Separate Peace 1918. Signing of the Brest Peace Treaty
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Surrender in Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Brest-Litovsk (Brest) Peace Treaty is a separate peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918 in Brest-Litovsk by representatives of Soviet Russia, on the one hand, and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria) on the other. . Marked the defeat and exit of Russia from the First World War.
On November 19 (December 2), the Soviet delegation, headed by A. A. Ioffe, arrived in the neutral zone and proceeded to Brest-Litovsk, where the Headquarters of the German command on the Eastern Front was located, where it met with the delegation of the Austro-German bloc, which included also representatives from Bulgaria and Turkey.
The building in which the armistice negotiations were held 
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 position of Commander-in-Chief.
Arrival of the German delegation in Brest-Litovsk
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German troops are withdrawn from Riga and the Moonsund Islands;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:
the truce is concluded for the period from November 24 (December 7) to December 4 (17);
troops remain in their positions;
All troop transfers are stopped, except those that have already begun.
Peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk. Arrival of Russian delegates. In the middle is A. A. Ioffe, next to him is secretary L. Karakhan, A. A. Bitsenko, on the right is L. B. Kamenev
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 - Minister of Justice Popov; from Turkey - Chairman of the Majlis Talaat Bey.
Hindenburg headquarters officers meet the arriving delegation of the RSFSR on the Brest platform in early 1918
The conference was opened by the Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Front, Prince Leopold of Bavaria, and Kühlmann took the chairman's seat.
Arrival of the Russian delegation
The Soviet delegation at the first stage included 5 authorized members of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee: Bolsheviks 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 (Quartermaster General under the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the General Staff, Major General V.E. Skalon, who was under the Chief of the General Staff, General Yu.N. Danilov, Assistant Chief of the Naval General Staff, Rear Admiral V.M. Altfater, Chief of the Nikolaev Military Academy of the General Staff General A. I. Andogsky, Quartermaster General of the Headquarters of the 10th Army of the General Staff General A. A. Samoilo, Colonel D. G. Focke, Lieutenant Colonel I. Ya. Tseplit, Captain V. Lipsky), secretary of the delegation L. M. Karakhan, 3 translators and 6 technical employees, as well as 5 ordinary members of the delegation - sailor F. V. Olich, soldier N. K. Belyakov, Kaluga peasant R. I. Stashkov, worker P. A. Obukhov , ensign of the fleet K. Ya. Zedin.
The leaders of the Russian delegation arrived at the Brest-Litovsk station. From left to right: Major Brinkmann, Joffe, Mrs. Birenko, Kamenev, Karakhan.
The resumption of armistice negotiations, which involved agreeing on terms and signing an agreement, was overshadowed by a tragedy in the Russian delegation. Upon arrival in Brest on November 29 (December 12), 1917, before the opening of the conference, during a private meeting of the Soviet delegation, a representative of the Headquarters in the group of military consultants, Major General V. E. Skalon, shot himself.
Truce in Brest-Litovsk. Members of the Russian delegation after arriving at the Brest-Litovsk station. From left to right: Major Brinkman, A. A. Ioffe, A. A. Bitsenko, L. B. Kamenev, Karakhan.
Based general principles Decree on Peace, the Soviet delegation, already at one of the first meetings, 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.
Trotsky L.D., Ioffe A. and Rear Admiral V. Altfater are going to the meeting. Brest-Litovsk.
After a three-day discussion by the countries of the German bloc of Soviet proposals, on the evening of December 12 (25), 1917, R. von 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, have undertaken to strictly observe the conditions common to all peoples.”
Leonid Trotsky in Brest-Litovsk
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.
Near the building in which the negotiations were held. Arrival of delegations. On the left (with beard and glasses) A. A. Ioffe
During the break, however, it became clear that Germany understands a world without annexations differently than the Soviet delegation - for Germany we are not talking at all about the withdrawal of troops to the borders of 1914 and the withdrawal of German troops from the occupied territories of the former Russian Empire, especially since, according to the statement Germany, Lithuania and Courland have already spoken out in favor of secession from Russia, so if these three countries now enter into negotiations with Germany about their future fate, this will by no means be considered annexation by Germany.
Peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk. Representatives of the Central Powers, in the middle Ibrahim Hakki Pasha and Count Ottokar Czernin von und zu Hudenitz on the way to negotiations
On December 14 (27), the Soviet delegation at the second meeting of the political commission made a proposal: “In full agreement with the open statement of both contracting parties about their lack of aggressive plans and their desire to make peace without annexations. Russia is withdrawing its troops from the parts of Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Persia it occupies, and the powers of the Quadruple Alliance are withdrawing from Poland, Lithuania, Courland and other regions of Russia.” Soviet Russia promised, in accordance with the principle of self-determination of nations, to provide the population of these regions with the opportunity to decide for themselves the question of their state existence - in the absence of any troops other than national or local police.
German-Austrian-Turkish representatives at the negotiations in Brest-Litovsk. General Max Hoffmann, Ottokar Czernin von und zu Hudenitz (Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister), Mehmet Talaat Pasha (Ottoman Empire), Richard von Kühlmann (German Foreign Minister), unknown participant
The German and Austro-Hungarian delegations, however, made a counter-proposal - the Russian state was asked to “take into account the statements expressing the will of the peoples inhabiting Poland, Lithuania, Courland and parts of Estonia and Livonia, about their desire for full state independence and the separation from the Russian Federation" and recognize that "these statements under present conditions should be considered as an expression of the people's will." R. von Kühlmann asked if the Soviets would agree to withdraw their troops from all of Livonia and from Estland in order to give the local population the opportunity to unite with their fellow tribesmen living in the areas occupied by the Germans. The Soviet delegation was also informed that the Ukrainian Central Rada was sending its own delegation to Brest-Litovsk.
Petr Ganchev, Bulgarian representative on the way to the negotiation site
On December 15 (28), the Soviet delegation left for Petrograd. The current state of affairs was discussed at a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b), where by a majority vote it was decided to delay peace negotiations as long as possible, in the hope of a quick revolution in Germany itself. Subsequently, the formula is refined and takes next view: “We hold out until the German ultimatum, then we surrender.” Lenin also invites People's Minister Trotsky to go to Brest-Litovsk and personally lead the Soviet delegation. According to Trotsky’s memoirs, “the prospect of negotiations with Baron Kühlmann and General Hoffmann in itself was not very attractive, but “to delay negotiations, you need a delayer,” as Lenin put it.”
Ukrainian delegation in Brest-Litovsk, from left to right: Nikolay Lyubinsky, Vsevolod Golubovich, Nikolay Levitsky, Lussenti, Mikhail Polozov and Alexander Sevryuk.
At the second stage of the negotiations, the Soviet side was represented by L. D. Trotsky (leader), A. A. Ioffe, L. M. Karakhan, K. B. Radek, M. N. Pokrovsky, A. A. Bitsenko, V. A. Karelin, E. G. Medvedev, V. M. Shakhrai, St. Bobinsky, V. Mitskevich-Kapsukas, V. Terian, V. M. Altfater, A. A. Samoilo, V. V. Lipsky
The second composition of the Soviet delegation in Brest-Litovsk. Sitting, from left to right: Kamenev, Ioffe, Bitsenko. Standing, from left to right: Lipsky V.V., Stuchka, Trotsky L.D., Karakhan L.M.
Also preserved are the memories of the head of the German delegation, State Secretary of the German Foreign Ministry Richard von Kühlmann, who spoke of Trotsky as follows: “not very large, sharp and completely piercing eyes behind sharp glasses glasses looked at his counterpart with a drilling and critical gaze. The expression on his face clearly indicated that he [Trotsky] would have been better off ending the unsympathetic negotiations with a couple of grenades, throwing them across the green table, if this had been somehow agreed upon with the general political line... sometimes I asked myself whether I had arrived he generally intended to make peace, or he needed a platform from which he could propagate Bolshevik views.”
During negotiations in Brest-Litovsk.
A member of the German delegation, General Max Hoffmann, ironically described the composition of the Soviet delegation: “I will never forget my first dinner with the Russians. I sat between Ioffe and Sokolnikov, the then Commissioner of Finance. Opposite me sat a worker, to whom, apparently, the multitude of cutlery and dishes caused great inconvenience. He grabbed one thing or another, but used the fork exclusively to clean his teeth. Diagonally from me, next to Prince Hohenloe, sat the terrorist Bizenko [as in the text], on the other side of her was a peasant, a real Russian phenomenon with long gray curls and a beard overgrown like a forest. He brought a certain smile to the staff when, when asked whether he preferred red or white wine for dinner, he answered: “The stronger one.”
Signing a peace treaty with Ukraine. Seated in the middle, from left to right: Count Ottokar Czernin von und zu Hudenitz, General Max von Hoffmann, Richard von Kühlmann, Prime Minister V. Rodoslavov, Grand Vizier Mehmet Talaat Pasha
On December 22, 1917 (January 4, 1918), German Chancellor G. von Hertling announced in his speech in the Reichstag that a delegation of the Ukrainian Central Rada had arrived in Brest-Litovsk. Germany agreed to negotiate with the Ukrainian delegation, hoping to use this as leverage against both Soviet Russia and its ally, Austria-Hungary. Ukrainian diplomats who conducted preliminary negotiations with German general M. Hoffmann, chief of staff of the German armies on the Eastern Front, initially announced claims to annex the Kholm region (which was part of Poland), as well as the Austro-Hungarian territories - Bukovina and Eastern Galicia - to Ukraine. Hoffmann, however, insisted that they lower their demands and limit themselves to the Kholm region, agreeing that Bukovina and Eastern Galicia form an independent Austro-Hungarian crown territory under Habsburg rule. It was these demands that they defended in their further negotiations with the Austro-Hungarian delegation. Negotiations with the Ukrainians dragged on so much that the opening of the conference had to be postponed to December 27, 1917 (January 9, 1918).
Ukrainian delegates communicate with German officers in Brest-Litovsk
At the next meeting, held on December 28, 1917 (January 10, 1918), the Germans invited the Ukrainian delegation. Its chairman V. A. Golubovich announced the declaration of the Central Rada that the power of the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia does not extend to Ukraine, and therefore the Central Rada intends to independently conduct peace negotiations. R. von Kühlmann turned to L. D. Trotsky, who headed the Soviet delegation at the second stage of negotiations, with the question of whether he and his delegation intended to continue to be the only diplomatic representatives of all of Russia in Brest-Litovsk, and also whether the Ukrainian delegation should be considered part of Russian delegation or does it represent an independent state. Trotsky knew that the Rada was actually in a state of war with the RSFSR. Therefore, by agreeing to consider the delegation of the Ukrainian Central Rada as independent, he actually played into the hands of the representatives of the Central Powers and provided Germany and Austria-Hungary with the opportunity to continue contacts with the Ukrainian Central Rada, while negotiations with Soviet Russia were marking time for two more days.
Signing of the truce documents in Brest-Litovsk
The January uprising in Kyiv put Germany in a difficult position, and now the German delegation demanded a break in the meetings of the peace conference. On January 21 (February 3), von Kühlmann and Chernin went to Berlin for a meeting with General Ludendorff, where the possibility of signing peace with the government of the Central Rada, which does not control the situation in Ukraine, was discussed. The decisive role was played by the dire food situation in Austria-Hungary, which, without Ukrainian grain, was threatened with famine. Returning to Brest-Litovsk, the German and Austro-Hungarian delegations signed peace with the delegation of the Central Rada on January 27 (February 9). In exchange for military assistance against the Soviet troops, the UPR undertook to supply Germany and Austria-Hungary by July 31, 1918, a million tons of grain, 400 million eggs, up to 50 thousand tons of cattle meat, lard, sugar, hemp, manganese ore, etc. Austria-Hungary also took undertakes to create an autonomous Ukrainian region in Eastern Galicia.
