[2] The Paris Peace Treaties avoided taking into consideration the consequences of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, whose secret clauses included the annexation of parts of Finland and Romania by the Soviet Union.

The political clauses stipulated that the signatory should "take all measures necessary to secure to all persons under (its) jurisdiction, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion, the enjoyment of human rights and of the fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, of press and publication, of religious worship, of political opinion and of public meeting."

Each government undertook measures to prevent the resurgence of fascist organizations or any others "whether political, military or semi-military, whose purpose it is to deprive the people of their democratic rights".

Italy lost Istria: the provinces of Fiume, Zara, and most of Gorizia and Pola were ceded to Yugoslavia; the rest of Istria and the province of Trieste formed a new sovereign State (Free Territory of Trieste) divided in two administrative zones under a provisional government for which the United Nations Security Council was responsible.

Finland was restored to its borders of 1 January 1941 (thus confirming its territorial losses after the Winter War of 1939–1940), except for the former province of Petsamo, which was ceded to the Soviet Union.

This meant restoring the southern border with Yugoslavia, as well as declaring the First and Second Vienna Awards null and void, cancelling Hungary's gains from Czechoslovakia and Romania.

This confirmed the 1940 loss of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union and the Treaty of Craiova, which returned Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria.

The Soviet Union, the country most heavily ravaged by the war, felt entitled to the maximum amounts possible, with the exception of Bulgaria, which was perceived as being the most sympathetic of the former enemy states.