Changes

In the meantime, Germany revitalized under Adolf Hitler’s leadership, worked to revise the post-World War I organizational structure of Europe, imposed by the United States, England, and France. At the same time, Germany and the USST appeared to be natural enemies. [[How did Hitler become the Dictator and Fuhrer of Germany?|Adolf Hitler]] loathed the Communists, and Stalin publicly denounced the National Socialist Party. The two regimes were ideological enemies, and it seemed to many observers that a war between the two was inevitable at some stage. <ref>Boobbyer, Phillip <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415182980/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0415182980&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=be2a9195cf0017e9147f778e95d45fbe The Stalin Era]</i> (Routledge, London, 2000),p. 178</ref>

[[File: Molotov.jpg|thumbnail|300px|left|Ribbentrop and Molotov in Berlin, 1940]]

After the National Socialist Party rose to power in Germany in 1933, relations between Germany and the Soviet Union, as the two sworn enemy regimes, began to deteriorate rapidly, and trade between the two countries decreased and almost froze. The Soviet Union generally had good relations with the Weimar Republic.<ref>Boobyer, p 198</ref> Following several years of tension and rivalry, Germany and the Soviet Union eventually improved relations in 1939. The German economy thrived by exporting manufactured goods and industrial equipment worldwide in exchange for importing raw materials. On the other hand, the USSR was still an agrarian state. While it was rich in natural resources, it was struggling to transition to a more industrial economy. The Soviets were forced to purchase and import more than half of the necessary factory machinery from the United States. The pact was appealing to the two leaders because they were both at odds with the West. Driven by their mutual resentment for the West, the USSR's and Germany's interests briefly aligned, and they moved towards [[The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact- Stalin’s greatest mistake?|German-Soviet cooperation and an alliance]].