--- description: A chronology of some of the more interesting events leading up to the break between Germany and Russia: 1940 Nov. 12—U.S.S.R.'s Premier Molotov arrives in Berlin, talks with Nazis in "an... title: Germany: Timetable image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) # Germany: Timetable by [TIME](/author/time/) Jun 30, 1941 4:00 AM CUT by [TIME](/author/time/) Jun 30, 1941 4:00 AM CUT A chronology of some of the more interesting events leading up to the break between Germany and Russia: 1940 Nov. 12—U.S.S.R.’s Premier Molotov arrives in Berlin, talks with Nazis in “an atmosphere of mutual confidence.” Nov. 23—Rumania joins the Axis. 1941 Jan. 1—Dictator Joseph Stalin, in New Year’s message, says U.S.S.R. is totally mobilized. Jan. 10—Germany and U.S.S.R. sign Pact of Friendship, extend trade agreements. Feb. 25—U.S.S.R. defense budget is a third of total budget, 24% higher than 1940’s record appropriation. March 1—Bulgaria joins Axis and local Communists protest as Nazi troops enter Sofia heading for Greek border. March 23—Yosuke Matsuoka, Japan’s Foreign Minister, visits Moscow. March 26—Foreign Minister Matsuoka arrives in Berlin for talks with Dictator Hitler. April 6—Germany attacks Greece and Yugoslavia; Russia and Yugoslavia sign a friendship pact. April 13—Foreign Minister Matsuoka, again in Moscow, signs neutrality pact with U.S.S.R. April 30—U.S.S.R. reports German troops in Finland. May 1—U.S.S.R.’s official slogan for May Day: “Preparedness.” May 6—Dictator Joseph Stalin succeeds Viacheslav Molotov as Premier of U.S.S.R. May 10—Rudolf Hess, Deputy Führer of the Nazi Party, lands on a Scottish estate. May 12—U.S.S.R. recognizes pro-Nazi Government of Iraq. May 17—U.S.S.R. bars foreign diplomats from frontier zones. June 3—U.S.S.R. withdraws recognition from Greece, due to her “loss of sovereignty.” June 6—Berlin says stories of big Russian-German mobilizations are “absolutely silly.” June 11—Sir Stafford Cripps returns to London, the intimation being that his efforts to get any sort of understanding with Stalin have been fruitless. June 18—Finland mobilizes; Turkey and Germany sign Non-Aggression Pact. June 22—Germany attacks Russia along a 2,000-mile front from Finland to Bessarabia. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6788724/germany-timetable/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6788724/germany-timetable/"},"headline":"Germany: Timetable","datePublished":"1941-06-30T04:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T18:03:02.714Z","description":"A chronology of some of the more interesting events leading up to the break between Germany and Russia: 1940 Nov. 12—U.S.S.R.'s Premier Molotov arrives in Berlin, talks with Nazis in \"an...","url":"https://time.com/archive/6788724/germany-timetable/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME","url":"https://time.com/author/time/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/6788724/germany-timetable/","name":"Germany: Timetable"}}]}] ```