NAzi-Soviet PAct
Background
The Soviet Union did not care which party emerged the victor of the war the knew was coming. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin just wanted to make sure they came out of it with as much power as possible. So, while they negotiated with Great Britain and France, they also negotiated with Germany to see what they could get if they promised to stay out of the war. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler plotted to invade Russia, but knew he could not attempt it before he had consolidated his position in Europe. In World War I, the Central Powers had made just that mistake losing the war. Thus, when the Soviets came knocking, he was happy to oblige them, despite the fact he consider them racially inferior.
Agreement is Reached
In August, 1939, in Moscow two separate treaties were concluded between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The first, signed August 19th, was primarily economic, establishing trade exchanging Soviet raw materials for Nazi finished products, and vice versa. The second, signed four days later, concluded a ten-year nonaggression pact, neutralizing the Soviet threat to Nazi invasion. Secret agreements were also reached between the two powers splitting Europe up into "spheres of influence." Russia was promised a "buffer zone" of Latvia, Finland, Eastern Poland, and Estonia in exchange from staying out of greater Europe, which was promised to Nazi Germany. The agreement shocked the world, which had always thought the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany were diametrically opposed and could never reach an agreement. The were right on the former, but wrong on the later at least for a couple of years.