The Treaty of Non-Aggression between the German Reich and the Republic of Estonia was signed in Berlin on 7 June 1939 by Karl Selter, Estonian foreign minister, and Joachim von Ribbentrop, Reich foreign minister, in duplicate, the Estonian and German texts being equally authentic. Article 1: the parties shall in no case resort to war or to any other use of force one against the other; should a third Power take such action against one, the other shall not support it in any way. It is not the German–Latvian pact of the same day and not the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.

Article 2: ratification and exchange of instruments in Berlin as soon as possible. It came into force on the exchange of ratifications: those were exchanged, also in Berlin, on 24 July 1939, and the treaty entered into force that day. Duration: ten years from that date; if not denounced at least one year before expiry, it is extended for a further ten years, and so on. It shall not, however, remain in force longer than the corresponding treaty signed the same day between Germany and Latvia; should it lapse on those grounds, the Estonian and German governments shall, at the request of either, at once enter into negotiations for renewal.

The Protocol of Signature records that support within the meaning of Article 1(2) is not present if the attitude of the party not participating in the conflict is in harmony with the general rules of neutrality. Normal exchange and transit of goods with the third Power shall not be regarded as illicit support. A neutrality regulation or a transit handbook is not set out here.

The League of Nations registered it on 12 August 1939 as No. 4622 in the Treaty Series, volume 198. The German text was also published in the Reichsgesetzblatt 1939 II. Germany's offer of 28 April to several northern states was declined by Sweden, Norway and Finland; Lithuania already had a March non-aggression pact after the Klaipėda ultimatum. It is not a military alliance.

Cover: the Foreign Office building on Wilhelmstrasse, the period seat; we do not claim the hall. Wikimedia Commons, free licence.

Sources consulted: German–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact; League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 198, No. 4622.