The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and its consequences. What is the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and what is its significance?

Signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

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 peace is usually concluded before the general cessation of war.

The signing of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was prepared in 3 stages.

History of the signing of the Brest Peace Treaty

First stage

The Soviet delegation in Brest-Litovsk is met by German officers

The Soviet delegation at the first stage included 5 authorized members of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee: A. A. Ioffe - chairman of the delegation, L. B. Kamenev (Rozenfeld) and G. Ya. Sokolnikov (Brilliant), Socialist Revolutionaries A. A. Bitsenko and S. D. Maslovsky-Mstislavsky, 8 members of the military delegation, 3 translators, 6 technical employees and 5 ordinary members of the delegation (sailor, soldier, Kaluga peasant, worker, naval ensign).

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 the group of military consultants, Major General V. E. Skalon, shot himself. Many Russian officers believed that he was depressed due to the humiliating defeat, the collapse of the army and the fall of the country.

Based general principles Decree on Peace, the Soviet delegation immediately proposed adopting the following program as the basis for negotiations:

No forcible annexation of territories captured during the war is allowed; the troops occupying these territories are withdrawn as soon as possible.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 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 resolve the issue of belonging to any state or their state independence through a free referendum.
Cultural-national and, under certain conditions, administrative autonomy of national minorities is ensured.
Waiver of indemnities.
Solving colonial issues based on the above principles.
Preventing 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 majority vote, it was decided to delay peace negotiations as long as possible, in the hope of an early revolution in Germany itself.

The Entente governments did not respond to the invitation to take part in peace negotiations.

Second phase

At the second stage of 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 the self-determining territories should be carried out through a national referendum, after the withdrawal of foreign troops and the return of refugees and displaced persons. General Hoffmann, in a 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 went 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 develop an offensive against Petrograd. Russian Baltic ports passed into German hands. The proposed border was extremely unfavorable for Russia: the absence of natural boundaries and the preservation of a bridgehead for Germany on the banks of the Western Dvina near Riga in the event of war threatened the occupation of all of Latvia and Estonia, and threatened Petrograd. The Soviet delegation demanded a new break in the peace conference for another ten days to familiarize its government with German demands. The German delegation's self-confidence increased after the Bolsheviks dispersed the Constituent Assembly on January 19, 1918.

By mid-January 1918, a split was forming in the RSDLP (b): a group of “left communists” led by N.I. Bukharin insists on rejecting German demands, and Lenin insists on their acceptance, publishing “Theses on Peace” on January 20. The main argument of the “left communists”: without immediate revolution in countries Western Europe the socialist revolution in Russia will die. They did not allow any agreements with the imperialist states and demanded that a “revolutionary war” be declared against 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 of “neither peace nor war - “We are stopping the war, we are not making peace, we are demobilizing the army.”

On January 21, Lenin provided a detailed justification for the need to sign peace, announcing his “Theses on the issue of the immediate conclusion of a separate and annexationist peace” (they were published only on February 24). 15 meeting participants voted for Lenin’s theses, 32 people supported the position of the “left communists” and 16 supported the position of Trotsky.

Before the departure of the Soviet delegation to Brest-Litovsk to continue negotiations, Lenin instructed Trotsky to delay the negotiations in every possible way, but if the Germans presented an ultimatum, to sign peace.

IN AND. Lenin

On March 6-8, 1918, at the VII emergency congress of the RSDLP(b), Lenin managed to persuade everyone to ratify the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty. Voting: 30 for ratification, 12 against, 4 abstained. Following the results of the congress, the party was, at Lenin’s suggestion, renamed the RCP(b). The congress delegates were not familiar with the text of the treaty. However, 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 move the capital from Petrograd to Moscow due to 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 treaty, which was shameful for Russia: Trotsky had resigned by the time of signing, Joffe refused to go as part of the delegation to Brest-Litovsk. Sokolnikov and Zinoviev nominated each other; Sokolnikov also refused the appointment, threatening to resign. But after long negotiations, Sokolnikov still agreed to lead the Soviet delegation. The new composition of the delegation: Sokolnikov G. Ya., Petrovsky L. M., Chicherin G. V., Karakhan G. I. and a group of 8 consultants (among them the former chairman of the delegation Ioffe A. A.). The delegation arrived in Brest-Litovsk on March 1 and two days later signed an agreement without any discussion. The official signing ceremony of the agreement took place in the White Palace (the Nemtsevichs’ house in the village of Skoki, Brest region) and ended at 5 o’clock in the afternoon on March 3, 1918. And the German-Austrian offensive, which 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 onerous. They made it possible to imagine what kind of peace the countries of the Quadruple Entente would have to sign if they had lost the war … " According to this treaty, Russia pledged to make many territorial concessions by demobilizing its army and navy.

The Vistula provinces, Ukraine, provinces with a predominant Belarusian population, the Estland, Courland and Livonia provinces, and 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 UPR government.
In the Caucasus, Russia ceded the Kars region and the Batumi region.
The Soviet government stopped 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 states.
The Black Sea Fleet with its entire infrastructure was transferred to the Central Powers.
Russia paid 6 billion marks of reparations plus 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 their allied states formed on the territory of the Russian Empire.

