(Dates, unless otherwise specified, are given before February 1, 1918, according to the old style, and after this date, according to the new one.) See also the article Brest Peace.
1917
Night of November 8, 1917 - Council of People's Commissars sends to the Supreme Commander of the Russian Army Dukhonin order: immediately appeal to the commanders of the enemy armies with a proposal for the immediate suspension of hostilities and the opening of peace negotiations.
November 8 - in response to Dukhonin's statement that it is not the Commander-in-Chief who is authorized to start peace negotiations, but the government, Lenin removes him from his post, replacing him with an ensign Krylenko. Note of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs to all the ambassadors of the Allied Powers with a proposal to declare a truce and start peace negotiations. Radiogram from Lenin: “To all soldiers and sailors. Choose representatives and enter into negotiations for a truce with the enemy yourself.
Brest Peace
November 10 - the heads of the military missions of the allied countries at the headquarters of the Russian Supreme Commander-in-Chief present General Dukhonin with a collective note protesting against the violation of the agreement of September 5, 1914, which prohibited allies conclusion of a separate peace or truce.
November 14 - Germany declares its consent to start peace negotiations with the Soviet government. On the same day, Lenin's note to the allies: “On December 1, we are starting peace negotiations. If the allied peoples do not send their representatives, we will negotiate with the Germans alone.
November 20 - start of negotiations on armistice in Brest. Arrival of the Krylenka at the Mogilev Headquarters. The murder by militants of his detachment Dukhonin.
November 21 - the Soviet delegation in Brest sets out its terms: a truce is concluded on all fronts for 6 months; the Germans are withdrawing troops from Riga and moonzunda; the transfer of German troops from the Eastern Front to the Western is prohibited. The Germans reject these proposals and force the Bolsheviks into another agreement: an armistice for 10 days(from 24.11 to 4.12) and only on the Eastern Front; troops remain in their positions; all transfers of troops are stopped, except for those that have already begun ( and what started - you can't check).
December 2 - conclusion of an armistice agreement in Brest for 28 days from 4.12, with the possibility of further extension (in case of a break, warn the enemy 7 days in advance).
December 5 - Trotsky's appeal "To the oppressed and bloodless peoples of Europe": he tries to convince them that "the truce in Brest-Litovsk is a huge conquest of mankind"; "the reactionary governments of the Central Powers are forced to negotiate with the Soviet power", but complete peace will be ensured only by a proletarian revolution in all countries.
December 9 - the beginning of the 1st stage of negotiations on world. The delegations of the states of the Quadruple Union are headed by: from Germany - Secretary of State of the Foreign Office R. von Kühlmann; from Austria-Hungary - Minister of Foreign Affairs Count O. Chernin; from Bulgaria - Minister of Justice Popov; from Turkey - Grand Vizier Talaat Bey. Soviet delegation: Ioffe, Kamenev(Rosenfeld), Sokolnikov(Girsh Brilliant), Socialist-Revolutionary terrorist Bitsenko (Kamoristaya) and literary librarian Maslovsky-Mstislavsky + 8 military consultants + 5 delegates "from the people" - sailor Olic, soldier Belyakov, Kaluga peasant Stashkov (he constantly gets drunk at diplomatic dinners), worker Obukhov , ensign of the fleet Zedin. The Soviet delegation puts forward "principles Peace Decree"(peace without annexations and indemnities + self-determination of peoples).
December 11 - Lithuanian Tariba announces the restoration of Lithuanian independence in "eternal union" with Germany.
December 12 - Kuhlmann's statement that Germany agrees to accept the principles put forward by the Soviets, but only if the Entente countries also accept them. The Soviet delegation proposes a 10-day break in order to try once again to involve the Entente in the negotiations during this time. It soon becomes clear that the Germans believe that Poland, Lithuania and Courland have already spoken out by way of “self-determination” in favor of secession from Russia and can, without violating the principle of “non-annexations”, voluntarily enter into negotiations on joining Germany.
December 14 - the proposal of the Soviet delegation: Russia will withdraw its troops from the parts of Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Persia occupied by it, and let the powers of the Quadruple Alliance withdraw from Poland, Lithuania, Courland and other regions belonging to Russia. The Germans reject: Poland and Lithuania "have already expressed their people's will", and now the Soviet government must withdraw Russian troops from Livonia and Courland in order to give the population an opportunity to speak freely there too. This concludes the first stage of the negotiations.
December 15 - The Soviet delegation leaves for Petrograd. The Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) decides to drag out the peace negotiations as long as possible, in the hope of a revolution in Germany - and adopts the formula: "We hold on until the German ultimatum, then we surrender." The People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs again invites the Entente to join the negotiations, but again receives no answer.
December 20 - the Soviet government proposes to the countries of the Quadruple Alliance to transfer negotiations to Stockholm (in the hope of attracting European socialists there) Zimmerwaldists). It deviates.
December 22 - arrival in Brest of the delegation of the Ukrainian Central Rada. She intends to negotiate separately from Russia and demands to transfer the Kholm region, Bukovina and Eastern Galicia to Ukraine (then it is limited to one Kholm region).
December 25 - arrival in Brest of the Soviet delegation of Trotsky - Joffe. Trotsky's main goal is to drag out negotiations as long as possible.
December 27 - the beginning of the 2nd stage of peace negotiations. Kuhlmann's statement: since the Entente did not accept the formula "without annexations and indemnities", Germany will not accept it either.
