of the traditional hostility of the capitalist powers. The Soviet Union also engaged in secret talks with Nazi Germany, while conducting official ones with United Kingdom and France. From the beginning of the negotiations with France and Britain, the Soviets demanded that Finland be included in the Soviet sphere of influence. Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact 1939 needs and discussions By the late 1930s, because a German autarkic economic approach or an alliance with Britain was impossible, closer relations with the Soviet Union were necessary, if not just for economic reasons alone. Germany lacked oil, and could only supply 25 percent of its own needs, leaving Germany 2 million tons short a year and a staggering 10 million tons below planned mobilization totals, while the Soviet Union was required for numerous key other raw materials, such as ores (including iron and manganese), rubber and food fat and oils. While Soviet imports into Germany had fallen to in 1937, massive armament production increases and critical raw material shortages caused Germany to turn to reverse their prior attitude, pushing forward economic talks in early 1939. On May 3, 1939, Litvinov was dismissed and Vyacheslav Molotov, who had strained relations with Litvinov, was not of Jewish origin (unlike Litvinov), and had always been in favour of neutrality towards Germany, was put in charge of foreign affairs. The Foreign Affairs Commissariat was purged of Litvinov's supporters and Jews. All this could well have purely internal reasons, but it could also be a signal to Germany that the era of anti-German collective security was past, or a signal to the British and French that Moscow should be taken more seriously in the tripartite alliance negotiations and that it was ready for arrangements without the old baggage of collective security, or even both. The reshuffle was warily perceived by Germany as an opportunity. It is sometimes argued that Molotov continued the talks with Britain and France to stimulate the Germans into making an offer of a non-aggression treaty and that the triple alliance failed because of the Soviet determination to conclude a pact with Germany. Another point of view is that the Soviet's pursuit of a triple alliance was sincere and that the Soviet government turned to Germany only when an alliance with the Western powers proved impossible. Additional factors that drove the Soviet Union towards a rapprochement with Germany might be the signing of a non-aggression pact between