Hitler, Ribbentrop, and...

history · 13 November 1940 · 84 years ago

Hitler, Ribbentrop, and Molotov continued their meeting in Berlin, Germany. Hitler attempted to divert Soviet aggression out of the Balkan Peninsula and Finland, and instead focus, together with Germany, to defeat the United Kingdom, with the ultimate prize being the partition of the British Empire among Germany, the Soviet Union, Italy, and Japan. Molotov, who was not moved, asked Hitler whether Germany would feel comfortable with a Soviet guarantee of Bulgarian borders much like how Germany had recently guaranteed Romanian borders; unable to answer that question, Hitler again broke off the discussion on the excuse of potential British bombings as the hours were getting late. Indeed, having known that Molotov was visiting Berlin, the British RAF launched bombers to attack Berlin as a show of force to convince Molotov that Britain was still in the fight. Ribbentrop and Molotov continued the meeting in a underground bunker amidst the bombing where Ribbentrop failed to entice Molotov with a four-power (Germany, Italy, Japan, and Soviet Union) military alliance proposal. 

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