On July 28, 1914, the First World War began. On the one hand, the states that were part of the Entente participated in it, on the other hand, they were opposed by the Quadruple Alliance led by Germany. The fighting, accompanied by significant destruction, led to the impoverishment of the masses. In many warring countries, a crisis of the political system was brewing. In Russia, this resulted in the October Revolution, which took place on October 25, 1917 (according to the old style). The Soviet Republic withdrew from the war by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany and its allies Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey.
In contact with
Peace Decree
The war was the reason that the Russian economy was in a deplorable state. The army, exhausted by positional warfare, gradually degraded . Losses of thousands did not cheer up the Russian people. Tired of trench life, the soldiers of the Russian army threatened to go to the rear and end the war with their own methods. Russia needed peace.
The Entente countries, on the side of which Russia fought, expressed a strong protest against the actions of the Bolsheviks. Vice versa , countries of the Quadruple Alliance, interested in the liquidation of the Eastern Front, quickly responded to the proposal of the Council of People's Commissars. On November 21, 1917, armistice negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk. In accordance with the agreements reached, the parties undertook:
- not to conduct hostilities against each other for 28 days;
- leave military formations in their positions;
- not to transfer troops to other sectors of the front.
Peace negotiations
First step
On December 22, 1917, the delegations of Russia and the countries of the Quadruple Union began work on the development of the provisions of a future peace treaty. The Russian side was headed by a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee A.A. Ioffe, who immediately proposed an approximate outline of the document, based on the provisions of the Decree on Peace. The main points were as follows:
For three days the German side considered the proposals of the Russians. After that, the head of the German Delegation R. von Kuhlman said that this plan would be adopted on the condition that all belligerents renounce indemnities and annexations. The Russian representatives suggested taking a break in work so that the countries that had not yet joined the negotiations could get acquainted with this project.
Second phase
Negotiations resumed only on January 9, 1918. Now the Bolshevik delegation was headed by L.D. Trotsky, whose main goal was to drag out the negotiations in every possible way. In his opinion, in the near future Central Europe there must be a revolution that will change the alignment of political forces, so the war should be stopped without signing peace. Arriving in Brest-Litovsk, he organizes propaganda activities among the military personnel of the German garrison. Here he is actively helped by K.B. Radek, who organized the publication of the Fakel newspaper in German.
At the meeting of the negotiators, von Kuhlmann announced that Germany did not accept the Russian version of the treaty, since none of the participants in the war expressed a desire to join the negotiations. Having rejected the Russian initiatives, the German delegation puts forward its own conditions. Refusing to vacate the lands occupied by the armies of the Quadruple Alliance, Germany demanded large territorial concessions from Russia. General Hoffmann presented a map with new state borders. According to this map, more than 150 thousand square kilometers were torn away from the territory of the former Russian Empire. The Soviet representatives demanded a break in order to analyze the current situation and consult with the government.
There is a disengagement in the ranks of the Bolshevik leadership. A group of "left communists" offered to wage the war to a victorious end, rejecting the German proposals. The “revolutionary war”, as Bukharin believed, should provoke a world revolution, without which the Soviet government has no chance of long-term existence. Few people believed in the correctness of Lenin, who considered the treaty a peaceful respite and offered to agree to the German conditions.
While the issue of signing a peace treaty was being discussed in Moscow, Germany and Austria-Hungary were concluding a separate treaty with the Ukrainian People's Republic. The central states recognized Ukraine as a sovereign state, and Ukraine, in turn, undertook to supply food and raw materials so necessary to the countries of the military bloc.
Growing popular discontent , famine in the country, strikes at enterprises force Kaiser Wilhelm to demand that the generals start hostilities. On February 9, Russia is presented with an ultimatum. The next day, Trotsky makes a statement in which he announces that the Soviet Republic is withdrawing from the war, disbanding the army, and will not sign the treaty. The Bolsheviks defiantly left the meeting.
Having announced their withdrawal from the truce, the German troops begin an offensive on February 18 along the entire eastern front. Encountering no resistance, units of the Wehrmacht are rapidly moving inland. On February 23, when a real threat of capture loomed over Petrograd, Germany presents an even tougher ultimatum, which takes two days to be accepted. Meetings of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party are constantly held in the city, the members of which cannot come to a consensus. Only Lenin's threat to resign, which could lead to the collapse of the party, forces a decision in favor of signing a peace treaty.
Third stage
On March 1, the work of the negotiating group resumed. The Soviet delegation was led by G. Ya. Sokolnikov, who replaced Trotsky in this position. In fact, no negotiations have taken place. On March 3, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed without any reservations. On behalf of the Soviet Republic, the document was signed by Sokolnikov . On behalf of Germany signed by Richard von Kühlmann. Foreign Minister Khudenitz signed for Austria-Hungary. The agreement also bears the signatures of Bulgarian Ambassador Extraordinary A. Toshev and Turkish Ambassador Ibrahim Hakki.
terms of the peace treaty
Fourteen articles determined the specific terms of the peace treaty.
Under a secret agreement, Russia was to pay 6 billion marks in indemnity and 500 million rubles in gold for the damage caused to Germany as a result of the October Revolution. . And also restored extremely unfavorable customs tariffs 1904. Russia lost the territory of 780 thousand square meters. km. The population of the country has decreased by a third. Under the terms of the Brest peace treaty, 27% of the cropland was lost, almost all the production of coal and steel, and numerous industrial enterprises. The number of workers decreased by 40%.
Consequences of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
After the signing of peace with Russia, the German army continued to move east, leaving behind the demarcation line defined by the treaty. Odessa, Nikolaev, Kherson, Rostov-on-Don were occupied, which contributed to the formation of puppet regimes in the Crimea and southern Russia . Germany's actions provoked the formation of Socialist-Revolutionary and Menshevik governments in the Volga region and the Urals. In response to the Brest Treaty, the Entente states land troops in Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok.
There was no one to resist foreign intervention. In the autumn of 1917, even before negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk, the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree on a phased reduction in the army. After the promulgation of the “Decree on Land”, the soldiers, and the backbone of the army were peasants, began to arbitrarily leave the location of their units. The wholesale desertion, the removal of officer cadres from command and control leads to the complete demoralization of the Russian army. In March 1918, by decrees of the Soviet government, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and the position of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief were abolished, headquarters at all levels and all military departments were disbanded. The Russian army ceased to exist.
The peace treaty with Germany provoked a violent reaction from all political forces in Russia itself. In the camp of the Bolsheviks there is a division into separate groups. "Left Communists" consider the treaty a betrayal of the ideas of the international revolutionary movement. leave the Council of People's Commissars. N.V. Krylenko, N.I. Podvoisky and K.I. Shutko, who considered the treaty illegal, leave their military posts. Bourgeois experts in the field of international law assessed the work of the Bolshevik diplomats as mediocre and barbaric. Patriarch Tikhon sharply condemned the treaty, which gave millions of Orthodox Christians under the yoke of the Gentiles. Consequences of the Brest Peace affected all spheres of Russian society.
Significance of the Brest Treaty
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the Brest peace. Having made the October coup, the Bolsheviks got chaos on the ruins of the Russian Empire. To overcome the crisis and stay in power, they needed the support of the population, which could be enlisted only by ending the war. By signing the treaty, Russia was withdrawing from the war. In fact, it was a capitulation. According to the terms of the contract the country suffered enormous territorial and economic losses.
The Bolsheviks sought the defeat of Russia in the imperialist war, and they achieved it. And they also achieved the Civil War, which was the result of a split in society into two hostile camps. According to modern historians, Lenin showed foresight, considering this treaty to be short-lived. The Entente countries have defeated the Quadruple Alliance, and now Germany must sign the surrender. On November 13, 1918, the decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee annulled the Brest Treaty.
