In the early hours of August 24 seventy years ago Germany and Soviet Russia signed a "non-aggression pact", which divided the states of Northern and Eastern Europe into German and Soviet "spheres of influence", effectively slicing Poland into two halves. Ben Peck looks back at what happened and explains why such an incredible event could take place – and the price that was paid.

“An endless period of destruction and slaughter opens out before the peoples of the world. It can be ended, not by the victory of either imperialism, which would merely lay the basis for new wars and is not in the interests of the workers of any country, but by the victory of the workers over imperialism.” Ted Grant in the early period of the Second World War.

Last month marked the 60th anniversary of the Normandy D-day landing. The leaders of the major powers were all present at the official celebrations, a far more pompous celebration than the 50th anniversary. This has more to do with present day politics than the events of 60 years ago. Although it was a brutal and bitter battle, with many soldiers heroically giving their lives, today's propaganda blows out of all proportion the significance of D-day in terms of the overall development of the war. A far bigger and bloodier war was being fought on the eastern front. It was in fact the speedy advance of the Red Army westards that finally pushed the allies into opening the front in France in an attempt to stop the Russians from taking the whole of Germany.

In this second part of his article on the 60th anniversary of the D-day landings we look at the manoeuvres between British and US imperialism, their conflicting interests and their common struggle against Soviet Russia. So long as they needed Russia's help to defeat Germany and Japan - and to hold back the workers in Western Europe - they remained "allies". Once the war was over the real contradictions emerged and the period of the "Cold War" began.

An interesting critique of some of the European Trotskyists during the second world war who had failed to grasp the essence of Trotsky's military policy.

One of the last interviews on the war situation given by Trotsky in January and March 1940 and published in three sections in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch issues of March 10, 17 and 24, 1940. Read the interviews at www.marxists.org.