April 16th, 1922. Germany and Russia, the former adversaries of World War I, met in the Italian city of Rapallo to sign a treaty through which each renounced the territorial and financial claims set in 1918 by the Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The Treaty of Rapallo officially brings a normalization of German-Russian political relations after 1918, as the two countries agree to "co-operate in a spirit of mutual goodwill in meeting the economic needs of both countries". At first, nothing seemed wrong with this amicable agreement. But behind it, there was a secret arrangement that would allow Germany to break the obligations of Versailles. It would be Germany’s first step towards remilitarization, and it would end with a conflict even bloodier than the one that had just ended. The agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union was not at all surprising. The two countries had been enemies during the war, but in 1919 they were both on the losing side. Russia leaves the war after the October Revolution, signs a disgraceful peace treaty (at Brest-Litovsk), and her revolutionary government isn’t acknowledged by other countries. On the other hand, Germany had lost the war in only a couple of weeks and was forced to accept a peace that, according to the national public opinion, was more like a diktat. After the war, both Germany and Soviet Russia were isolated diplomatically: Germany, because she was considered the only one responsible for the war, and Russia, because of her new regime. As such, the two countries, separated from the rest of Europe, could only count on each other for support. The treaty of Rapallo meant a great deal for Russia, whose soviet government had not yet been acknowledged by other states. Signing this treaty, Germany acknowledges this Bolshevik regime as the rightful government of Russia, putting an end to the USSR’s diplomatic isolation. According to