The Brest-Litovsk peace in what war. Peace of Brest - Memorial complex "Brest Hero Fortress"

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

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

On October 26 (November 8), 1917, the 2nd Congress of Soviets adopted a decree on peace, after which the Soviet government invited all warring states to immediately begin negotiations on a truce. None of the Entente countries (Russia's allies in the war) responded to these peace proposals, but the countries of the German-Austrian bloc at the end of November agreed to negotiate an armistice and peace with representatives of the Soviet Republic. Negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk on December 9 (December 22), 1917.

The signing of peace at that moment was urgently demanded by the internal and external situation in Soviet Russia. The country was in a state of extreme economic ruin, the old army had virtually disintegrated, and a new one had not been created. But a significant part of the leadership of the Bolshevik Party advocated the continuation of the revolutionary war (a group of “left communists” led by N.I. Bukharin. At the peace negotiations, the German delegation, taking advantage of the fact that the offensive of its army was rapidly developing at the front, offered Russia predatory peace terms, according to with which Germany would annex the Baltic states, part of Belarus and Transcaucasia, and also receive an indemnity.

Since by this time German troops, without encountering serious resistance from the remnants of the Russian army, had already occupied Ukraine, the Baltic states, most of Belarus, some western and southern regions of Russia and were already approaching Petrograd, on March 3, 1918, Lenin’s government signed a peace treaty. In the west, a territory of 1 million square meters was torn away from Russia. km, in the Caucasus, Kars, Ardahan, and Batum went to Turkey. Russia pledged to demobilize the army and navy. According to the additional Russian-German financial agreement signed in Berlin, it was obliged to pay Germany an indemnity of 6 billion marks. The treaty was ratified on March 15, 1918 by the Extraordinary Fourth All-Russian Congress of Soviets.

On December 9, 1917, peace negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk, where the headquarters of the German command was located. The Soviet delegation tried to defend the idea of ​​“peace without annexations and indemnities.” On January 28, 1918, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia. She demanded to sign an agreement under which Russia would lose Poland, Belarus and part of the Baltic states - a total of 150 thousand square kilometers.

This confronted the Soviet delegation with a severe dilemma between the proclaimed principles and the demands of life. According to the principles, the war should have been waged and not concluded shameful world with Germany. But there was no strength to fight. The head of the Soviet delegation, Leon Trotsky, like other Bolsheviks, painfully tried to resolve this contradiction. Finally it seemed to him that he had found a brilliant way out of the situation. On January 28, he delivered his famous peace speech at the negotiations. In short, it boiled down to the well-known formula: “Do not sign peace, do not wage war, and disband the army.”

Leon Trotsky stated: “We are withdrawing our army and our people from the war. Our soldier-plowman must return to his arable land in order to peacefully cultivate the land this spring, which the revolution transferred from the hands of the landowners to the hands of the peasant. We are withdrawing from the war. We refuse to sanction the conditions that German and Austro-Hungarian imperialism writes with a sword on the body of living peoples. We cannot put the signature of the Russian revolution under the conditions that bring oppression, grief and misfortune to millions of human beings. The governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary want to own lands. and peoples by the right of military seizure. Let them do their work openly. We cannot sanctify violence. We are leaving the war, but we are forced to refuse to sign a peace treaty." After this, he announced the official statement of the Soviet delegation: "Refusing to sign an annexationist treaty." , Russia, for its part, declares the state of war ended. At the same time, the Russian troops are given the order for complete demobilization along the entire front.”

German and Austrian diplomats were initially truly shocked by this incredible statement. There was complete silence in the room for several minutes. Then the German General M. Hoffmann exclaimed: “Unheard of!” The head of the German delegation, R. Kühlmann, immediately concluded: “Consequently, the state of war continues.” “Empty threats!” said L. Trotsky, leaving the meeting room.

However, contrary to the expectations of the Soviet leadership, on February 18, Austro-Hungarian troops launched an offensive along the entire front. Almost no one opposed them: the advance of the armies was only hampered by bad roads. On the evening of February 23, they occupied Pskov, and on March 3, Narva. The Red Guard detachment of sailor Pavel Dybenko left this city without a fight. General Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich wrote about him: “Dybenko’s detachment did not inspire confidence in me; it was enough to look at this sailor’s freemen with mother-of-pearl buttons sewn onto their wide bell-bottoms, with rollicking manners, to understand that they would not be able to fight with regular German units. My fears were justified..." On February 25, Vladimir Lenin wrote bitterly in the newspaper "Pravda": "The painfully shameful reports about the refusal of the regiments to maintain positions, about the refusal to defend even the Narva line, about the failure to comply with the order to destroy everything and everyone during the retreat; about flight, chaos, handlessness, helplessness, sloppiness."