Signing of a peace treaty between the UPR and the Central Powers on January 27 (February 9), 1918
The signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Ukraine - Central Powers was a major blow to the Bolsheviks, in parallel with the negotiations in Brest-Litovsk, they did not abandon attempts to Sovietize Ukraine. On January 27 (February 9), at a meeting of the political commission, Chernin informed the Russian delegation about the signing of peace with Ukraine represented by the delegation of the Central Rada. Already in April 1918, the Germans dispersed the government of the Central Rada (see Dispersal of the Central Rada), replacing it with the more conservative regime of Hetman Skoropadsky.
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At the insistence of General Ludendorff (even at a meeting in Berlin, he demanded that the head of the German delegation interrupt negotiations with the Russian delegation within 24 hours after the signing of peace with Ukraine) and on the direct orders of Emperor Wilhelm II, von Kühlmann presented Soviet Russia with an ultimatum to accept German conditions of the world. On January 28, 1918 (February 10, 1918), in response to a request from the Soviet delegation on how to resolve the issue, Lenin confirmed his previous instructions. Nevertheless, Trotsky, violating these instructions, rejected the German peace conditions, putting forward the slogan “Neither peace, nor war: we will not sign peace, we will stop the war, and we will demobilize the army.” The German side stated in response that Russia’s failure to sign a peace treaty would automatically entail the termination of the truce. After this statement, the Soviet delegation demonstratively left the negotiations. As A. A. Samoilo, a member of the Soviet delegation, points out in his memoirs, the former General Staff officers who were part of the delegation refused to return to Russia, remaining in Germany. On the same day, Trotsky gives an order to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Krylenko demanding that he immediately issue an order to the army to end the state of war with Germany and on general demobilization, which was canceled by Lenin after 6 hours. Nevertheless, the order was received by all fronts on February 11.
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On January 31 (February 13), 1918, at a meeting in Homburg with the participation of Wilhelm II, Imperial Chancellor Hertling, the head of the German Foreign Office von Kühlmann, Hindenburg, Ludendorff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Vice-Chancellor, it was decided to break the truce and launch an offensive in the East front.
On the morning of February 19, the offensive of German troops rapidly unfolded along the entire Northern Front. Through Livonia and Estland to Revel, Pskov and Narva ( final goal- Petrograd) troops of the 8th German Army (6 divisions), a separate Northern Corps stationed on the Moonsund Islands, as well as a special army unit operating from the south, from Dvinsk, moved. In 5 days, German and Austrian troops advanced 200-300 km deep into Russian territory. “I have never seen such a ridiculous war,” Hoffmann wrote. — We drove it practically on trains and cars. You put a handful of infantry with machine guns and one cannon on the train and go to the next station. You take the station, arrest the Bolsheviks, put more soldiers on the train and move on.” Zinoviev was forced to admit that “there is information that in some cases unarmed German soldiers dispersed hundreds of our soldiers.” “The army rushed to run, abandoning everything, sweeping away in its path,” the first Soviet commander-in-chief of the Russian front army, N.V. Krylenko, wrote about these events in the same year of 1918.
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After the decision to accept peace on German terms was made by the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b), and then passed through the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the question arose about the new composition of the delegation. As Richard Pipes notes, none of the Bolshevik leaders were eager to go down in history by putting their signature on a treaty that was shameful for Russia. Trotsky by this time had already resigned from the post of People's Commissariat, G. Ya. Sokolnikov proposed the candidacy of G. E. Zinoviev. However, Zinoviev refused such an “honor”, proposing the candidacy of Sokolnikov himself in response; Sokolnikov also refuses, promising to resign from the Central Committee if such an appointment occurs. Ioffe A.A. also flatly refused. After long negotiations, Sokolnikov nevertheless agreed to head the Soviet delegation, the new composition of which took the following form: Sokolnikov G. Ya., Petrovsky L. M., Chicherin G. V., Karakhan G. I. and a group of 8 consultants (among them the former chairman of the delegation A. A. Ioffe). The delegation arrived in Brest-Litovsk on March 1, and two days later they signed the agreement without any discussion.
Postcard depicting the signing of the ceasefire agreement by the German representative, Prince Leopold of Bavaria. Russian delegation: A.A. Bitsenko, next to her A. A. Ioffe, as well as L. B. Kamenev. Behind Kamenev in the captain's uniform is A. Lipsky, secretary of the Russian delegation L. Karakhan
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The German-Austrian offensive, which began in February 1918, continued even when the Soviet delegation arrived in Brest-Litovsk: on February 28, the Austrians occupied Berdichev, on March 1, the Germans occupied Gomel, Chernigov and Mogilev, and on March 2, Petrograd was bombed. On March 4, after the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was signed, German troops occupied Narva and stopped only on the Narova River and the western bank Lake Peipsi 170 km from Petrograd.
Photocopy of the first two pages of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty between Soviet Russia and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, March 1918
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In its final version, the treaty consisted of 14 articles, various annexes, 2 final protocols and 4 additional treaties (between Russia and each of the states of the Quadruple Alliance), according to which Russia undertook to make many territorial concessions, also 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 also 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.
Postcard showing the last page with signatures on the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty
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The annex to the treaty guaranteed the special economic status of Germany in Soviet Russia. Citizens and corporations of the Central Powers were removed from the Bolshevik nationalization decrees, and persons who had already lost property were restored to their rights. Thus, German citizens were allowed to engage in private entrepreneurship in Russia against the backdrop of the general nationalization of the economy that was taking place at that time. For some time, this state of affairs created for Russian business owners or valuable papers the opportunity to escape nationalization by selling your assets to the Germans.
Russian telegraph Brest-Petrograd. In the center is the secretary of the delegation L. Karakhan, next to him is captain V. Lipsky
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F. E. Dzerzhinsky’s fears that “By signing the terms, we do not guarantee ourselves against new ultimatums,” are partially confirmed: the advance of the German army was not limited to the boundaries of the occupation zone defined by the peace treaty. German troops captured Simferopol on April 22, 1918, Taganrog on May 1, and Rostov-on-Don on May 8, causing the fall of Soviet power in the Don.
A telegraph operator sends a message from the peace conference in Brest-Litovsk
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In April 1918, diplomatic relations were established between the RSFSR and Germany. However, in general, Germany's relations with the Bolsheviks were not ideal from the very beginning. In the words of N. N. Sukhanov, “the German government feared its “friends” and “agents” quite rightly: it knew very well that these people were the same “friends” to it as they were to Russian imperialism, to which the German authorities tried to “slip” them , keeping them at a respectful distance from their own loyal subjects." Since April 1918 Soviet ambassador Ioffe A.A. began active revolutionary propaganda in Germany itself, which ended with the November Revolution. The Germans, for their part, are consistently eliminating Soviet power in the Baltic states and Ukraine, provide assistance to the “White Finns” and actively contribute to the formation of a center of the White movement on the Don. In March 1918, the Bolsheviks, fearing a German attack on Petrograd, moved the capital to Moscow; after the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, they, not trusting the Germans, never began to cancel this decision.
Special issue of Lübeckischen Anzeigen
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While the German General Staff came to the conclusion that the defeat of the Second Reich was inevitable, Germany managed to impose additional agreements to the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty on the Soviet government, in the context of the growing civil war and the beginning of the Entente intervention. 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 on behalf of the government of the RSFSR by plenipotentiary A. A. Ioffe, and on behalf of Germany - von P. Hinze and I. Krige. Under this agreement, Soviet Russia was obliged to pay Germany, as compensation for damage and expenses for the maintenance of Russian prisoners of war, a huge indemnity - 6 billion marks - in the form of “pure gold” and loan obligations. In September 1918, two “gold trains” were sent to Germany, which contained 93.5 tons of “pure gold” worth over 120 million gold rubles. It didn't get to the next shipment.
Russian delegates buying German newspapers in Brest-Litovsk
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"Trotsky learns to write." German caricature of L.D. Trotsky, who signed the peace treaty in Brest-Litovsk. 1918
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Political cartoon from the American press in 1918
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Consequences of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty: Austro-Hungarian troops enter the city of Kamenets-Podolsky after the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty
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Consequences of the Brest Peace: German troops under the command of General Eichhorn occupied Kyiv. March 1918.
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Consequences of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty: Austro-Hungarian military musicians perform in the main square of the city of Proskurov in Ukraine
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Consequences of the Brest-Litovsk Peace: Odessa after the occupation by Austro-Hungarian troops. Dredging works in the Odessa port
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Consequences of the Brest Peace: Austro-Hungarian soldiers on Nikolaevsky Boulevard. Summer 1918
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Photo taken by a German soldier in Kyiv in 1918
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The conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty took place on March 3, 1918. The parties to the agreement were: Russia - the first party, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey - the second. This peace treaty was short-lived. it lasted a little over nine months.
It all started with the first negotiations in Brest, where representatives from the Russian Bolsheviks were L.B. Kamenev and A.A. Ioffe, as well as S.D. Mstislavsky, L.M. Karakhan. At the last minute before leaving for this border town, it was decided that the participation of representatives of the people was necessary. These were the soldiers, workers, sailors and peasants who were lured by large business trips. Of course, the opinion of this group was not taken into account during the negotiations and was simply not heard.
During the negotiations, it was revealed that the German side, in addition to signing peace, wants to conclude it without indemnities and annexations, and also wants to achieve from Russia the right of nations to self-determination, thus planning to gain control of Ukraine and the Russian Baltic states. It became obvious that Russia could lose Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, as well as the territory of Transcaucasia.
The signing of the Brest Peace Treaty was only a temporary truce in hostilities. Lenin, Sverdlov and Trotsky were worried that if the conditions of the German side were met, they would be overthrown for treason, since the bulk of the Bolsheviks did not agree with the policies of Vladimir Ulyanov.
In January 1918, the second stage of negotiations took place in Brest. The delegation was headed by Trotsky without the presence of representatives of the people. The main role during this round belonged to the Ukrainian delegation, whose main demand was the annexation of the lands of Bukovina and Galicia from Austria-Hungary. At the same time, the Ukrainian side did not want to know the Russian delegation. Thus, Russia has lost an ally in Ukraine. For Germany, the latter was beneficial by placing on its territory a significant number of warehouses with weapons and military uniforms. The Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, due to the impossibility of reaching common points of contact, ended in nothing and was not signed.
The third stage of negotiations began, during which the representative from the Russian delegation Trotsky L.D. refused to recognize representatives from Ukraine.
On March 3, 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. The result of this agreement was the separation from Russia of Poland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Crimea, Ukraine and Transcaucasia. Among other things, the fleet was disarmed and handed over to Germany, an indemnity of six billion marks in gold was imposed, as well as one billion marks to compensate for the damage to German citizens that they suffered during the revolution. Austria-Hungary and Germany received warehouses with weapons and ammunition. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk also imposed on Russia the obligation to withdraw troops from these territories. Their place was taken by the German armed forces. The peace treaty stipulated the economic situation of Germany in Russia. Thus, German citizens were given the right to occupy entrepreneurial activity on the territory of Russia, despite the nationalization process taking place there.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk restored customs tariffs with Germany established in 1904. Due to the Bolsheviks’ non-recognition of the Tsarist treaties, according to this treaty, they were forced to confirm them to countries such as Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey and Germany and begin making payments on these debts.
The countries that were part of the Entente bloc did not approve of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and in mid-March 1918 announced their non-recognition.
