The Secret Protocol
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the Falsification of History

Antonella Salomoni (Author), Antony Shugaar (Translated by)

9780299354909

Hardback, published 6 January 2026

240 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.399 kg

"A stark reminder that the 21st century does not hold a monopoly on ideologically driven disinformation. . . . Recommended." - (Choice Reviews)

“Salomoni recounts how the text of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 so imperiled the myth of Soviet righteousness in World War II that Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, and Yeltsin sought to keep it buried. She reminds us that historical truth matters; its suppression can warp the present and the future.” - Jeffrey Brooks, author of The Firebird and the Fox: Russian Culture Under Tsars and Bolsheviks

“Salomoni’s authoritative account of one of the most controversial documents in modern history details its role in the Cold War and beyond. This book is all too relevant to Europe today.” - Seth Bernstein, author of Return to the Motherland: Displaced Soviets in WWII and the Cold War

In 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany agreed to a nonaggression treaty named for its signatories, foreign ministers Vyacheslav Molotov and Joachim von Ribbentrop. Kept hidden from the public was an addendum to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a “secret protocol” whose existence was denied by the Soviet Union until 1992. It defined new borders for German and Soviet spheres of influence, effectively preparing for the partition of Poland, the Baltic states, and Bessarabia. Shortly after signing on August 23, 1939, both the USSR and Nazi Germany invaded Poland. In this volume, Antonella Salomoni scrutinizes this consequential document and its afterlives, focusing predominantly on the discourse that surrounded it.

From the moment of the secret protocol’s inception—and the near-instantaneous rumors of its existence—it generated friction and competing narratives. The document became public during the Nuremberg trials, but the USSR declared it a fabrication evidencing the West’s willingness to falsify history. It continues to be relevant to the reconfiguration of history currently advanced by Vladimir Putin. By centering the rumors, accusations, and propaganda the pact precipitated, Salomoni illuminates how political actors can use and abuse history, how they create and disseminate truths and falsehoods, and how they can blur the boundary between facts and fictions even in the glaring face of black-and-white documentation.

Chapter 1: The Pact
Chapter 2: State Secrecy
Chapter 3: The Paradigm of “
Falsification”

Chapter 4: Democracy, Transparency, Truth
Chapter 5: Unraveling
Conclusion
Notes
Index