Final answer:
Germany signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union in August 1939, known as the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact or Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, to avoid fighting on two fronts during its expansion into Eastern Europe.
Step-by-step explanation:
Germany signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union to avoid a two-front war while expanding into Eastern Europe. On August 23, 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This pact included a secret protocol to divide Poland and other territories in Eastern Europe between the two powers. The agreement stipulated that neither nation would attack the other nor support third parties in an attack on their new ally. By entering into this pact, Hitler sought to eliminate the threat of confronting the Soviet Union while he pursued his territorial ambitions in Eastern Europe. Conversely, Stalin used this treaty as an opportunity to buy time and prepare for what he saw as an inevitable wider conflict.