In November 1918, Germany abandoned the terms of the peace agreement. Two days later it was annulled by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. A little later, German troops began to leave the former
100 years ago, on March 3, 1918, a peace treaty was signed in Brest-Litovsk, documenting Russia’s loss of territory where a third of its population lived. Since the time of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, Russia has not experienced disasters comparable in scale. Our country managed to overcome the territorial losses dictated by the enemy in Brest only at the end of the 20th century. During negotiations in Brest-LitovskThe Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was not a surprise: Russia was doomed to disaster by events that preceded Brest exactly a year - the betrayal of the highest military leaders who forced the holy Emperor Nicholas II to abdicate, which at that ill-fated time became a reason for all-class rejoicing. With the fall of autocracy, the process of disintegration of the army inevitably began, and the country lost the ability to defend itself.
And so, when the anemic Provisional Government fell and power was seized by the Bolsheviks, on October 26 (November 8) the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets issued a “Decree on Peace” with a proposal addressed to all warring states to conclude a truce and begin peace negotiations without annexations and indemnities. On November 8 (21), the Council of People's Commissars sent a telegram to... O. the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, General N.N. Dukhonin, with the order to enter into negotiations with the command of the enemy troops on a truce. The next day, the commander-in-chief had a telephone conversation with V.I. Lenin, I.V. Stalin and member of the Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs N.V. Krylenko on the same topic. Dukhonin refused the demand to immediately begin negotiations, citing the fact that headquarters could not conduct such negotiations, which were within the competence of the central government, after which it was announced to him that he was resigning from his post. O. commander-in-chief and that ensign Krylenko is appointed to the position of commander-in-chief, but he, Dukhonin, must continue to perform his previous duties until the new commander-in-chief arrives at headquarters.
N.V. Krylenko arrived in Mogilev, at headquarters, with his retinue and armed detachment on November 20 (December 3). A day earlier, General Dukhonin ordered the release of generals L.G. Kornilov, A.I. Denikin, A.S. Lukomsky and their fellow prisoners from the Bykhovskaya prison located near the headquarters, who were arrested on the orders of A.F. Kerensky. Krylenko announced to Dukhonin that he would be taken to Petrograd, at the disposal of the government, after which the general was taken to the carriage of the new commander-in-chief. But after the release of the Bykhov prisoners, a rumor spread among the soldiers guarding the headquarters that L. G. Kornilov was already leading a regiment loyal to him to Mogilev in order to capture the headquarters and continue the war. Spurred on by provocative rumors, the brutal soldiers burst into Krylenko's carriage, took his predecessor out of there, while Krylenko himself either tried or did not try to stop them, and carried out brutal reprisals against their yesterday's commander-in-chief: first they shot at him, and then finished him off with his bayonets - the mere suspicion that attempts were being made to keep the army from collapse and continue the war infuriated the soldiers. Krylenko reported the massacre of Dukhonin to Trotsky, who found it inappropriate to initiate an investigation into this incident so as not to irritate the revolutionary soldiers and sailors.
11 days before the assassination of General Dukhonin, November 9 (22), V.I. Lenin, catering to the “pacifist” sentiments of the front-line masses, sent a telegram to the troops: “Let the regiments in positions immediately elect representatives to formally enter into negotiations on truce with the enemy." This was an unprecedented case in the history of diplomacy - it was proposed to negotiate peace as a soldier’s initiative. A parallel with this action was the order of another leader of the revolution - L. D. Trotsky - on the publication of secret treaties and secret diplomatic correspondence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the aim of compromising both the Russian and other governments in the eyes of the public - Russian and foreign.
The People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, headed by Trotsky, sent a note to the embassies of neutral countries with a proposal to mediate in peace negotiations. In response, the embassies of Norway, Sweden and Switzerland only reported receipt of the note, and the Spanish ambassador notified the Soviet People's Commissariat of the transfer of the note to Madrid. The proposal to begin peace negotiations was even more so ignored by the governments of the Entente countries allied to Russia, who firmly counted on victory and had previously already divided the skin of the beast that they were going to finish off, apparently anticipating the division of the skin of the bear that had been allied to them yesterday. A positive response to the proposal to begin peace negotiations came, naturally, only from Berlin and from Germany’s allies or satellites. The corresponding telegram arrived in Petrograd on November 14 (27). The governments of the Entente countries - France, Great Britain, Italy, the USA, Japan, China, Belgium, Serbia and Romania - were telegraphed by the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars on the same day about the start of negotiations, offering to join them. Otherwise, the corresponding note said, “we will negotiate with the Germans alone.” There was no response to this note.
First phase of negotiations in Brest
Separate negotiations began on the day of the assassination of General N.N. Dukhonin. A Soviet delegation led by A. A. Ioffe arrived in Brest-Litovsk, where the headquarters of the German command on the Eastern Front was located. It included L. B. Kamenev, the most influential political figure among the participants in the negotiations, as well as G. Ya. Sokolnikov, left Socialist Revolutionaries A. A. Bitsenko and S. D. Maslovsky-Mstislavsky and, as consultants, representatives of the army: Quartermaster General under the Supreme Commander General V. E. Skalon, generals Yu. N. Danilov, A. I. Andogsky, A. A. Samoilo, Rear Admiral V. M. Altfater and 3 more officers, Bolshevik delegation secretary L. M. Karakhan, to whom the translators and technical staff reported. The original feature in the formation of this delegation was that it included representatives of the lower ranks - soldiers and sailors, as well as the peasant R. I. Stashkov and the worker P. A. Obukhov. Delegations of Germany's allies were already in Brest-Litovsk: Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. The German delegation was headed by State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs R. von Kühlmann; Austria-Hungary – Minister of Foreign Affairs Count O. Chernin; Bulgaria - Minister of Justice Popov; Turkey - Grand Vizier Talaat Bey.
At the beginning of the negotiations, the Soviet side proposed concluding a truce for 6 months so that military operations would be suspended on all fronts, German troops would be withdrawn from Riga and the Moonsund Islands, and so that the German command, taking advantage of the truce, would not transfer troops to the Western Front. These proposals were rejected. As a result of the negotiations, we agreed to conclude a truce on short term, from November 24 (December 7) to December 4 (17), with the possibility of extension; During this period, the troops of the opposing sides were supposed to remain in their positions, so there was no talk of any abandonment of Riga by the Germans, and as for the ban on the transfer of troops to the Western Front, Germany agreed to stop only those transfers that had not yet begun . Due to the collapse of the Russian army, this transfer had already been carried out, and the Soviet side did not have the means to control the movement of enemy units and formations.
A truce was declared and put into effect. During ongoing negotiations, the parties agreed to extend it by 28 days, starting on December 4 (17). It was previously decided to conduct negotiations on concluding a peace treaty in the capital of a neutral country - Stockholm. But on December 5 (18), Trotsky reported to the commander-in-chief Krylenko: “Lenin defends the following plan: during the first two or three days of negotiations, secure on paper as clearly and sharply as possible the annexationist claims of the German imperialists and break off the negotiations there for a week and resume them either Russian soil in Pskov, or in a barracks in no man's land between the trenches. I join this opinion. There is no need to travel to a neutral country.” Through Commander-in-Chief Krylenko, Trotsky conveyed instructions to the head of the delegation, A. A. Ioffe: “The most convenient thing would be not to transfer the negotiations to Stockholm at all. This would have alienated the delegation from the local base and would have made relations extremely difficult, especially in view of the policies of the Finnish bourgeoisie.” Germany did not object to the continuation of negotiations on the territory of its headquarters in Brest.
Arrival of the German delegation in Brest-Litovsk The resumption of negotiations was, however, postponed due to the fact that upon the return of the delegation to Brest on November 29 (December 12), during a private meeting of the Russian delegation, the chief military consultant, Major General V. E. Skalon, a maternal descendant the great mathematician Euler, committed suicide. According to the description of General M.D. Bonch-Bruevich, the Bolshevik’s brother, who then held the position of manager of the Council of People’s Commissars, “an officer of the Life Guards Semyonovsky Regiment, Skalon, was known at headquarters as an ardent monarchist. But he worked in the intelligence department, was a serious officer with excellent knowledge of military affairs, and from this point of view had an impeccable reputation. In addition... his irreconcilable attitude towards everything that was even slightly to the left of the absolute monarchy should have forced him to treat the negotiations with particular severity... - to inform headquarters in detail and carefully about the progress of the negotiations.”
General Skalon, being an extreme monarchist in his views, continued to serve in the General Staff when it submitted to the Council of People's Commissars. A characteristic and typical detail of that era: liberal generals, supporters constitutional monarchy or directly republics, like the Bykhov prisoners, then considered it their duty to remain faithful to the allies who contributed to the overthrow of the tsarist power, therefore the white struggle that they led was oriented towards the help of the Entente, while the consistent monarchists from military circles, who did not want to give important differences in the political concepts of the Cadets, Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Bolsheviks, subsequently either avoided participating in the Civil War, or continued to serve in the army that became the Red Army, in the hope that Lenin and Trotsky, with all their commitment to utopian projects, would have a stronger hand than worthless temporary ministers, and that they would create a regime in which controllability of the armed forces could be restored, or monarchist-minded generals fought with the Reds, relying on the support not of the Entente, but of the occupying German authorities, like P. N. Krasnov.
Arrival of the Russian delegation General V.E. Skalon, having agreed to the role of consultant to the Soviet delegation, could not stand this role until the end and shot himself. Various opinions have been expressed about the reasons for his suicide; the most convincing are the words spoken by a member of the German delegation, General Hoffmann, with which he addressed General Samoilo, who replaced Skalon: “Ah! This means that you have been appointed to replace poor Skalon, whom your Bolsheviks were leaving! The poor fellow could not bear the shame of his country! Be strong, too!” This arrogant tirade is not contradicted by the version from the memoirs of General M.D. Bonch-Bruevich, who believed that Skalon committed suicide, amazed by the arrogant demands and impudence of the German generals. General Skalon was buried in the St. Nicholas Garrison Cathedral of Brest. The German command ordered to set up a guard of honor at the burial and fire a salvo befitting a military leader. Prince Leopold of Bavaria, who arrived at the opening of the second phase of negotiations, delivered a funeral speech.
During the resumed negotiations, the Soviet delegation insisted on concluding peace “without annexations and indemnities.” Representatives of Germany and its allies expressed agreement with this formula, but on a condition that made its implementation impossible - if the Entente countries were ready to agree to such a peace, and they precisely fought the war for the sake of annexations and indemnities and at the end of 1917 firmly hoped to win. The Soviet delegation proposed: “In full agreement with ... the statement of both contracting parties about their lack of aggressive plans and their desire to make peace without annexations, Russia withdraws its troops from the parts of Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Persia it occupies, and the powers of the Quadruple Alliance from Poland, Lithuania, Courland and other regions of Russia." The German side insisted that Russia recognize the independence of not only Poland, Lithuania and Courland occupied by German troops, where puppet governments were created, but also Livonia, part of which had not yet been occupied by the German army, as well as participation in peace negotiations delegation of the separatist Kyiv Central Rada.
At first, these demands, essentially, for the surrender of Russia by the Soviet delegation were rejected. On December 15 (28) we agreed to extend the truce. At the suggestion of the Soviet delegation, a 10-day break was announced, under the pretext of an attempt to bring the Entente states to the negotiating table, although both sides thereby only demonstrated their love of peace, knowing full well the futility of such hopes.