December 28 - a joint meeting with the participation of the delegation of the Central Rada. Its head, V. Golubovich, announces a declaration that the power of Soviet Russia does not extend to Ukraine, and the Rada will negotiate independently. The Moscow regional bureau of the RSDLP (b), in opposition to the position of the Central Committee, demands a break in negotiations with Germany.
December 30 - Soviet statement that the will to self-determination of national territories is possible only after the withdrawal of foreign troops from them. Rejected by Germany.
1918
January 5 - General Hoffmann presents the conditions of the Central Powers: Poland, Lithuania, part of Belarus and Ukraine, Estonia and Latvia, the Moonsund Islands and the Gulf of Riga should withdraw to Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Soviet delegation asks for a break of ten days to consider these conditions.
January 6 - the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly by the Bolsheviks, which could reject peace with Germany.
January 8 - discussion of Lenin's "Theses" at a meeting of members of the Central Committee with party workers. Outcome: 15 votes for them, for " left communists"(to continue the war, but not for the sake of defending Russia, but in order not to disappoint the international proletariat with capitulation to the Germans) - 32 votes, for Trotsky's slogan "no war, no peace" (do not wage war, but do not formally conclude peace - again with that the goal is not to disappoint the European proletariat) - 16 votes.
January 9 - IV Wagon Central Rada: in view of the beginning Bolshevik offensive on Kyiv it finally proclaims Ukraine an independent state.
January 11 - meeting of the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks on the issue of peace. It was decided by 12 votes against Zinoviev alone to drag out the negotiations with the Germans in every possible way. When voting on what to do in the event of a German ultimatum, the left communists take the side of Trotsky, and his formula "no war, no peace" defeats Lenin's by 9 votes to 7.
January 17 - the beginning of the 3rd stage of the Brest negotiations. Trotsky arrives on them, accompanied by delegates from Soviet Ukraine, but the Germans refuse to recognize them. Trotsky responded by declaring that the Council of People's Commissars "does not recognize separate agreements between the Rada and the Central Powers."
January 27 - the signing of peace between the German coalition and the delegates of the Central Rada. In exchange for military assistance against Soviet troops The UNR undertakes to deliver to Germany and Austria-Hungary by July 31, 1918, one million tons of grain, 400 million eggs, up to 50 thousand tons of cattle meat, lard, sugar, hemp, manganese ore, etc. German ultimatum to the Soviets on the acceptance of peace conditions with the abandonment of the Baltic regions to the line Narva - Pskov - Dvinsk (Daugavpils).
January 28 (February 10, NS) - in response to the German ultimatum, Trotsky officially proclaims the “neither peace nor war” formula at the negotiations: the Soviets stop both hostile actions against the Central Powers and peace negotiations with them. The Soviet delegation leaves the negotiations. Subsequently, Soviet historians falsely present this act as Trotsky's "treacherous arbitrariness", but it is entirely based on the decision of the Central Committee on January 11th.
January 31 - Krylenko's order to the army on the cessation of hostilities and demobilization (later Soviet historians incorrectly claim that it was allegedly issued without the consent of the Council of People's Commissars). The official request of the Rada to the Germans for help against the Soviets. The Germans accept it.
February 16 (February 3, old style) - at half past seven in the evening, the Germans notify that at 12 noon on February 18, the Soviet-German truce ends. (Some historians claim that by doing so the Germans violated the previous condition to notify of the breaking of the truce in 7 days However, the departure of the Soviet delegation from the talks on January 28 is already tantamount to a unilateral announcement of the breaking of all previous conditions.)
February 18 - the beginning of the German offensive on the Eastern Front. Two meetings of the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks on this issue: at the morning Lenin's proposal to immediately send a request for peace to the Germans was rejected by 7 votes to 6, at the evening it won by 7 votes to 5, with one abstention.
February 19 - Lenin's telegram to the Germans: "In view of the situation that has arisen, the Council of People's Commissars sees itself forced to sign the peace conditions proposed in Brest-Litovsk by the delegations of the Quadruple Union ..."
February 21 - Occupation of Minsk by the Germans. Council of People's Commissars adopts a decree " The socialist fatherland is in danger"(Listing not so much defensive measures against the enemy as terrorist threats to opponents of Soviet power: all able-bodied members of the bourgeois class, men and women, are mobilized to dig trenches under the supervision of the Red Guards and under the threat of being shot, "enemy agents, speculators, thugs, hooligans, counter-revolutionary agitators, German spies are shot at the scene of the crime). Formation of the Committee for the Revolutionary Defense of Petrograd.
February 22 - the response of the German government to the request for peace: it sets even more difficult conditions for it (immediately clear Livonia, Estonia, Finland and Ukraine, return the Anatolian provinces to Turkey, immediately demobilize the army, withdraw the fleet in the Black and Baltic Seas and in the Arctic Ocean to Russian ports and disarm it, plus "trade and economic demands"). You have 48 hours to accept the ultimatum. Trotsky's resignation from the post of People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs. Since none of the prominent Bolsheviks is eager to sign a shameful peace with the Germans, Ioffe, Zinoviev and Sokolnikov refuse the offer to become a People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs.
February 23 - meeting of the Central Committee on the issue of the German ultimatum: 7 votes for its adoption, 4 against and 4 abstentions.
