Vyacheslav Molotov - On the Nazi Invasion of the Soviet Unio

Vyacheslav Molotov (1889-1986) was Foreign Minister of the Soviet¹ Union at the time of the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact², August 23, 1939. News of the Pact stunned³ the world and paved the way for the beginning of World War Two with Hitler assured the Germans would not have to immediately fight a war on two fronts.,Just two weeks after signing the Pact, Hitler's armies invaded Poland, with the Soviets⁴ later invading from the east. Poland was then divided up between the Nazis⁵ and Soviets, according to a secret protocol⁶ in the treaty.,Hitler then went on to successfully invade much of western Europe, achieving a stunning⁸ victory over France.,But for years, Hitler had stated 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.,