In addition, without the support of allies, Russia would have had to face the Wehrmacht by itself; this would have been disastrous for the country. This would have occurred if the USSR were unable to join the Allies; however, allying with Germany and the Axis would also solve the problem. Thus, Stalin had to join one of the two sides. However, since France and Britain would not accept him, he approached Hitler. Although he was forced to sacrifice quite a bit, i.e. oil, the treaty, as mentioned, guaranteed Soviet occupation of parts of Eastern Europe. However, Hitler was infamous for breaking treaties, the most famous being of course Versailles. Thus, the Soviet Union was naturally questioning of how long Hitler meant to uphold this treaty. However, the treaty did buy the Soviets time; after all, Hitler could not attack them immediately after signing it. Finally, fear of Germany may also have influenced the decision; in this way too, the Soviets wished to forestall the problem of German invasion. Thus, it was in Stalin's interest to sign this treaty, despite the understandable dislike of doing such a thing. .
Following this, we must see why Hitler would choose to sign such an agreement. As mentioned previously, Hitler was completely opposed to Communism; this was the one policy that consistently appeared in his rhetoric. It is interesting to note that Hitler had close-up pictures taken of Stalin's ear to determine whether they "were non-Jewish": Stalin passed. This incident serves to show the reluctance with which Germany entered into the pact, ideologically speaking. However, signing an agreement with the USSR was to his tactical advantage. By doing so, Germany could concentrate first on Poland, and on the Western Front, if Britain and France decided to attack, without bothering about the USSR, a truly massive campaign if executed. Thus, Hitler likely signed it as a temporary agreement; in no way could he carry out the terms of the agreement to the full- Russia was too large on Germany's agenda.