The Soviet delegation left Brest for Petrograd, and the issue of the progress of peace negotiations was discussed there at a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b). It was decided to delay the negotiations in anticipation of a revolution in Germany. The delegation was supposed to continue negotiations with a new composition, headed by the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L. D. Trotsky himself. Showing off, Trotsky subsequently called his participation in the negotiations “visits to a torture chamber.” He was not interested in diplomacy at all. He commented on his very activities as People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs as follows: “What kind of diplomatic work will we have? I’ll issue a few proclamations and close the shop.” This remark of his is quite consistent with the impression he made on the head of the German delegation, Richard von Kühlmann: “Not very large, sharp and piercing eyes behind the sharp glasses looked at his counterpart with a drilling and critical gaze. The expression on his face clearly indicated that he... would have been better off ending the unsympathetic negotiations with a couple of grenades, throwing them across the green table, if this had been somehow consistent with the general political line... sometimes I asked myself whether I had arrived he generally intended to make peace, or he needed a platform from which he could propagate Bolshevik views.”
The Soviet delegation included K. Radek, a native of Austro-Hungarian Galicia; at the negotiations he represented Polish workers, with whom he really had nothing to do. According to Lenin and Trotsky, Radek was supposed to maintain the revolutionary tone of the delegation with his assertive temperament and aggressiveness, balancing the other participants in the negotiations, Kamenev and Joffe, who were too calm and restrained, as it seemed to Lenin and Trotsky.
L. Trotsky in Brest-Litovsk Under Trotsky, the resumed negotiations often took on the character of verbal battles between the head of the Soviet delegation and General Hoffmann, who also did not mince words, demonstrating to the negotiating partners the powerlessness of the country they represent. According to Trotsky, "General Hoffmann ... brought a fresh note to the conference. He showed that he was not sympathetic to the behind-the-scenes tricks of diplomacy, and several times he put his soldier's boot on the negotiating table. We immediately realized that the only reality that should really be taken seriously in this useless talk is Hoffmann's boot."
On December 28, 1917 (January 10, 1918), at the invitation of the German side, a delegation of the Central Rada headed by V. A. Golubovich arrived from Kiev to Brest, who immediately declared that the power of the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia did not extend to Ukraine. Trotsky agreed to the participation of the Ukrainian delegation in the negotiations, stating that Ukraine was actually in a state of war with Russia, although formally the independence of the UPR was proclaimed later, “universal” on January 9 (22), 1918.
The German side was interested in the speedy completion of negotiations, because, not without reason, it feared the threat of the disintegration of its own army, and even more so of the troops of the allied Austria-Hungary - the “patchwork empire” of the Habsburgs. In addition, in these two countries the food supply of the population sharply deteriorated - both empires were on the verge of famine. The mobilization potential of these powers was exhausted, while the Entente countries at war with them had unlimited capabilities in this regard, due to the large population in their colonies. In both empires, anti-war sentiment grew, strikes were organized, and councils were formed in some cities, along the lines of Russian Soviets; and these councils demanded an early conclusion of peace with Russia, so that the Soviet delegation at the negotiations in Brest had a well-known resource for putting pressure on its partners.
But after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly on January 6 (19), 1918, the German delegation began to act more assertively. The fact is that until then there was still, at least virtually, the possibility that the government formed by the Constituent Assembly would stop peace negotiations and resume allied relations with the Entente countries, severed by the Bolshevik Council of People's Commissars. Therefore, the failure of the Constituent Assembly gave the German side the confidence that in the end the Soviet delegation would agree to conclude peace at any cost.
Presentation of the German ultimatum and reaction to it
Russia's lack of a combat-ready army was, as they say now, a medical fact. It became absolutely impossible to convince the soldiers, who, if they had not already fled from the front, turned into potential deserters, to remain in the trenches. Once upon a time, when overthrowing the Tsar, the conspirators hoped that the soldiers would fight for a democratic and liberal Russia, but their hopes were dashed. The socialist government of A.F. Kerensky called on the soldiers to defend the revolution - the soldiers were not tempted by this propaganda. The Bolsheviks campaigned from the very beginning of the war for an end to the war of peoples, and their leaders understood that soldiers could not be kept at the front by calls to defend the power of the Soviets. On January 18, 1918, the Chief of Staff of the Commander-in-Chief, General M.D. Bonch-Bruevich, sent a note to the Council of People's Commissars with the following content: “Desertion is growing progressively... Entire regiments and artillery are moving to the rear, exposing the front over considerable distances, the Germans are walking in crowds along the abandoned position... Constant visits enemy soldiers of our positions, especially artillery ones, and their destruction of our fortifications in abandoned positions are undoubtedly of an organized nature.”
After a formal ultimatum presented to the Soviet delegation in Brest by General Hoffmann, demanding consent to the German occupation of Ukraine, Poland, half of Belarus and the Baltic states, an internal party struggle broke out at the top of the Bolshevik Party. At a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b), held on January 11 (24), 1918, a bloc of “left communists” was formed, headed by N.I. Bukharin, who opposed Lenin’s capitulatory position. “Our only salvation,” he said, “is that the masses will learn from experience, in the process of the struggle itself, what a German invasion is, when cows and boots will be taken away from the peasants, when workers will be forced to work for 14 hours, when take them to Germany when an iron ring is inserted into the nostrils, then, believe me, comrades, then we will get a real holy war.” Bukharin's side was taken by other influential members of the Central Committee - F.E. Dzerzhinsky, who attacked Lenin with criticism for his betrayal - not of the interests of Russia, but of the German and Austro-Hungarian proletariat, whom he feared would be kept from the revolution by the peace treaty. Objecting to his opponents, Lenin formulated his position as follows: “A revolutionary war requires an army, but we don’t have an army. Undoubtedly, the peace we are forced to make now is an obscene peace, but if war breaks out, our government will be swept away and peace will be made by another government.” In the Central Committee he was supported by Stalin, Zinoviev, Sokolnikov and Sergeev (Artem). A compromise proposal was put forward by Trotsky. It sounded like this: “no peace, no war.” Its essence was that in response to the German ultimatum, the Soviet delegation in Brest would declare that Russia was ending the war, demobilizing the army, but would not sign a shameful, humiliating peace treaty. This proposal received the support of the majority of members of the Central Committee during the voting: 9 votes to 7.
Before the delegation returned to Brest to resume negotiations, its head, Trotsky, received instructions from the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars to delay the negotiations, but if an ultimatum was presented, to sign a peace treaty at any cost. On January 27 (February 9), 1918, representatives of the Central Rada in Brest-Litovsk signed a peace treaty with Germany - its consequence was the occupation of Ukraine by troops of Germany and Austria-Hungary, who, having occupied Kyiv, eliminated the Rada.
On February 27 (February 9), at the negotiations in Brest, the head of the German delegation, R. von Kühlmann, presented an ultimatum demanding the immediate renunciation of any influence on political life territories torn away from the Russian state, including Ukraine, part of Belarus and the Baltic states. The signal to tighten the tone during the negotiations came from the German capital. Emperor Wilhelm II then said in Berlin: “Today the Bolshevik government addressed my troops directly with an open radio message calling for rebellion and disobedience to their highest commanders. Neither I nor Field Marshal von Hindenburg can tolerate this state of affairs any longer. Trotsky must by tomorrow evening... sign a peace with the return of the Baltic states up to and including the Narva-Pleskau-Dünaburg line... The Supreme Command of the armies of the Eastern Front must withdraw troops to the specified line.”
Trotsky rejected the ultimatum at the negotiations in Brest: “The people are eagerly awaiting the results of the peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk. People ask when will this unprecedented self-destruction of humanity, caused by the self-interest and lust for power of the ruling classes of all countries, end? If ever a war was waged for the purposes of self-defense, it has long ceased to be so for both camps. If Great Britain takes possession of the African colonies, Baghdad and Jerusalem, then this is not yet a defensive war; if Germany occupies Serbia, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania and Romania and captures the Moonsund Islands, then this is also not a defensive war. This is a struggle for the division of the world. Now this is clearer than ever... We are leaving the war. We inform all peoples and their governments about this. We give the order for the complete demobilization of our armies... At the same time, we declare that the conditions offered to us by the governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary are fundamentally contrary to the interests of all peoples.” This statement of his was made public, which was regarded as a propaganda action by all parties involved in the hostilities. The German delegation at the negotiations in Brest explained that refusal to sign a peace treaty would mean a breakdown of the truce and would entail a resumption of hostilities. The Soviet delegation left Brest.
Breakdown of the truce and resumption of hostilities
On February 18, German troops resumed fighting along the entire line of their Eastern Front and began to rapidly advance deeper into Russia. Over the course of several days, the enemy advanced approximately 300 kilometers, capturing Revel (Tallinn), Narva, Minsk, Polotsk, Mogilev, Gomel, and Chernigov. Only near Pskov on February 23 was real resistance offered to the enemy. Red Guards who arrived from Petrograd fought together with the officers and soldiers of the not completely disintegrated Russian army. In the battles near the city, the Germans lost several hundred soldiers killed and wounded. February 23 was subsequently celebrated as the birthday of the Red Army, and now as the Day of Defender of the Fatherland. And yet Pskov was taken by the Germans.
There was a real threat of capturing the capital. On February 21, the Committee for the Revolutionary Defense of Petrograd was formed. A state of siege was declared in the city. But it was not possible to organize an effective defense of the capital. Only regiments of Latvian riflemen entered the defense line. Mobilization was carried out among St. Petersburg workers, but its results turned out to be scanty. Of the hundreds of thousands of workers who mostly voted for the Bolsheviks in the elections to the Soviets and the Constituent Assembly, a little more than one percent were ready to shed blood: a little more than 10 thousand people signed up as volunteers. The fact is that they voted for the Bolsheviks because they promised immediate peace. To deploy propaganda in the direction of revolutionary defencism, as the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries did in their time, was a hopeless task. The head of the capital's Bolshevik party organization, G. E. Zinoviev, was already preparing to go underground: he demanded that funds be allocated from the party treasury to support the underground activities of the Bolshevik party committee in Petrograd. Due to the failure of the negotiations in Brest, on February 22, Trotsky resigned from the post of People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. A few days later G.V. Chicherin was appointed to this position.
The Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) held continuous meetings these days. Lenin insisted on resuming peace negotiations and accepting the demands of the German ultimatum. The majority of the Central Committee members took a different position, proposing as an alternative a guerrilla war against the occupation regime in the hope of a revolution in Germany and Austria-Hungary. At a meeting of the Central Committee on February 23, 1918, Lenin demanded consent to conclude peace on the terms dictated by the German ultimatum, otherwise threatening resignation. In response to Lenin’s ultimatum, Trotsky stated: “We cannot wage a revolutionary war with a split in the party... Under the current conditions, our party is not able to lead the war... maximum unanimity would be needed; since he is not there, I will not take upon myself the responsibility of voting for the war.” This time Lenin's proposal was supported by 7 members of the Central Committee, four, led by Bukharin, voted against, Trotsky and three more abstained from voting. Bukharin then announced his resignation from the Central Committee. Then the party decision to accept the German ultimatum was carried out through a state body - the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. At a meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on February 24, the decision to conclude peace on German terms was adopted by 126 votes against 85 with 26 abstentions. The majority of the Left SRs voted against, although their leader M.A. Spiridonova voted for peace; The Mensheviks, led by Yu. O. Martov, and the Bolsheviks, N. I. Bukharin and D. B. Ryazanov, voted against peace. A number of “left communists,” including F. E. Dzerzhinsky, did not appear at the meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee as a sign of protest against agreeing to the German ultimatum.