On February 19, the Soviet leadership agreed to accept German peace terms. But now Germany has put forward much more difficult conditions, demanding five times the territory. About 50 million people lived on these lands; over 70% was mined here iron ore and about 90% of the country's coal. In addition, Russia had to pay a huge indemnity.

Soviet Russia was forced to accept these very difficult conditions. The head of the new Soviet delegation, Grigory Sokolnikov, read out its statement: “Under the current conditions, Russia has no choice. By the fact of the demobilization of its troops, the Russian revolution seemed to transfer its fate into the hands of the German people. We do not doubt for a minute that this is the triumph of imperialism and militarism over international proletarian revolution It will turn out to be only temporary and temporary." After these words, General Hoffmann exclaimed indignantly: "Again the same nonsense! ". “We are ready,” concluded G. Sokolnikov, “to immediately sign a peace treaty, refusing any discussion of it as completely useless under the current conditions.”

On March 3, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. On the Soviet side, the agreement was signed by the deputy. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs G.Ya. Sokolnikov, deputy. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs G.V. Chicherin, People's Commissar of Internal Affairs G.I. Petrovsky and Secretary of the delegation L.M. Karakhan. Russia lost Poland, the Baltic states, Ukraine, part of Belarus... In addition, under the agreement, Russia transferred more than 90 tons of gold to Germany. The Brest-Litovsk Treaty did not last long; in November, after the revolution in Germany, Soviet Russia annulled it.

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

The head of the Council of People's Commissars wrote: “There is no need for self-deception. We must measure entirely, to the bottom, the entire abyss of defeat, dismemberment, enslavement, humiliation into which we have now been pushed. The clearer we understand this, the more solid, tempered, steel our will will become. .. our unshakable determination to ensure, at all costs, that Rus' ceases to be wretched and powerless, so that it becomes powerful and abundant in the full sense of the word."

On the same day, fearing that the Germans, despite the concluded peace, would occupy Petrograd, the Soviet government moved to Moscow. So, more than two centuries later, Moscow again became the capital of the Russian state.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk remained in force for 3 months. After the revolution in Germany of 1918–1919, the Soviet government unilaterally annulled it on November 13, 1918.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

PEACE TREATY

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

(“PEACE OF BREST”)

Article I

Russia, on the one hand, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, on the other, declare that the state of war between them has ended. They decided to henceforth live among themselves in peace and friendship.

Article II

The contracting parties will refrain from any agitation or propaganda against the government or state and military institutions of the other party. Since this obligation concerns Russia, it also applies to the areas occupied by the powers of the Quadruple Alliance.

Article III

The areas lying to the west of the line established by the contracting parties and formerly belonging to Russia will no longer be under her supreme authority: the established line is indicated on the attached map ... *, which is essential integral part this peace treaty. The exact definition of this line will be worked out by a Russian-German commission.

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

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

Article IV

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

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

The districts of Ardahan, Kars and Batum are also immediately cleared of Russian troops. Russia will not interfere in new organization state-legal and international-legal relations of these districts, and will allow the population of these districts to establish a new system in agreement with neighboring states, especially Turkey.

Article V

Russia will immediately carry out the complete demobilization of its army, including the military units newly formed by the current government.

Article VI

Russia undertakes to immediately make peace with the Ukrainian People's Republic and recognize the peace treaty between this state and the powers of the Quadruple Alliance. The territory of Ukraine is immediately cleared of Russian troops and the Russian Red Guard. Russia ceases all agitation or propaganda against the government or public institutions of the Ukrainian People's Republic.

Estland and Livonia are also immediately cleared of Russian troops and the Russian Red Guard. The eastern border of Estonia generally runs along the Narva River. The eastern border of Liflyavdia runs generally through Lake Peipus and Lake Pskov to its southwestern corner, then through Lake Lyubanskoye in the direction of Livenhof on the Western Dvina. Estonia and Livonia will be occupied by the German police power until public safety there is ensured by the country's own institutions.

Finland and the Åland Islands will also be immediately cleared of Russian troops and the Russian Red Guard, and the Finnish ports will be cleared of the Russian fleet and Russian naval forces.

Article IX

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

Article X

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

Article XIV

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

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

The heads of the military missions of the allied countries at the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief presented General N. N. Dukhonin with a collective note in which they protested against the violation of the treaty of September 5, 1914, which prohibited the allies from concluding a separate peace or armistice. Dukhonin sent the text of the note to all front commanders.

On the same day, the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs addressed the ambassadors of neutral states with a proposal to mediate in organizing peace negotiations. Representatives of Sweden, Norway and Switzerland limited themselves to notification of receipt of the note. The Spanish Ambassador, who told the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs that the proposal had been submitted to Madrid, was immediately recalled from Russia.