If the results of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty are translated into numbers, it will look like this: a territory with an area of 780 thousand 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, 27% of cultivated agricultural land, 26% of the entire railway network, 33% of the textile industry were located, 73% of iron and steel were smelted, 89% of coal was mined and manufactured 90% sugar; There were 918 textile factories, 574 breweries, 133 tobacco factories, 1,685 distilleries, 244 chemical plants, 615 pulp mills, 1,073 engineering factories and home to 40% of the industrial workers.

Russia withdrew all its troops from these territories, and Germany, on the contrary, sent them there.

Consequences of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty

German troops occupied Kyiv

The advance of the German army was not limited to the occupation zone 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 the southern part of the Don region, Taganrog, Rostov-on-Don. The movement of the “democratic counter-revolution” began, which proclaimed Socialist Revolutionary and Menshevik governments in Siberia and the Volga region, the uprising of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries in July 1918 in Moscow and the transition of the civil war to large-scale battles.

The Left Social Revolutionaries, as well as the resulting faction of “left communists” within the RCP (b), spoke of “betrayal of the world revolution,” since the conclusion of peace on the Eastern Front objectively strengthened the conservative Kaiser’s regime in Germany. The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries resigned from the Council of People's Commissars in protest. The opposition rejected Lenin's arguments that Russia could not but accept German conditions in connection with the collapse of its army, putting forward a plan for the transition to mass popular uprising against the German-Austrian occupiers.

Patriarch Tikhon

The Entente powers perceived the concluded separate peace with hostility. On March 6, British troops landed in Murmansk. On March 15, the Entente declared non-recognition of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, 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, the Russian-German additional treaty to the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and the Russian-German financial agreement were concluded, which were signed by plenipotentiary A. A. Ioffe on behalf of the government of the RSFSR, and by von P. on behalf of Germany. Ginze and I. Kriege.

Soviet Russia undertook to pay Germany, as compensation for damage and expenses for maintaining 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 in supplies of goods. In September 1918, two “gold trains” (93.5 tons of “pure gold” worth over 120 million gold rubles) were sent to Germany. Almost all of the Russian gold that arrived in Germany was subsequently transferred to France as indemnity under the Treaty of Versailles.

According to the additional agreement concluded, Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine and Georgia, renounced Estonia and Livonia, which, according to the original agreement, were formally recognized as part of Russian state, having bargained for the right of access to the Baltic ports (Revel, Riga and Windau) and retained Crimea, control over Baku, ceding to 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 support separatist movements on Russian soil.

November 13, after the Allied victory in the war, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was canceled 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-Litovsk Treaty, Lenin’s authority became unquestioned among the Bolshevik leaders: “By shrewdly agreeing to a humiliating peace, which allowed him to gain the necessary time, and then collapsed under the influence of its own gravity, Lenin earned the widespread trust of the Bolsheviks. When they tore up the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on November 13, 1918, following which Germany capitulated to the Western allies, Lenin's authority was elevated to unprecedented heights in the Bolshevik movement. 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,” wrote R. Pipes in his work “Bolsheviks in the Struggle for Power.”

Civil War in Russia lasted until 1922 and ended with the establishment of Soviet power in most of the territory former Russia, with the exception of Finland, Bessarabia, the Baltic states, Poland (including the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus included in its composition).

The Brest-Litovsk Treaty of 1918 was a peace treaty between representatives of Soviet Russia and representatives of the Central Powers, which marked the defeat and withdrawal of Russia from the First World War.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on March 3, 1918 and annulled in November 1918 by the decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR.

Prerequisites for signing a peace treaty

In October 1917, another revolution took place in Russia. The Provisional Government, which ruled the country after the abdication of Nicholas 2, was overthrown and the Bolsheviks came to power, and the Soviet state began to form. One of the main slogans of the new government was “peace without annexations and indemnities”; they advocated for an immediate end to the war and Russia’s entry into a peaceful path of development.

At the very first meeting of the Constituent Assembly, the Bolsheviks presented their own decree on peace, which envisaged an immediate end to the war with Germany and an early truce. The war, according to the Bolsheviks, had dragged on too long and had become too bloody for Russia, so its continuation was impossible.

Peace negotiations with Germany began on November 19 at the initiative of Russia. Immediately after the signing of peace, Russian soldiers began to leave the front, and this did not always happen legally - there were many AWOLs. The soldiers were simply tired of the war and wanted to return to peaceful life as soon as possible. Russian army could no longer participate in hostilities, as she was exhausted, just like the whole country.

Signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Negotiations on signing peace proceeded in several stages, since the parties could not reach mutual understanding. Russian government, although they wanted to get out of the war as quickly as possible, they did not intend to pay indemnity (cash ransom), since this was considered humiliating and had never been practiced before in Russia. Germany did not agree to such conditions and demanded payment of indemnity.

Soon, the allied forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary presented Russia with an ultimatum, according to which it could withdraw from the war, but would lose the territories of Belarus, Poland and part of the Baltic states. The Russian delegation found itself in a difficult position: on the one hand, the Soviet government was not satisfied with such conditions, as they seemed humiliating, but, on the other hand, the country, exhausted by revolutions, did not have the strength and means to continue its participation in the war.

