Editing Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (section)

===Modification of secret protocols===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-013-0068-18A, Polen, Treffen deutscher und sowjetischer Soldaten.jpg|thumb|Soviet and German soldiers in [[Lublin]]]]
[[File:Mapa 2 paktu Ribbentrop-Mołotow.gif|thumb|"[[German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty|Second Ribbentrop–Molotov Pact]]" of 28 September 1939. Map of Poland signed by Stalin and Ribbentrop (focused on the ''[[Kresy]]'') adjusting the German-Soviet border in the aftermath of [[invasion of Poland|German and Soviet invasion of Poland]].]]

Eleven days after the Soviet invasion of the Polish [[Kresy]], the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was modified by the [[German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/nazsov/gsbound.htm|title=German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty|publisher=Yale|access-date=2 May 2006|archive-date=20 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820083210/http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/nazsov/gsbound.htm|url-status=dead}}.</ref> allotting Germany a larger part of Poland and transferring Lithuania, with the exception of the left bank of the River [[Šešupė|Scheschupe]], the "Lithuanian Strip", from the envisioned German sphere to the Soviet sphere.<ref name="wettig20">{{cite book|last=Wettig|first=Gerhard|title=Stalin and the Cold War in Europe|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|place=Landham, [[Maryland|MD]], US|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7425-5542-6|pages=20–21}}</ref> On 28 September 1939, the Soviet Union and German Reich issued a joint declaration in which they declared:
{{Blockquote|After the Government of the German Reich and the Government of the USSR have, by means of the treaty signed today, definitively settled the problems arising from the collapse of the Polish state and have thereby created a sure foundation for lasting peace in the region, they mutually express their conviction that it would serve the true interest of all peoples to put an end to the state of war existing at present between Germany on the one side and England and France on the other. Both Governments will, therefore, direct their common efforts, jointly with other friendly powers if the occasion arises, toward attaining this goal as soon as possible.

Should, however, the efforts of the two Governments remain fruitless, this would demonstrate the fact that England and France are responsible for the continuation of the war, whereupon, in case of the continuation of the war, the Governments of Germany and of the USSR shall engage in mutual consultations with regard to necessary measures.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/nazsov/dec939.htm|title=Declaration of the Government of the German Reich and the Government of the USSR of September 28, 1939|publisher=Yale|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126055850/http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/nazsov/dec939.htm|archive-date=November 26, 2005|access-date=3 February 2006}}.</ref>}}

On 3 October, [[Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg]], the German ambassador in Moscow, informed [[Joachim Ribbentrop]] that the Soviet government was willing to cede the city of [[Vilnius]] and its environs. On 8 October 1939, a new German–Soviet agreement was reached by an exchange of letters between [[Vyacheslav Molotov]] and the German ambassador.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.lituanus.org/1989/89_2_02.htm|last=Domas|first=Krivickas|title=The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939: Legal and Political Consequences|journal=Lituanus|volume=34|date=Summer 1989|issn=0024-5089|issue=2|access-date=30 August 2009|archive-date=3 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303024606/http://www.lituanus.org/1989/89_2_02.htm|url-status=dead}}.</ref>

The [[Baltic states]] of [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], and [[Lithuania]] were given no choice but to sign a so-called "Pact of Defence and Mutual Assistance", which permitted the Soviet Union to station troops in them.<ref name="wettig20" />