Vyacheslav Molotov (1889-1986), Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union, had signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact on August 23, 1939. This bought the USSR two years in which to prepare for the Nazi attack, but in the meantime encouraged Hitler’s aggression against Poland. By 1941 it was the Soviet Union’s turn. For years, Hitler had claimed that Germany’s future living space, or lebensraum, existed to Germany’s east, namely Russia. He then turned his attention toward the Soviet Union and launched a massive attack on June 22, 1941. Below is the initial Soviet reaction, broadcast to the people by Molotov.
Collection: Texts
Project: 6. Under a cloak of terror: violence and armed conflict in Europe.
Chronology: XX
Scope: Secondary Education, Higher Education
Link: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1941molotov.asp
Resource type: Speach
Format: Texts
Source: Fordham University
Language: English
Date: 1941
Owner: Porto group (Modernalia)
Abstract: World War II
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