Brest Peace(1918) - a peace treaty between Soviet Russia and Germany and its allies in the world war of 1914-1918: Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Brest Peace
On October 26 (November 8), 1917, the 2nd Congress of Soviets adopted a decree on peace, after which the Soviet government proposed that all belligerent states begin immediate negotiations on an armistice. None of the Entente countries (Russia's allies in the war) responded to these peace proposals, but the countries of the German-Austrian bloc agreed at the end of November to negotiate an armistice and peace with representatives of the Soviet Republic. Negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk on December 9 (December 22), 1917.
The signing of peace at that moment was urgently demanded by the internal and external situation in Soviet Russia. The country was in a state of extreme economic ruin, the old army actually disintegrated, and a new one was not created. But a significant part of the leadership of the Bolshevik Party came out in favor of continuing the revolutionary war (a group of “Left Communists” led by N.I. Bukharin. At the peace negotiations, the German delegation, taking advantage of the fact that the offensive of its army was rapidly developing at the front, offered Russia predatory peace conditions, according to to which Germany would annex the Baltic states, part of Belarus and Transcaucasia, and also receive indemnity.
Since by this time the German troops, without encountering serious resistance from the remnants of the Russian army, had already occupied Ukraine, the Baltic states, most of Belarus, some western and southern regions of Russia and were already approaching Petrograd, on March 3, 1918, Lenin's government signed a peace treaty. In the west, a territory of 1 million square meters was torn away from Russia. km, in the Caucasus, Kars, Ardagan, Batum retreated to Turkey. Russia pledged to demobilize the army and navy. According to an additional Russian-German financial agreement signed in Berlin, she was obliged to pay Germany an indemnity of 6 billion marks. The treaty was ratified on March 15, 1918 by the Extraordinary Fourth All-Russian Congress of Soviets.
On December 9, 1917, peace negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk, where the headquarters of the German command was located. The Soviet delegation tried to defend the idea of a "peace without annexations and indemnities." January 28, 1918 Germany gave Russia an ultimatum. She demanded to sign an agreement under which Russia was losing Poland, Belarus and part of the Baltic States, a total of 150 thousand square kilometers.
This placed the Soviet delegation in front of a severe necessity between the proclaimed principles and the demands of life. According to the principles, war should have been waged, and not a shameful peace with Germany. But they didn't have the strength to fight. The head of the Soviet delegation, Leon Trotsky, like other Bolsheviks, painfully tried to resolve this contradiction. Finally, it seemed to him that he had found a brilliant way out of the situation. On January 28, he delivered his famous peace speech at the talks. In short, it boiled down to the well-known formula: "Don't sign peace, don't wage war, but dissolve the army."
Leon Trotsky declared: “We are withdrawing our army and our people from the war. Our soldier-plowman must return to his arable land in order to peacefully cultivate the land this spring, which the revolution has transferred from the hands of the landowners into the hands of the peasant. We are withdrawing from the war. We refuse to sanction those conditions which German and Austro-Hungarian imperialism writes with a sword on the body of living peoples We cannot sign the Russian revolution under conditions that bring oppression, grief and misfortune to millions of human beings The governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary want to own the lands and the peoples by the right of military seizure. Let them do their work openly. We cannot consecrate violence. We are withdrawing from the war, but we are forced to refuse to sign a peace treaty." After that, he announced the official statement of the Soviet delegation: "Refusing to sign the annexationist treaty , Russia, for its part, declares the state of war ended. az about complete demobilization along the entire front."
German and Austrian diplomats were at first really shocked by this incredible statement. There was complete silence in the room for several minutes. Then the German General M. Hoffmann exclaimed: "Unheard of!" The head of the German delegation, R. Kuhlmann, immediately concluded: "Consequently, the state of war continues." "Empty threats!" - L. Trotsky said, leaving the meeting room.
However, contrary to the expectations of the Soviet leadership, on February 18, the Austro-Hungarian troops launched an offensive along the entire front. Almost no one opposed them: only bad roads prevented the advance of the armies. On the evening of February 23, they occupied Pskov, on March 3 - Narva. The Red Guard detachment of sailor Pavel Dybenko left this city without a fight. General Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich wrote about him: "Dybenko's detachment did not inspire confidence in me; it was enough to look at this sailor freemen with mother-of-pearl buttons sewn on wide bell-bottoms, with rollicking manners, to understand that they would not be able to fight with regular German units. My fears were justified ... "On February 25, Vladimir Lenin bitterly wrote in the Pravda newspaper:" Painfully shameful reports about the refusal of the regiments to maintain their positions, about the refusal to defend even the Narva line, about the failure to comply with the order to destroy everything and everyone during the retreat; let's not say about flight, chaos, handlessness, helplessness, slovenliness".
On February 19, the Soviet leadership agreed to accept the German terms of peace. But now Germany has put forward much more difficult conditions, demanding five times as much territory. About 50 million people lived on these lands; more than 70% of iron ore and about 90% of coal in the country were mined here. In addition, Russia had to pay a huge indemnity.
Soviet Russia was forced to accept these difficult conditions. The head of the new Soviet delegation, Grigory Sokolnikov, read out her statement: “Under the circumstances that have arisen, Russia has no choice. By the fact of the demobilization of its troops, the Russian revolution, as it were, handed over its fate into the hands of the German people. We do not doubt for a minute that this is the triumph of imperialism and militarism over The international proletarian revolution will prove to be only temporary and coming. After these words, General Hoffmann exclaimed indignantly: "Again the same nonsense!". "We are ready," G. Sokolnikov concluded, "to immediately sign a peace treaty, refusing any discussion of it as completely useless under the circumstances."
March 3 Brest peace treaty was signed. On the Soviet side, the agreement was signed by the deputy. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs G.Ya.Sokolnikov, Deputy. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs G.V. Chicherin, People's Commissar for Internal Affairs G.I. Petrovsky and Secretary of the Delegation L.M. Karakhan. Russia lost Poland, the Baltic states, Ukraine, part of Belarus... In addition, under the agreement, Russia transferred more than 90 tons of gold to Germany. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk did not last long in November, after the revolution in Germany, Soviet Russia annulled it.
Shortly after the conclusion of peace, on March 11, V. I. Lenin wrote an article. The lines of N. Nekrasov served as an epigraph to it: You are poor, You are plentiful, You are powerful, You are powerless, Mother Russia!
The head of the Council of People's Commissars wrote: "There is no need for self-deception. We must measure entirely, to the bottom, all that abyss of defeat, dismemberment, enslavement, humiliation into which we have now been pushed. The more clearly we understand this, the more firm, tempered, steel our will will become. .. our adamant determination to achieve, by all means, that Russia ceases to be miserable and powerless, so that it becomes powerful and abundant in the full sense of the word.
On the same day, fearing that the Germans, despite the conclusion of peace, would occupy Petrograd, the Soviet government moved to Moscow. So more than two centuries later, Moscow again became the capital of the Russian state.
The Brest Treaty remained in force for 3 months. After the revolution in Germany 1918–1919, the Soviet government on November 13, 1918 unilaterally annulled it.
Brest Treaty
PEACE TREATY
BETWEEN SOVIET RUSSIA, ON THE ONE PART, AND GERMANY, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, BULGARIA AND TURKEY, ON THE OTHER PART
("BREST WORLD")
Article I
Russia, on the one hand, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, on the other, declare that the state of war between them has ended. They decided to continue to live among themselves in peace and friendship.
Article II
The contracting parties will refrain from any agitation or propaganda against the government or state and military establishments of the other side. Since this obligation concerns Russia, it also extends to the areas occupied by the powers of the Quadruple Alliance.
