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On 1 September 1939, within days of signing the pact and the secret protocols, Hitler invaded Poland, now confident that the Soviets would not oppose him. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany. A couple of weeks later, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east to grab its share. In 1940, the USSR followed up by occupying Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Romanian province of Bessarabia. Britain and France protested but with their forces already at war against Germany, they could not afford to fight Stalin as well. The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact intially worked quite well and showed how similar the two states goals really were. But this peace it did not last for long.

Once the Soviets seized a generous portion of Eastern Europe, they also tried to invade Finland. Despite being tremendously outnumbered and outgunned, the Finns improvised a defense and made the best of the terrain and the ferocious winter weather. At the same time, the German army conquered France without suffering appreciable losses and the British withdrew from the continent. The Germans were astonished at how badly the Soviets performed in fighting with the Finns. This struggle encouraged Germany to attack the USSR. Germany determined that they could defeat Stalin in a rapid campaign (Blitzkrieg) before turning their sights to Brits in the west. <ref>The pact between Hitler and Stalin that paved the way for World War II was signed 75 years ago - http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-08-21/pact-between-hitler-and-stalin-paved-way-world-war-ii-was-signed-75-years-ago</ref>