February 24 - German troops occupy Zhytomyr, and the Turks - Trebizond. Adoption VTsIK German peace conditions after an open, roll-call vote. Radiogram to Berlin about the acceptance of the German conditions. "Left Communists" leave the Council of People's Commissars in protest.
February 25 - the occupation of Revel and Pskov by the Germans. Admiral Shchastny at the last moment takes the Reval squadron of the Baltic Fleet to Helsingfors (later he was shot at the insistence of Trotsky for not handing over the Baltic Fleet to the Germans).
March 1 - the occupation of Kyiv and Gomel by the Germans. The arrival of a new Soviet delegation (Sokolnikov, Petrovsky, Chicherin, Karakhan) to Brest-Litovsk.
March 4 - the occupation of Narva by the Germans (already after the signing of the peace). Appointment of Trotsky as chairman (formed on the same day) of the Supreme Military Council (13.03 - and People's Commissar).
March 6-8 - The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was approved by the 7th Congress of the RCP(b) (30 for ratification, 12 against, 4 abstained).
March 10 - the movement (flight) of the Bolshevik Council of People's Commissars from Petrograd threatened by the Germans to Moscow.
March 14-16 – Treaty of Brest approved IV Extraordinary Congress of Soviets(for - 784 votes, against - 261, 115 abstentions).
Signing of the Brest Peace
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk meant the defeat and withdrawal of Russia from the First World War.
A separate international peace treaty was 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. Separate peace- a peace treaty concluded by one of the participants in the warring coalition without the knowledge and consent of the allies. Such a peace is usually concluded before the general cessation of the war.
The signing of the Brest Peace Treaty was prepared in 3 stages.
The history of the signing of the Brest Peace
First stage
Soviet delegation in Brest-Litovsk met by German officers
The Soviet delegation at the first stage included 5 commissioners - members of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee: A. A. Ioffe - chairman of the delegation, L. B. Kamenev (Rozenfeld) and G. Ya. Sokolnikov (Brilliant), SRs A. A. Bitsenko and S. D Maslovsky-Mstislavsky, 8 members of the military delegation, 3 translators, 6 technical officers and 5 ordinary members of the delegation (sailor, soldier, Kaluga peasant, worker, ensign of the fleet).
The armistice negotiations were overshadowed by a tragedy in the Russian delegation: during a private meeting of the Soviet delegation, a representative of the Headquarters in a group of military consultants, Major General V. E. Skalon, shot himself. Many Russian officers believed that he was crushed because of the humiliating defeat, the collapse of the army and the fall of the country.
Based on the general principles of the Decree on Peace, the Soviet delegation immediately proposed that the following program be adopted 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.
On December 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). By a majority of votes, it was decided to drag out the peace negotiations as long as possible, in the hope of an early revolution in Germany itself.
The Entente governments did not respond to an invitation to take part in peace negotiations.
Second phase
At the second stage of the negotiations, the Soviet Delegation was headed by L.D. Trotsky. The German high command expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the delay in peace negotiations, fearing the disintegration of the army. The Soviet delegation demanded that the governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary confirm their lack of intentions to annex any territories of the former Russian Empire - according to the Soviet delegation, the decision on the future fate of self-determining territories should be carried out by a popular referendum, after the withdrawal of foreign troops and return refugees and displaced persons. General Hoffmann in his response speech stated that the German government refuses to clear the occupied territories of Courland, Lithuania, Riga and the islands of the Gulf of Riga.
On January 18, 1918, General Hoffmann, at a meeting of the political commission, presented the conditions of the Central Powers: Poland, Lithuania, part of Belarus and Ukraine, Estonia and Latvia, the Moonsund Islands and the Gulf of Riga retreated in favor of Germany and Austria-Hungary. This allowed Germany to control the sea routes to the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia, as well as to develop an offensive against Petrograd. The Russian Baltic ports passed into the hands of Germany. The proposed border was extremely unfavorable for Russia: the absence of natural borders and the preservation of Germany's foothold on the banks of the Western Dvina near Riga in the event of war threatened to occupy all of Latvia and Estonia, threatened Petrograd. The Soviet delegation demanded a new interruption of the peace conference for another ten days in order to familiarize their government with the German demands. The self-confidence of the German delegation increased after the Bolsheviks dispersed the Constituent Assembly on January 19, 1918.
By mid-January 1918, a split was taking shape in the RSDLP(b): a group of "left communists" headed by N. I. Bukharin insisted on rejecting the German demands, and Lenin insisted on their acceptance, publishing the Theses on Peace on January 20. The main argument of the “left communists” is that without an immediate revolution in the countries of Western Europe, the socialist revolution in Russia will perish. They did not allow any agreements with the imperialist states and demanded that "revolutionary war" be declared on international imperialism. They declared their readiness "to accept the possibility of losing Soviet power" in the name of "the interests of the international revolution." The conditions proposed by the Germans, shameful for Russia, were opposed by: N. I. Bukharin, F. E. Dzerzhinsky, M. S. Uritsky, A. S. Bubnov, K. B. Radek, A. A. Ioffe, N. N. Krestinsky , N. V. Krylenko, N. I. Podvoisky and others. The views of the "left communists" were supported by a number of party organizations in Moscow, Petrograd, the Urals, etc. Trotsky preferred to maneuver between the two factions, putting forward an "intermediate" platform "neither peace, nor war "-" We stop the war, we do not conclude peace, we demobilize the army.
