What were the German-Soviet Axis talks and when did they take place?
The German-Soviet Axis talks were negotiations between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union held in October and November 1940, nominally concerning the Soviet Union's potential entry as a fourth member of the Axis alongside Germany, Italy and Japan. The central event was a two-day conference in Berlin on the 12th and the 13th of November 1940 between Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, Adolf Hitler and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop.
Did Hitler actually intend to bring the Soviet Union into the Axis?
No. Hitler had already decided in July 1940 to invade the Soviet Union and used the Berlin talks to test Soviet attitudes before launching what became Operation Barbarossa. On the very night of the final talks with Molotov, Hitler issued secret Instruction No. 18, directing German forces to continue preparing for war in the east regardless of the diplomatic discussions.
What did the Soviet counterproposal to Germany contain?
On the 25th of November 1940, the Soviets submitted a counterproposal accepting the four-power pact in principle but adding five secret protocols. These included German troop withdrawal from Finland, a Soviet mutual assistance pact with Bulgaria including military bases, a Soviet territorial sphere directed south of Baku and Batumi toward Iraq and Iran, Japanese renunciation of northern Sakhalin concessions, and affirmation of the Soviet-Bulgarian treaty. The Soviets also pledged 2.5 million tons of grain by the 11th of May 1941, one million tons above existing commitments. Germany never responded.
What was the book Falsifiers of History and why did Stalin write it?
Falsifiers of History was a book published by the Soviet Information Bureau in February 1948, released one month after the United States publicly disclosed captured Nazi documents describing the 1940 negotiations. Stalin personally edited, struck and rewrote entire sections of the drafts by hand before publication. In the book, Stalin claimed he had been merely testing Germany and had rejected Hitler's offer to divide the world. That account remained the official Soviet position in all historical studies and textbooks until 1990.
Why did Molotov ask who was talking in an air raid shelter if England was already defeated?
During the final session of the November 13 talks, Ribbentrop and Molotov were forced into a Berlin air-raid shelter because of British aerial bombardment. Ribbentrop had throughout the talks insisted that England was already beaten and her defeat was only a matter of time. Molotov asked cuttingly why, if that were true, they were conducting diplomacy underground. The exchange captured the Soviet delegation's skepticism about German claims of imminent British collapse.
What role did Joachim von Ribbentrop play in the German-Soviet Axis talks?
Ribbentrop was the primary German advocate for a genuine alliance with the Soviet Union and convinced Hitler to allow the Berlin conference to proceed. His foreign policy vision, which differed from Hitler's, favored a four-power continental bloc directing Soviet expansion southward toward the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. He presented Molotov with the written draft pact in the air-raid shelter on the night of the 13th of November 1940, hoping the Soviets would eventually agree to Axis membership.