Editing Non-aggression pact (section)

== History ==
In the 19th century neutrality pacts have historically been used to give permission for one signatory of the pact to attack or attempt to negatively influence an entity not protected by the neutrality pact. The participants of the neutrality pact agree not to attempt to counteract an act of aggression waged by a pact signatory towards an entity not protected under the terms of the pact. Possible motivations for such acts by one or more of the pacts' signatories include a desire to take, or expand, control of economic resources, militarily important locations, etc.<ref name="Leeds_2002"/>

The 1939 [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] between the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Nazi Germany]] is perhaps the best-known example of a non-aggression pact. The Pact lasted until the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union in [[Operation Barbarossa]].<ref name="KrauseSinger2001"/> However, such pacts may be a device for [[neutral country|neutralising]] a potential military threat, enabling at least one of the signatories to free up its military resources for other purposes. For example, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact freed German resources from the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Russian front]]. On the other hand, the [[Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact]], signed on April 13, 1941, removed the threat from Japan in the east enabling the Soviets to move large forces from Siberia to the fight against the Germans, which had a direct bearing on the [[Battle of Moscow]].

The Alliance Treaty Obligations and Provisions (ATOP) dataset records 185 agreements that are solely non-aggression pacts between 1815 and 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Leeds|first=Brett Ashley|title=Alliance Treaty Obligations and Provisions (ATOP) Codebook Version 5.0|url=http://www.atopdata.org/data.html|access-date=2021-04-13|website=ATOP Project|publisher=Department of Political Science, Rice University|language=en}}</ref> According to this data, 29 such pacts were recorded in the [[interwar period]] with spikes in occurrences in 1960, 1970, 1979, and especially the early 1990s where a number of [[Eastern Europe]]an states signed pacts following the [[fall of the Soviet Union]].<ref name="Lupu2016">{{Cite journal|last1=Lupu|first1=Yonatan|last2=Poast|first2=Paul|date=2016-05-01|title=Team of former rivals: A multilateral theory of non-aggression pacts|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343316630782|journal=Journal of Peace Research|language=en|volume=53|issue=3|pages=344–358|doi=10.1177/0022343316630782| s2cid=147877066 |issn=0022-3433|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

States with a history of rivalry tend to sign non-aggression pacts in order to prevent future conflict with one another. The pacts often facilitate information exchange which reduce uncertainty that might lead to conflict. Additionally, the pact signals to third party nations that the rivalry has reduced and that peaceful relations is desired.<ref name="Lupu2016" /> It has been found that [[major power]]s are more likely to start military conflicts against their partners in non-aggression pacts than against states that do not have any sort of alliance with them.<ref name="KrauseSinger2001"/>