This bilateral trade deal supplied Nazi Germany with critical raw materials that directly enabled the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union.
Key Facts
- Soviet exports to Germany
- 597.9 million Reichsmarks (Jan 1940–Jun 1941)
- German deliveries to USSR
- 437.1 million Reichsmarks
- Oil exported by USSR
- 820,000 metric tons
- Grain exported by USSR
- 1,500,000 metric tons
- Manganese ore exported
- 130,000 metric tons
- German warplane samples received
- 30 latest models including Bf 109 and Ju 88
By the Numbers
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union sought to deepen economic ties. Germany needed raw materials for its war effort, while the USSR sought advanced military technology and industrial equipment, creating mutual incentives for a formal commercial arrangement.
On 11 February 1940, Germany and the Soviet Union signed an economic agreement under which the USSR committed to deliver commodities—oil, grain, and raw materials—valued at 420–430 million Reichsmarks through 1941. In return, Germany supplied the USSR with naval vessels, warplane samples, military technology, and industrial machinery.
The raw materials delivered under this agreement, particularly rubber and grain, proved essential to Germany's Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. The agreement was rendered void when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, violating the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. A follow-up border and commercial agreement had been signed as recently as January 1941.
Political Outcome
Agreement signed; USSR delivered 597.9 million Reichsmarks in raw materials to Germany before the pact was broken by the German invasion in June 1941.
Germany and USSR in cooperative economic relations following the August 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
Relations ended abruptly with Germany's invasion of the USSR in June 1941; materials supplied aided the German war machine