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  Selected Secret Documents from Soviet Foreign Policy Documents Archives - 1919 to 1941

Concentrated on 1st and  2nd WW Correspondence and Meetings related to Turkey, Balkans and Iran, with some additions from Afghanistan and India.

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From: talk of the chairman of the council of peopleʹs commissars of the USSR, peopleʹs commissioner for foreign affairs of the USSR V. M. Molotov with minister of foreign affairs of Germany I.

Ribbentrop

November 12, 1940

Stalin said that England no longer has the right to rule the world. And if she nevertheless started this war, then she will pay for it. We, says Ribbentrop further, think that great changes will take place in the domain of England. We think that as a result of our new relations that have developed in the past year, we have achieved good successes, both Germany and the Soviet Union. We put on a good card. The USSR carried out its revisions in the west, and it thinks that Germanyʹs victory over Poland and France contributed significantly to this. We have done good deeds in the past, and my question is, can we do good deeds in the future? He believes that the USSR can benefit from the redistribution of the territories of the British empire through expansion towards the Persian Gulf and the Arabian sea. The aspirations * of the USSR may lie in parts of Asia in which Germany is not interested.

The second question in this regard, says Ribbentrop, is the question of Turkey. Turkey was an ally of England and France129. France fell out. England is a dubious ally. Turkey has cleverly reduced its obligations towards England to a state that does not go beyond neutrality. In this regard, Ribbentrop would like to discuss with Molotov what are the interests of the USSR in Turkish affairs. In the interests of a quick end to the war, it would be important to influence Turkey to free her from British influence. He does not know if this will be possible, but in defining the main political concept of Italy, Germany, the USSR and japan, perhaps there will be an opportunity to influence Turkey in this direction. He did not speak about these issues with the Turks in a concrete manner. Recently, according to Ribbentrop, he spoke to the Turkish ambassador and told him in confidence that they would welcome Turkeyʹs policy of maintaining absolute neutrality and that they have no claims to Turkish territory. We fully understand, says Ribbentrop, that the USSR is dissatisfied with the Montreux convention95. We are even more dissatisfied with it. With the USSR in Montreux, they did not really reckon, but. Germany was not asked at all. I believe that the Montreux convention should disappear, as well as the Danube commission, and that something new should be created in its place, on which the especially interested powers could agree, and first of all the USSR, Turkey, Italy and Germany. It seems perfectly acceptable for Germany to think that the Soviet Union and other black sea states should be given priority rights over other states. It is completely absurd for other states to have equal rights with the USSR or with other black sea states. Therefore, it is necessary to create a new agreement. In the new agreement, the USSR must be granted special rights. How and in what order to do it ‐. You can think. The goal is for the USSR to be able to find a way out of the straits into the Mediterranean. I spoke about this with the Italians and met with full understanding. The question is that the USSR, Italy and Germany should pursue a policy that, firstly, would free Turkey from its obligations while fully retaining its ʺfaceʺ, as they say in the east, i.e. Its prestige, and would allow Turkey to become a member of a group of states (literally ‐ ʺa member of the combinationʺ), not aspirationen (German) ‐ aspirations, claims, calculations  those wishing to expand the war; secondly, this should lead to the elimination of the Montreux conventions by Turkey and to the creation of a statute satisfying the Soviet Union, Italy and Germany with special rights for the USSR. In this regard, the territory of Turkey could be guaranteed in some form.

After that Ribbentrop said that he wanted to express thoughts about deepening Soviet‐German relations. One can think of the form in which the three states, i.e. Germany, Italy and japan could come to an agreement with the USSR and in which it would be possible to express that the USSR declares its solidarity with the aspirations to prevent the further expansion of the war. We could add to this a few points about cooperation and mutual respect of interests.

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Recorded by v. Pavlov archive of the president of the Russian federation, f. 3, on. 64, d.675, l. 21‐30. Publ .: new and contemporary history. ‐ 1993. ‐ no. 5. ‐ s. 69‐73.