As a result of the meetings, the councils made an unexpected decision. Trotsky said that Russia does not intend to sign a peace treaty drawn up on such conditions, however, the country will also not participate in the war further. According to Trotsky, Russia is simply withdrawing its armies from the battlefields and will not offer any resistance. The surprised German command stated that if Russia did not sign peace, they would launch an offensive again.

Germany and Austria-Hungary again mobilized their troops and began to attack Russian territories, however, contrary to their expectations, Trotsky kept his promise, and Russian soldiers refused to fight and did not offer any resistance. This situation caused a split within the Bolshevik party, some of them understood that they would have to sign a peace treaty, otherwise the country would suffer, while others insisted that peace would be a disgrace for Russia.

Terms of the Brest-Litovsk Peace

The terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk were not very favorable for Russia, as it was losing many territories, but the ongoing war would have cost the country much more.

Russia lost the territories of Ukraine, partly Belarus, Poland and the Baltic states, as well as the Grand Duchy of Finland;
Russia was also losing a fairly significant part of its territories in the Caucasus;
The Russian army and navy were to be immediately demobilized and completely abandoned the battlefields;
The Black Sea Fleet was supposed to go to the command of Germany and Austria-Hungary;
The treaty obliged the Soviet government to immediately stop not only military operations, but also all revolutionary propaganda in Germany, Austria and allied countries.

The last point caused especially a lot of controversy in the ranks of the Bolshevik Party, since it actually prohibited the Soviet government from implementing the ideas of socialism in other states and prevented the creation of the socialist world that the Bolsheviks so dreamed of. Germany also obliged the Soviet government to pay all losses that the country suffered as a result of revolutionary propaganda.

Despite the signing of a peace treaty, the Bolsheviks feared that Germany might resume hostilities, so the government was urgently transferred from Petrograd to Moscow. Moscow became the new capital.

Results and significance of the Brest-Litovsk Peace

Despite the fact that the signing of the peace treaty was criticized by both the Soviet people and representatives of Germany and Austria-Hungary, the consequences were not as dire as expected - Germany was defeated in the First World War, and Soviet Russia immediately annulled the peace treaty.

The Brest-Litovsk Treaty of 1918 was the treaty that brought Russia out of the First World War. However, contrary to the promises of the Bolsheviks with which they came to power, this agreement was concluded on the terms of Germany and its allies, which were extremely difficult for Russia. The question of whether such a peace could be concluded with the imperialists gave rise to fierce debate, and the consequences of the treaty became one of the reasons for a large-scale civil war in the territory of the former Russian Empire.

The issue of exit from the First World War was one of the key ones in Russian political life in 1917. Already the Minister of War of the Provisional Government, General A. Verkhovsky, publicly stated in October 1917 that Russia could not continue the war. The Bolsheviks advocated the speedy conclusion of peace without annexations (conquests) and indemnities (financial payments to the victors) with the right of nations to self-determination based on the results of plebiscites. Moreover, if the Entente states refused to agree to universal peace, the Bolsheviks were ready to begin peace negotiations separately. This position contributed to the growing popularity of the Bolsheviks and their rise to power. On October 26, the Second Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies adopted the Decree on Peace, which enshrined these principles.

On November 22, 1917, a truce was concluded at the front, and on December 9, 1917, separate peace negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk between representatives of the RSFSR on the one hand, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria (Central Powers) on the other. another. They quickly showed: the German side does not take seriously the slogans of peace without annexations and indemnities, perceives Russia’s desire to conclude a separate peace as evidence of its defeat and is ready to dictate terms that involve both annexations and indemnities. German and Austro-Hungarian diplomacy also took advantage of the fact that Soviet Russia granted the formal right to self-determination to Poland, Finland, Ukraine and Transcaucasia, while supporting, however, the communist struggle for power in Finland, Transcaucasia and Ukraine. The countries of the Quadruple Alliance demanded non-interference in the affairs of these countries, hoping to take advantage of their resources necessary to win the war. But Russia also urgently needed these resources to restore its economy. The humiliating agreement with the imperialists was unacceptable for the revolutionaries both from the point of view of the communist-Bolsheviks and from the point of view of their government partners, the left-wing socialist revolutionaries (left socialist revolutionaries). As a result, the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) decided that the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Leonid Trotsky would delay negotiations as long as possible, and after the Germans put forward an ultimatum, he would go to Petrograd for consultations.

The government of the Central Rada of Ukraine also joined these negotiations. In Ukraine, back in March 1917, a national political leadership arose - the Central Rada, to which power in the central part of this country passed in November 1917. The Central Rada did not recognize the right of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR to speak on behalf of the entire former Russian Empire. Having been defeated in December at the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, the Bolsheviks formed the Soviet government of Ukraine in Kharkov. In January, supporters of the Soviet regime controlled the east and south of Ukraine. On December 4, the Soviet government of Russia recognized Ukraine's right to independence, but denied the right of the Central Rada to represent the entire Ukrainian people. The Central Rada stated that it strives for autonomy for Ukraine within the federal Russian state. But in the context of an escalating conflict, on January 9 (22), 1918, it nevertheless declared independence. A civil war broke out between the pro-Soviet east of Ukraine and supporters of the Central Rada, in which Kharkov received support from Soviet Russia.