Article III
The regions lying to the west of the line established by the contracting parties and previously belonging to Russia will no longer be under its supreme authority: the established line is indicated on the attached map ... *, which is an essential part of the present peace treaty. The exact definition of this line will be worked out by the Russian-German commission.
For the aforementioned regions, their former belonging to Russia will not entail any obligations in relation to Russia.
Russia refuses any interference in the internal affairs of these regions. Germany and Austria-Hungary intend to determine the future fate of these areas by demolition with their population.
Article IV
Germany is ready, as soon as a general peace has been concluded and a complete Russian demobilization has been carried out, to clear the territory lying to the east of the line indicated in paragraph 1 of Article III, insofar as Article VI does not decide otherwise.
Russia will do everything in its power to ensure the speedy clearance of the Eastern Anatolia provinces and their orderly return to Turkey.
The districts of Ardagan, Kars and Batum are also immediately cleared of Russian troops. Russia will not interfere in the new organization of the state-legal and international-legal relations of these districts, but will allow the population of these districts to establish a new system in agreement with neighboring states, especially Turkey.
Article V
Russia will immediately carry out the complete demobilization of its army, including the military units newly formed by the current government.
Article VI
Russia undertakes to immediately conclude peace with the Ukrainian People's Republic and recognize the peace treaty between this state and the powers of the Quadruple Alliance. The territory of Ukraine is immediately cleared of Russian troops and the Russian Red Guard. Russia ceases all agitation or propaganda against the government or public institutions of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
Estonia and Livonia are also immediately cleared of Russian troops and the Russian Red Guard. The eastern border of Estlyavdia generally runs along the Narva River. The eastern border of Liflyavdia generally runs through Lake Peipus and Lake Pskov to its southwestern corner, then through Lake Luban in the direction of Livenhof on the Western Dvina. Estlyavdia and Livonia will be occupied by the German police authorities until public security is ensured there by the country's own institutions.
Finland and the Åland Islands will also be immediately cleared of Russian troops and the Russian Red Guard, and Finnish ports from the Russian fleet and Russian naval forces.
Article IX
The contracting parties mutually waive the reimbursement of their military expenses, i.e. state costs of waging war, as well as from compensation for military losses, i.e. those losses that were inflicted on them and their citizens in the war zone by military measures, including all requisitions made in the enemy country.
Article X
Diplomatic and consular relations between the contracting parties resume immediately after the ratification of the peace treaty (...)
Article XIV
The present peace treaty will be ratified (...) the peace treaty comes into force from the moment of its ratification.
- Documents of foreign policy of the USSR, vol. 1. M., 1957
- Vygodsky S. Lenin's decree on peace. M., 1958
- Mayorov S.M. The struggle of Soviet Russia for a way out of the imperialist war. M., 1959
Brest peace, Brest-Litovsk (Brest) peace treaty - a separate peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918 in Brest-Litovsk by representatives of Soviet Russia, on the one hand, and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria) - on the other . It marked the defeat and exit of Russia from the First World War.
Panorama of Brest-Litovsk
On November 19 (December 2), the delegation of the Soviet government, headed by A. A. Ioffe, arrived in the neutral zone and proceeded to Brest-Litovsk, where the Headquarters of the German command on the Eastern Front was located, where they met with the delegation of the Austro-German bloc, which included also included representatives from Bulgaria and Turkey.
The building where the peace talks were held.
Armistice negotiations with Germany began in Brest-Litovsk on November 20 (December 3), 1917. On the same day, N. V. Krylenko arrived at the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army in Mogilev, who assumed the post of Commander-in-Chief.
Arrival of the German delegation to Brest-Litovsk
On November 21 (December 4), the Soviet delegation laid out its terms:
the truce is concluded for 6 months;
hostilities are suspended on all fronts;
German troops are being withdrawn from Riga and the Moonsund Islands;
any transfer of German troops to the Western Front is prohibited.
As a result of the negotiations, an interim agreement was reached:
the truce is concluded for the period from November 24 (December 7) to December 4 (17);
troops remain in their positions;
all transfers of troops are stopped, except for those that have already begun.
Peace talks in Brest-Litovsk. Arrival of Russian delegates. In the middle is A. A. Ioffe, next to him is secretary L. Karakhan, A. A. Bitsenko, on the right is Kamenev.
Peace negotiations began on December 9 (22), 1917. The delegations of the states of the Quadruple Union were headed by: from Germany - State Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Department R. von Kuhlmann; from Austria-Hungary - Minister of Foreign Affairs Count O. Chernin; from Bulgaria - Minister of Justice Popov; from Turkey - Chairman of the Mejlis Talaat Bey.
The officers of the Hindenburg headquarters meet the arriving delegation of the RSFSR on the platform of Brest in early 1918.
The Soviet delegation at the first stage included 5 commissioners - members of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee: the Bolsheviks A. A. Ioffe - the chairman of the delegation, L. B. Kamenev (Rozenfeld) and G. Ya. Sokolnikov (Brilliant), the Socialist-Revolutionaries A. A. Bitsenko and S. D. Maslovsky-Mstislavsky, 8 members of the military delegation (Quartermaster General under the Supreme Commander of the General Staff, Major General V. E. Skalon, General Yu. N. Danilov, who was under the Chief of the General Staff, Rear Admiral V. M. Altvater, head of the Nikolaev Military Academy of the General Staff, General A. I. Andogsky, Quartermaster General of the Headquarters of the 10th Army of the General Staff, General A. A. Samoilo, Colonel D. G. Fokke, Lieutenant Colonel I. Ya. Tseplit, Captain V. Lipsky), secretary of the delegation L. M. Karakhan, 3 translators and 6 technical employees, as well as 5 ordinary members of the delegation - sailor F. V. Olich, soldier N. K. Belyakov, Kaluga peasant R. I. Stashkov, worker P. A. Obukhov , warrant officer of the fleet K. Ya. Zedin
The leaders of the Russian delegation arrived at the Brest-Litovsk station. From left to right: Major Brinkmann, Joffe, Mrs. Birenko, Kamenev, Karakhan.
The conference was opened by the Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Front, Prince Leopold of Bavaria, and Kühlmann took the chair.
Arrival of the Russian delegation
The resumption of armistice negotiations, which involved agreeing on conditions and signing a treaty, was overshadowed by the tragedy in the Russian delegation. Upon arrival in Brest on November 29 (December 12), 1917, before the opening of the conference, during a private meeting of the Soviet delegation, a representative of the Stavka in a group of military consultants, Major General V. E. Skalon, shot himself.
Armistice in Brest-Litovsk. Members of the Russian delegation after arriving at the Brest-Litovsk station. From left to right: Major Brinkman, A. A. Ioffe, A. A. Bitsenko, L. B. Kamenev, Karakhan.
Proceeding from the general principles of the Decree on Peace, the Soviet delegation already at one of the first meetings proposed to adopt the following program as the basis for negotiations:
No forced annexation of territories captured during the war is allowed; the troops occupying these territories are withdrawn as soon as possible.
The full political independence of the peoples who were deprived of this independence during the war is being restored.
National groups that did not have political independence before the war are guaranteed the opportunity to freely decide the question of belonging to any state or their state independence by means of a free referendum.
Cultural-national and, under certain conditions, administrative autonomy of national minorities is ensured.
Refusal of contributions.
Solution of colonial issues on the basis of the above principles.
Prevention of indirect restrictions on the freedom of weaker nations by stronger nations.
Trotsky L.D., Ioffe A. and Rear Admiral V. Altvater are going to the meeting. Brest-Litovsk.
After a three-day discussion by the countries of the German bloc of Soviet proposals on the evening of December 12 (25), 1917, R. von Kuhlmann made a statement that Germany and its allies accept these proposals. At the same time, a reservation was made that nullified Germany's consent to peace without annexations and indemnities: “It is necessary, however, to indicate with complete clarity that the proposals of the Russian delegation could be implemented only if all the powers involved in the war , without exception and without reservation, within a certain period of time, pledged to strictly observe the conditions common to all peoples.