Conclusion of a peace treaty and its contents
Signing of the armistice documents in Brest-Litovsk On March 1, 1918, the Soviet delegation, this time led by G. Ya. Sokolnikov, returned to Brest for negotiations. The negotiating partners, representing the governments of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria, categorically refused to discuss the project developed by the German side, insisting on its acceptance in the form in which it was presented. On March 3, the German ultimatum was accepted by the Soviet side, and a peace treaty was signed.
In accordance with this agreement, Russia assumed the obligation to end the war with the UPR and recognize the independence of Ukraine, effectively transferring it under the protectorate of Germany and Austria-Hungary - the signing of the agreement was followed by the occupation of Kiev, the overthrow of the UPR government and the establishment of a puppet regime led by Hetman Skoropadsky . Russia recognized the independence of Poland, Finland, Estland, Courland and Livonia. Some of these territories were directly included in Germany, others came under German or joint protectorate with Austria-Hungary. Russia also transferred Kars, Ardahan and Batum with their regions to the Ottoman Empire. The territory torn away from Russia under the Brest-Litovsk Treaty amounted to about a million square kilometers, and up to 60 million people lived on it - a third of the population of the former Russian Empire. Russian army and the fleet were subject to radical reduction. The Baltic Fleet was leaving its bases located in Finland and the Baltic region. Russia was charged with an indemnity of 6.5 billion gold rubles. And the annex to the agreement included a provision stating that the property of citizens of Germany and its allies was not subject to Soviet nationalization laws; for those citizens of these states who lost at least part of their property, it had to be returned or compensated. The Soviet government's refusal to pay foreign debts could no longer apply to Germany and its allies, and Russia pledged to immediately resume payments on these debts. Citizens of these states were allowed to engage in entrepreneurial activities on the territory of the Russian Soviet Republic. The Soviet government took upon itself the obligation to prohibit any subversive anti-war propaganda against the states of the Quadruple Alliance.
The peace treaty concluded in Brest was ratified on March 15 by the Extraordinary IV All-Russian Congress of Soviets, despite the fact that a third of the deputies, mainly from the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party, voted against its ratification. On March 26, the treaty was ratified by Emperor Wilhelm II, and then similar acts were adopted in the states allied to Germany.
Consequences of the peace treaty and reactions to it
Photocopy of the first two pages of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty between Soviet Russia and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, March 1918. The cessation of the war on the Eastern Front allowed Germany to transfer about half a million of its soldiers to the Western Front and launch an offensive against the armies of the Entente, which, however, it soon choked. To occupy the western territories separated from Russia, mainly Ukraine, it took 43 divisions, against which a guerrilla war unfolded under various political slogans, costing Germany and Austria-Hungary more than 20 thousand lives of soldiers and officers; The troops of Hetman Skoropadsky, who supported the regime of German occupation, lost more than 30 thousand people in this war.
In response to Russia's withdrawal from the war, the Entente states took interventionist actions: on March 6, British troops landed in Murmansk. This was followed by the British landing in Arkhangelsk. Japanese units occupied Vladivostok. The dismemberment of Russia under the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty provided the anti-Bolshevik forces of a non-separatist orientation with a wonderful slogan for organizing military actions aimed at overthrowing Soviet power - the slogan of the struggle for a “united and indivisible Russia.” So after the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, a full-scale Civil War began in Russia. The call put forward by Lenin at the beginning of the World War to “turn the war of peoples into a civil war” was carried out, however, at the moment when the Bolsheviks least wanted it, because by that time they had already seized power in the country.
His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon could not remain an indifferent spectator of the tragic events taking place. On March 5 (18), 1918, he addressed the all-Russian flock with a message in which he assessed the peace treaty concluded in Brest: “Blessed is the peace between nations, for all brothers, the Lord calls everyone to work peacefully on earth, for all He has prepared His innumerable benefits . And the Holy Church unceasingly offers prayers for the peace of the whole world... The unfortunate Russian people, involved in a fratricidal bloody war, unbearably thirsted for peace, just as the people of God once thirsted for water in the scorching heat of the desert. But we did not have Moses, who would give his people miraculous water to drink, and the people did not cry to the Lord, their Benefactor, for help - people appeared who renounced the faith, persecutors of the Church of God, and they gave peace to the people. But is this the peace for which the Church prays, for which the people long for? The peace now concluded, according to which entire regions inhabited by Orthodox people are torn away from us and given over to the will of an enemy alien to the faith, and tens of millions of Orthodox people find themselves in conditions of great spiritual temptation for their faith, a world according to which even the traditionally Orthodox Ukraine is separated from fraternal Russia and the capital city of Kiev, the mother of Russian cities, the cradle of our baptism, the repository of shrines, ceases to be a city of the Russian state, a world that puts our people and Russian land into heavy bondage - such a world will not give the people the desired rest and tranquility. It will bring great damage and grief to the Orthodox Church, and incalculable losses to the Fatherland. Meanwhile, the same strife continues among us, destroying our Fatherland... Will the declared peace eliminate these discords crying to heaven? Will it not bring even greater sorrows and misfortunes? Alas, the words of the prophet come true: They say: peace, peace, but there is no peace(Jer. 8, 11). Holy Orthodox Church, who from time immemorial helped the Russian people to collect and exalt the Russian state, cannot remain indifferent at the sight of its death and decay... As the successor to the ancient collectors and builders of the Russian land Peter, Alexy, Jonah, Philip and Hermogenes, We call... to raise your voice its own in these terrible days and loudly declare before the whole world that the Church cannot bless the shameful peace now concluded in the name of Russia. This peace, signed forcibly on behalf of the Russian people, will not lead to fraternal cohabitation of peoples. There are no guarantees of calm and reconciliation; the seeds of anger and misanthropy are sown in it. It contains the germs of new wars and evils for all mankind. Can the Russian people come to terms with their humiliation? Can he forget his brothers separated from him by blood and faith?.. The Orthodox Church... cannot now look at this appearance of peace, which is no better than war, except with deepest sorrow... Not rejoice and triumph over peace we call on you, Orthodox people, but it is bitter to repent and pray before the Lord... Brothers! The time has come for repentance, the holy days of Great Lent have arrived. Cleanse yourself from your sins, come to your senses, stop looking at each other as enemies and dividing native land to warring countries. We are all brothers, and we all have one mother - our native Russian land, and we are all children of one Heavenly Father... In the face of the Terrible Judgment of God that is being carried out on us, let us all gather around Christ and His Holy Church. Let us pray to the Lord that He will soften our hearts with brotherly love and strengthen them with courage, that He Himself will grant us men of reason and advice, faithful to the commandments of God, who would correct the evil deeds that have been committed, return those that were rejected and collect those that were squandered. ... Convince everyone to earnestly pray to the Lord, may He turn away His righteous anger, the sin of ours for our sake, driven upon us, may he strengthen our weakened spirit and restore us from grave despondency and extreme fall. And the merciful Lord will take pity on the sinful Russian land...”
This was the first message of Patriarch Tikhon, dedicated to political topic, however, it did not touch upon issues of domestic policy, there is no mention in it political parties And politicians, but, true to the tradition of the patriotic service of the Russian High Hierarchs, the holy Patriarch expressed in this message his grief over the catastrophe that Russia was experiencing, called on his flock to repentance and an end to the disastrous fratricidal strife and, in essence, predicted the course of further events in Russia and in the world. Anyone who carefully reads this message can be convinced that, compiled on the occasion of an event a hundred years ago, it has not lost any of its relevance today.
Consequences of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty: Austro-Hungarian troops enter the city of Kamenets-Podolsky after the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty Meanwhile, Germany, which forced Russia to surrender in March 1918, could not avoid the fate of the lost Russian Empire. In April 1918, diplomatic relations were resumed between Russia and Germany. Soviet Ambassador A. A. Ioffe arrived in Berlin, and German Ambassador Count Wilhelm von Mirbach arrived in Moscow, where the seat of government was moved. Count Mirbach was killed in Moscow, and the peace treaty did not prevent A. A. Ioffe and the staff of the Soviet embassy from conducting anti-war propaganda in the heart of Germany itself. Pacifist and revolutionary sentiments spread from Russia to the armies and peoples of its former opponents. And when the imperial thrones of the Habsburgs and Hohenzollerns began to shake, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk turned into a piece of paper that did not oblige anyone to anything. On November 13, 1918, it was officially denounced by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR. But at that time, Russia was already thrown into the abyss of a fratricidal massacre - the Civil War, the signal for which was the conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty.
Truce
The seizure of power by the Bolsheviks on October 25 (November 7), 1917, took place, among other things, under the slogan of Russia’s immediate withdrawal from the war. Since it was this slogan that attracted the Bolsheviks to the side most army and population, the very next day - October 26 (November 8) - at the proposal of the Bolsheviks, the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets held in Petrograd adopted the Decree on Peace, which announced that the new government “invites all warring peoples and their governments to immediately begin negotiations on a just and democratic world" (Decrees of the Soviet Power. T. 1. M., 1957. P. 12).
November 8 (21), simultaneously with the radiogram from the acting. Supreme Commander-in-Chief General N.N. Dukhonin with an order to cease hostilities and begin peace negotiations with the enemy, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L.D. Trotsky sent a note to the Allied powers with a similar proposal. Dukhonin refused to comply with the order of the Council of People's Commissars and was removed from office. Reporting about this unit to the active army, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V.I. Lenin also ordered in a radiogram: “Let the regiments in positions immediately elect representatives to formally enter into negotiations on a truce with the enemy.”
The German leadership only announced on November 14 (27) its agreement to begin peace on December 1; Lenin formally warned the governments of the Allied powers about this and offered to send their representatives, stipulating that in the opposite case the RSFSR would still begin negotiations. Armistice negotiations took place in Brest-Litovsk from November 20 (December 3), 1917; the Soviet delegation was headed by A.A. Ioffe. 2(15) on the Eastern Front was concluded for a period of 28 days with automatic extension (one of the parties undertook to notify about the termination 7 days in advance). The truce began to operate at 14:00 on December 4 (17).
Negotiations in Brest-Litovsk began on December 9 (22), 1917. The Soviet delegation consisted of 5 authorized members of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, three of whom represented the Bolshevik Party - Adolf Joffe, Lev Kamenev, Grigory Sokolnikov, two (Anastasia Bitsenko and Sergei Mstislavsky). In addition, the delegation included 5 members (sailor, soldier, peasant, worker, naval ensign), who did not play any role, and 8 military specialists (one of them, Major General Vladimir Skalon, shot himself before the start of negotiations, on November 29), before the opening of the conference, during a private meeting of the Soviet delegation, a representative of the Headquarters in a group of military consultants shot himself); The secretary of the delegation was the Bolshevik Lev Karakhan.
The German delegation at the negotiations was headed by State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Richard von Kühlmann, the Austro-Hungarian delegation by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Imperial Court, Count Ottokar Cherin von und zu Hudenitz, the Bulgarian delegation by Justice Minister Hristo Popov, and the Turkish delegation by Grand Vizier Talaat Pasha.
The Soviet delegation, which initially relied on delaying the negotiations, put forward a program that was obviously unacceptable to the Central Powers, which included, among other things, the renunciation of annexations and indemnities, the liberation of occupied territories, etc. In response, von Kühlmann stated on December 12 (25) that the Central Powers agreed to these conditions, but on the condition that the Soviet delegation guarantees that the Entente countries will also fulfill them. The Soviet delegation requested a 10-day break, ostensibly in order to negotiate with the Entente countries. Then, referring to the principle put forward by the Soviet delegation about the right of nations “to freely decide the question of belonging to any state or of their state independence,” the German and Austro-Hungarian delegations stated that the people of Poland, Lithuania, Courland and part of Estonia and Livonia had already declared their “desire for complete state independence” (which was a hidden form of annexation of these lands) and suggested that the Soviet government withdraw its troops from here. On December 15 (28), the Soviet delegation left for Petrograd; in fulfillment of its obligations, the NKID formally addressed the governments of the Entente countries with an invitation to join the negotiations (as expected, there was no response).
The Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) confirmed their position: not to interrupt the negotiations, since the RSFSR does not have the strength to resist the Central Powers, but to delay the negotiations as much as possible, since a revolution is expected in Europe from day to day. Use the gained time, on the one hand, to launch anti-war agitation and disintegrate the enemy troops, and, on the other, to form military units.
On December 20, 1917 (January 2, 1918), the Council of People's Commissars put forward a proposal to transfer negotiations to neutral Stockholm (Sweden), which was regarded by the Central Powers as an attempt to delay negotiations and was rejected. These days, during the absence of Soviet representatives in Brest-Litovsk, a delegation from the Central Rada of Ukraine arrived here. Without making a final decision on recognizing the Central Rada as the legal representatives of the Ukrainian people, the German delegation decided to begin negotiations with the Ukrainian delegation (chaired by the Secretary of Trade and Industry of the General Secretariat of Ukraine Vsevolod Goubovich) in order to be able to put pressure on both the Soviet and Austrian the Hungarian side (since Ukraine laid claim to a number of regions populated by Ukrainians that were part of Austria-Hungary).
The composition of the Soviet delegation before the new round of negotiations was changed: “representatives of the people” were excluded from it; the political part was significantly expanded - up to 12 people: People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Leon Trotsky (chairman), Adolf Joffe, Lev Karakhan, head of the department of external relations of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Karl Radek, Chairman of the Moscow Council Mikhail Pokrovsky, Anastasia Bitsenko, People's Commissar of Property and member of the Central Committee of the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party Vladimir Karelin, Chairman of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Ukraine Efim Medvedev, Chairman of the Soviet Government of Ukraine Vasily Shakhrai, Chairman of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania Stanislav Bobinsky, Commissioner for Lithuanian Affairs under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR Vincas Mickevichyus-Kapsukas, member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Vahan Teryan. The military part of the delegation was reduced to 3 people (Rear Admiral Vasily Altvater, Major General Alexander Samoilo, Captain Vladimir Lipsky).
In parallel with the negotiations, the Soviet delegation (responsible Karl Radek) began to take steps to develop anti-war propaganda (the Council of People's Commissars allocated 2 million rubles for it), and the newspaper “Die Fackel” began to be published in German.
Negotiations resumed on December 27, 1917 (January 9, 1918), and von Kühlmann stated that since the Soviet side did not ensure that the Entente countries joined the declaration of peace “without annexations and indemnities,” the parties no longer adhere to this principle. A consequence of the lack of response from the Entente countries to the Council of People's Commissars' proposal to join the negotiations was also a change in the status of the future world: now it could not be considered as universal, but was only separate, with all the ensuing consequences. On December 28, 1917 (January 10, 1918), Trotsky was forced to admit that his delegation did not represent Ukraine and, thereby, the independence of the Ukrainian delegation; On December 30, 1917 (January 12, 1918), Chernin, on behalf of the Central Powers, declared that they recognized the Ukrainian delegation as a representative of Ukraine, after which negotiations with Golubovich were officially begun.
Attempts by the Soviet delegation to obtain from Germany and Austria-Hungary a commitment not to lay claim to any territories of the former Russian Empire ended on December 30, 1917 (January 12, 1918) with a statement by a member of the German delegation and chief of staff of the Commander-in-Chief in the East, Major General Max Hoffmann that German troops are not going to leave Courland, Lithuania, Riga and the islands of the Gulf of Riga. Finally, on January 5 (18), Hoffman finally formulated (and presented the corresponding map to the Political Commission) the claims of Germany and Austria-Hungary, which extended to Poland, Lithuania, Courland, part of Livonia and Estland (including the Moonsund Islands and the Gulf of Riga) , while he stated that “regarding the border south of Brest-Litovsk, we are negotiating with representatives of the Ukrainian Rada.” To gain time, the Soviet delegation insisted on declaring a new 10-day break to familiarize the government with the new requirements and conduct consultations.
Discussion of peace terms
There were serious disagreements among the leadership of the RSDLP(b) and Soviet Russia regarding further policy in the negotiations. If V.I. Lenin, who published “Theses on Peace” on January 7 (20), categorically insisted on the speedy signing of peace, even if any demands of the Central Powers were accepted, then a group of “left communists” (whose ideological leader was Nikolai Bukharin) opposed this position. The essence of their position was that no agreements with the imperialists were possible, and it was necessary to start a “revolutionary war”, which, in turn, should cause an immediate revolution in the remaining warring countries. Leon Trotsky put forward an “intermediate” slogan: “no war, no peace”; he implied that the Soviet government refused to conclude a shameful peace with the imperialists, but announced its withdrawal from the war and the demobilization of the army, thereby shifting responsibility for further steps to the Central Powers; At the same time, he believed that there was only “25% in favor of the fact that the Germans would be able to advance,” and the continuation of the war, on the contrary, would provoke the start of a revolution in Germany.
At an extended meeting of the Central Committee on January 8 (21), A.I. Lenin was supported by 15 people, Trotsky - 16, “left communists” - 32. The most consistently in favor of concluding peace were, besides Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Sergeev (Artyom) and Sokolnikov. Somewhat later, Lenin, as a compromise, managed to pass through the Central Committee a decision to continue the course of delaying negotiations. Then, upon Trotsky’s departure back to Brest-Litovsk, Lenin, as chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars, instructed him to sign any peace terms if the Central Powers presented an ultimatum.
When negotiations resumed in Brest-Litovsk on January 17 (30), it became known that the Central Powers were actively negotiating with the Ukrainian delegation. Since by this time almost all of Ukraine was controlled by the Bolsheviks, the Soviet delegation announced that it did not recognize any agreements between the Rada and the Central Powers. After this, a time-out was taken by the German and Austro-Hungarian delegations, whose heads departed on January 21 (February 3) for consultations on the Ukrainian issue.
The decision was not made in favor of Soviet Russia and on January 27 (February 9) peace was signed in Brest-Litovsk between Ukraine (which was represented by the delegation of the Central Rada) and the Central Powers. At the request of the Rada, Germany and Austria-Hungary sent their troops to the territory of Ukraine, and the Central Rada undertook to supply 1 million tons of bread, 50 thousand tons of meat, 400 million eggs, etc. within six months. On the same day, von Kühlmann declared that “peace negotiations cannot be delayed indefinitely” and that Soviet Russia’s acceptance of German demands was “an absolutely necessary condition for the conclusion of peace.” At the same time, in an official statement by Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Bolshevik government was accused of “directly addressing ... the troops with an open radio message calling for rebellion and disobedience to their senior commanders.” The Kaiser announced that “Trotsky must by tomorrow evening... sign a peace with the return of the Baltic states up to the line Narva - Pleskau - Dünaburg inclusive.”
On January 28 (February 10), Trotsky, rejecting von Kühlmann’s offer to discuss the situation, announced: “We are leaving the war. We notify all peoples and their governments of this. We give the order for the complete demobilization of our armies” - all without an official peace agreement. In response, von Kühlmann informed the Soviet delegation that “if a peace treaty is not concluded, then, obviously, the armistice agreement loses its meaning, and, after the expiration of the period provided for in it, the war is resumed.” At 19:30 on February 16, Max Hoffmann, as a representative of the German command, informed General Samoilo that the truce would end at 12:00 on February 18. On February 17, Lenin again called on the meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) to immediately resume negotiations, but he found himself in the minority (5 versus 6), although he managed to achieve agreement to conclude peace if “there is no revolutionary upsurge in Germany and Austria.”
On February 18, German troops launched an offensive, encountering virtually no organized resistance; the demoralized remnants of the Russian army could not stop the enemy. On the night of February 19, Lenin got the Central Committee to accept the peace terms (7 votes for, 5 against, 1 abstained), after which a radio telegram was sent to Berlin, which reported that the Council of People's Commissars “sees itself forced to sign the peace terms proposed in Brest-Litovsk delegations of the Quadruple Alliance... declares that a response to the exact conditions set by the German Government will be given immediately.”
The response of the German government was dated February 21, and received (by courier) in Petrograd on the morning of February 23. At this time, German and Austro-Hungarian troops continued the offensive, occupying Minsk (February 19), Polotsk (February 20), Rechitsa and Orsha (February 21), Pskov (February 24), Borisov and Revel (February 25), Gomel, Chernigov , Mogilev (March 1). This time, the German government put forward more difficult peace conditions: in addition to all the previously set conditions, the red troops were asked to clear the territories of Livonia and Estland that they still occupied, which were immediately occupied by the German “police forces.” The 4th point provided for the withdrawal of Red troops from Ukraine and Finland and the conclusion of peace with the Central Rada. Russia also had to withdraw from Eastern Anatolia, withdraw its fleet to ports and disarm it, and cease all revolutionary agitation in the Central Powers.
In the conditions of the inevitable collapse of Soviet Russia, Lenin, at a meeting of the Central Committee on February 23, managed to achieve acceptance of the terms of the ultimatum (7 people voted for, 4 against, 4 abstained), which, however, caused a crisis in the Central Committee and the Council of People's Commissars, which left a number of “left communists” " At 4:30 on February 24, the same decision was made by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (126 votes for, 85 against, 26 abstained). At 7:00 a message about acceptance of the ultimatum was transmitted to Berlin, where it was received at 7:32.
To sign peace, a new Soviet delegation was sent to Brest-Litovsk. After several people, incl. Adolf Ioffe and Grigory Zinoviev refused the post of chairman; Grigory Sokolnikov agreed to head it. In addition to Sokolnikov, the delegation included 3 more authorized members of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Grigory Petrovsky, Deputy People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs Georgy Chicherin and Lev Karakhan, as well as 8 consultants.
Formally, it is believed that negotiations resumed on March 1 - the day the Soviet delegation arrived in Brest-Litovsk. However, Soviet representatives refused to enter into any negotiations, emphasizing that the terms of the Central Powers were accepted under pressure, and the treaty was signed without any discussion.
The signing ceremony took place on March 3 in the White Palace of the Brest-Litovsk Fortress ca. 17:00. The peace treaty consisted of 14 articles, a number of annexes, 2 protocols and 4 additional treaties (between Soviet Russia and each of the states of the Quadruple Alliance), and was drawn up in five languages (German, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Ottoman and Russian).
Soviet Russia had to pay an extremely high price to end the war. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk provided for:
- “The regions lying to the west of the line established by the contracting parties and which previously belonged to Russia will no longer be under its supreme authority,” and “Russia refuses any interference in the internal affairs of these regions. Germany and Austria-Hungary intend to determine future destiny these regions upon demolition with their population” (Art. 3);
Russia ensures “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” (Article 4);
- “Russia will immediately carry out the complete demobilization of its army” (Article 5);
Russia undertakes to immediately make peace with the Ukrainian People's Republic and withdraw its troops and the Red Guard from Ukraine, Estonia and Livonia, as well as Finland and the Åland Islands (Article 6).
Thus, Soviet Russia lost approx. 780 thousand sq. km. with a population of 56 million people, which accounted for 1/3 of the population of the Russian Empire. In addition, under additional agreements, Russia pledged to pay 6 billion marks of reparations (including 1.5 billion marks in gold and loan obligations, 1 billion in goods), as well as 500 million gold rubles for losses incurred by Germany due to revolutionary events in Russia. Also, the property of the subjects of the Central Powers was removed from the scope of the nationalization decrees, and those who had already been affected by them were restored to their rights.