There was a rapprochement between representatives of the Central Rada and the powers of the Quadruple Alliance, which weakened Russia’s position. On January 5, German General M. Hoffmann, in the form of an ultimatum, announced the German peace conditions - Russia’s renunciation of all territories occupied by Germany.

Regarding the acceptance of these conditions, a heated debate broke out in the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b). Lenin, recognizing that the world was difficult and shameful (“obscene”), demanded that the German ultimatum be accepted. He believed that the Bolshevik detachments and the decaying old army could not provide successful resistance to the German offensive. The Left Social Revolutionaries and part of the Bolsheviks (left communists and supporters of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Leonid Trotsky) considered the terms of the ultimatum too difficult for Russia and unacceptable from the standpoint of the interests of the world revolution, since such a peace meant a betrayal of the principles of universal peace and provided Germany with additional resources to continue the war in West.

By delaying the signing of peace, Trotsky hoped that Germany would transfer troops to the West. In this case, signing a shameful peace would become unnecessary. The left communists led by N. Bukharin and the majority of the left Socialist Revolutionaries believed that the oppressed peoples of the world cannot be abandoned, it will be necessary to lead a revolutionary, first of all guerrilla warfare with German imperialism. Weary Germany will not survive such a war. They believed that the Germans would, in any case, continue to put pressure on Soviet Russia, trying to turn it into their vassal, and therefore war was inevitable, and peace would be harmful, since it would demoralize supporters of Soviet power.

The majority of the Central Committee initially supported Trotsky and Bukharin. The position of the left received the support of the Moscow and Petrograd party organizations, as well as approximately half of the country's party organizations.

On February 9 (NS) 1918, representatives of the Central Rada signed an agreement with the powers of the Quadruple Alliance, which determined the western border of Ukraine. The Central Rada also pledged to ensure food supplies to Germany and Austria-Hungary and invited their troops to Ukraine. At this time, the Rada itself fled from Kyiv, since Kyiv was captured by Soviet troops on February 8.

Having concluded an agreement with Ukraine, the German side was preparing to demand that Russia immediately sign peace under the threat of a resumption of war.

On February 10, 1918, Trotsky announced the end of the state of war and the demobilization of the army, but refused to sign peace and left for Petrograd. He put forward the slogan: “No peace, no war, but disband the army.” The Germans resumed their offensive on February 18, occupied Estonia, Pskov and threatened Petrograd. Bolshevik troops and the decaying old army were unable to successfully resist the German advance. However, the Germans also did not have the capabilities to advance deep into Russia.

In the course of further discussions in the Bolshevik Central Committee, Trotsky yielded to Lenin's pressure and began to abstain from voting on peace. This predetermined the victory of the Leninist point of view in the Central Committee and the Council of People's Commissars.

Thanks to the success of its offensive, Germany put forward even more difficult peace conditions, demanding the transfer of newly occupied territories under its control, as well as the evacuation of Soviet troops from Ukraine.

On March 3, 1918, the Soviet delegation that went to Brest, which Trotsky did not join, signed a peace based on the demands of the German ultimatum. Under its terms, Russia renounced its rights to Finland, Ukraine, the Baltic states and parts of Transcaucasia (the Council of People's Commissars had already recognized the independence of some of these countries in November-December 1917). According to the secret agreement, it was assumed that Russia would pay an indemnity of 6 billion marks (in reality, less than a twentieth of this amount was paid).

The possibility of ratifying the peace was discussed by the VII Extraordinary Congress of the RSDLP (b), which worked on March 6-8, 1918. Lenin insisted that the peace should be ratified. He argued that “we would inevitably and inevitably die at the slightest German advance.” Bukharin made a co-report against peace, arguing that peace does not provide respite, that “the game is not worth the candle,” and the positive consequences of peace are outweighed by the negative ones. An immediate “revolutionary war against German imperialism” is needed, which will begin in partisan forms, and with the creation of a new Red Army and the weakening of Germany, which is also busy on the Western Front, it will move on to a regular war. This position was supported by supporters of the left wing of the party. The outcome of the congress was decided by Lenin's authority: his resolution was adopted by 30 votes against 12 with 4 abstentions.

If the left communists had left the Communist Party and united with the left Socialist Revolutionaries, they could have achieved a majority at the Congress of Soviets. But they did not dare to vote against their party, and the IV Congress of Soviets ratified the peace treaty on March 15, 1918.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk had important consequences. The coalition with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries collapsed, they left the government. Germany's occupation of Ukraine (with subsequent expansion into southern Russian territory, since there was no clearly defined Russian-Ukrainian border) disrupted the ties between the center of the country and the grain and raw materials regions. At the same time, the Entente countries began intervention in Russia, trying to reduce the possible costs associated with its capitulation. The occupation of Ukraine and other regions aggravated the food problem and further aggravated relations between the townspeople and the peasantry. His representatives in the soviets, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, now launched a propaganda campaign against the Bolsheviks. In addition, capitulation to Germany became a challenge to the national feelings of the Russian people, turning millions of people against the Bolsheviks, regardless of their social origin.