L. Trotsky in Brest-Litovsk.
Having stated the accession of the German bloc to the Soviet formula of peace "without annexations and indemnities", the Soviet delegation proposed to announce a ten-day break, during which one could try to bring the Entente countries to the negotiating table.
Near the building where the negotiations were held. Arrival of delegations. Left (with beard and glasses) A. A. Ioffe
During the break, however, it turned out that Germany understands a world without annexations differently than the Soviet delegation - for Germany, we are not talking about the withdrawal of troops to the borders of 1914 and the withdrawal of German troops from the occupied territories of the former Russian Empire, especially since, according to the statement Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Courland have already declared themselves in favor of secession from Russia, so that if these three countries now enter into negotiations with Germany about their future fate, this will by no means be considered an annexation by Germany.
Peace talks in Brest-Litovsk. Representatives of the Central Powers, in the middle, Ibrahim Hakki Pasha and Count Ottokar Czernin von und zu Khudenitz, on their way to negotiations.
On December 14 (27), the Soviet delegation at the second meeting of the political commission made a proposal: “In full agreement with the open statement of both contracting parties that they have no conquest plans and that they want to make peace without annexations. Russia withdraws its troops from the parts of Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Persia occupied by it, and the powers of the Quadruple Alliance - from Poland, Lithuania, Courland and other regions of Russia. Soviet Russia promised, in accordance with the principle of self-determination of nations, to provide the population of these regions with the opportunity to decide for themselves the question of their state existence - in the absence of any troops other than national or local militia.
German-Austrian-Turkish representatives at the talks in Brest-Litovsk. General Max Hoffmann, Ottokar Czernin von und zu Hudenitz (Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister), Mehmet Talaat Pasha (Ottoman Empire), Richard von Kühlmann (German Foreign Minister)
The German and Austro-Hungarian delegation, however, made a counterproposal - the Russian state was invited to "take note of the statements expressing the will of the peoples inhabiting Poland, Lithuania, Courland and parts of Estland and Livonia, about their desire for complete state independence and for the allocation of from the Russian Federation" and acknowledge that "these statements under the present conditions must be regarded as an expression of the people's will." R. von Kuhlmann asked if the Soviet government would agree to withdraw its troops from all of Livonia and from Estland in order to give the local population the opportunity to connect with their fellow tribesmen living in the areas occupied by the Germans. The Soviet delegation was also informed that the Ukrainian Central Rada was sending its own delegation to Brest-Litovsk.
Peter Ganchev, Bulgarian representative on his way to the place of negotiations.
On December 15 (28) the Soviet delegation left for Petrograd. The current state of affairs was discussed at a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b), where by a majority of votes it was decided to drag out peace negotiations as long as possible, in the hope of an early revolution in Germany itself. In the future, the formula is refined and takes the following form: "We hold on until the German ultimatum, then we surrender." Lenin also invites the People's Commissariat Trotsky to go to Brest-Litovsk and personally lead the Soviet delegation. According to Trotsky's memoirs, "the prospect of negotiations with Baron Kuhlmann and General Hoffmann was not very attractive in itself, but 'to drag out negotiations, you need a delayer,' as Lenin put it."
The Ukrainian delegation in Brest-Litovsk, from left to right: Nikolay Lyubinsky, Vsevolod Golubovich, Nikolay Levitsky, Lussenty, Mikhail Polozov and Alexander Sevryuk.
At the second stage of the negotiations, the Soviet side was represented by L. D. Trotsky (leader), A. A. Ioffe, L. M. Karakhan, K. B. Radek, M. N. Pokrovsky, A. A. Bitsenko, V. A. Karelin, E. G. Medvedev, V. M. Shakhrai, St. Bobinsky, V. Mitskevich-Kapsukas, V. Terian, V. M. Altvater, A. A. Samoilo, V. V. Lipsky
The second composition of the Soviet delegation in Brest-Litovsk. Sitting, from left to right: Kamenev, Ioffe, Bitsenko. Standing, from left to right: Lipsky V. V., Stuchka, Trotsky L. D., Karakhan L. M.
The memoirs of the head of the German delegation, Secretary of State of the German Foreign Ministry Richard von Kühlmann, who spoke of Trotsky as follows, have also been preserved: “not very large, sharp and piercing eyes behind the sharp glasses of glasses looked at his counterpart with a boring and critical look. The expression on his face clearly indicated that he [Trotsky] would have been better off ending the unsympathetic negotiations for him with a couple of grenades, throwing them over the green table, if this was in any way consistent with the general political line ... sometimes I wondered if he generally intends to make peace, or he needed a platform from which he could propagate Bolshevik views.
During negotiations in Brest-Litovsk.
A member of the German delegation, General Max Hoffmann, ironically described the composition of the Soviet delegation: “I will never forget the first dinner with the Russians. I was sitting between Joffe and Sokolnikov, then Commissar of Finance. Opposite me sat a worker, who, apparently, a lot of appliances and utensils caused great inconvenience. He clutched at one thing after another, but he used the fork exclusively for brushing his teeth. Across from me, next to Prince Hoenloe, was the terrorist Bizenko, on the other side of her was a peasant, a real Russian phenomenon with long gray curls and a beard overgrown like a forest. He caused a certain smile in the staff when, when asked whether he prefers red or white wine for dinner, he answered: “Stronger” ”
Signing of a peace treaty with Ukraine. Sitting in the middle, from left to right: Count Ottokar Chernin von und zu Khudenitz, General Max von Hoffmann, Richard von Kuhlmann, Prime Minister V. Rodoslavov, Grand Vizier Mehmet Talaat Pasha.
On December 22, 1917 (January 4, 1918), German Chancellor H. von Gertling announced in his speech at the Reichstag that a delegation of the Ukrainian Central Rada had arrived in Brest-Litovsk. Germany agreed to negotiate with the Ukrainian delegation, hoping to use this as leverage both against Soviet Russia and against its ally, Austria-Hungary. Ukrainian diplomats, who held preliminary negotiations with the German General M. Hoffmann, the chief of staff of the German armies on the Eastern Front, first announced claims to join the Kholmshchyna (which was part of Poland) to Ukraine, as well as the Austro-Hungarian territories - Bukovina and Eastern Galicia. Hoffmann, however, insisted that they reduce their demands and limit themselves to one Kholm region, agreeing that Bukovina and Eastern Galicia form an independent Austro-Hungarian crown territory under the rule of the Habsburgs. It was these demands that they defended in their further negotiations with the Austro-Hungarian delegation. Negotiations with the Ukrainians dragged on so much that the opening of the conference had to be postponed to December 27, 1917 (January 9, 1918).
Ukrainian delegates communicate with German officers in Brest-Litovsk.
The Germans invited a Ukrainian delegation to the next meeting, which took place on December 28, 1917 (January 10, 1918). Its chairman, V. A. Golubovich, announced the declaration of the Central Rada stating that the power of the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia does not extend to Ukraine, and therefore the Central Rada intends to independently conduct peace negotiations. R. von Kuhlmann turned to L. D. Trotsky, who headed the Soviet delegation at the second stage of negotiations, with the question of whether he and his delegation intended to continue to be the only diplomatic representatives of all of Russia in Brest-Litovsk, and also whether the Ukrainian delegation should be considered part of Russian delegation or it represents an independent state. Trotsky knew that the Rada was actually at war with the RSFSR. Therefore, by agreeing to consider the delegation of the Ukrainian Central Rada as independent, he actually played into the hands of the representatives of the Central Powers and provided Germany and Austria-Hungary with the opportunity to continue contacts with the Ukrainian Central Rada, while negotiations with Soviet Russia were marking time for another two days.
