Non-aggression pact

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A non-aggression pact or neutrality pact is a treaty between two or more states/countries that includes a promise by the signatories not to engage in military action against each other. [1] Such treaties may be described by other names, such as a treaty of friendship or non-belligerency, etc. Leeds, Ritter, Mitchell, & Long (2002) distinguish between a non-aggression pact and a neutrality pact. [2] They posit that a non-aggression pact includes the promise not to attack the other pact signatories, whereas a neutrality pact includes a promise to avoid support of any entity that acts against the interests of any of the pact signatories. The most readily recognized example of the aforementioned entity is another country, nation-state, or sovereign organization that represents a negative consequence towards the advantages held by one or more of the signatory parties. [2]

Contents

History

In the 19th century neutrality pacts have historically been used to give permission for one signatory of the pact to attack or attempt to negatively influence an entity not protected by the neutrality pact. The participants of the neutrality pact agree not to attempt to counteract an act of aggression waged by a pact signatory towards an entity not protected under the terms of the pact. Possible motivations for such acts by one or more of the pacts' signatories include a desire to take, or expand, control of economic resources, militarily important locations, etc. [2]

The 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany is perhaps the best-known example of a non-aggression pact. The Pact lasted until the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. [1] However, such pacts may be a device for neutralising a potential military threat, enabling at least one of the signatories to free up its military resources for other purposes. For example, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact freed German resources from the Russian front. On the other hand, the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, signed on April 13, 1941, removed the threat from Japan in the east enabling the Soviets to move large forces from Siberia to the fight against the Germans, which had a direct bearing on the Battle of Moscow.

The Alliance Treaty Obligations and Provisions (ATOP) dataset records 185 agreements that are solely non-aggression pacts between 1815 and 2018. [3] According to this data, 29 such pacts were recorded in the interwar period with spikes in occurrences in 1960, 1970, 1979, and especially the early 1990s where a number of Eastern European states signed pacts following the fall of the Soviet Union. [4]

States with a history of rivalry tend to sign non-aggression pacts in order to prevent future conflict with one another. The pacts often facilitate information exchange which reduce uncertainty that might lead to conflict. Additionally, the pact signals to third party nations that the rivalry has reduced and that peaceful relations is desired. [4] It has been found that major powers are more likely to start military conflicts against their partners in non-aggression pacts than against states that do not have any sort of alliance with them. [1]

List of non-aggression pacts

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (German copy) Hitler Stalin Pakt Geheimes Zusatzprotokoll.jpg
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (German copy)
List of non-aggression pacts
SignatoriesTreatyDate Signed
Delian League