The Entente's refusal to support the peace initiative of the Soviet government and active opposition to the conclusion of peace forced the Council of People's Commissars to take the path of separate peace negotiations with Germany. On November 14 (27), Germany announced its agreement to begin peace negotiations with the Soviet government. On the same day, Lenin, on behalf of the Council of People's Commissars, addressed a note to the governments of France, Great Britain, Italy, the USA, Belgium, Serbia, Romania, Japan and China, inviting them to join the peace negotiations: “ On December 1, we begin peace negotiations. If the allied peoples do not send their representatives, we will negotiate with the Germans alone" No response was received.

Conclusion of a truce

The conference was opened by the Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Front, Prince Leopold of Bavaria, and Kühlmann took the chairman's seat.

The Soviet delegation at the first stage included 5 authorized members of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee: the Bolsheviks A. A. Ioffe - the chairman of the delegation, L. B. Kamenev (Rozenfeld) and G. Ya. Sokolnikov (Brilliant), the Socialist Revolutionaries A. A. Bitsenko and S. D. Maslovsky-Mstislavsky, 8 members of the military delegation (Quartermaster General under the Supreme Commander-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 to the 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 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.

R. von Kühlmann asked whether 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.

Under the pretext of self-determination of peoples, Germany actually invited the Soviet delegation to recognize the puppet regimes established by that time by the German-Austrian occupation authorities in the western national outskirts of the former Russian Empire. So, on December 11 (new style) 1917, right during the German-Soviet armistice negotiations, the puppet Lithuanian Tariba announced the restoration of the independent Lithuanian state and the “eternal union relations"of this state with Germany.

Leon Trotsky, heading the Soviet delegation, delayed the negotiations, hoping for a quick revolution in Central Europe, and over the heads of the negotiators made calls for an uprising to “ workers in military uniform» Germany and Austria-Hungary. As he put it, “ Shouldn't we try to put the German working class and the German army to the test: on the one hand, a workers' revolution declaring the war ended; on the other hand - the Hohenzollern government, ordering an attack on this revolution". When Germany dictated harsh peace terms, Trotsky went against Lenin, who advocated peace at any cost, but did not support Bukharin, who called for a “revolutionary war.” Instead, he put forward the "intermediate" slogan " no war, no peace”, that is, he called for an end to the war, but proposed not to conclude a peace treaty.

According to one of the members of the Soviet delegation, former tsarist general A. A. Samoilo,

With the change in the head of the delegation, relations with the Germans also changed dramatically. We began to meet with them only at joint meetings, since we stopped going to the officers’ meeting, and were content in our block in which we lived. At meetings, Trotsky always spoke with great vehemence, Hoffman [General Max Hoffmann] did not remain in debt, and the polemics between them often became very heated. Hoffmann usually jumped up from his seat and, with an angry face, took up his objections, starting them with a cry: “Ich protestiere!..” [I protest!], often even hitting the table with his hand. At first, naturally, I liked such attacks on the Germans, but Pokrovsky explained to me how dangerous they were for peace negotiations. Aware of the degree of disintegration of the Russian army and the impossibility of any resistance on its part in the event of a German offensive, I was clearly aware of the danger of losing colossal military property on a huge Russian front, not to mention the loss of vast territories. Several times I spoke about this at our home meetings of members of the delegation, but each time I was listened to by Trotsky with obvious condescension towards my unsolicited concerns. His own behavior at general meetings with the Germans clearly tended to break with them... the negotiations continued, resulting mainly in oratorical duels between Trotsky and Hoffmann .

The second composition of the Soviet delegation in Brest-Litovsk. Sitting, from left to right: Kamenev, Ioffe, Bitsenko. Standing, from left to right: Lipsky V.V., Stuchka, Trotsky L.D., Karakhan L.M.

The memories of the head of the German delegation, State Secretary of the German Foreign Ministry Richard von Kühlmann, who spoke about Trotsky as follows: “not very large, sharp and 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.”

Immediately after his arrival in Brest-Litovsk, Trotsky tries to conduct propaganda among the German soldiers guarding railway tracks, which receives a protest from the German side. With the assistance of Karl Radek, a propaganda newspaper “Die Fackel” (Torch) is created for distribution among German soldiers. On December 13, the Council of People's Commissars allocated 2 million rubles. for propaganda work abroad and demonstratively published a report on it. As Trotsky himself put it, he decided to “test” the mood of the German soldiers, “whether they will attack.”

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.”

People's Commissar Trotsky, in turn, sarcastically comments on the behavior of Hoffmann himself: “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."