German and Turkish troops continued to advance into territories claimed by the newly independent states. The Germans occupied Rostov and Crimea and advanced along the Black Sea towards the fleet parking lot in Novorossiysk. It was decided to sink the Black Sea Fleet so that it would not fall to Germany and Ukraine. German troops entered Georgia, and Turkish troops took Baku on September 14, 1918 and reached Port Petrovsk (now Makhachkala). In the territories of the former Russian Empire occupied by the troops of the Central Powers, formally independent states were created, the governments of which were dependent on Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire. However, the surrender of the Central Powers in World War I brought an end to this expansion.

After the outbreak of the revolution in Germany in November 1918 and its capitulation, Russia denounced the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on November 13. However, by this time the consequences of the Brest-Litovsk Peace had already manifested themselves in full force, and the Civil War and intervention of 1918-1922 unfolded on the territory of the former Russian Empire.

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 complete peace negotiations as soon as possible, they were appointed plenipotentiary representatives:

from the Imperial German Government:

State Secretary of the Foreign Office, Imperial Privy Councillor, Mr. Richard von Kühlmann,

Imperial Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary, Mr. Dr. Von 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 Household and Foreign Affairs, His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Privy Councilor Ottokar Count Czernin von zu Hudenitz,

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Privy Councilor, Cajetan Merey von Capos Mere,

General of the Infantry, His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Privy Councilor, Mr. Maximilian Chicherich 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 to His Majesty the German Emperor and Aide-de-Camp to His Majesty the King of the Bulgarians, Petr Ganchev,

Royal Bulgarian First Secretary of the Mission, Dr. Theodore Anastasov,

from the Imperial Ottoman Government:

His Highness Ibrahim Hakki Pasha, former Grand Vizier, Member of the Ottoman Senate, Plenipotentiary Ambassador of His Majesty the Sultan in Berlin,

His Excellency, General of the Cavalry, Adjutant General of His Majesty the Sultan and Military Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Sultan to His Majesty the German Emperor, Zeki Pasha,

from the Russian Federative Soviet Republic:

Grigory Yakovlevich Sokolnikov, member of the Central Executive Committee of the Councils of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies,

Lev Mikhailovich Karaxan, member of the Central Executive Committee of the Councils 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 negotiations and, after presenting their powers, which were found to be in correct and proper form, came to an agreement regarding the following resolutions.

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 henceforth 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 institutions of the other party. Since this obligation concerns Russia, it also applies 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. The exact definition of this line will be worked out by a German-Russian commission.

For the designated regions, no obligations towards Russia will arise from their former affiliation with Russia.

Russia refuses any interference in the internal affairs of these regions. Germany and Austria-Hungary intend to determine future destiny these areas after demolition with their population.

Article IV

Germany is ready, as soon as general peace is concluded and Russian demobilization is completely carried out, to clear the territory lying east of the line indicated in paragraph 1 of Article III, since Article VI does not stipulate otherwise.

Russia will do everything in its power to ensure the speedy cleansing of the provinces of Eastern Anatolia and their orderly return to Turkey.

The districts of Ardahan, Kars and Batum are also immediately cleared of Russian troops. Russia will not interfere in new organization state-legal and international-legal relations of these districts, and 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 military ships to Russian ports and leave them there until a general peace is concluded, or immediately disarm them. Military courts of states that continue to be at war with the powers of the Quadruple Alliance, since these vessels are within the sphere of Russian power, are equated to Russian military courts.

The exclusion zone in the Arctic Ocean remains in force until global peace is concluded. In the Baltic Sea and in Russian-controlled parts of the Black Sea, the removal of minefields must begin immediately. Merchant shipping in these maritime areas is free and immediately resumed. Mixed commissions will be created to develop more precise regulations, especially for publishing safe routes for merchant ships. Navigation routes must be kept free of floating mines at all times.

Article VI

Russia undertakes to immediately make 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 Russian Red Guards. Russia ceases all agitation or propaganda against the government or public institutions of the Ukrainian People's Republic.

Estland and Livonia are also immediately cleared of Russian troops and Russian Red Guards. The eastern border of Estonia generally runs along the Narva River. The eastern border of Livonia runs generally through Lake Peipus and Lake Pskov to its southwestern corner, then through Lake Lyubanskoe in the direction of Livenhof on the Western Dvina. Estland and Livonia will be occupied by the German police power until public safety is ensured there by the country's own institutions and until it is established there public order. Russia will immediately release all arrested and deported residents of Estonia and Livonia and ensure the safe return of all deported Estonians and Livonia residents.

Finland and the Åland Islands will also be immediately cleared of Russian troops and Russian Red Guards, and Finnish ports will be cleared of Russian fleet and Russian naval forces. While ice makes it impossible to transfer military ships to Russian ports, only minor crews should be left on them. Russia ceases all agitation or propaganda against the government or public institutions of Finland.