Standard of Cyrus the Great (White).svg  Achaemenid Empire

Peace of Callias c. 449 BCE
Byzantine imperial flag, 14th century.svg  Byzantine Empire
Flag of the Serene Republic of Venice.svg  Republic of Venice
Byzantine–Venetian Treaty of 1268 April 4, 1268
Byzantine imperial flag, 14th century.svg  Byzantine Empire
Flag of the Serene Republic of Venice.svg  Republic of Venice
Byzantine–Venetian Treaty of 1277 March 19, 1277
Byzantine imperial flag, 14th century.svg  Byzantine Empire
Flag of the Serene Republic of Venice.svg  Republic of Venice
Byzantine–Venetian Treaty of 1285 June 15, 1285
Byzantine imperial flag, 14th century.svg  Byzantine Empire
Flag of the Serene Republic of Venice.svg  Republic of Venice
Byzantine–Venetian Treaty of 1390 June 2, 1390
Flag of England.svg  Kingdom of England
Pavillon royal de la France.svg  Kingdom of France
Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor (after 1400).svg  Holy Roman Empire
Flag of the Papal States (pre 1808).svg  Papal States
Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg  Habsburg Spain
Treaty of London October 3, 1518
Flag of Lithuania 1918-1940.svg  Republic of Lithuania
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924-1936).svg  Soviet Union
Soviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact September 28, 1926
Flag of Romania.svg  Kingdom of Romania
Flag of Greece (1822-1978).svg  Second Hellenic Republic
Greek–Romanian Non-Aggression and Arbitration Pact March 21, 1928 [5]
Flag of Afghanistan (1931-1973).svg  Kingdom of Afghanistan
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924-1936).svg  Soviet Union
Soviet–Afghan Non-Aggression Pact June 24, 1931 [6]
Flag of Finland.svg  Republic of Finland
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924-1936).svg  Soviet Union
Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact January 21, 1932
Flag of Latvia.svg  Republic of Latvia
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924-1936).svg  Soviet Union
Soviet–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact February 5, 1932 [7]
Flag of Estonia.svg  Republic of Estonia
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924-1936).svg  Soviet Union
Soviet–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact May 4, 1932 [8]
Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Second Polish Republic
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924-1936).svg  Soviet Union
Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact July 25, 1932 [9]
Flag of France (1794-1958).svg  French Third Republic
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924-1936).svg  Soviet Union
Soviet–French Non-Aggression Pact November 29, 1932
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg  Kingdom of Italy
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924-1936).svg  Soviet Union
Italo-Soviet Pact September 2, 1933 [10]
Flag of Romania.svg  Kingdom of Romania
Flag of Turkey.svg  Republic of Turkey
Romanian–Turkish Non-Aggression Pact October 17, 1933 [11]
Flag of Yugoslavia (1918-1943).svg  Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Flag of Turkey.svg  Republic of Turkey
Turkish–Yugoslav Non-Aggression Pact November 27, 1933 [12]
Flag of the German Reich (1933-1935).svg  Nazi Germany
Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Second Polish Republic
German–Polish Declaration of Non-Aggression January 26, 1934 [13]
Flag of France (1794-1958).svg  French Third Republic
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924-1936).svg  Soviet Union
Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance May 2, 1935
Merchant flag of Japan (1870).svg  Empire of Japan
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Nazi Germany
Anti-Comintern Pact November 25, 1936
Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Republic of China
Flag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union
Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact August 21, 1937 [14]
State flag of Iran (1933-1964).svg  Imperial State of Iran
Flag of Afghanistan (1931-1973).svg  Kingdom of Afghanistan
Flag of Iraq (1924-1959).svg  Kingdom of Iraq
Flag of Turkey.svg  Republic of Turkey
Treaty of Saadabad June 25, 1938
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  First Czechoslovak Republic
Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946).svg  Kingdom of Hungary
Flag of Romania.svg  Kingdom of Romania
Flag of Yugoslavia (1918-1943).svg  Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Hungarian–Little Entente agreement August 22, 1938
Flag of France (1794-1958).svg  French Third Republic
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Nazi Germany
The Franco-German DeclarationDecember 6, 1938 [15] [16]
Flag of Portugal.svg  Estado Novo (Portugal)
Flag of Spain (1938-1945).svg  Spanish State
Iberian Pact March 17, 1939
Flag of Denmark (state).svg  Kingdom of Denmark
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Nazi Germany
German–Danish Non-Aggression Pact  [ de ]May 31, 1939 [17]
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Nazi Germany
Flag of Estonia.svg  Republic of Estonia
German–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact June 7, 1939 [18]
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Nazi Germany
Flag of Latvia.svg  Republic of Latvia
German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact June 7, 1939 [18]
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Nazi Germany
Flag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact 23 August 1939
Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
British–Thai Non-Aggression Pact June 12, 1940 [19]
Flag of France (1794-1958).svg  French Third Republic
Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand
Franco-Thai Non-Aggression Pact June 12, 1940
Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946).svg  Kingdom of Hungary
Flag of Yugoslavia (1918-1943).svg  Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Hungarian–Yugoslav Non-Aggression Pact December 12, 1940
Flag of Yugoslavia (1918-1943).svg  Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Flag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union
Soviet–Yugoslav Non-Aggression Pact  [ ru ]April 6, 1941
Merchant flag of Japan (1870).svg  Empire of Japan
Flag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union
Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact April 13, 1941
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Nazi Germany
Flag of Turkey.svg  Republic of Turkey
German–Turkish Treaty of Friendship June 18, 1941
Flag of Angola.svg  People's Republic of Angola
Flag of Zaire (1971-1997).svg  Zaire
Flag of Zambia (1964-1996).svg  Zambia
Non-Aggression Pact of 1979 October 14, 1979
Flag of South Africa (1982-1994).svg  Republic of South Africa
Flag of Mozambique.svg  People's Republic of Mozambique
Nkomati Accord March 13, 1984