Signing of documents on a truce in Brest-Litovsk
The January uprising in Kyiv put Germany in a difficult position, and now the German delegation demanded a break in the meetings of the peace conference. On January 21 (February 3), von Kuhlmann and Chernin went to Berlin for a meeting with General Ludendorff, where they discussed the possibility of signing peace with the government of the Central Rada, which does not control the situation in Ukraine. The decisive role was played by the dire food situation in Austria-Hungary, which was threatened with starvation without Ukrainian grain. Returning to Brest-Litovsk, the German and Austro-Hungarian delegations on January 27 (February 9) signed peace with the delegation of the Central Rada. In exchange for military assistance against the Soviet troops, the UNR undertook to supply Germany and Austria-Hungary by July 31, 1918 with one million tons of grain, 400 million eggs, up to 50 thousand tons of cattle meat, lard, sugar, hemp, manganese ore, etc. Austria-Hungary also undertook to create an autonomous Ukrainian region in Eastern Galicia.
The signing of a peace treaty between the UNR and the Central Powers on January 27 (February 9), 1918.
The signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Ukraine - the Central Powers was a major blow to the Bolsheviks, in parallel with the negotiations in Brest-Litovsk, did not abandon attempts to Sovietize Ukraine. On January 27 (February 9), at a meeting of the political commission, Chernin informed the Russian delegation about the signing of peace with Ukraine represented by the delegation of the government of the Central Rada. Already in April 1918, the Germans dispersed the government of the Central Rada (see Dispersal of the Central Rada), replacing it with the more conservative regime of Hetman Skoropadsky.
At the insistence of General Ludendorff (even at a meeting in Berlin, he demanded that the head of the German delegation stop negotiations with the Russian delegation within 24 hours after the signing of peace with Ukraine) and by direct order of Emperor Wilhelm II, von Kühlmann presented Soviet Russia in an ultimatum form with a demand to accept the German peace conditions. On January 28, 1918 (February 10, 1918), at the request of the Soviet delegation how to resolve the issue, Lenin confirmed the previous instructions. Nevertheless, Trotsky, violating these instructions, rejected the German terms of peace, putting forward the slogan "Neither peace, nor war: we do not sign peace, we stop the war, and we demobilize the army." The German side stated in response that Russia's failure to sign a peace treaty automatically entails the termination of the truce. After this statement, the Soviet delegation defiantly left the negotiations. As A.A. Samoilo, a member of the Soviet delegation, points out in his memoirs, the former officers of the General Staff who were part of the delegation refused to return to Russia, remaining in Germany. On the same day, Trotsky gives the Supreme Commander Krylenko an order demanding that the army immediately issue an order to end the state of war with Germany and general demobilization, canceled by Lenin after 6 hours. Nevertheless, the order was received by all fronts on 11 February.
On January 31 (February 13), 1918, at a meeting in Homburg with the participation of Wilhelm II, the Imperial Chancellor Gertling, the head of the German Foreign Office von Kühlmann, Hindenburg, Ludendorff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Vice Chancellor, it was decided to break the truce and launch an offensive on the Eastern front.
On the morning of February 19, the offensive of the German troops rapidly unfolded on the entire Northern Front. Through Livonia and Estonia to Revel, Pskov and Narva (the ultimate goal is Petrograd), the troops of the 8th German Army (6 divisions), a separate Northern Corps stationed on the Moonsund Islands, as well as a special army formation operating from the south, from Dvinsk . For 5 days, German and Austrian troops advanced 200-300 km deep into Russian territory. “I have never seen such an absurd war,” Hoffmann wrote. - We conducted it practically on trains and cars. You put a handful of infantry with machine guns and one cannon on the train and you go to the next station. You take the station, arrest the Bolsheviks, put more soldiers on the train and go on.” Zinoviev was forced to admit that "there is evidence that in some cases unarmed German soldiers dispersed hundreds of our soldiers." “The army rushed to run, leaving everything, sweeping away in its path,” N.V. Krylenko, the first Soviet commander-in-chief of the Russian front-line army, wrote about these events in the same 1918.
After the decision to accept peace on German terms was made by the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b), and then passed through the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the question arose of the new composition of the delegation. As Richard Pipes notes, none of the Bolshevik leaders was eager to go down in history by putting his signature on a treaty shameful for Russia. Trotsky by this time had already resigned from the post of People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, Sokolnikov G. Ya. proposed the candidacy of Zinoviev G. E. However, Zinoviev refused such an “honor”, proposing in response the candidacy of Sokolnikov himself; Sokolnikov also refuses, promising to leave the Central Committee in the event of such an appointment. Ioffe A. A. also flatly refused. After long negotiations, Sokolnikov nevertheless agreed to head the Soviet delegation, the new composition of which took the following form: Sokolnikov G. Ya., Petrovsky L. M., Chicherin G. V., Karakhan G. I. and a group of 8 consultants (among them, Ioffe A. A., former chairman of the delegation). The delegation arrived in Brest-Litovsk on March 1, and two days later signed the contract without any discussion.
Postcard depicting the signing of the ceasefire agreement by the German representative, Prince Leopold of Bavaria. Russian delegation: A.A. Bitsenko, next to her A. A. Ioffe, as well as L. B. Kamenev. Behind Kamenev in the form of captain A. Lipsky, secretary of the Russian delegation L. Karakhan
The German-Austrian offensive, which began in February 1918, continued even when the Soviet delegation arrived in Brest-Litovsk: on February 28, the Austrians occupied Berdichev, on March 1, the Germans occupied Gomel, Chernigov and Mogilev, and on March 2, Petrograd was bombed. On March 4, after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, German troops occupied Narva and stopped only on the Narova River and the western shore of Lake Peipus, 170 km from Petrograd.
A photocopy of the first two pages of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Soviet Russia and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, March 1918.
In its final version, the agreement consisted of 14 articles, various annexes, 2 final protocols and 4 additional agreements (between Russia and each of the states of the Quadruple Union), according to which Russia was obliged to make many territorial concessions, also demobilizing its army and navy.
The Vistula provinces, Ukraine, provinces with a predominantly Belarusian population, Estland, Courland and Livonia provinces, the Grand Duchy of Finland were torn away from Russia. Most of these territories were to become German protectorates or become part of Germany. Russia also pledged to recognize the independence of Ukraine represented by the UNR government.
In the Caucasus, Russia conceded the Kars region and the Batumi region.
The Soviet government ended the war with the Ukrainian Central Council (Rada) of the Ukrainian People's Republic and made peace with it.
The army and navy were demobilized.
The Baltic Fleet was withdrawn from its bases in Finland and the Baltic.
The Black Sea Fleet with all the infrastructure was transferred to the Central Powers.
Russia paid 6 billion marks in reparations, plus the payment of losses incurred by Germany during the Russian revolution - 500 million gold rubles.
The Soviet government pledged to stop revolutionary propaganda in the Central Powers and allied states formed on the territory of the Russian Empire.
Postcard showing the last page of signatures on the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 
The appendix to the treaty guaranteed a special economic status for Germany in Soviet Russia. Citizens and corporations of the Central Powers were removed from the scope of the Bolshevik decrees on nationalization, and those who had already lost their property were restored to their rights. Thus, German citizens were allowed to engage in private business in Russia against the background of the general nationalization of the economy that was taking place at that time. This state of affairs for some time created an opportunity for Russian owners of enterprises or securities to get away from nationalization by selling their assets to the Germans.
Russian telegraph Brest-Petrograd. In the center is the secretary of the delegation L. Karakhan, next to him is Captain V. Lipsky.