The fortifications erected on the Åland Islands must be demolished as soon as possible. As for the prohibition to henceforth erect fortifications on these islands, as well as their general position in relation to military and navigation technology, a special agreement must be concluded regarding them between Germany, Finland, Russia and Sweden; The parties agree that other states adjacent to the Baltic Sea can be involved in this agreement at Germany's request.

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

Prisoners of war from both sides will be released to their homeland. The settlement of related issues will be the subject of special treaties provided for in Article XII.

Article IX

The contracting parties mutually refuse to reimburse their military expenses, i.e. government costs of waging war, as well as compensation for military losses, i.e. those losses that were caused to them and their citizens in the war zone by military measures, including all requisitions carried out in the enemy country.

Article X

Diplomatic and consular relations between the contracting parties are resumed immediately after the ratification of the peace treaty. Regarding 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 regulations contained in Annexes 2-5, with Appendix 2 defining the relations between Germany and Russia, Appendix 3 between Austria-Hungary and Russia, Appendix 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 issue of amnesty, as well as the issue of treatment of merchant ships that have fallen into the power of the enemy, is the subject of separate agreements with Russia, which form an essential part of this peace treaty, and, so far as possible, come into force 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

This peace treaty will be ratified. The exchange of instruments of ratification should take place in Berlin as soon as possible. The Russian government undertakes to exchange instruments of ratification at the request of one of the powers of the Quadruple Alliance within two weeks. A peace treaty comes into force from the moment of its ratification, unless otherwise follows from its articles, appendices or additional treaties.

In witness of this, the authorized persons have personally signed this agreement.

Ksenofontov I.N. The world that was wanted and hated. M., 1991.

Peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk from December 9 (22), 1917 to March 3 (16), 1918. T.1. M., 1920.

Mikhutina I. Ukrainian Brest peace. M., 2007.

Felshtinsky Yu. The collapse of the world revolution. Peace of Brest-Litovsk. October 1917 – November 1918. M., 1992.

Chernin O. During the days of the World War. Memoirs of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria-Hungary. St. Petersburg, 2005.

Chubaryan A.O. Peace of Brest-Litovsk. M., 1963.

Seventh emergency congress of the RCP(b). Verbatim report. M., 1962.

Why did the Bolsheviks begin separate peace negotiations without the participation of their Entente allies?

The participation of which political force in the Brest-Litovsk negotiations weakened the position of the Russian delegation?

What positions were formed in the Bolshevik Party regarding the conclusion of peace?

Which provisions of the contract were respected and which were not?

What territories did Russia give up under the terms of the treaty?

What were the consequences of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk(1918) - a peace treaty between Soviet Russia and Germany and its allies in the world war of 1914–1918: Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

On October 26 (November 8), 1917, the 2nd Congress of Soviets adopted a decree on peace, after which the Soviet government invited all warring states to immediately begin negotiations on a truce. None of the Entente countries (Russia's allies in the war) responded to these peace proposals, but the countries of the German-Austrian bloc at the end of November agreed 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 had virtually disintegrated, and a new one had not been created. But a significant part of the leadership of the Bolshevik Party advocated the continuation of 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 terms, according to with which Germany would annex the Baltic states, part of Belarus and Transcaucasia, and also receive an indemnity.

Since by this time 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, Ardahan, and Batum went to Turkey. Russia pledged to demobilize the army and navy. According to the additional Russian-German financial agreement signed in Berlin, it 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 “peace without annexations and indemnities.” On January 28, 1918, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia. She demanded to sign an agreement under which Russia would lose Poland, Belarus and part of the Baltic states - a total of 150 thousand square kilometers.

This confronted the Soviet delegation with a severe dilemma between the proclaimed principles and the demands of life. In accordance with the principles, it was necessary to wage war, and not to conclude a shameful peace with Germany. But there was no 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 negotiations. In short, it boiled down to the well-known formula: “Do not sign peace, do not wage war, and disband the army.”

Leon Trotsky stated: “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 transferred from the hands of the landowners to the hands of the peasant. We are withdrawing from the war. We refuse sanction the conditions that German and Austro-Hungarian imperialism are writing with a sword on the body of living peoples. We cannot put the signature of the Russian revolution on 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 peoples by the right of military conquest. Let them do their work openly. We cannot sanctify violence. We are leaving the war, but we are forced to refuse to sign a peace treaty." After this, he read out the official statement of the Soviet delegation: "Refusing to sign an annexationist treaty , Russia, for its part, declares the state of war ended. Russian troops At the same time, an order is given for complete demobilization along the entire front."

German and Austrian diplomats were initially truly 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. Kühlmann, immediately concluded: “Consequently, the state of war continues.” “Empty threats!” said L. Trotsky, leaving the meeting room.

However, contrary to the expectations of the Soviet leadership, on February 18, Austro-Hungarian troops launched an offensive along the entire front. Almost no one opposed them: the advance of the armies was only hampered by bad roads. On the evening of February 23, they occupied Pskov, and 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’s freemen with mother-of-pearl buttons sewn onto their 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 wrote bitterly in the newspaper "Pravda": "Painfully shameful reports about the refusal of the regiments to maintain 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; not to mention about flight, chaos, handlessness, helplessness, sloppiness."