Other usage

The term has colloquial usage outside the field of international relations. In the context of association football, the term can imply a deliberate lack of aggression between two teams, such as at the Disgrace of Gijón, which, in Germany, is known as the Nichtangriffspakt von Gijón (lit. "Non-aggression pact of Gijón"). [20] A non-aggression pact can also be a formal agreement or gentlemen's agreement limiting transfers for players between two or more clubs. [21] [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kellogg–Briand Pact</span> 1928 international agreement

The Kellogg–Briand Pact or Pact of Paris – officially the General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy – is a 1928 international agreement on peace in which signatory states promised not to use war to resolve "disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them". The pact was signed by Germany, France, and the United States on 27 August 1928, and by most other states soon after. Sponsored by France and the U.S., the Pact is named after its authors, United States Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The pact was concluded outside the League of Nations and remains in effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact</span> 1939 neutrality pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union

The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that enabled those powers to partition Eastern Europe between them. The pact was signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and was officially known as the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Unofficially, it has also been referred to as the Hitler–Stalin Pact, Nazi–Soviet Pact or Nazi–Soviet Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tripartite Pact</span> 1940 mutual defense treaty between the Axis Powers of World War II

The Tripartite Pact, also known as the Berlin Pact, was an agreement between Germany, Italy, and Japan signed in Berlin on 27 September 1940 by, respectively, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Galeazzo Ciano and Saburō Kurusu. It was a defensive military alliance that was eventually joined by Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia as well as by the German client state of Slovakia. Yugoslavia's accession provoked a coup d'état in Belgrade two days later. Germany, Italy and Hungary responded by invading Yugoslavia. The resulting Italo-German client state, known as the Independent State of Croatia, joined the pact on 15 June 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pact of Steel</span> Military alliance between fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during World War II

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Comintern Pact</span> 1936 treaty signed by Germany and Japan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact</span> 1941 non-aggression agreement between the USSR and Imperial Japan

The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, also known as the Japanese–Soviet Non-aggression Pact, was a non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan signed on April 13, 1941, two years after the conclusion of the Soviet-Japanese Border War. The agreement meant that for most of World War II, the two nations fought against each other's allies but not against each other. In 1945, late in the war, the Soviets scrapped the pact and joined the Allied campaign against Japan.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germany–Soviet Union relations, 1918–1941</span> Bilateral relations

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balkan Pact</span> 1934 treaty among various Balkan nations to maintain the post-WWI status quo

The Balkan Pact, or Balkan Entente, was a treaty signed by Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia on 9 February 1934 in Athens, aimed at maintaining the geopolitical status quo in the region after the end of World War I. To present a united front against Bulgarian designs on their territories, the signatories agreed to suspend all disputed territorial claims against one another and their immediate neighbours following the aftermath of the war and a rise in various regional irredentist tensions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact</span> 1932 treaty between Poland and the Soviet Union

The Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact was a non-aggression pact signed in 1932 by representatives of Poland and the Soviet Union. The pact was unilaterally broken by the Soviet Union on September 17, 1939, during the Soviet invasion of Poland.