From: conversation of the chairman of the council of peopleʹs commissars of the USSR, peopleʹs commissioner for foreign affairs of the USSR V.M. Molotov with Reichscanzler of Germany Agitlerom

November 12, 1940

Top. Secret special folder

.......

Molotov turns to the last question raised by the Reich chancellor. If we talk about relations for the future, we cannot fail to mention the triple pact concluded recently between Germany, Italy and japan, which is already in operation. Molotov would like to know what this pact is, what it means for the Soviet Union; he would like to see more clarity on this issue during his stay in berlin and Ribbentrop’s stay in Moscow. In this connection it will also be possible to raise the question of the black sea and the Balkans, which will be a topical topic, and directly the question of Romania, Bulgaria and also Turkey. Further, I would like to know what is meant by the new order in Europe and Asia and where are the borders of the east Asian space.

Hitler replies that the tripartite pact provides for a leading role in Europe for the two states in their areas of natural interests. The Soviet Union is allowed to indicate those areas in which it is interested. The same with regard to the great east Asian space ‐ the Soviet Union itself must say what interests it. He, Hitler, invites the Soviet Union to participate as the fourth partner in this pact. Hitler believes that it will be possible to reach an agreement with the Soviet Union, that earlier negotiations had taken place with Italy and France, and now that the issue has been clarified with them, he considered it timely to invite the Soviet Union so that the USSR speaks out about its interests. The questions that the Soviet Union has in relation to Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey cannot be resolved here in 10 minutes, and this should be the subject of diplomatic negotiations. We are all continental states, although each country has its own interests. America and England are not continental states, they only strive to set European states against each other, and we want to exclude them from Europe. A certain world order must be created, which will have its own spheres of interest. Germany offers its services as a good broker in order to reach the possible mutual understanding on these issues. We cannot resolve the issue of greater Asia, since Russian interests are mainly important here, as are ours in Europe. When concluding the tripartite pact, we stressed that our special relationship with Russia would not be affected, and this is written in the pact. It is directed against a country that has no interests in Europe, Africa and Asia, just as we have no interests in south America.

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This concludes the first conversation with Ribbentrop.

Recorded by v. Pavlov archive of the president of the Russian federation, f. 3, on. 64, d.675, l. 21‐30. Publ .: new and contemporary history. ‐ 1993. ‐ no. 5. ‐ s. 69‐73.

 

Telegram of the chairman of the council of peopleʹs commissars of the USSR, peopleʹs commissioner for foreign affairs of the USSR V.

M. Molotov to the general secretary of the cc VKP (B) J. V. Stalin

November 12, 1940

Top secret

Stalin. The first, more than two‐hour conversation with Ribbentrop took place. In view of the fact that now we must go to a conversation with Hitler, I briefly report on the conversation with Ribbentrop. Extensively repeating his letter to Stalin176 **, he added that Germanyʹs interests were in east and west Africa; Italy ‐ in north‐east Africa; japan ‐ in the south, and the USSR also in the south ‐ to the Persian Gulf and the Arabian sea. In addition, he spoke in favor of revising, with the participation of Turkey, the USSR, Germany and Italy, the convention in montreux95, ensuring the USSRʹs advantageous position, as well as, if possible, not touching upon the “faces” of Turkey. Ribbentrop also spoke of the desirability of reaching an agreement between the USSR, Germany, Italy and japan in the form of a declaration against the expansion of the war, as well as the desirability of a compromise between japan and Chiang Kai‐shek. So far I could only briefly answer that Ribbentrop’s thoughts are very interesting, deserve discussion in berlin, and then in Moscow with his participation, that I need to find out from him a number of questions in connection with the triple pact and that, in principle, actions of four powers are possible, and also that I consider last yearʹs Soviet‐German agreement * exhausted in the course of events, with the exception of the question of Finland, but that I also have other questions of relations with Germany, Italy and japan.

Molotov avp rf, f. 059, on. 1, p. 338, d. 2314, l. 5‐6, 7‐9. Publ .: international life. ‐ 1991. ‐ no. 6. ‐ s. 126.