On February 19, the Soviet leadership agreed to accept German peace terms. But now Germany has put forward much more difficult conditions, requiring five times the territory. About 50 million people lived on these lands; Over 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 very difficult conditions. The head of the new Soviet delegation, Grigory Sokolnikov, read out its statement: “Under the current conditions, Russia has no choice. By the fact of the demobilization of its troops, the Russian revolution, as it were, transferred 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 turn out to be only temporary and temporary." 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 current conditions.”

On March 3, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 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 of 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 Brest-Litovsk Treaty did not last long; in November, after the revolution in Germany, Soviet Russia annulled it.

Soon after the conclusion of peace, on March 11, V.I. Lenin wrote an article. The epigraph to it was the lines of N. Nekrasov: You and the poor, You and the abundant, You and the mighty, You and the powerless, Mother Rus'!

The head of the Council of People's Commissars wrote: “There is no need for self-deception. We must measure entirely, to the bottom, the entire abyss of defeat, dismemberment, enslavement, humiliation into which we have now been pushed. The clearer we understand this, the more solid, tempered, steel our will will become. .. our unshakable determination to ensure, at all costs, that Rus' ceases to be wretched 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 concluded 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 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk remained in force for 3 months. After the revolution in Germany of 1918–1919, the Soviet government unilaterally annulled it on November 13, 1918.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

PEACE TREATY

BETWEEN SOVIET RUSSIA, ON THE ONE SIDE, AND GERMANY, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, BULGARIA AND TURKEY, ON THE OTHER SIDE

(“PEACE OF BREST”)

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 henceforth live among themselves in peace and friendship.

Article II

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 ... *, which is an essential part of this peace treaty. The exact definition of this line will be worked out by a Russian-German commission.

For the designated regions, no obligations towards Russia will arise from their former affiliation with 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 upon demolition of their population.

Article IV

Russia will do everything in its power to ensure the speedy cleansing of the provinces of Eastern Anatolia and their orderly return to Turkey.

The districts of Ardahan, Kars and Batum are also immediately cleared of Russian troops. Russia will not interfere in the new organization of 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 make 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.

Estland and Livonia are also immediately cleared of Russian troops and the Russian Red Guard. The eastern border of Estonia generally runs along the Narva River. The eastern border of Liflyavdia generally runs through Lake Peipsi and Lake Pskov to its southwestern corner, then through Lake Lyubanskoe in the direction of Livenhof on the Western Dvina. Estonia and Livonia will be occupied by the German police power until public safety there is ensured 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 the Finnish ports will be cleared of the Russian fleet and Russian naval forces.

Article IX

Article X

Diplomatic and consular relations between the contracting parties are resumed immediately after the ratification of the peace treaty (...)

Article XIV

This peace treaty will be ratified (...) the peace treaty comes into force from the moment of its ratification.

Documentation foreign policy USSR, vol. 1. M., 1957
Vygodsky S. Lenin’s decree on peace. M., 1958
Mayorov S.M. The struggle of Soviet Russia to exit the imperialist war. M., 1959

Negotiations with Germany on an armistice 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, and assumed the post of Commander-in-Chief. November 21 (December 4), 1917 Soviet The delegation outlined its conditions:

the truce is concluded for 6 months;

military operations are suspended on all fronts;

German troops are withdrawn from Riga and the Moonsund Islands;

any transfer of German troops to the Western Front is prohibited.

As a result of the negotiations, a temporary agreement was reached:

troops remain in their positions;

All troop transfers are stopped, except those that have already begun.

On December 2 (15), 1917, a new stage of negotiations ended with the conclusion of a truce for 28 days, while, in the event of a break, the parties undertook to warn the enemy 7 days in advance; An agreement was also reached that new troop transfers to the Western Front would not be allowed.

First stage

Peace negotiations began on December 9 (22), 1917. The delegations of the states of the Quadruple Alliance were headed by: from Germany - State Secretary of the Foreign Office R. von Kühlmann; from Austria-Hungary - Minister of Foreign Affairs Count O. Chernin; from Bulgaria - Popov; from Turkey - Talaat Bey.

The Soviet delegation proposed to adopt the following program as the basis for negotiations:

1) No forcible annexation of territories captured during the war is allowed; the troops occupying these territories are withdrawn as soon as possible.

2) The full political independence of peoples who were deprived of this independence during the war is restored.

3) National groups that did not have political independence before the war are guaranteed the opportunity to freely decide the issue of belonging to any state or their state independence through a free referendum.

4) Cultural-national and, under certain conditions, administrative autonomy of national minorities is ensured.

5) Refusal of indemnities.

6) Resolving colonial issues based on the above principles.

7) Preventing indirect restrictions on the freedom of weaker nations by stronger nations.

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 Kühlmann made a statement that Germany and its allies accepted 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 clearly indicate 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.”

Having noted the adherence of the German bloc to the Soviet peace formula “without annexations and indemnities,” the Soviet delegation proposed declaring a ten-day break, during which they could try to bring the Entente countries to the negotiating table.