The military alliance between the United Kingdom and Poland was formalised by the Anglo-Polish Agreement in 1939, with subsequent addenda of 1940 and 1944, for mutual assistance in case of a military invasion from Nazi Germany, as specified in a secret protocol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Litvinov Protocol</span> 1929 international peace treaty

The Litvinov Protocol is the common name of an international peace treaty concluded in Moscow on February 9, 1929. Named after the chief Soviet diplomat moving the negotiations forward, Maxim Litvinov, the treaty provided for immediate implementation of the Kellogg-Briand Pact by its signatories, thereby formally renouncing war as a part of national foreign policy.

The Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance was a bilateral treaty between France and the Soviet Union with the aim of enveloping Nazi Germany in 1935 to reduce the threat from Central Europe. It was pursued by Maxim Litvinov, the Soviet foreign minister, and Louis Barthou, the French foreign minister, who was assassinated in October 1934, before negotiations had been finished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania</span> German diplomatic demand on Lithuania

On 20 March 1939, Nazi Germany's foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop presented an oral ultimatum to Juozas Urbšys, foreign minister of Lithuania. Germany demanded that Lithuania give up the Klaipėda Region which had been detached from Germany after World War I, or the Wehrmacht would invade Lithuania and the de facto Lithuanian capital Kaunas would be bombed. The Lithuanians had been expecting the demand after years of rising tension between Lithuania and Germany, increasing pro-Nazi propaganda in the region, and continued German expansion. It was issued just five days after the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. The 1924 Klaipėda Convention had guaranteed the protection of the status quo in the region, but the four signatories to that convention did not offer any material assistance. The United Kingdom and France followed a policy of appeasement, while Italy and Japan openly supported Germany, and Lithuania accepted the ultimatum on 23 March 1939. It proved to be the last territorial acquisition for Germany before World War II, producing a major downturn in Lithuania's economy and escalating pre-war tensions for Europe as a whole.

Soviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact was a non-aggression pact, signed between the Soviet Union and Lithuania on September 28, 1926. The pact confirmed all basic provisions of the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty of 1920. The Soviet Union continued to recognize Vilnius and Vilnius Region to Lithuania, despite the fact that the territories were under Polish control since the Żeligowski's Mutiny in 1920. It also recognized Lithuania's interests in the Klaipėda Region. In exchange Lithuania agreed not to join any alliances directed against the Soviet Union, which meant international isolation at the time when Soviet Union was not a member of the League of Nations. Ratifications were exchanged in Kaunas on November 9, 1926, and the pact became effective on the same day. The pact was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on March 4, 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact</span> 1939 treaty

The German–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact was signed in Berlin on June 7, 1939, by Estonian and German Foreign Ministers Karl Selter and Joachim von Ribbentrop. The German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact was also signed on the same day. Ratifications of the German-Estonian Pact were exchanged in Berlin on July 24, 1939, and it became effective the same day. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on August 12, 1939. The pact was intended for a period of ten years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact</span> 1939 treaty between Germany and Latvia

The German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact was signed in Berlin on June 7, 1939.

<i>Falsifiers of History</i>

Falsifiers of History was a book published by the Soviet Information Bureau, edited and partially re-written by Joseph Stalin, in response to documents made public in January 1948 regarding German–Soviet relations before and after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltic–Soviet relations</span> International relations between Baltic states and Soviet Union

Relevant events began regarding the Baltic states and the Soviet Union when, following Bolshevist Russia's conflict with the Baltic states—Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia—several peace treaties were signed with Russia and its successor, the Soviet Union. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Soviet Union and all three Baltic States further signed non-aggression treaties. The Soviet Union also confirmed that it would adhere to the Kellogg–Briand Pact with regard to its neighbors, including Estonia and Latvia, and entered into a convention defining "aggression" that included all three Baltic countries.

The timeline of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact is a chronology of events, including Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact negotiations, leading up to, culminating in, and resulting from the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The Treaty of Non-aggression between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union was signed in the early hours of August 24, 1939, but was dated August 23.

References

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