Treaty of Mutual Assistance among Great Britain and Northern Ireland, France, and Turkeyof 28 September 1926, continue to provide a firm basis for their
mutual relations and undertakings;
Convinced that it is in the interests of both contracting par-
ties to define the exact conditions of ensuring mutual security
and to make a just settlement of the question to which State the
city of Vilna and the Vilna region (unlawfully wrested from
Lithuania by Poland) belong;
Have found it necessary to conclude the following treaty on
the transfer of the city of Vilna and the Vilna region to the
Lithuanian Republic and on mutual assistance between the
Soviet Union and Lithuania, and have appointed for this pur-
pose as their plenipotentiaries;
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR: V. M.
Molotov, Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars and
People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs;
The President of the Lithuanian Republic: Jouzas Urbsys,
Minister for Foreign Affairs;
Who, having presented their credentials, which were found
to be drawn up in due form and proper order, agreed on the fol-
lowing:
Article I. For the purpose of consolidating the friendship
between the USSR and Lithuania, the city of Vilna and the Vilna
region are transferred by the Soviet Union to the Lithuanian
Republic and included in the territory of the Lithuanian State,
the frontier between the USSR and the Lithuanian Republic
being established in accordance with the map appended hereto,
which frontier shall be specified in more detail in a supplemen-
tary protocol.
Article II. The Soviet Union and the Lithuanian Republic
undertake to render each other every assistance, including mili-
tary assistance, should Lithuania be attacked or in danger of
attack, or should the Soviet Union be attacked or in danger of
attack through Lithuanian territory by any European Power.
Article III. The Soviet Union undertakes to render the
Lithuanian army assistance in armaments and other military
equipment on favourable terms.
Article IV. The Soviet Union and the Lithuanian Republic
undertake jointly to protect the State frontiers of Lithuania, for
which purpose the Soviet Union is granted the right to main-
tain at its own expense, at points in the Lithuanian Republic to
be established by mutual agreement, Soviet land and air armed
forces of strictly limited strength. The exact locations of these
troops and the boundaries within which they may be quartered,
their strength at each particular point, and also all other ques-
tions of an economic, administrative, or jurisdictional charac-
ter, and other questions arising in connexion with the presence
of Soviet armed forces on Lithuanian territory under the pres-
ent treaty, shall be regulated by special agreements.
The sites and buildings necessary for this purpose shall be
allotted by the Lithuanian Government on lease at a reasonable
price.
Article V. In the event of the danger of an attack on Lithua-
nia or on the USSR through Lithuanian territory, the two con-
tracting parties shall immediately discuss the resulting
situation and take all measures found necessary by mutual
agreement to secure the inviolability of the territories of the
contracting parties.
Article VI. The two contracting parties undertake not to con-
clude any alliance or to participate in any coalition directed
against either of the contracting parties.
Article VII. The coming into force of the present treaty shall
not affect in any way the sovereign rights of the contracting par-
ties, in particular their State organization, economic and social
system, military measures, and the principle of non-interven-
tion in internal affairs generally. The locations of the Soviet land
and air armed forces (article III of the present treaty) remain in
all circumstances a component part of the territory of the
Lithuanian Republic.
Article VIII. The provisions of the present treaty concerned
with undertakings for mutual assistance between the USSR and
the Lithuanian Republic (articles II to VII) shall remain in force
for fifteen years, and, unless one of the contracting parties finds
it necessary to denounce the provisions of this treaty established
for a specified term one year prior to the expiration of that
term, they shall automatically continue in force for the next ten
years.
Article IX. The present treaty comes into force upon
exchange of instruments of ratification. Exchange of these
instruments shall take place in Kaunas within six days from the
day of signature of this treaty.
The present treaty is made in two originals, in the Russian
and Lithuanian languages, at Moscow, 10 October 1939.
V. MOLOTOV
Jouzas URBSYS4.1307 Treaty of Mutual Assistance among
Great Britain and Northern Ireland, France,
and Turkey
Alliance Members:Great Britain, France, and Turkey
Signed On:October 19, 1939, in the city of Ankara (Turkey). In force
until June 22, 1940 (for France) and September 2, 1945 (for Britain
and Turkey).
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:British and Foreign State Papers,vol. 151, p. 213.SUMMARY
This mutual assistance agreement was arranged in such a way that
Turkey would intervene in the war only if its interests were directly
threatened, and in that case, France and Britain would be obliged to
aid their alliance partner. At the request of the Turks, action against
the Soviet Union was excluded from the treaty, and monetary loans
were given by France and Britain to help militarize Turkey and resolve
its debt.
As the war progressed, Italy invaded Greece and Albania while Ger-
many conquered several Balkan states. Germany had conquered
France by June of 1940, and by 1941 Turkey was isolated from its