Progress of negotiations

Ioffe A. A. and Kamenev L. B. at negotiations in Brest-Litovsk

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

The Germans invited the Ukrainian delegation to the next meeting, held on December 28, 1917 (January 10). 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 at war with the RSFSR. Therefore, by agreeing to consider the delegation of the Ukrainian Central Rada as independent, he actually played into the hands of the representatives of the Central Powers and provided Germany and Austria-Hungary with the opportunity to continue contacts with the Ukrainian Central Rada, while negotiations with Soviet Russia were marking time for another two days.

The German high command expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the delay in peace negotiations, fearing the disintegration of the army. General E. Ludendorff demanded that General Hoffmann speed up the negotiations. Meanwhile, on December 30, 1917 (January 12), at a meeting of the political commission, the Soviet delegation demanded that the governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary categorically confirm their lack of intentions to annex any territories of the former Russian Empire - in the opinion of the Soviet delegation, the solution to the question of the future fate self-determination of territories should be carried out through a popular referendum, after the withdrawal of foreign troops and the return of refugees and displaced persons. General Hoffmann, in a lengthy speech in response, stated that the German government refuses to clear the occupied territories of Courland, Lithuania, Riga and the islands of the Gulf of Riga.

Meanwhile, in the rear of the Central Powers the situation was deteriorating. The economic situation of Germany and Austria-Hungary due to the protracted war was not much better than Russia's. Already by the spring of 1917, the German government was approaching the exhaustion of mobilization resources - very limited, in contrast to the Entente with its huge colonial possessions. By 1917, almost the entire German industry had been transferred to a war footing, and the government was forced to return 125 thousand workers from the front. Various surrogates (“ersatz”) spread, and already the winter of 1916/1917 went down in German history as the “rutabaga winter,” during which, according to some sources, up to 700 thousand people died of hunger.

By the winter of 1917/1918, the position of the Central Powers had become even worse. The weekly consumption norms on the cards were: potatoes - 3.3 kg, bread - 1.8 kg, meat - 240 grams, fats - 70-90 grams. The delay in peace negotiations and the deterioration of the food situation in Germany and Austria-Hungary led to a sharp increase in the strike movement, which in Austria-Hungary developed into a general strike. In a number of regions, the first Soviets began to appear on the Russian model. Only on January 9 (22), having received promises from the government to sign peace with Russia and improve the food situation, did the strikers resume work. On January 15 (28), strikes paralyzed the Berlin defense industry, quickly spread to other industries and spread throughout the country. The center of the strike movement was Berlin, where, according to official reports, about half a million workers were on strike. As in Austria-Hungary, Soviets were formed in Germany, demanding first of all the conclusion of peace and the establishment of a republic.

The beginning of the internal party struggle

German ultimatum

At the same time, 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 an ultimatum to Soviet Russia accept the German peace terms, transmitting the following wording to the Soviet delegation: “ Russia takes note of the following territorial changes, which come into force with the ratification of this peace treaty: the areas between the borders of Germany and Austria-Hungary and the line that runs ... will henceforth not be subject to Russian territorial supremacy. The fact of their belonging to the former Russian Empire will not result in any obligations towards Russia. The future fate of these regions will be decided in agreement with these peoples, namely on the basis of the agreements that Germany and Austria-Hungary will conclude with them».

The pretext for this ultimatum was Trotsky’s appeal to German soldiers, allegedly intercepted in Berlin, calling on them to “kill the emperor and generals and fraternize with the Soviet troops.”

According to a statement by Kaiser Wilhelm II on the same day,

Today the Bolshevik government addressed my troops directly with an open radio message calling for rebellion and disobedience against their senior 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 the line Narva - Pleskau - Dunaburg inclusive... The Supreme Command of the armies of the Eastern Front must withdraw troops to the specified line.

At the same time, by the beginning of the German offensive, the front had actually ceased to exist. Back in December 1917, the Bolsheviks brought to its logical conclusion the process of “democratization of the army”, begun in March by Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet, - joint decrees of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars were adopted “On the elective principle and organization of power in the army” and “On the equal rights of all military personnel " The first finally declared that the only power in the army was not commanders, but the corresponding soldiers’ committees, councils and congresses, also introducing the principle of election of commanders. Secondly, all military ranks and insignia were abolished in the army and the title of “soldier of the revolutionary army” was introduced for all military personnel. These two decrees actually completed the destruction of the former tsarist army. As historian S.N. Bazanov writes, the “massive democratization” that began with the Bolsheviks coming to power active army, the purpose of which was to decisively break down the resistance of the overwhelming majority of the generals and officer corps to the policy of a separate peace and to introduce the demoralized army to the political goals of the Bolsheviks” ultimately led to “the paralysis of the already broken administrative apparatus at the fronts. The defeat of the Headquarters, the mass removal and arrests of command personnel and their replacement with an unqualified contingent from the soldiery environment, the only criterion for the election of which was political reliability in relation to the new government, resulted in the complete operational and organizational inability of these personnel to cope with the task of command and control.” Unified centralized command and control of troops was undermined.

