A non-aggression pact or neutrality pact is a treaty between two or more states/countries that includes a promise by the signatories not to engage in military action against each other. Such treaties may be described by other names, such as a treaty of friendship or non-belligerency, etc. Leeds, Ritter, Mitchell, & Long (2002) distinguish between a non-aggression pact and a neutrality pact. They posit that a non-aggression pact includes the promise not to attack the other pact signatories, whereas a neutrality pact includes a promise to avoid support of any entity that acts against the interests of any of the pact signatories.

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.

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. However, such pacts may be a device for 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 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. 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 European states signed pacts following the fall of the Soviet Union.

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. It has been found that major powers 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.

List of non-aggression pacts

+ List of non-aggression pacts Signatories Treaty Date signedNew Kingdom of Egypt Hittite EmpireEgyptian–Hittite peace treatyNovember 10, 1259 BCEDelian League Peace of Calliasc. 449 BCE Byzantine–Venetian Treaty of 1268April 4, 1268 Byzantine–Venetian Treaty of 1277March 19, 1277 Byzantine–Venetian Treaty of 1285June 15, 1285 Byzantine–Venetian Treaty of 1390June 2, 1390 Treaty of London October 3, 1518 German–Soviet Neutrality and Nonaggression Pact April 24, 1926 Soviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact September 28, 1926 Greek–Romanian Non-Aggression and Arbitration Pact March 21, 1928Text in League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 108, pp. 188-199. Soviet–Afghan Non-Aggression Pact June 24, 1931Text in League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 157, pp. 372. Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact January 21, 1932 Soviet–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact February 5, 1932Text in League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 148, pp. 114-127. Soviet–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact May 4, 1932Text in League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 131, pp. 298-307. Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact July 25, 1932 Soviet–French Non-Aggression Pact November 29, 1932 Italo-Soviet Pact September 2, 1933Text in League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 148, pp. 320-329. Romanian–Turkish Non-Aggression Pact October 17, 1933Text in League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 165, p. 274. Turkish–Yugoslav Non-Aggression Pact November 27, 1933Text in League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 161, p. 230. German–Polish Declaration of Non-Aggression January 26, 1934 Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance May 2, 1935 Anti-Comintern Pact November 25, 1936 Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact August 21, 1937League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 181, pp. 102-105. Treaty of Saadabad June 25, 1938 Hungarian–Little Entente agreement August 22, 1938 Franco–German Non-Aggression Pact December 6, 1938 Iberian PactMarch 17, 1939 May 31, 1939Text in League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 197, p. 38. German–Estonian Non-Aggression Pact June 7, 1939 German–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact June 7, 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact 23 August 1939 British–Thai Non-Aggression Pact June 12, 1940Text in League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 203, p. 422. Franco-Thai Non-Aggression Pact June 12, 1940 Hungarian–Yugoslav Non-Aggression Pact December 12, 1940 April 6, 1941 Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact April 13, 1941 German–Turkish Treaty of Friendship June 18, 1941 Non-Aggression Pact of 1979October 14, 1979 Nkomati Accord March 13, 1984

List of proposed non-aggression pacts Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia proposed Azerbaijan to sign a non-aggression pact, along with a mutual arms control mechanism, in January 2024. The U.S. 28-point Ukraine plan to end the Russo-Ukrainian war included a nonaggression pact between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union. During the 2026 Iran war, Iran's former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif proposed a "permanent nonaggression pact" with the United States.

Other usage The term has colloquial usage outside the field of international relations. In the context of association football, the term can imply a deliberate lack of aggression between two teams, such as at the Disgrace of Gijón, which, in Germany, is known as the Nichtangriffspakt von Gijón (lit. "Non-aggression pact of Gijón"). A non-aggression pact can also be a formal agreement or gentlemen's agreement limiting transfers for players between two or more clubs.

See also Treaty of Friendship List of treaties Military alliance Peace treaty

References