On January 21, Lenin gives a detailed justification for the need to sign peace, announcing his "Theses on the immediate conclusion of a separate and annexationist peace" (they were published only on February 24). 15 participants of the meeting voted for Lenin's theses, 32 people supported the position of the "Left Communists" and 16 - the position of Trotsky.
Before the departure of the Soviet delegation to Brest-Litovsk to continue negotiations, Lenin instructed Trotsky to drag out the negotiations in every possible way, but in the event that the Germans presented an ultimatum, peace would be signed.
IN AND. Lenin
On March 6-8, 1918, at the 7th emergency congress of the RSDLP (b), Lenin managed to persuade everyone to ratify the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Voting: 30 for ratification, 12 against, 4 abstentions. Following the results of the congress, the party was, at the suggestion of Lenin, renamed the RCP (b). The congress delegates were not acquainted with the text of the treaty. Nevertheless, on March 14-16, 1918, the IV Extraordinary All-Russian Congress of Soviets finally ratified the peace treaty, which was adopted by a majority of 784 votes against 261 with 115 abstentions and decided to transfer the capital from Petrograd to Moscow in connection with the danger of a German offensive. As a result, representatives of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Party left the Council of People's Commissars. Trotsky resigned.
L.D. Trotsky
Third stage
None of the Bolshevik leaders wanted to put their signature on the shameful treaty for Russia: Trotsky resigned at the time of signing, Ioffe refused to go as part of a delegation to Brest-Litovsk. Sokolnikov and Zinoviev proposed each other's candidacies, Sokolnikov also refused the appointment, threatening to resign. But after long negotiations, Sokolnikov nevertheless agreed to lead the Soviet delegation. The new composition of the delegation: G. Ya. The delegation arrived in Brest-Litovsk on March 1 and two days later, without any discussion, signed the contract. The official ceremony of signing the agreement took place in the White Palace (the house of the Nemtsevichs in the village of Skokie, Brest region) and ended at 5 p.m. on March 3, 1918. And the German-Austrian offensive that began in February 1918 continued until March 4, 1918.
The signing of the Brest peace treaty took place in this palace
Terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Richard Pipes, an American scientist, doctor of historical sciences, professor of Russian history at Harvard University, described the terms of this agreement as follows: “The terms of the agreement were extremely burdensome. They made it possible to imagine what kind of peace the countries of the Quadruple Accord would have to sign if they lost the war … ". According to this treaty, Russia was obliged to make many territorial concessions by 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 pledged to recognize the independence of Ukraine represented by the government of the UNR.
- 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.
- Baltic Fleet withdrawn from their bases in Finland and the Baltic states.
- 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 undertook to stop revolutionary propaganda in the Central Powers and allied states formed on the territory of the Russian Empire.
If the results of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk are translated into the language of numbers, it will look like this: a territory 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), on which before the revolution there were 27% of cultivated agricultural land, 26% of the entire railway network, 33% of the textile industry, 73% of iron and steel were smelted, 89% were mined hard coal and 90% of sugar was produced; there were 918 textile factories, 574 breweries, 133 tobacco factories, 1685 distilleries, 244 chemical plants, 615 pulp mills, 1073 machine-building plants and 40% of industrial workers lived.
Russia was withdrawing all its troops from these territories, while Germany, on the contrary, was introducing them there.
Consequences of the Brest Peace
German troops occupied Kyiv
The advance of the German army was not limited to the zone of occupation defined by the peace treaty. Under the pretext of ensuring the power of the "legitimate government" of Ukraine, the Germans continued their offensive. On March 12, the Austrians occupied Odessa, on March 17 - Nikolaev, on March 20 - Kherson, then Kharkov, Crimea and southern part Don region, Taganrog, Rostov-on-Don. The movement of the “democratic counter-revolution” began, proclaiming Socialist-Revolutionary and Menshevik governments in Siberia and the Volga region, an uprising of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries in July 1918 in Moscow and the transition civil war to large-scale battles.
The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, as well as the faction of “Left Communists” that had formed within the RCP(b), spoke of the “betrayal of the world revolution,” since the conclusion of peace on the Eastern Front objectively strengthened the conservative Kaiser regime in Germany. The Left SRs resigned from the Council of People's Commissars in protest. The opposition rejected Lenin's arguments that Russia could not but accept the German conditions in connection with the collapse of its army, putting forward a plan for the transition to a mass popular uprising against the German-Austrian invaders.
Patriarch Tikhon
The Entente powers took the concluded separate peace with hostility. On March 6, British troops landed in Murmansk. On March 15, the Entente announced the non-recognition of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, on April 5, Japanese troops landed in Vladivostok, and on August 2, British troops landed in Arkhangelsk.
But 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 concluded, 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.
Soviet Russia pledged to pay Germany, as compensation for damages and expenses for the maintenance of Russian prisoners of war, a huge indemnity of 6 billion marks (2.75 billion rubles), including 1.5 billion in gold (245.5 tons of pure gold) and credit obligations, 1 billion deliveries of goods. In September 1918, two "gold echelons" (93.5 tons of "pure gold" worth over 120 million gold rubles) were sent to Germany. Almost all Russian gold that arrived in Germany was subsequently transferred to France as an indemnity under the Versailles Peace Treaty.