The catastrophic decline in the combat effectiveness and discipline of the army was also associated with the participation of soldiers in mass fraternizations and local truces with enemy troops, legitimized by Lenin’s appeal of November 9 (22), sent to all regiments of the front armies: “ Let the regiments in position immediately elect representatives to formally enter into negotiations on a truce with the enemy" Mass fraternization, which, according to Lenin, was supposed to become a tool in the struggle for peace, led to the disorganization of troops, the erosion of discipline and psychological unpreparedness to continue hostilities. The mass of soldiers considered the war over, and it was almost impossible to raise them to a “revolutionary war.” It is also known that fraternization was used by the Austro-German side for intelligence purposes. Fraternization with the enemy gradually degenerated into barter, to facilitate which soldiers dismantled the barbed wire in their positions, so that by mid-January 1918, the positional defensive line at the fronts virtually ceased to exist.

S. N. Bazanov in his work refers to a note that on January 18, 1918, the chief of staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General M. D. Bonch-Bruevich, sent to the Council of People's Commissars:

Desertion is growing progressively... entire regiments and artillery go to the rear, exposing the front over considerable distances, the Germans walk in crowds around the abandoned positions... Constant visits by enemy soldiers to our positions, especially artillery ones, and their destruction of our fortifications in abandoned positions are undoubtedly of an organized nature .

By February-March 1918, the number of deserters in Russia reached 3 million people. The next outbreak of desertion is promoted both by the desire of soldiers to get to their villages in time for the division of the land, and by the collapse of the army’s supply, aggravated by the growth of baggage and devastation in transport. On December 2, 1917, according to reports from the Western Front, “prolonged malnutrition turned into famine.” In December, 31 wagons of flour arrive daily on the Northern Front, with a norm of 92, and on the Western Front - even 8, with a norm of 122.

On January 15 (28), 1918, a joint decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars proclaimed the founding of the Red Army.

The head of the Soviet delegation, People's Commissariat Trotsky L.D. was fully aware of the state of the army. As he stated in his work “My Life,” “When I first passed through the front line on the way to Brest-Litovsk, our like-minded people in the trenches could no longer prepare any significant demonstration of protest against the monstrous demands of Germany: the trenches were almost empty."

In December 1917, the chief of staff of the Northern Front infantry corps, Colonel Belovsky, testified that “there is no army; comrades sleep, eat, play cards, do not follow anyone’s orders or orders; communications equipment has been abandoned, telegraph and telephone lines have fallen down, and even the regiments are not connected to division headquarters; the guns were abandoned in positions, covered in mud, covered with snow, and shells with their caps removed (poured into spoons, cup holders, etc.) were lying around right there. The Germans know all this very well, since under the guise of shopping they sneak into our rear 35-40 versts from the front.”

Special army. 31st Corps: the attitude towards combat service in the 83rd Division is variable, in the 130th Division it is satisfactory, little training and work is done. The attitude towards officers in the 83rd division is distrustful and hostile, in the 130th it is satisfactory. Units of both divisions are waiting for peace...The general mood in connection with the events is worsening. The combat effectiveness of the corps parts is doubtful, in lately everything is getting worse...

39th Corps. ...In all divisions, except for reserve units and the 53rd division, classes are not conducted. Work in parts of the hull is either not being carried out at all or is being carried out poorly. The attitude towards officers in most units is distrustful and hostile, satisfactory only in the 498th and 500th regiments and tolerant in the 486th, 487th and 488th regiments. The attitude towards war is negative, the soldiers are waiting for peace....

1st Turkestan Rifle Corps: the attitude towards combat service in the 1st Turkestan Division is indifferent, in the 2nd Division it is unsatisfactory, in the 113th Infantry Division combat service rushes regularly... The attitude towards officers in the Turkestan divisions is distrustful and angry, in the 113th division it is satisfactory, the attitude towards the war is negative everywhere, everyone is waiting for peace. The 1st Turkestan Regiment, taking precautions, fraternizes along the entire front, exchanging cigars and rum with the Germans...

34th Corps. ...On November 3, at a joint meeting of corps, divisional and regimental councils, one of the Ukrainians said the following: “Russia is now a decaying corpse, which can infect Ukraine with its cadaveric poison.” To this end, a group of non-Ukrainian delegates passed a resolution protesting against such a definition.

3rd Caucasian Corps. The desire for a speedy conclusion of peace and a defeatist mood paralyzes all the efforts of officers to increase the combat significance of their units. Bad food and lack of uniforms make the soldiers indifferent even to the fate of their homeland....

