Editing Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (section)

=== Events Leading Up To the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact ===
The threat of war against the Soviet Union was objectively growing throughout the 1930's. During 1933, Italy, Nazi Germany, France, and Britain signed the 'Four Powers' agreement, which Germany viewed as the beginning for an Anglo-German alliance against Bolshevism.<ref>''The Royal Navy and Nazi Germany, 1933–39 A Study in Appeasement and the Origins of the Second World War.'' London: Macmillan Press.</ref> This agreement also paved the way for a German-Polish Non-Aggression Treaty to be signed in 1934. 

In 1935, Britain negotiated an agreement with Nazi Germany in which the German Navy could not be larger than a specific portion of the British fleet. This was in violation of the Versailles treaty, since the British had never actually consulted France nor Italy about this issue.

In 1937, the Soviet fears about a potential Anglo-German alliance was substantiated. In 1937, Lord Halifax, Chamberlain's foreign secretary, claimed that Nazi Germany was a 'bulwark of the West against Bolshevism'. In 1938, Chamberlain stated he had a  '...most profound distrust of Russia."<ref>https://www.jstor.org/stable/4396261</ref> In early 1938, the Western powers conceded Austria to Germany. Later that year, without consulting Czechoslovakia whatsoever, they allowed Hitler to establish sovereignty over the entire area. Interestingly enough, Poland had also collaborated in 'partitioning' Czechoslovakia as well, and even negotiated with Hitler to obtain the regions of Zaolzie and Javorina!<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=wze-u1YC8jcC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=%22Hitler+agreed+to+this,+against+the+wishes+of+G%C3%B6ring+and+German+military+leaders.%22&source=bl&ots=3xGIEOQuED&sig=ACfU3U3a_iPknAQPBKtGsgxDdoNHSaOo7Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiWhajTsoGDAxUumGoFHca-B7QQ6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref>