Question

What country did Hitler secretly sign a "Non-aggression" pact with that shocked the world?

Answer 1

The Soviet Union, in 1939.

Explanation:

The Soviet Union, in 1939, had a big problem to solve - it was faced with an aggressive Germany (under the leadership of Adolph Hitler), but was unable to sign alliance treaties with Great Britain and France (one of the big factors there was probably because WW1 had been caused by a domino effect of alliance treaties dragging nations into a conflict that had started as a minor regional one with the assassination of one man).

Russia had had to give up huge swaths of territory to Germany to end its involvement in WW1 (Russia was embroiled in its revolution, with the overthrow of the czarist government and the subsequent take over by communists) and so had huge fears from another German invasion.

At the same time, the Soviet Union also had huge desires to expand. With the communist revolution, bringing more countries under the fold of communism was seen as a net positive for the Soviets.

And so, on August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed a non-aggression pact, stating that they would not take military action against each other for 10 years. Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, would use the time to build up the Soviet military and keep his country safe. Hitler used the agreement to invade Poland without interference from the Soviets.

The pact also contained secret language that divided up Eastern Europe into German and Soviet controlled regions - once WW2 was ended.

The pact, however, came to an end in June 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/german-soviet-nonaggression-pact