The failure of attempts to organize the defense of Petrograd followed on February 25. Although a day earlier the majority of the military units of the garrison adopted the resolution “to stand to the death” at rallies, in fact, except for the Latvian riflemen, no one moved to the front. The Petrograd and Izmailovsky regiments left the barracks, but they refused to be loaded onto the trains; several units demanded increased allowances. The results of the mobilization of Petrograd workers into the Red Army also turned out to be modest - only 10,320 people signed up on February 23-26.

The threat of occupation of Petrograd began to be perceived as quite real; at the beginning of March, Zinoviev, on behalf of the St. Petersburg party committee, even managed to appeal to the Central Committee with a request for the allocation of several hundred thousand rubles in case the committee went underground. The Central Committee not only rejected this request, but even decided to hold the VII Congress of the RCP(b) in Petrograd, despite Zinoviev’s requests to hold it in Moscow. Nevertheless, it was nevertheless decided, in connection with the German threat, to move the capital to Moscow.

Intra-party struggle

The issue of a possible German offensive was discussed at a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) on the evening of February 17. Lenin’s proposal to immediately enter into new negotiations with Germany on signing peace was voted for by 5 members of the Central Committee (Lenin, Stalin, Sverdlov, Sokolnikov, Smilga), and 6 were against (Trotsky, Bukharin, Lomov, Uritsky, Ioffe, Krestinsky) . However, when the question was posed like this: “If we have a German offensive as a fact, and there is no revolutionary upsurge in Germany and Austria, will we make peace?” Trotsky voted in the affirmative; Bukharin, Lomov, Uritsky and Krestinsky abstained, only Joffe voted against. Thus, this proposal was adopted by a majority vote.

• against: Bukharin N.I., Uritsky M.S., Lomov (Oppokov) G.I., Bubnov A.S.
• for: Lenin V.I., Sverdlov Ya.M., Stalin I.V., Zinoviev G.E., Sokolnikov G.Ya., Smilga I.T. and Stasova E.D.
• abstained: Trotsky L. D., Dzerzhinsky F. E., Ioffe A. A. and Krestinsky N. N.

None of the Bolshevik leaders were eager to go down in history by putting their signature on a treaty that was shameful for Russia. People's Commissar Trotsky managed to resign by the time of signing; Joffe refused to go as part of the delegation to Brest-Litovsk. Sokolnikov and Zinoviev proposed each other's candidacies, and Sokolnikov also refused the appointment, threatening to resign.

Third stage

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 previously the 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.

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.

Terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

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.

A territory with an area of ​​780 thousand square meters was torn away from Soviet Russia. km. with a population of 56 million people (a third of the population of the Russian Empire) and which contained (before the revolution): 27% of cultivated agricultural land, 26% of the entire railway network, 33% of the textile industry, 73% of iron and steel was smelted, 89% was mined coal and 90% of sugar was produced; there were 918 textile factories, 574 breweries, 133 tobacco factories, 1685 distilleries, 244 chemical plants, 615 pulp factories, 1073 engineering plants and 40% of industrial workers lived:286.

At the same time, Russia withdrew all its troops from these territories, and Germany, on the contrary, introduced and retained control over the Moosund archipelago and the Gulf of Riga. In addition, Russian troops had to leave Finland, the Aland Islands near Sweden, the districts of Kars, Argadan and Batum were transferred to Turkey. From the line Narva - Pskov - Millerovo - Rostov-on-Don, on which German troops were located on the day the treaty was signed, they were to be withdrawn only after the signing of a general 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. For some time, this state of affairs created for Russian business owners or securities the opportunity to escape nationalization by selling your assets to the Germans.

The Brest-Litovsk Treaty restored the customs tariffs of 1904 with Germany, which were extremely unfavorable for Russia. In addition, when the Bolsheviks renounced the tsarist debts (which occurred in January 1918), Russia was forced to confirm all debts to the Central Powers and resume payments on them.

Reaction to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Consequences

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, as a result of which the large areas, cemented the loss of a significant part of the country’s agricultural and industrial base, caused a sharp reaction not only from the internal party opposition (“left communists”), but also from almost all political forces, both on the right and on the left.

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.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk served as a catalyst for the formation of the “democratic counter-revolution,” which was expressed in the proclamation of the Socialist Revolutionary and Menshevik governments in Siberia and the Volga region, the uprising of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries in July 1918 in Moscow, and the general transition of the civil war from local skirmishes to large-scale battles.

Reaction in Russia

Political opponents of the Bolsheviks very soon even learned that, for the sake of “reliability,” the Germans forced the representative of the Soviet delegation to sign as many as five copies of the agreement, in which discrepancies were discovered.