Dzerzhinsky F.E.'s fears that “By signing the conditions, we do not guarantee ourselves from new ultimatums” are partially confirmed: the advance of the German army was not limited to the boundaries of the zone of occupation defined by the peace treaty. German troops captured Simferopol on April 22, 1918, Taganrog on May 1, and Rostov-on-Don on May 8, causing the fall of Soviet power on the Don.
The telegraph operator sends a message from the peace conference in Brest-Litovsk.
In April 1918, diplomatic relations were established between the RSFSR and Germany. On the whole, however, Germany's relations with the Bolsheviks were not ideal from the outset. In the words of Sukhanov N. N., “the German government was quite thoroughly afraid of its“ friends ”and“ agents ”: it knew very well that these people were the same“ friends ”to it, as well as to Russian imperialism, to which the German authorities tried to“ palm off ”them keeping them at a respectful distance from their own loyal subjects." From April 1918, the Soviet ambassador Ioffe A.A. engaged in active revolutionary propaganda already in Germany itself, which ends with the November Revolution. The Germans, for their part, are consistently liquidating Soviet power in the Baltics and Ukraine, providing assistance to the "White Finns" and actively contributing to the formation of a center of the White movement on the Don. In March 1918, the Bolsheviks, fearing a German attack on Petrograd, transferred the capital to Moscow; after the signing of the Brest Peace, they, not trusting the Germans, did not begin to cancel this decision.
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While the German General Staff came to the conclusion that the defeat of the Second Reich was inevitable, Germany managed to impose on the Soviet government, in the context of the growing civil war and the beginning of the intervention of the Entente, additional agreements to the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty. On August 27, 1918, in Berlin, in the strictest secrecy, a Russian-German supplementary treaty to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and a Russian-German financial agreement were signed, which were signed on behalf of the government of the RSFSR by Plenipotentiary A. A. Ioffe, and on behalf of Germany - von P. Ginze and I. Krige. Under this agreement, Soviet Russia was obliged to pay Germany, as compensation for damage and expenses for the maintenance of Russian prisoners of war, a huge indemnity - 6 billion marks - in the form of "pure gold" and credit obligations. In September 1918, two "gold echelons" were sent to Germany, which contained 93.5 tons of "pure gold" worth over 120 million gold rubles. It didn't make it to the next shipment.
Russian delegates buying German newspapers in Brest-Litovsk.
Consequences of the Brest peace: Odessa after the occupation by the Austro-Hungarian troops. Dredging works in Odessa port.
Consequences of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: Austro-Hungarian soldiers on Nikolaevsky Boulevard. Summer 1918.
Photo taken by a German soldier in Kyiv in 1918
"Trotsky learns to write." German caricature of L.D. Trotsky, who signed the peace treaty in Brest-Litovsk. 1918
Consequences of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: Austro-Hungarian troops enter the city of Kamenetz-Podolsky after the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Consequences of the Brest Peace: Germans in Kyiv.
Political cartoon from the American press in 1918.
Consequences of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: German troops under the command of General Eichhorn occupied Kyiv. March 1918.
Consequences of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: Austro-Hungarian military musicians perform on the main square of the city of Proskurov in Ukraine.
The conclusion of the Brest peace took place on March 3, 1918 in the city of Bres-Litovsk. A truce took place between Russia and the Central Powers. The goal was the exit of the young emerging Soviet state from the First World War. The period of existence of the agreement was not long. It was canceled less than a year later.
The First World War caused a negative reaction from the people. Therefore, the ideas of the revolutionaries to end it were supported by the masses. The first step in this direction was the publication of the Decree on Peace. This was followed by Trotsky's appeal to the countries participating in the war. Only Germany responded to the proposal to complete it.
The complexity of the situation in which Russia found itself consisted in the fact that its ideology did not fit into the peace project, since the ultimate goal of the Bolsheviks was a world revolution.
The lack of unity in the party was expressed in the presence of 3 groups:
- Bukharin. He called for the continuation of the war.
- Lenin. He demanded the conclusion of peace at any cost.
- Trotsky. He took a half position.
provisional truce
Brest-Litovsk became a place for peace negotiations. They began on November 20, 1917. On the Russian side, Trotsky headed the delegation.
Germany put forward demands, on the basis of which it was rejected from Russia:
- the Baltics;
- Poland;
- part of the Baltic Sea.
Geographically, this amounted to 160 thousand km 2. In order to gain time, Trotsky was in no hurry to develop negotiations. On the contrary, he tried in every possible way to tighten them. His stake was on the possible start of a revolution in Germany.
Lenin agreed to all conditions. He understood that in the absence of an army, there was no hope for a successful outcome of the negotiations.
As a result, the armistice was signed.
Stages of making peace
Based on clause 9 of the armistice, countries had the opportunity to start peace negotiations. They took place in a difficult environment with breaks in 3 stages. All information about this is presented in the table.
Description |
|
|---|---|
First step | Negotiations began on December 22, 1917 and continued until February 28. The delegates did not reach a consensus, and the decision was postponed. |
Second phase. | Russia was offered conditions for the rejection of a number of territories under the control of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Russian delegation asked for a break for 10 days. |
Conclusion of peace between Ukraine | On January 27, 1918, Ukraine, Germany and Austria-Hungary signed a peace treaty. Ukraine received protection from Russia. For this, she undertook to ensure the supply of food to the countries participating in the agreement. Subsequently, Germany issued an ultimatum to Russia demanding the signing of the previously developed agreement. |
Continuation of hostilities | Since Russia took a wait-and-see attitude, Germany broke off negotiations and began hostilities. On February 18, the front turned from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians. The Russian army did not offer serious resistance, and the enemy quickly moved forward. The Bolshevik Party led by Lenin decided to resume negotiations |
Third stage |
Agreement signing
At the 14th Congress of Soviets, the treaty was ratified. His points were as follows:
Russia was losing control over Poland and Lithuania.
The territories of Latvia, Belarus and Transcaucasia partly departed from Russia
The withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Finland and the Baltic states was to take place.
Ukraine became an independent state and passed under the influence of Germany.
Troops were withdrawn from Turkey and territories were transferred to it: Ardagan, Batum and Kars.
Germany was to receive monetary compensation from Russia in the amount of 6 billion marks.
The territorial losses of Russia in terms of area amounted to 789,000 km 2. The number of people living on them was 56 million.
Of course, the treaty was enslaving, but Soviet Russia had no other choice but to accept it.
Consequences of the Brest Agreement
Despite the conclusion of a peace agreement, the German troops continued their offensive in an easterly direction. In a short time, Odessa, Rostov-on-Don, Kherson and Nikolaev were occupied. At the same time, the Entente troops are advancing on Murmansk, Vladivostok and Arkhangelsk. In the Volga region, the Urals and the Crimea, governments are being formed from the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries.
At this time, there was a complete decomposition of the Russian troops. Together with the release of the “Decree on the Land”, the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree on the gradual disbandment of the army. Since its backbone was made up of peasants, their mass desertion begins. The removal of former officers leads to a drop in discipline. To top it all off, the government is abolishing the position of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. In fact, the army ceases to exist.
The concluded agreement caused discontent in the country. It was expressed as follows:
The Social Revolutionaries, considering the treaty treacherous, withdrew from the Council of People's Commissars.
Such figures as N.V. Krylenko, N.I. Podvoisky and K.I. They jokingly left their posts.
International experts assessed the activities of the Bolshevik diplomats as mediocre and barbaric.
Patriarch Tikhon also condemned the treaty, since some of the Orthodox citizens fell under the influence of the Gentiles.
The consequences of the concluded agreement, to a greater or lesser extent, affected almost all sectors of society.
The fate of the Brest Peace
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk lasted less than a year. Already on January 13, 1918, it was canceled by Russia. Despite the severity of the agreements concluded, this document has played its historic role. The temporary truce gave the new government a little respite. After the October Revolution, the country was in a deep crisis, and time was needed to concentrate efforts.
