Litvinov Protocol

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Litvinov or Moscow Protocol (also known as the East Pact ) was concluded on February 9, 1929 between the Soviet Union , Poland , Romania , Latvia and Estonia and had the early entry into force of the Briand-Kellogg Pact - and thus the renunciation of international disputes to solve with military force - the subject.

The Turkey and Lithuania followed a few weeks later. Finland , which was also invited to join the protocol, refused to sign it.

The initiative for this agreement came from the Soviet Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov . Initially only negotiations with Poland and Romania were planned, but at Warsaw's insistence, Estonia and Latvia were also included. This was intended to convince the international environment, but above all the neighboring states, of the peace policy of the Soviet Union and to demonstrate concern for collective security .

The conclusion of the protocol is seen as a considerable success for Soviet diplomacy, as it prevented the threat of encirclement and the Soviet Union was thus able to show its willingness to cooperate in ensuring collective security, especially since many states were before the ratification of the Briand-Kellogg -Pact had reservations.

On April 5, 1929 Lithuania also joined the Litvinov Protocol, which settled the dispute over Vilnius in favor of Poland, which Józef Piłsudski recorded as a success of his politics. The former capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, became officially Polish, and Kaunas served as the capital of Lithuania.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ulrich HE Wagner: Finnish neutrality. A neutrality policy with a defensive alliance. von der Ropp, 1974.
  2. Thomas Schmidt: The foreign policy of the Baltic states: In the field of tension between East and West. VS Verlag, 2003, p. 43, ISBN 3-531-13681-X
  3. Hans-Adolf Jacobsen: “Primat der Sicherheitsppolitik” in: Dietrich Geyer (Ed.): Eastern Europe Handbook , Volume Soviet Union, Foreign Policy 1917–1955, Böhlau, Cologne 1972, p. 220.