A special commission on the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was formed under the Council of Congresses of Representatives of Industry and Trade in Petrograd, headed by a well-known specialist in international law with a European name, professor at St. Petersburg University B. E. Nolde. Prominent old diplomats took part in the work of this commission, including former Foreign Minister N. N. Pokrovsky. Analyzing the content of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, Nolde could not help but note “the barbaric attitude of the Bolshevik diplomats to the matter, who were unable to stipulate the interests of Russia even within the narrow framework in which the Germans allowed this.”

The Left Socialist Revolutionaries, allied with the Bolsheviks and part of the “red” government, as well as the resulting faction of “left communists” within the RCP (b) spoke of “betrayal of the world revolution,” since the conclusion of peace on the Eastern Front objectively strengthened the conservative Kaiser’s regime in Germany . The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries resigned from the Council of People's Commissars in protest.

The opposition rejected Lenin's arguments that Russia could not but accept German conditions in connection with the collapse of its army, putting forward a plan for transition to a mass popular uprising against the German-Austrian occupiers. According to Bukharin,

The most active supporter of peace, the predecessor of the Council of People's Commissars Lenin V.I., himself called the concluded peace “obscene” and “unfortunate” (“annexationist and violent,” he wrote about it in August 1918), and the chairman of the Petrograd Soviet Zinoviev stated that “ the entire structure now being erected by the German imperialists in the unfortunate treaty is nothing more than a light plank fence, which in a very short time will be mercilessly swept away by history.”

With a sharp condemnation of the world on March 5 (18), 1918, Patriarch Tikhon spoke out, declaring that “entire regions inhabited by the Orthodox people are being torn away from us, and are being given over to the will of an enemy alien in faith... a world that is handing over our people and the Russian land into heavy bondage, “Such a world will not give the people the desired rest and tranquility.”

International reaction

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is a political crime that was committed against the Russian people under the name of the German peace. Russia was unarmed... the Russian government, in a fit of strange credulity, expected to achieve through persuasion a “democratic peace” that it could not achieve through war. The result was that the truce that followed in the meantime had not yet expired when the German command, although obliged not to change the disposition of its troops, transferred them en masse to the Western Front, and Russia was so weak that it did not even dare to raise a protest against this blatant violation of the word given by Germany... We will not and cannot recognize peace treaties such as these. Our own goals are completely different...

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

At the same time, as subsequent events showed, the hopes of the Central Powers turned out to be greatly exaggerated: with the entry of the United States into the First World War, the preponderance of forces was on the side of the Entente. Germany's depleted human and material resources prove insufficient for a successful offensive; In addition to this, in May 1918, American troops began to appear at the front.

In addition, significant military forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary were diverted to the occupation of Ukraine. According to researcher V. A. Savchenko, since May 1918, a “grand peasant war” has been unfolding in Ukraine against the German-Austrian occupiers and Hetmanate Skoropadsky:

During local uprisings of Ukrainian peasants, in the first six months of foreign armies’ stay in Ukraine, about 22 thousand Austro-German soldiers and officers (according to the German General Staff) and more than 30 thousand Hetman Warts were killed. Field Marshal von Eichhorn pointed out that more than 2 million peasants in Ukraine opposed the Austro-German terror. We can say that up to 100 thousand people managed to join the rebel armed detachments alone in May - September 1918. ... Peasant uprisings practically disrupted the collection and export of food from Ukraine. ... The interventionists, counting on more, were unable to overcome the food crisis in Germany and Austria at the expense of Ukraine.

The Entente powers perceived the concluded separate peace with hostility. On March 6, British troops landed in Murmansk. On March 15, the Entente declared non-recognition of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, on April 5, Japanese troops landed in Vladivostok, and on August 2, British troops landed in Arkhangelsk.

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 A. A. Ioffe 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, providing assistance to the “White Finns” and actively promoting the formation of a hotbed 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 Peace, they, not trusting the Germans, did not cancel this decision.

Additional agreement

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.

According to other points of the additional agreement, Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine and Georgia, renounced Estonia and Livonia, bargained for the right of access to the Baltic ports and retained Crimea. The Bolsheviks also bargained for control of Baku by ceding a quarter of the production there to Germany; however, at the time of the conclusion of the agreement, Baku was, since August 4, occupied by the British, who still had to be expelled from there. Before both sides could take any steps on this issue, the Turks entered Baku on September 16.

In addition, Russia took upon itself the obligation to expel the Allied powers from Murmansk; at the same time, in the secret point it was indicated that she was not able to do this, and this task should be solved by German-Finnish troops.