At the VII Congress of the RSDLP (b) (March 6-8, 1918), urgently assembled specifically to discuss this issue, V.I. Lenin to convince the delegates of the expediency of the actions of the Council of People's Commissars and to support the conclusion of peace (30 votes for, 12 against, 4 abstained). The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was ratified on March 15 by the decision of the IV Extraordinary All-Russian Congress of Soviets (784 votes for, 261 against, 115 abstained). On March 26, it was also ratified by German Emperor Wilhelm II.
Cancellation of the contract
The Entente powers reacted negatively to the signing of the separate Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and on March 15, its non-recognition was officially announced. Therefore, when the armistice was signed in Compiegne on November 11, 1918, the victorious countries included a 15th clause in it, which read: “renunciation of the Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk treaties and additional treaties.”
On March 3, 1918, 95 years ago, a peace treaty was concluded between Soviet Russia and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
The conclusion of the agreement was preceded by a number of events.
On November 19 (December 2), the delegation of the Soviet government, headed by A. A. Ioffe, arrived in the neutral zone and proceeded to Brest-Litovsk, where the Headquarters of the German command on the Eastern Front was located, where it met with the delegation of the Austro-German bloc, which included also included representatives from Bulgaria and Turkey.
Peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk. Arrival of Russian delegates. In the middle is A. A. Ioffe, next to him is secretary L. Karakhan, A. A. Bitsenko, on the right is L. B. Kamenev
Arrival of the German delegation in Brest-Litovsk
On November 21 (December 4), the Soviet 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.
An unpleasant surprise awaited Soviet diplomats in Brest. They hoped that Germany and its allies would eagerly seize any opportunity for reconciliation. But it was not there. It turned out that the Germans and Austrians were not going to leave the occupied territories, and by the right of nations to self-determination, Russia would lose Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Transcaucasia. A dispute began over this right. The Bolsheviks argued that the expression of the will of peoples under occupation would be undemocratic, and the Germans objected that under Bolshevik terror it would be even less democratic.
As a result of the negotiations, a temporary agreement was reached:
the truce is concluded for the period from November 24 (December 7) to December 4 (17);
troops remain in their positions;
All troop transfers are stopped, except those that have already begun.
Hindenburg headquarters officers meet the arriving delegation of the RSFSR on the Brest platform in early 1918
Based on the general principles of the Peace Decree, the Soviet delegation, already at one of the first meetings, 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.
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.
Trotsky L.D., Ioffe A. and Rear Admiral V. Altfater are going to the meeting. Brest-Litovsk.
During the break, however, it became clear that Germany understands a world without annexations differently than the Soviet delegation - for Germany we are not talking at all about the withdrawal of troops to the borders of 1914 and the withdrawal of German troops from the occupied territories of the former Russian Empire, especially since, according to the statement Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Courland have already spoken out in favor of secession from Russia, so if these three countries now enter into negotiations with Germany about their future fate, this will by no means be considered annexation by Germany.
On December 14 (27), the Soviet delegation at the second meeting of the political commission made a proposal: “In full agreement with the open statement of both contracting parties about their lack of aggressive plans and their desire to make peace without annexations. Russia is withdrawing its troops from the parts of Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Persia it occupies, and the powers of the Quadruple Alliance are withdrawing from Poland, Lithuania, Courland and other regions of Russia.” Soviet Russia promised, in accordance with the principle of self-determination of nations, to provide the population of these regions with the opportunity to decide for themselves the issue of their state existence - in the absence of any troops other than national or local police.
The German and Austro-Hungarian delegations, however, made a counter-proposal - the Russian state was invited to “take into account the statements expressing the will of the peoples inhabiting Poland, Lithuania, Courland and parts of Estonia and Livonia, about their desire for full state independence and the separation from the Russian Federation" and recognize that "these statements under present conditions should be considered as an expression of the people's will." R. von Kühlmann asked if the Soviet government would agree to withdraw its troops from all of Livonia and from Estland in order to give the local population the opportunity to unite with their fellow tribesmen living in the areas occupied by the Germans. The Soviet delegation was also informed that the Ukrainian Central Rada was sending its own delegation to Brest-Litovsk.
On December 15 (28), the Soviet delegation left for Petrograd. The current state of affairs was discussed at a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b), where by a majority vote it was decided to delay peace negotiations as long as possible, in the hope of a quick revolution in Germany itself. Subsequently, the formula is refined and takes the following form: “We hold on until the German ultimatum, then we surrender.” Lenin also invites People's Minister Trotsky to go to Brest-Litovsk and personally lead the Soviet delegation. According to Trotsky’s memoirs, “the very prospect of negotiations with Baron Kühlmann and General Hoffmann was not very attractive, but “to delay negotiations, you need a delayer,” as Lenin put it.”
Further negotiations with the Germans were up in the air. The Soviet government could not accept the German conditions, fearing that it would be immediately overthrown. Not only the Left Social Revolutionaries, but also the majority of communists stood for the “revolutionary war.” But there was no one to fight! The army has already fled to their homes. The Bolsheviks proposed moving the negotiations to Stockholm. But the Germans and their allies refused this. Although they were desperately afraid - what if the Bolsheviks interrupted the negotiations? It would be a disaster for them. They were already beginning to famine, and food could only be obtained in the East.
At the union meeting it was said in panic: “Germany and Hungary are not giving anything more. Without supplies from outside, a general pestilence will begin in Austria in a few weeks.”
At the second stage of the negotiations, the Soviet side was represented by L. D. Trotsky (leader), A. A. Ioffe, L. M. Karakhan, K. B. Radek, M. N. Pokrovsky, A. A. Bitsenko, V. A. Karelin, E. G. Medvedev, V. M. Shakhrai, St. Bobinsky, V. Mitskevich-Kapsukas, V. Terian, V. M. Altfater, A. A. Samoilo, V. V. Lipsky.
The head of the Austrian delegation, Ottokar von Czernin, wrote when the Bolsheviks returned to Brest: “It was interesting to see what joy gripped the Germans, and this unexpected and so violently manifested gaiety proved how difficult the thought was for them that the Russians might not come.”
The second composition of the Soviet delegation in Brest-Litovsk. Sitting, from left to right: Kamenev, Ioffe, Bitsenko. Standing, from left to right: Lipsky V.V., Stuchka, Trotsky L.D., Karakhan L.M.
During negotiations in Brest-Litovsk
The impressions of the head of the German delegation, State Secretary of the German Foreign Ministry Richard von Kühlmann, about Trotsky, who headed the Soviet delegation, have been preserved: “not very large, sharp and completely piercing eyes behind sharp glasses looked at his counterpart with a drilling and critical gaze. The expression on his face clearly indicated that he [Trotsky] would have been better off ending the unsympathetic negotiations with a couple of grenades, throwing them across the green table, if this had been somehow agreed upon with the general political line... sometimes I asked myself whether I had arrived he generally intended to make peace, or he needed a platform from which he could propagate Bolshevik views.”
A member of the German delegation, General Max Hoffmann, ironically described the composition of the Soviet delegation: “I will never forget my first dinner with the Russians. I sat between Ioffe and Sokolnikov, the then Commissioner of Finance. Opposite me sat a worker, to whom, apparently, the multitude of cutlery and dishes caused great inconvenience. He grabbed one thing or another, but used the fork exclusively to clean his teeth. Sitting diagonally from me next to Prince Hohenlohe was the terrorist Bizenko [as in the text], on the other side of her was a peasant, a real Russian phenomenon with long gray locks and a beard overgrown like a forest. He brought a certain smile to the staff when, when asked whether he preferred red or white wine for dinner, he answered: “The stronger one.”
On December 22, 1917 (January 4, 1918), German Chancellor G. von Hertling announced in his speech in the Reichstag that a delegation of the Ukrainian Central Rada had arrived in Brest-Litovsk. Germany agreed to negotiate with the Ukrainian delegation, hoping to use this as leverage against both Soviet Russia and its ally, Austria-Hungary.
Ukrainian delegation in Brest-Litovsk, from left to right: Nikolay Lyubinsky, Vsevolod Golubovich, Nikolay Levitsky, Lussenti, Mikhail Polozov and Alexander Sevryuk.
The arriving Ukrainian delegation from the Central Rada behaved scandalously and arrogantly. The Ukrainians had bread, and they began to blackmail Germany and Austria-Hungary, demanding in exchange for food that they recognize their independence and give Galicia and Bukovina, which belonged to the Austrians, to Ukraine.
The Central Rada did not want to know Trotsky. This was very beneficial for the Germans. They hovered around the independents this way and that. Other factors also came into play. A strike broke out in Vienna due to hunger, followed by a strike in Berlin. 500 thousand workers went on strike. Ukrainians demanded ever greater concessions for their bread. And Trotsky perked up. It seemed that a revolution was about to begin among the Germans and Austrians, and they just had to wait for it.
Ukrainian diplomats, who conducted preliminary negotiations with the German General M. Hoffmann, chief of staff of the German armies on the Eastern Front, initially announced claims to annex the Kholm region (which was part of Poland), as well as the Austro-Hungarian territories of Bukovina and Eastern Galicia, to Ukraine. Hoffmann, however, insisted that they lower their demands and limit themselves to the Kholm region, agreeing that Bukovina and Eastern Galicia form an independent Austro-Hungarian crown territory under Habsburg rule. It was these demands that they defended in their further negotiations with the Austro-Hungarian delegation. Negotiations with the Ukrainians dragged on so much that the opening of the conference had to be postponed to December 27, 1917 (January 9, 1918).
Ukrainian delegates communicate with German officers in Brest-Litovsk
At the next meeting, held on December 28, 1917 (January 10, 1918), the Germans invited the Ukrainian delegation. Its chairman V. A. Golubovich announced the declaration of the Central Rada that the power of the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia does not extend to Ukraine, and therefore the Central Rada intends to independently conduct peace negotiations. R. von Kühlmann turned to L. D. Trotsky with the question of whether he and his delegation intend to continue to be the only diplomatic representatives of all of Russia in Brest-Litovsk, and also whether the Ukrainian delegation should be considered part of the Russian delegation or whether it represents an independent state. Trotsky knew that the Rada was actually in a state of war with the RSFSR. Therefore, by agreeing to consider the delegation of the Ukrainian Central Rada as independent, he actually played into the hands of the representatives of the Central Powers and provided Germany and Austria-Hungary with the opportunity to continue contacts with the Ukrainian Central Rada, while negotiations with Soviet Russia were marking time for two more days.
Signing of the truce documents in Brest-Litovsk
The January uprising in Kyiv put Germany in a difficult position, and now the German delegation demanded a break in the meetings of the peace conference. On January 21 (February 3), von Kühlmann and Chernin went to Berlin for a meeting with General Ludendorff, where the possibility of signing peace with the government of the Central Rada, which does not control the situation in Ukraine, was discussed. The decisive role was played by the dire food situation in Austria-Hungary, which, without Ukrainian grain, was threatened with famine.
In Brest, at the third round of negotiations, the situation changed again. In Ukraine, the Reds smashed the Rada. Now Trotsky refused to recognize the Ukrainians as an independent delegation and called Ukraine an integral part of Russia. The Bolsheviks clearly relied on the imminent revolution in Germany and Austria-Hungary and tried to gain time. One fine day in Berlin, a radio message from Petrograd to German soldiers was intercepted, where they were called upon to kill the emperor, generals, and fraternize. Kaiser Wilhelm II became furious and ordered the negotiations to be interrupted.