With the cancellation of the agreement, all contractual clauses became invalid. Separated territories were again returned to the zone of Russian control. Despite the fact that the Bolsheviks managed to put an end to the world war by their actions, there was a split in society. As a result, the Civil War began.
Some stabilization was outlined only after 1922.
100 years ago, on March 3, 1918, the “obscene” Brest peace was signed. Russia was officially defeated and withdrew from the world war.
After February, Russia lost the ability to wage war with the Central Powers. As the military operations of the summer of 1917 showed, the Russian army was disorganized, decayed and could not carry out offensive operations. The further degradation of Russia led to the fact that the army lost the opportunity even to defend itself. The policy of the Provisional Government and the Western-Febralists led to the fact that the Russian statehood was destroyed. The Time of Troubles began, caused by the fundamental contradictions that had accumulated over the centuries in the Russia of the Romanovs.
It was a disaster. Russia writhed in agony. The national outskirts were seething. The policy of the national separatists became one of the causes of a large-scale civil war. Even before October, peasant Russia exploded - the Peasant War began. The peasants divided the landlords' lands, burned the estates, venting the hatred that had been accumulating for an entire era on social injustice. A criminal revolution has begun - the eternal companion of unrest. Gangs were formed that terrorized entire settlements and areas. The Cossacks remembered their liberties. The industry and transport system was falling apart, the cities and the army were left without supplies. The village did not want to feed the city, which did not supply them with manufactured goods. Hunger began.
Russia could not fight. The generals were mired in intrigues, many top military leaders supported the February-March coup in order to occupy high positions in the "new Russia". Then part of the generals opposed the Provisional Government in order to restore order, but the rebellion failed. Another part of the generals took the path of supporting the formation of various national "armies". The provisional government, by its actions, finished off order, unity of command, discipline in the troops. The rear, the transport system collapsed, industry could not supply the army and cities. I.e Russia has lost the ability to wage a regular war- to supply millions of soldiers with everything necessary. The soldiers themselves (yesterday's peasants) and the Cossacks did not want to fight anymore, they wanted peace and return home, to take part in the redistribution of the land. And the Provisional Government was so hated or completely indifferent to it that when the Bolsheviks went to take power, no one defended the temporary workers.
The old monarchical Russia is dead. Together with her, the "new Russia" - a pro-Western democratic-bourgeois persuasion - also died. And socialist, Soviet Russia - statehood, army, economy, etc. - had yet to be created. Under these conditions, other powers were preparing to divide the “skins” of the Russian bear. Our enemies - Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey, were preparing to occupy the western regions of Russia. Our Western "partners" - England, France and the United States, divided the Russian land into spheres of influence and were also preparing to capture strategic ports, cities and points. The masters of the West needed Russia's resources to build their "new world order".
Under these conditions, the Soviet government was forced to conclude a truce and start peace negotiations. Negotiations dragged on. The Bolsheviks were aware of the difficulties of the German bloc. Germany itself was barely holding on. The blockade completely exhausted the country. The army still had a powerful potential and was ready to fight. And the population was tired of the war, the economy was bursting at the seams. There were practically no resources to continue the war. There was only hope for forcing Russia to peace and seizing its resources, with the withdrawal of part of the troops from the Russian front to the Western one. The condition of Austria-Hungary and Turkey was even worse, they were on the verge of complete collapse (following the example of Russia). Therefore, the Bolsheviks hoped that while negotiations were going on, a revolution would take place in Germany and the Central Powers would lose the war. This will allow Russia to maintain the status quo.
However, the Germans also understood the complexity of their situation and their allies, they were not going to delay the peace agreement. The Ukrainian factor also helped them - Ukrainian nationalists concluded a separate, separate agreement with Germany. This made it possible, on “legal” grounds, to launch an invasion of Ukraine, where Soviet troops were already able to occupy Kyiv and most of Little Russia, freeing it from the Ukronazis. In addition, Trotsky, who was an agent of the influence of the US masters, provoked the Germans in every possible way in order to resume hostilities and, in a crisis, strengthen his position in the Bolshevik elite. On January 28 (February 10), 1918, Trotsky issued a provocative declaration that Soviet Russia was ending the war, demobilizing the army, but not signing peace. In response, the Germans stated that Russia's failure to sign a peace treaty automatically entails the termination of the truce.
On February 18, 1918, German troops launched an offensive along the entire front. A few days later they were supported by Austro-Hungarian troops. The Turkish army launched an offensive in the Caucasus even earlier. On February 19, the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Lenin sent the German government the consent of the Soviet government to sign the German terms. The German side demanded an official written notification, and continued the offensive of the troops in the north in two directions: to Revel - Narva - Petrograd and to Pskov. Within a week they occupied a number of cities and created a threat to Petrograd.
On February 22, Trotsky, recognizing the failure of his negotiations with the German delegation, resigns from the post of People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. G. V. Chicherin becomes the new People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs (he headed the department until 1930). At the same time, Trotsky, for supporting Lenin during a discussion in the party leadership, rose even more. Lenin already on March 4 appoints Trotsky chairman of the Supreme Military Council, and on March 13 - People's Commissar of War. That is, Trotsky became the military leader of Soviet Russia, concentrating enormous power in his hands.
On February 23, the German side transmitted a response that contained even more difficult conditions. The SNK was given 48 hours to accept the ultimatum. The first two paragraphs of the document repeated the ultimatum of January 27 (February 9), that is, they confirmed the territorial claims of the Central Powers. In addition, it was proposed to immediately clear Livonia and Estonia from Russian troops. German police forces were brought into both areas. Germany demanded: immediately make peace with the Ukrainian Central Rada, withdraw troops from Ukraine and Finland, return the Anatolian provinces to Turkey, immediately demobilize the army, withdraw its fleet in the Black and Baltic Seas and the Arctic Ocean to Russian ports and disarm it, etc. d.
On February 23, 1918, a historic meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) was held. Lenin demanded the conclusion of peace on German terms, threatening otherwise to resign, which in fact meant a split in the party. Trotsky, despite his negative attitude towards the peace treaty, refused to participate in the discussion, and supported Lenin. In the end, Lenin received the majority of votes. During the voting, Trotsky, Dzerzhinsky, Ioffe and Krestinsky abstained, which allowed the historic decision to sign peace by a majority of 7 votes to 4 with 4 abstentions. The "left communists" headed by Bukharin came out against the world.
At the same time, the Central Committee unanimously decided to "prepare an immediate revolutionary war." Soviet Russia began to take emergency measures to recreate the army, first on a volunteer basis, and then on traditional military service. On February 23, the Council of People's Commissars of February 21 “The socialist fatherland is in danger!”, As well as the “Appeal of the Military Commander-in-Chief” N.V. Krylenko, which ended with the words: “... All to. All in defense of the revolution." A mass enrollment of volunteers in the Red Army detachments began, created in accordance with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR "On the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army" dated January 15 (28), 1918.
On the same day, February 23, late in the evening, a joint meeting of the Bolshevik and Left SR factions of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee took place. The Left SRs decided to vote against peace. After the joint meeting, a separate meeting of the Bolshevik faction alone began. When voting, Lenin collected 72 votes against 25 votes for the "Left Communists". On February 24, Lenin, with great difficulty, by 126 votes to 85 with 26 abstentions, managed to push his decision through the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The Left SRs called for the organization of a mass guerrilla war against the German troops, even if such a war ended with the loss of Petrograd and significant territories of Russia.
