Editing Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (section)

===Expansion of raw materials and military trading===
{{Main|German–Soviet Credit Agreement (1939)|German–Soviet Commercial Agreement (1940)}}
Germany and the Soviet Union entered an [[German–Soviet Commercial Agreement (1940)|intricate trade pact on 11 February 1940]] that was over four times larger than [[German–Soviet Commercial Agreement (1939)|the one that the two countries had signed in August 1939]].{{Sfn|Shirer|1990|pp=668–9}} The new trade pact helped Germany surmount a British blockade.{{Sfn|Shirer|1990|pp=668–9}} In the first year, Germany received one million tons of cereals, half-a-million tons of wheat, 900,000 tons of oil, 100,000 tons of cotton, 500,000 tons of [[phosphates]] and considerable amounts of other vital raw materials, along with the transit of one million tons of soybeans from [[Manchuria]]. Those and other supplies were being transported through Soviet and occupied Polish territories.{{Sfn|Shirer|1990|pp=668–9}} The Soviets were to receive a naval cruiser, the plans to the [[German battleship Bismarck|battleship ''Bismarck'']], heavy naval guns, other naval gear and 30 of Germany's latest warplanes, including the [[Messerschmitt Bf 109|Bf 109]] and [[Messerschmitt Bf 110|Bf 110]] fighters and [[Junkers Ju 88|Ju 88]] bomber.{{Sfn|Shirer|1990|pp=668–9}} The Soviets would also receive oil and electric equipment, locomotives, turbines, generators, diesel engines, ships, machine tools, and samples of German artillery, tanks, explosives, chemical-warfare equipment, and other items.{{Sfn|Shirer|1990|pp=668–9}}

The Soviets also helped Germany to avoid British naval blockades by providing a submarine base, [[Basis Nord]], in the northern Soviet Union near [[Murmansk]].<ref name="cohen110" /> That also provided a refueling and maintenance location and a takeoff point for raids and attacks on shipping.<ref name="cohen110"/> In addition, the Soviets provided Germany with access to the [[Northern Sea Route]] for both cargo ships and raiders though only the commerce raider {{Ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Komet||2}} used the route before the German invasion, which forced Britain to protect sea lanes in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.{{Sfn|Philbin|1994|pp=130–42}}