Under the supplementary agreement, Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine and Georgia, renounced Estonia and Livonia, which, under the original agreement, were formally recognized as part of the Russian state, bargaining for itself the right to access the Baltic ports (Revel, Riga and Windau) and retaining Crimea, control over Baku , giving Germany a quarter of the products produced there. Germany agreed to withdraw its troops from Belarus, from the Black Sea coast, from Rostov and part of the Don basin, and also not to occupy any more Russian territory and not to support separatist movements on Russian soil.
On November 13, after the Allied victory in the war, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was annulled by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. But Russia could no longer take advantage of the fruits of the common victory and take a place among the winners.
Soon the withdrawal of German troops from the occupied territories of the former Russian Empire began. After the annulment of the Brest Treaty among the Bolshevik leaders, Lenin's authority became indisputable: “By perspicaciously accepting a humiliating peace that gave him the necessary time, and then collapsed under the influence of his own gravity, Lenin earned the broad 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. Nothing better served his reputation as a man who made no political mistakes; never again did he have to threaten to resign in order to insist on his own,” R. Pipes wrote in his work “The Bolsheviks in the Struggle for Power”.
The civil war in Russia continued until 1922 and ended with the establishment of Soviet power in most of the territory of the former Russia, with the exception of Finland, Bessarabia, the Baltic States, Poland (including the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus that became part of it).
The Brest peace is one of the most humiliating episodes in the history of Russia. It became a resounding diplomatic failure of the Bolsheviks and was accompanied by an acute political crisis within the country.
Peace Decree
The "Peace Decree" was adopted on October 26, 1917 - the day after the armed coup - and spoke of the need to conclude a just democratic peace without annexations and indemnities between all warring peoples. It served as the legal basis for a separate agreement with Germany and the other Central Powers.
Publicly, Lenin spoke about the transformation of the imperialist war into a civil war, he considered the revolution in Russia only the initial stage of the world socialist revolution. In fact, there were other reasons as well. The warring peoples did not act according to Ilyich's plans - they did not want to turn bayonets against the governments, and the allied governments ignored the peace proposal of the Bolsheviks. Only the countries of the enemy bloc that were losing the war went for rapprochement.
Conditions
Germany declared that it was ready to accept the condition of peace without annexations and indemnities, but only if this peace was signed by all the belligerent countries. But none of the Entente countries joined the peace negotiations, so Germany abandoned the Bolshevik formula, and their hopes for a just peace were finally buried. The talk in the second round of negotiations was exclusively about a separate peace, the terms of which were dictated by Germany.
Betrayal and necessity
Not all Bolsheviks were willing to sign a separate peace. The left was categorically opposed to any agreements with imperialism. They defended the idea of exporting the revolution, believing that without socialism in Europe, Russian socialism is doomed to perish (and the subsequent transformations of the Bolshevik regime proved them right). The leaders of the left Bolsheviks were Bukharin, Uritsky, Radek, Dzerzhinsky and others. They called for guerrilla war with German imperialism, and in the future they hoped to conduct regular fighting we are creating the Red Army.
For the immediate conclusion of a separate peace was, above all, Lenin. He was afraid of the German offensive and the complete loss of his own power, which, even after the coup, was largely based on German money. It is unlikely that the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was directly bought by Berlin. The main factor was precisely the fear of losing power. Considering that a year after the conclusion of peace with Germany, Lenin was ready even for the division of Russia in exchange for international recognition, then the terms of the Brest Peace would seem not so humiliating.
Trotsky occupied an intermediate position in the inner-party struggle. He defended the thesis "No peace, no war." That is, he proposed to stop hostilities, but not to sign any agreements with Germany. As a result of the struggle within the party, it was decided to drag out the negotiations in every possible way, expecting a revolution in Germany, but if the Germans present an ultimatum, then agree to all conditions. However, Trotsky, who led the Soviet delegation in the second round of negotiations, refused to accept the German ultimatum. Negotiations broke down and Germany continued to advance. When the peace was signed, the Germans were 170 km from Petrograd.
Annexations and indemnities
Peace conditions were very difficult for Russia. She lost Ukraine and Polish lands, renounced her claims to Finland, gave away the Batumi and Kars regions, had to demobilize all her troops, abandon the Black Sea Fleet and pay huge indemnities. The country was losing almost 800 thousand square meters. km and 56 million people. In Russia, the Germans received the exclusive right to freely engage in entrepreneurship. In addition, the Bolsheviks pledged to pay the royal debts of Germany and its allies.
At the same time, the Germans did not comply with their own obligations. After signing the treaty, they continued the occupation of Ukraine, overthrew the Soviet regime on the Don and helped the White movement in every possible way.
Rise of the Left
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk almost led to a split in the Bolshevik Party and the loss of power by the Bolsheviks. Lenin hardly dragged the final decision on peace through a vote in the Central Committee, threatening to resign. The split of the party did not happen only thanks to Trotsky, who agreed to abstain from the vote, ensuring the victory of Lenin. But this did not help to avoid a political crisis.
Contrary to the promises of the Bolsheviks, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was concluded on the terms of Germany and its allies, which were extremely difficult for Russia. Most of Ukraine, the Estonian, Livonian and Courland provinces, as well as the Grand Duchy of Finland became German protectorates or became part of Germany. The Baltic Fleet abandoned its bases in Finland and the Baltics. Russia paid 6 billion marks in reparations.
