The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed in August 1939 by Germany and the Soviet Union, divided Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. This nonaggression pact was an important military strategy by Hitler, who considered the communist Soviet government to be an ideological enemy. It enabled Germany to invade and occupy Poland without fearing retribution by the Soviet Union, the only European power capable of posing a threat to the German Army in the east. Furthermore, it aided Hitler by forcing Hungary and Romania to align themselves with Germany in order to avoid Soviet control. The pact also gave the Soviet Union a false sense of security, which was shattered in 1941 by the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Importantly enough, these developments brought huge populations of European Jews under Nazi control, making Hitler’s "Final Solution of the Jewish Question in Europe" logistically possible.