During a break in the conference, the NKID again addressed the Entente governments with an invitation to take part in peace negotiations and again received no response.

Second phase

At the second stage of the negotiations, the Soviet side was represented by L. D. Trotsky, 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. Altfater, A. A. Samoilo, V. V. Lipsky.

Opening the conference, R. von Kühlmann stated that since during the break in the peace negotiations no application had been received from any of the main participants in the war to join them, the delegations of the countries of the Quadruple Alliance were abandoning their previously expressed intention to join the Soviet peace formula “ without annexations and indemnities." Both von Kühlmann and the head of the Austro-Hungarian delegation, Chernin, spoke out against moving the negotiations to Stockholm. In addition, since Russia’s allies did not respond to the offer to take part in the negotiations, the conversation now, in the opinion of the German bloc, will have to be not about universal peace, but about a separate peace between Russia and the powers of the Quadruple Alliance.

On December 28, 1917 (January 10, 1918), von Kühlmann turned to Leon Trotsky, who headed the Soviet delegation at the second stage of negotiations, with the question of whether the Ukrainian delegation should be considered part of the Russian delegation or whether it represented an independent state. Trotsky actually followed the lead of the German bloc, recognizing the Ukrainian delegation as independent, which made it possible for Germany and Austria-Hungary to continue contacts with Ukraine, while negotiations with Russia were marking time.

On January 30, 1918, negotiations in Brest resumed. When the head of Trotsky’s delegation left for Brest, there was a personal agreement between him and Lenin: to delay negotiations until Germany presented an ultimatum, and then immediately sign peace. The situation at the negotiations was very difficult. On February 9-10, the German side negotiated in an ultimatum tone. However, no official ultimatum was presented. On the evening of February 10, Trotsky, on behalf of the Soviet delegation, announced a declaration of withdrawal from the war and refusal to sign the annexation treaty. The calm at the front was short-lived. On February 16, Germany announced the start of hostilities. On February 19, the Germans occupied Dvinsk and Polotsk and moved towards Petrograd. The few detachments of the young Red Army fought heroically, but retreated under the onslaught of the 500,000-strong German army. Pskov and Narva were abandoned. The enemy came close to Petrograd, advancing on Minsk and Kyiv. On February 23, a new German ultimatum was delivered to Petrograd, containing even stricter territorial, economic and military-political conditions under which the Germans agreed to sign a peace treaty. Not only Poland, Lithuania, Courland and part of Belarus were torn away from Russia, but also Estland and Livonia. Russia had to immediately withdraw its troops from the territory of Ukraine and Finland. In total, the country of the Soviets lost about 1 million square meters. km (including Ukraine). 48 hours were given to accept the ultimatum.

On February 3, a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) was held. Lenin demanded the immediate signing of the German peace terms, saying that otherwise he would resign. As a result, Lenin's proposal was accepted (7 for, 4 against, 4 abstained). On February 24, the German peace terms were accepted by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars. On March 3, 1918, a peace treaty was signed.

Terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Consisted of 14 articles, various annexes, 2 final protocols and 4 According to the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty:

The Vistula provinces, Ukraine, provinces with a predominant Belarusian population, the Estland, Courland and Livonia provinces, and the Grand Duchy of Finland were torn away from Russia. In the Caucasus: Kars region and Batumi region

The Soviet government stopped 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 states.

The Black Sea Fleet with its entire infrastructure was transferred to the Central Powers. Additional agreements (between Russia and each of the states of the Quadruple Alliance).

Russia paid 6 billion marks of reparations plus 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 their allied states formed on the territory of the Russian Empire.

The victory of the Entente in World War I and the signing of the Compiegne Armistice on November 11, 1918, according to which all treaties previously concluded with Germany were declared invalid, allowed Soviet Russia to annul the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on November 13, 1918 and return most of the territories. German troops left the territory of Ukraine, the Baltic states, and Belarus.

Consequences

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, as a result of which vast territories were torn away from Russia, cementing the loss of a significant part of the country's agricultural and industrial base, aroused opposition to the Bolsheviks from almost all political forces, both on the right and on the left. The treaty for the betrayal of Russia’s national interests almost immediately received the name “obscene peace.” The Left Socialist Revolutionaries, who were allied with the Bolsheviks and were part of the “Red” government, as well as the formed faction of “Left Communists” within the RCP (b), spoke of “betrayal of the world revolution,” since the conclusion of peace on the Eastern Front objectively strengthened the conservative Kaiser’s regime in Germany .

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk not only allowed the Central Powers, who were on the verge of defeat in 1917, to continue the war, but also gave them a chance to win, allowing them to concentrate all their forces against the Entente troops in France and Italy, and the liquidation of the Caucasian Front freed Turkey’s hands to act against the British in Middle East and Mesopotamia.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk served as a catalyst for the formation of the “democratic counter-revolution,” which was expressed in the proclamation of the Socialist Revolutionary and Menshevik governments in Siberia and the Volga region, and the uprising of the left Socialist Revolutionaries in July 1918 in Moscow. The suppression of these protests, in turn, led to the formation of a one-party Bolshevik dictatorship and a full-scale civil war.