Peace treaty
between Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Bulgaria and Turkey on the one hand
and Russia on the other
Since Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey on the one hand, and Russia on the other, agreed to end the state of war and end the peace negotiations as soon as possible, they were appointed plenipotentiaries:
from the Imperial German Government:
State Secretary of the Office of Foreign Affairs, Imperial Privy Councillor, Mr. Richard von Kühlmann,
imperial envoy and minister plenipotentiary, Mr. dr background Rosenberg,
Royal Prussian Major General Hoffmann,
Chief of the General Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on the Eastern Front, Captain 1st Rank Gorn,
from the Imperial and Royal General Austro-Hungarian Government:
Minister of the Imperial and Royal House and Foreign Affairs, His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Privy Councilor Ottokar Count Czernin von zu Hudenitz,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Privy Counsellor, His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, Mr. Kajetan Merey von Kapos-Mere,
General of the Infantry, His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Privy Councillor, Mr. Maximilian Cicerich von Bachani,
from the Royal Bulgarian Government:
Royal Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Vienna, Andrey Toshev,
Colonel of the General Staff, Royal Bulgarian Military Plenipotentiary under His Majesty the German Emperor and Adjutant Wing of His Majesty the King of Bolgars, Petr Ganchev,
Royal Bulgarian First Secretary of the Mission, Dr. Teodor Anastasov,
from the Imperial Ottoman Government:
His Highness Ibrahim Hakki Pasha, Former Grand Vizier, Member of the Ottoman Senate, Ambassador Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Sultan in Berlin,
His Excellency, General of the Cavalry, Adjutant General of His Majesty the Sultan and Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Sultan to His Majesty the German Emperor, Zeki Pasha,
from the Russian Federation Soviet Republic:
Grigory Yakovlevich Sokolnikov, member of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies,
Lev Mikhailovich Karakhan, member of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies,
Georgy Vasilyevich Chicherin; Assistant People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and
Grigory Ivanovich Petrovsky, People's Commissar for Internal Affairs.
The plenipotentiaries met at Brest-Litovsk for peace talks, and after presenting their credentials, found to be in correct and proper form, came to an agreement on the following decrees.
Article I
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey on the one hand and Russia 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 areas 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 (Appendix 1), which is an essential part of this peace treaty. Precise definition this line will be worked out by the German-Russian 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.
In addition, Russia will either transfer its warships to Russian ports and leave there until the conclusion of a general peace, or immediately disarm. The military courts of states that are still at war with the powers of the quadruple alliance, since these ships are in the sphere of Russian power, are equated with Russian military courts.
The restricted zone in the Arctic Ocean remains in force until the conclusion of a universal peace. In the Baltic Sea and in the parts of the Black Sea subject to Russia, the removal of minefields must begin immediately. Merchant shipping in these maritime regions is free and immediately resumed. In order to work out more precise regulations, in particular for the publication to the public of safe routes for merchant ships, mixed commissions will be created. Navigation routes must be kept clear of floating mines at all times.
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 Estonia runs generally along the Narva River. The eastern border of Livonia 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. Estland and Livonia will be occupied by the German police authorities until public security is ensured there by the country's own institutions and until state order is established there. Russia will immediately release all arrested and taken away inhabitants of Estonia and Livonia and ensure the safe return of all taken away Estonians and Livonians.
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. As long as the ice makes it impossible to transfer warships to Russian ports, only insignificant crews should be left on them. Russia stops all agitation or propaganda against the Finnish government or public institutions.
The fortifications erected on the Åland Islands must be demolished as soon as possible. With regard to the prohibition to continue to erect fortifications on these islands, as well as their general provisions regarding military and navigation technology, a special agreement must be concluded regarding them between Germany, Finland, Russia and Sweden; The parties agree that, at the request of Germany, other states adjacent to the Baltic Sea may also be involved in this agreement.
Article VII
Based on the fact that Persia and Afghanistan are free and independent states, the contracting parties undertake to respect the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of Persia and Afghanistan.
Article VIII
The prisoners of war of both sides will be released to their homeland. The settlement of related questions will be the subject of special treaties provided for in Article XII.
Article IX
The contracting parties mutually renounce the reimbursement of their military expenses, i.e., state expenses for the conduct of the war, as well as compensation for military losses, i.e., those losses that were inflicted on them and their citizens in the zone of military operations by military measures, in including all requisitions made in the enemy country.
Article X
Diplomatic and consular relations between the contracting parties are resumed immediately after the ratification of the peace treaty. As regards the admission of consuls, both parties reserve the right to enter into special agreements.
Article XI
Economic relations between the powers of the Quadruple Alliance and Russia are determined by the decrees contained in Annexes 2-5, with Annex 2 defining relations between Germany and Russia, Annex 3 between Austria-Hungary and Russia, Annex 4 between Bulgaria and Russia, Appendix 5 - between Turkey and Russia.
Article XII
The restoration of public law and private law relations, the exchange of prisoners of war and civilian prisoners, the question of amnesty, as well as the question of the attitude towards merchant ships that have fallen into the power of the enemy, are the subject of separate agreements with Russia, which form an essential part of this peace treaty, and, as far as possible, take effect simultaneously with it.
Article XIII
When interpreting this Treaty, the authentic texts for relations between Germany and Russia are German and Russian, between Austria-Hungary and Russia - German, Hungarian and Russian, between Bulgaria and Russia - Bulgarian and Russian, between Turkey and Russia - Turkish and Russian.