Signing a peace treaty with Ukraine. Seated in the middle, from left to right: Count Ottokar Czernin von und zu Hudenitz, General Max von Hoffmann, Richard von Kühlmann, Prime Minister V. Rodoslavov, Grand Vizier Mehmet Talaat Pasha
The Ukrainians, as the Red troops succeeded, sharply reduced their arrogance and, flirting with the Germans, agreed to everything. On February 9, when the Bolsheviks entered Kiev, the Central Rada concluded a separate peace with Germany and Austria-Hungary, saving them from the threat of hunger and riots...
In exchange for military assistance against the Soviet troops, the UPR undertook to supply Germany and Austria-Hungary by July 31, 1918, a million tons of grain, 400 million eggs, up to 50 thousand tons of cattle meat, lard, sugar, hemp, manganese ore, etc. Austria-Hungary also committed itself to creating an autonomous Ukrainian region in Eastern Galicia.
Signing of a peace treaty between the UPR and the Central Powers on January 27 (February 9), 1918
On January 27 (February 9), at a meeting of the political commission, Chernin informed the Russian delegation about the signing of peace with Ukraine represented by the delegation of the Central Rada government.
Now the situation of the Bolsheviks has become desperate. The Germans spoke to them in the language of ultimatums. The Reds were “asked” to leave Ukraine as if they were leaving the territory of a state friendly to Germany. And new demands were added to the previous ones - to give up the unoccupied parts of Latvia and Estonia, to pay a huge indemnity.
At the insistence of General Ludendorff (even at a meeting in Berlin, he demanded that the head of the German delegation interrupt negotiations with the Russian delegation within 24 hours after the signing of peace with Ukraine) and on the direct orders of Emperor Wilhelm II, von Kühlmann presented Soviet Russia with an ultimatum to accept German conditions of the world.
On January 28, 1918 (February 10, 1918), in response to a request from the Soviet delegation on how to resolve the issue, Lenin confirmed his previous instructions. Nevertheless, Trotsky, violating these instructions, rejected the German peace conditions, putting forward the slogan “Neither peace, nor war: we will not sign peace, we will stop the war, and we will demobilize the army.” The German side stated in response that Russia’s failure to sign a peace treaty would automatically entail the termination of the truce.
In general, the Germans and Austrians received extremely clear advice. Take what you want, but yourself, without my signature or consent. After this statement, the Soviet delegation demonstratively left the negotiations. On the same day, Trotsky gives an order to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Krylenko demanding that he immediately issue an order to the army to end the state of war with Germany and on general demobilization(although he had no right to do so, since he was not yet the People's Commissar for Military Affairs, but for Foreign Affairs). Lenin canceled this order after 6 hours. Nevertheless, the order was received by all fronts on February 11 andfor some reason it was accepted for execution. The last units still in position flowed to the rear...
On February 13, 1918, at a meeting in Homburg with the participation of Wilhelm II, Imperial Chancellor Hertling, head of the German Foreign Office von Kühlmann, Hindenburg, Ludendorff, the Chief of Naval Staff and the Vice-Chancellor, it was decided to break the truce and launch an offensive on the Eastern Front.
On the morning of February 19, the offensive of German troops rapidly unfolded along the entire Northern Front. The troops of the 8th German Army (6 divisions), a separate Northern Corps stationed on the Moonsund Islands, as well as a special army unit operating from the south, from Dvinsk, moved through Livonia and Estland to Revel, Pskov and Narva (the final goal is Petrograd). . In 5 days, German and Austrian troops advanced 200-300 km deep into Russian territory. “I have never seen such a ridiculous war,” Hoffmann wrote. - We drove it practically on trains and cars. You put a handful of infantry with machine guns and one cannon on the train and go to the next station. You take the station, arrest the Bolsheviks, put more soldiers on the train and move on.” Zinoviev was forced to admit that “there is information that in some cases unarmed German soldiers dispersed hundreds of our soldiers.” “The army rushed to run, abandoning everything, sweeping away everything in its path,” the first Soviet commander-in-chief of the Russian front army, N.V. Krylenko, wrote about these events in the same year of 1918.
On February 21, the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree “The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger,” but at the same time notified Germany that it was ready to resume negotiations. And the Germans decided to slam their fists on the table in order to discourage the Bolsheviks from being stubborn in the future. On February 22, an ultimatum was dictated with a response period of 48 hours, and the conditions were even more severe than before. Since the Red Guard showed absolute inability to fight, on February 23 a decree was adopted on the creation of a regular Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. But on the same day a stormy meeting of the Central Committee took place. Lenin persuaded his comrades to peace, threatening his resignation. This did not stop many. Lomov stated: “If Lenin threatens resignation, then they are afraid in vain. We must take power without Lenin.” Nevertheless, some were embarrassed by Vladimir Ilyich’s demarche, others were sobered by the easy march of the Germans to Petrograd. 7 members of the Central Committee voted for peace, 4 were against and 4 abstained.
But the Central Committee was only a party body. The decision had to be made by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets. It was still multi-party, and the factions of the left Socialist Revolutionaries, right Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, anarchists, and a significant part of the Bolsheviks were in favor of the war. The acceptance of peace was ensured by Yakov Sverdlov. He knew how to chair meetings like no one else. I very clearly used, for example, such a tool as regulations. The unwanted speaker was cut off - the regulations came out (and who is watching to see if there is still a minute left?). He knew how to play on casuistry, procedural subtleties, and manipulated who to give the floor and who to “ignore.”
At a meeting of the Bolshevik faction, Sverdlov emphasized “party discipline.” He pointed out that the Central Committee had already made a decision, the entire faction must implement it, and if someone thinks differently, he is obliged to submit to the “majority.” At 3 o'clock in the morning, the factions of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee came together. If we counted all the opponents of peace - the Socialist Revolutionaries, the Mensheviks, the “left communists”, they would have a clear majority. Knowing this, the Left Socialist Revolutionary leaders demanded a roll call vote. But... the “left communists” were already bound by the decision of their faction. Vote only for peace. By 116 votes against 85 with 26 abstentions, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee accepted the German ultimatum.
After the decision to accept peace on German terms was made by the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b), and then passed through the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the question arose about the new composition of the delegation. As Richard Pipes notes, none of the Bolshevik leaders were eager to go down in history by putting their signature on a treaty that was shameful for Russia. Trotsky by this time had already resigned from the post of People's Commissariat, G. Ya. Sokolnikov proposed the candidacy of G. E. Zinoviev. However, Zinoviev refused such an “honor”, proposing the candidacy of Sokolnikov himself in response; Sokolnikov also refuses, promising to resign from the Central Committee if such an appointment occurs. Ioffe A.A. also flatly refused. After long negotiations, Sokolnikov nevertheless agreed to head the Soviet delegation, the new composition of which took the following form: Sokolnikov G. Ya., Petrovsky L. M., Chicherin G. V., Karakhan G. I. and a group of 8 consultants (among them the former chairman of the delegation A. A. Ioffe). The delegation arrived in Brest-Litovsk on March 1, and two days later they signed the agreement without any discussion.
Postcard depicting the signing of the ceasefire agreement by the German representative, Prince Leopold of Bavaria. Russian delegation: A.A. Bitsenko, next to her A. A. Ioffe, as well as L. B. Kamenev. Behind Kamenev in the captain's uniform is A. Lipsky, secretary of the Russian delegation L. Karakhan
The German-Austrian offensive, which began in February 1918, continued even when the Soviet delegation arrived in Brest-Litovsk: on February 28, the Austrians occupied Berdichev, on March 1, the Germans occupied Gomel, Chernigov and Mogilev, and on March 2, Petrograd was bombed. On March 4, after the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was signed, German troops occupied Narva and stopped only on the Narova River and the western shore of Lake Peipsi, 170 km from Petrograd.
Photocopy of the first two pages of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty between Soviet Russia and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, March 1918
Postcard showing the last page with signatures on the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty
The annex to the treaty guaranteed the special economic status of Germany in Soviet Russia. Citizens and corporations of the Central Powers were removed from the Bolshevik nationalization decrees, and persons who had already lost property were restored to their rights. Thus, German citizens were allowed to engage in private entrepreneurship in Russia against the backdrop of the general nationalization of the economy that was taking place at that time. This state of affairs for some time created the opportunity for Russian owners of enterprises or securities to escape nationalization by selling their assets to the Germans. F. E. Dzerzhinsky’s fears that “By signing the terms, we do not guarantee ourselves against new ultimatums,” are partially confirmed: the advance of the German army was not limited to the boundaries of the occupation zone defined by the peace treaty.
The struggle for ratification of the peace treaty began. At the VII Congress of the Bolshevik Party on March 6-8, the positions of Lenin and Bukharin clashed. The outcome of the congress was decided by Lenin's authority - his resolution was adopted by 30 votes against 12 with 4 abstentions. Trotsky's compromise proposals to make peace with the countries of the Quadruple Alliance the last concession and to prohibit the Central Committee from making peace with the Central Rada of Ukraine were rejected. The controversy continued at the Fourth Congress of Soviets, where the left Socialist Revolutionaries and anarchists opposed ratification, and the left communists abstained. But thanks to the existing system of representation, the Bolsheviks had a clear majority at the Congress of Soviets. If the left communists had split the party, the peace treaty would have failed, but Bukharin did not dare to do so. On the night of March 16, peace was ratified.
Austro-Hungarian troops enter the city of Kamenets-Podolsky after the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty
German troops under the command of General Eichhorn occupied Kyiv. March 1918.
Germans in Kyiv
Special issue of Lübeckischen Anzeigen
While the German General Staff came to the conclusion that the defeat of the Second Reich was inevitable, Germany managed to impose additional agreements to the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty on the Soviet government, in the context of the growing civil war and the beginning of the Entente intervention. 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 on behalf of the government of the RSFSR by plenipotentiary A. A. Ioffe, and on behalf of Germany by von P. Hinze and I. Krige. Under this agreement, Soviet Russia was obliged to pay Germany, as compensation for damage and expenses for maintaining Russian prisoners of war, a huge indemnity - 6 billion marks - in the form of “pure gold” and loan obligations. In September 1918, two “gold trains” were sent to Germany, which contained 93.5 tons of “pure gold” worth over 120 million gold rubles. It didn't get to the next shipment.
Extracts
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 live from now on. among themselves in peace and harmony.
Article II
The contracting parties will refrain from any agitation or propaganda against the governments 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...
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 in accordance with their populations.
Article IV
Germany is ready, as soon as general peace is concluded and Russian demobilization is completely carried out, to clear the areas lying east of the line indicated in paragraph 1 of Article III, since Article IV does not stipulate otherwise. Russia will do everything for the provinces of Eastern Anatolia and their lawful return to Turkey. The districts of Ardahan, Kars and Batum will also be immediately cleared of Russian troops. Russia will not interfere in new organization state-legal and international-legal relations of these districts, and will allow their population 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 its 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. ...In the Baltic Sea and in the Russian-controlled parts of the Black Sea, the removal of minefields must begin immediately. Merchant shipping in these maritime areas is freely and immediately resumed...
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 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 there is ensured by the country's own institutions and until there is no public order restored Russia will immediately release all arrested or 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 of the Russian fleet and Russian naval forces... the government or public institutions of Finland. The fortifications erected on the Åland Islands must be demolished as soon as possible.
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
Article IX
The contracting parties mutually renounce compensation for their military expenses, that is, government costs of waging war, as well as compensation for military losses, that is, those losses that were caused to them and their citizens in the war zone by military measures, including and all the requisitions made in the enemy country...
ORIGINAL