The Soviet delegation returned to Brest-Litovsk on March 1. On March 3, the contract was signed. On March 6-8, 1918, at the 7th emergency congress of the RSDLP (b), Lenin also managed to push through the ratification of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. During the voting, the votes were distributed as follows: 30 for ratification, 12 against, 4 abstained. On March 14-16, 1918, the IV Extraordinary All-Russian Congress of Soviets finally ratified the peace treaty - by a majority of 784 votes against 261, with 115 abstentions. The congress also decided to transfer the capital from Petrograd to Moscow in connection with the danger of a German offensive.
According to the terms of the Brest Peace, Russia was to carry out the complete demobilization of the army (the old tsarist army, as well as the Red Army) and the complete demining of its part of the Black and Baltic Seas. The Baltic Fleet was withdrawn from its bases in Finland and the Baltic. Russia ceded to Germany the areas lying west of the line Brest-Litovsk - Kamenets - Litovsk - Pruzhany - Zelva - Bridges - Orel - Dokudova - Dzevenishki - west of Slobodka - Gervyata - Mikhalishki - east of Sventsyany - Malengyany - Drysvyaty - Druya and further along the Western Dvina to Oger, and, leaving Riga to the west, the boundary line went to the Gulf of Riga, passing along it in a northern direction between the mainland and the Moonsund archipelago and to the exit from the Gulf of Finland, which remained entirely to the east of the boundary line. Russia conceded to Turkey the districts of Ardagan, Kars and Batum, and withdrew troops from all parts of Eastern Anatolia.
Soviet Russia was to immediately make peace with the Ukrainian People's Republic and recognize its peace treaty with Germany and its allies. Russia withdrew troops from the territory of Ukraine. The same applied to the Baltic provinces, where the border ran along the Narva River, Lake Peipsi and Pskov. Finland and the Åland Islands were also cleared of Russian troops.
Russia also paid 6 billion marks in reparations plus the payment of losses incurred by Germany during the Russian revolution - 500 million gold rubles. The appendix to the treaty guaranteed a special economic status for Germany in Soviet Russia. Citizens and firms of the Central Powers were removed from the scope of Soviet nationalization decrees, and those who had already lost their property were restored to their rights. That is, German citizens were allowed to engage in private business in Russia. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk restored the customs tariffs of 1904 with Germany, which were extremely disadvantageous for Russia. In addition, Russia was forced to confirm all debts to the Central Powers (which were abandoned in January 1918), and resume payments on them.
Thus, the Vistula provinces (Kingdom of Poland), Little Russia, Belarus, Estland, Courland and Livonia provinces, the Grand Duchy of Finland departed from the German sphere of influence. Moreover, the boundaries of the new territorial entities (under the rule of Germany) were not clearly defined. An area of 780,000 square meters was torn away from Russia. km. with a population of 56 million people (a third of the population of the Russian Empire) and on which before the revolution there were: 27% of cultivated agricultural land, 26% of the entire railway network, 73% of iron and steel were smelted, 89% of coal was mined and 90% of sugar was produced, lived 40% industrial workers, etc.
Results
Despite the peace agreement, the German troops continued the offensive. On March 1, the power of the Central Rada was restored by German troops in Kyiv. On April 5, German troops entered Kharkov, in late April - early May they entered the Crimea and the southern part of the Don region, capturing Simferopol on April 22, Taganrog on May 1, and Rostov-on-Don on May 8, causing the fall of Soviet power on the Don . On the Don, the Germans helped establish ataman P. N. Krasnov in power. A puppet government was created in the Crimea. In June, the Germans entered Georgia. Using the absence of a border treaty between Soviet Russia and Ukraine as a formal pretext, the Germans seized a number of key points on Russian territory. In Finland, the Germans helped suppress the Reds. A nationalist regime has established itself in Finland, planning to build a “Great Finland” at the expense of Russian lands. In the Caucasus, Turkey continued its offensive with the aim of capturing Baku, Dagestan and the regions of the North Caucasus with a Muslim population.
Thus, the Austro-German and Turkish intervention made it possible to seize vast areas from Russia and support the creation of anti-Soviet state formations on them. This led to a new round of the Civil War and an increase in its scale. With the help of the interventionists (they were later joined by the British, French, Americans and Japanese), various anti-Soviet forces strengthened and launched a counteroffensive.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk allowed the Austro-German high command to concentrate all the main forces against the Entente troops in France and Italy, and to organize the last decisive strategic offensive on the Western Front. Thus, the German command transferred about half a million soldiers and officers from the Eastern Front to the Western Front, and on March 23 began an offensive operation. Turkey was able to strengthen its position in Mesopotamia and Palestine. However, significant military forces of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey were diverted to continue the intervention, guard and plunder the occupied territory of the western part of Russia.
The Entente accepted the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with extreme hostility. England and France have already divided Russia into spheres of influence and have begun to intervene. On March 6, an English landing landed in Murmansk, on April 5, a Japanese landing in Vladivostok, on August 2, a British landing in Arkhangelsk, etc.
By the autumn of 1918, it became obvious that the Entente would win and eventually Germany would capitulate. In Berlin, it was decided, in the context of the growing Civil War in Russia and the beginning of the intervention of the Entente, to conclude additional agreements to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. On August 27, 1918, in Berlin, in the strictest secrecy, a Russian-German supplementary treaty to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and a financial agreement were concluded. It was signed on behalf of the government of the RSFSR by Plenipotentiary Adolf Joffe, and on behalf of Germany by Paul von Ginze.
According to its terms, the demarcation commission was to determine in detail and immediately establish the eastern border of Estonia and Livonia. German troops east of the demarcation line immediately withdrew. Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine and Georgia, renounced Estonia and Livonia, bargaining for itself the right of access to the Baltic ports (Revel, Riga and Windau). Also, to facilitate Russian trade through Estonia, Livonia, Courland and Lithuania, free transit of goods through them in both directions was established; low rail and freight rates; free navigation along the Western Dvina. The Soviet side negotiated for itself control over Baku, ceding a quarter of the products produced there to Germany.
Germany also agreed to withdraw its troops from Belarus, from the Black Sea coast, the Crimea, from Rostov and part of the Don basin, and also not to occupy any more Russian territory. Germany undertook not to interfere in the relations of the Russian state with the national regions and to encourage them to separate from Russia or to form independent state formations. Germany guaranteed that Finland would not attack Russian territory, especially Petrograd. The secret agreement (the so-called “Ginze note”) recorded the mutually expressed consent of the parties to make mutual efforts to fight inside Russia against the Entente interventionists, the Volunteer Army and the uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps.
Thus, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the Additional Treaty, with which Russian liberals and Westerners are so fond of reproaching Lenin and the Bolsheviks, and which were signed by Soviet Russia, which actually had no army, under the threat of a German invasion and capture of the capital, were much more profitable than Gorbachev's shameful capitulation - Yeltsin in 1991. In addition, already in the same 1918, Russia got the opportunity to abandon the conditions of the “obscene peace”.
Lenin showed great foresight. He made huge concessions to Germany and its allies, not only because of the lack of an army, but also because of the inevitable defeat and fall of the German bloc. Lenin repeatedly said that the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk would not last even a few months and that a revolution in Germany was inevitable. On November 3, 1918, the sailors in Kiel rebelled in Germany, thousands of soldiers joined them. Soon the uprising engulfed Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen and other cities. A Soviet republic was proclaimed in Bavaria. On November 5, the Soviet government suspended diplomatic relations with Germany. On November 9, the revolution in Germany won. On November 11, Germany signed an armistice with the Entente powers. On November 13, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was annulled.
As the American historian Richard Pipes noted: “By presciently accepting a humiliating peace that gave him the necessary time and then collapsed under his own weight, Lenin earned the wide confidence of the Bolsheviks. When, on November 13, 1918, they tore up the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, following which Germany capitulated to the Western Allies, Lenin's authority in the Bolshevik movement was raised to an unprecedented height.