Article XIV
The present peace treaty will be ratified. The exchange of instruments of ratification should take place as soon as possible in Berlin. The Russian government assumes the obligation to exchange instruments of ratification at the request of one of the powers of the quadruple alliance within a two-week period. A peace treaty enters into force from the moment of its ratification, unless otherwise follows from its articles, annexes to it or supplementary treaties.
In witness thereof, the Commissioners have personally signed this treaty.
In the First World War, which began in the summer of 1914, Russia took the side of the Entente and its allies - the United States, Belgium, Serbia, Italy, Japan and Romania. This coalition was opposed by the Central Powers - a military-political bloc that included Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Bulgarian kingdom and the Ottoman Empire.
The protracted war exhausted the economy of the Russian Empire. At the beginning of 1917, rumors about an impending famine spread around the capital, bread cards appeared. And on February 21, robberies of bakeries began. Local pogroms quickly developed into anti-war actions under the slogans "Down with the war!", "Down with the autocracy!", "Bread!". By February 25, at least 300,000 people took part in the rallies.
The data on colossal losses destabilized society even more: according to various estimates, from 775 thousand to 1 million 300 thousand Russian soldiers died in the First World War.
In the same February days of 1917, a riot began in the troops. By the spring, the orders of the officers were not actually carried out, and the May Declaration of the Rights of the Soldier, which equalized the rights of soldiers and civilians, further undermined discipline. The failure of the summer Riga operation, as a result of which Russia lost Riga and 18 thousand people killed and captured, led to the fact that the army finally lost its morale.
The Bolsheviks also played their part in this, considering the army as a threat to their power. They skillfully fueled pacifist sentiments in military circles.
And in the rear it became a catalyst for two revolutions - February and October. The Bolsheviks got an already morally broken army, which was not able to fight.
- Line for bread. Petrograd, 1917
- RIA News
Meanwhile, the First World War continued, and Germany had a real opportunity to take Petrograd. Then the Bolsheviks decided on a truce.
“The conclusion of the Brest Peace was an inevitable, forced measure. The Bolsheviks themselves, fearing the suppression of their uprising, decomposed royal army and understood that she was not capable of full-fledged combat operations, ”said Valery Korovin, director of the Center for Geopolitical Expertise, in an interview with RT.
Peace Decree
A month after the October Revolution, November 8, 1917, new government adopted the Decree on Peace, the main thesis of which was an immediate truce without annexations and indemnities. However, the proposal to start negotiations of the powers of the "friendly agreement" was ignored, and the Council of People's Commissars was forced to act independently.
Lenin sent a telegram to the units of the Russian army that were at the front at that moment.
“Let the regiments standing in positions immediately choose authorized persons to formally enter into negotiations on a truce with the enemy,” it said.
On December 22, 1917, Soviet Russia began negotiations with the Central Powers. However, the formula "without annexations and indemnities" did not suit Germany and Austria-Hungary. They suggested that Russia "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 separation from the Russian Federation."
Of course, the Soviet side could not fulfill such requirements. It was decided in Petrograd that time had to be gained in order to reorganize the army and prepare for the defense of the capital. For this, Trotsky leaves for Brest-Litovsk.
The mission of the "puller"
“In order to drag out the negotiations, you need a “delayer,” as Lenin put it,” Trotsky would later write, calling his participation in the negotiations “visits to the torture chamber.”
At the same time, Trotsky conducted "subversive" propaganda activities among the workers and peasants of Germany and Austria-Hungary with an eye on an imminent uprising.
The negotiations were extremely difficult. On January 4, 1918, they were joined by a delegation from the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR), which did not recognize Soviet power. In Brest-Litovsk, the UNR acted as a third party, putting forward claims to part of the Polish and Austro-Hungarian territories.
Meanwhile, the economic turmoil of the war had also reached the Central Powers. Food cards for the population appeared in Germany and Austria-Hungary, strikes began demanding peace.
On January 18, 1918, the Central Powers presented their terms for an armistice. According to them, Germany and Austria-Hungary received Poland, Lithuania, some territories of Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, the Moonsund Islands, and the Gulf of Riga. The delegation of Soviet Russia, for which the demands of the powers were extremely unfavorable, took a break in the negotiations.
The Russian delegation could not make an informed decision also because serious disagreements arose in the country's leadership.
Thus, Bukharin called for an end to negotiations and a "revolutionary war" against the Western imperialists, believing that even Soviet power itself could be sacrificed for the "interests of the international revolution." Trotsky adhered to the line "no war, no peace": "We do not sign peace, we stop the war, and we demobilize the army."
- Leon Trotsky (in the center) as part of the Russian delegation arrives for negotiations in Brest-Litovsk, 1918
- globallookpress.com
- Berliner Verlag / Archive
Lenin, in turn, wanted peace at all costs and insisted that German demands should be accepted.
“A revolutionary war needs an army, but we don’t have an army ... Undoubtedly, the peace that we are forced to conclude now is an obscene peace, but if a war breaks out, our government will be swept away and peace will be concluded by another government,” he said.
As a result, they decided to drag out the negotiations even more. Trotsky again went to Brest-Litovsk with instructions from Lenin to sign a peace treaty on Germany's terms if she presented an ultimatum.
