, even though they pretended to be friends, they were really plotting against each other behind the scenes.
This arrangement did not last long. In June 1941, Germany broke the pact and invaded Soviet Union. This started a very long and brutal war, which lasted until 1945.
In summary, before 1941, Germany and Soviet Union were not friends because they had different goals and saw each other as enemies. Although they signed a treaty to pretend to be friends, they were really plotting against each other, which led to the start of the war in 1941.