Russian "surrender"
During the days of the negotiations, a Bolshevik uprising took place in Kyiv. Soviet power was proclaimed in Left-Bank Ukraine, and Trotsky returned to Brest-Litovsk at the end of January 1918 with representatives of Soviet Ukraine. At the same time, the Central Powers declared that they recognized the sovereignty of the UNR. Then Trotsky announced that, in turn, he did not recognize separate agreements between the UNR and the “partners”.
Despite this, on February 9, the delegations of Germany and Austria-Hungary, with an eye to the difficult economic situation in their countries, signed a peace treaty with the Ukrainian People's Republic. According to the document, in exchange for military assistance against Soviet Russia, the UNR was supposed to supply the "defenders" with food, as well as hemp, manganese ore and a number of other goods.
Having learned about the agreement with the UNR, German Emperor Wilhelm II ordered the German delegation to present an ultimatum to Soviet Russia demanding to abandon the Baltic regions to the Narva-Pskov-Dvinsk line. The formal reason for the toughening of the rhetoric was Trotsky's allegedly intercepted appeal to the German military with a call to "kill the emperor and the generals and fraternize with the Soviet troops."
Contrary to Lenin's decision, Trotsky refused to sign peace on German terms and left the negotiations.
As a result, on February 13, Germany resumed hostilities, rapidly moving northward. Minsk, Kyiv, Gomel, Chernigov, Mogilev and Zhitomir were taken.
- Demonstrators burn the symbols of the old system on the Champ de Mars, 1918
- RIA News
Lenin, given the low discipline and difficult psychological situation in Russian army, approved of mass fraternization with the enemy and spontaneous truces.
“Desertion is progressively growing, entire regiments and artillery go to the rear, exposing the front for significant stretches, the Germans are walking in crowds along the abandoned position. Constant visits by enemy soldiers to our positions, especially artillery ones, and the destruction of our fortifications by them, undoubtedly, are of an organized nature, ”the note of the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General Mikhail Bonch-Bruyevich, said in a note sent to the Council of People's Commissars.
As a result, on March 3, 1918, the delegation of Soviet Russia signed a peace treaty. According to the document, Russia made a number of serious territorial concessions. Baltic Fleet bases in Finland and the Baltic.
Russia lost the Vistula provinces, in which the predominantly Belarusian population lived, the Estonian, Courland and Livonian provinces, as well as the Grand Duchy of Finland.
In part, these regions became protectorates of Germany or were part of it. Russia also lost territories in the Caucasus - Kars and Batumi regions. In addition, Ukraine was rejected: the Soviet government was obliged to recognize the independence of the UNR and stop the war with it.
Also, Soviet Russia had to pay reparations in the amount of 6 billion marks. In addition, Germany demanded compensation for 500 million gold rubles of losses that it allegedly suffered as a result of the Russian revolution.
“The fall of Petrograd was, in general, a matter of, if not a few days, then a few weeks. And under these conditions, guessing whether it was possible or impossible to sign this peace does not make any sense. If we hadn’t signed it, we would have received an offensive by one of the most powerful armies in Europe on untrained, unarmed workers, ”says Vladimir Kornilov, director of the Center for Eurasian Studies.
Bolshevik plan
Estimates of the consequences of the Brest peace treaty by historians differ.
“We have ceased to be actors in European politics. However, there were no catastrophic consequences. In the future, all the territories lost as a result of the Brest Peace were returned first by Lenin, then by Stalin, ”Korovin emphasized.
Kornilov adheres to a similar point of view. The expert draws attention to the fact that the political forces, which considered the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk a betrayal, subsequently collaborated with the enemy themselves.
“Lenin, who was accused of betrayal, then proved that he was right by returning the territories. At the same time, the Right Social Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, who shouted the loudest, offered no resistance, calmly cooperated with the German occupation forces in southern Russia. And the Bolsheviks organized the return of these territories and returned in the end, ”said Kornilov.
At the same time, some analysts believe that in Brest-Litovsk, the Bolsheviks acted solely for the sake of their own interests.
“They saved their power and deliberately paid for it with territories,” Rostislav Ishchenko, president of the Center for System Analysis and Forecasting, said in an interview with RT.
- Vladimir Lenin, 1918
- globallookpress.com
According to the American historian Richard Pipes, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk helped Lenin gain additional authority.
“By presciently accepting a humiliating peace that gave him the necessary time and then collapsed under the influence of 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 unprecedented heights. Nothing better served his reputation for making no political mistakes,” writes Pipes in his study Bolsheviks in the Struggle for Power.
“Largely thanks to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, or rather, the German occupation, the future northern and eastern borders of Ukraine were formed,” says Kornilov.
In addition, it was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that became one of the reasons for the appearance in the Soviet, and then in the Russian Constitution of "time bombs" - national republics.
“The one-time loss of large territories has led to the facilitation and acceleration of the process of self-determination of the population of some of them as sovereign political nations. Subsequently, during the formation of the USSR, this influenced Lenin's choice of this particular model - the national-administrative division into the so-called republics with sovereignty and the right to secede from the USSR already inscribed in their very first constitution, ”Korovin noted.
At the same time, the events of 1918 largely influenced the idea of the Bolsheviks about the role of the state.
“The loss of large territories forced the Bolsheviks as a whole to rethink their attitude towards the state. If until some point the state was not a value in the light of the coming world revolution, then the one-time loss of a large space sobered even the most rabid, forcing them to appreciate the territories from which the state is made up, with their resources, population and industrial potential, ”concluded Korovin .