Elimination of the consequences of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty

Germany's refusal of the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty and the Bucharest Peace Treaty with Romania was recorded by the Compiegne Armistice (section B, clause XV) between the Entente and Germany on November 11, 1918. On November 13, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was annulled by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The withdrawal of German troops from the occupied territories of the former Russian Empire began.

According to clause XVI of the Compiegne Armistice, the allies stipulated the right of access to territories in the East up to the Vistula and in the Danzig area, from which German troops were withdrawing, to ensure order and supply the population. In reality, the French side limited themselves to occupying

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is one of the most humiliating episodes in Russian history. It became a resounding diplomatic failure for the Bolsheviks and was accompanied by an acute political crisis within the country.

Peace Decree

The “Decree on Peace” was adopted on October 26, 1917 - the day after the armed coup - and spoke of the need to conclude a just democratic peace without annexations and indemnities between all warring peoples. It served as the legal basis for concluding a separate agreement with Germany and the other Central Powers.

Publicly, Lenin spoke about the transformation of the imperialist war into a civil war; he considered the revolution in Russia only the initial stage of the world socialist revolution. In fact, there were other reasons. The warring peoples did not act according to Ilyich’s plans - they did not want to turn their bayonets against the governments, and the allied governments ignored the peace proposal of the Bolsheviks. Only the countries of the enemy bloc that were losing the war agreed to rapprochement.

Terms

Germany stated that it was ready to accept a condition of peace without annexations and indemnities, but only if this peace was signed by all the warring countries. But none of the Entente countries joined the peace negotiations, so Germany abandoned the Bolshevik formula, and their hopes for a just peace were finally buried. The talk in the second round of negotiations was exclusively about a separate peace, the terms of which were dictated by Germany.

Betrayal and necessity

Not all Bolsheviks agreed to sign a separate peace. The left was categorically against any agreements with imperialism. They defended the idea of ​​exporting the revolution, believing that without socialism in Europe, Russian socialism is doomed to death (and subsequent transformations of the Bolshevik regime proved them right). The leaders of the left Bolsheviks were Bukharin, Uritsky, Radek, Dzerzhinsky and others. They called for guerrilla warfare with German imperialism, and in the future they hoped to conduct regular military operations with the forces of the newly created Red Army.

Lenin was, first of all, in favor of the immediate conclusion of a separate peace. He was afraid of the German offensive and the complete loss of his own power, which even after the coup relied heavily on German money. It is unlikely that the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was directly bought by Berlin. The main factor was precisely the fear of losing power. If we consider that a year after the conclusion of peace with Germany, Lenin was even ready to divide Russia in exchange for international recognition, then the conditions of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty will not seem so humiliating.

Trotsky occupied an intermediate position in the internal party struggle. He defended the thesis “No peace, no war.” That is, he proposed to stop hostilities, but not to sign any agreements with Germany. As a result of the struggle within the party, it was decided to delay the negotiations in every possible way, expecting a revolution in Germany, but if the Germans presented an ultimatum, then agree to all the conditions. However, Trotsky, who led the Soviet delegation in the second round of negotiations, refused to accept the German ultimatum. Negotiations broke down and Germany continued to advance. When peace was signed, the Germans were 170 km from Petrograd.

Annexations and indemnities

Peace conditions were very difficult for Russia. She lost Ukraine and Polish lands, renounced claims to Finland, gave up the Batumi and Kars regions, had to demobilize all her troops, abandon the Black Sea Fleet and pay huge indemnities. The country was losing almost 800 thousand square meters. km and 56 million people. In Russia, Germans received the exclusive right to freely engage in business. In addition, the Bolsheviks pledged to pay off the tsarist debts to Germany and its allies.

At the same time, the Germans did not comply with their own obligations. After signing the treaty, they continued the occupation of Ukraine, overthrew Soviet rule on the Don and helped the White movement in every possible way.

Rise of the Left

The Brest-Litovsk Treaty almost led to a split in the Bolshevik Party and the loss of power by the Bolsheviks. Lenin dragged it with difficulty final decision about peace through a vote in the Central Committee, threatening to resign. The party split did not happen only thanks to Trotsky, who agreed to abstain from voting, ensuring victory for Lenin. But this did not help avoid a political crisis.

The Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was categorically not accepted by the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party. They left the government, killed the German ambassador Mirbach and raised an armed uprising in Moscow. Due to the lack of a clear plan and goals, it was suppressed, but it was a very real threat to the power of the Bolsheviks. At the same time, the commander of the Eastern Front of the Red Army, Socialist Revolutionary Muravyov, rebelled in Simbirsk. It also ended in failure.

On July 28, 1914, the First World War began. On the one hand, the states that were part of the Entente participated in it; on the other hand, they were opposed by the Quadruple Alliance led by Germany. The fighting, accompanied by significant destruction, led to the impoverishment of the masses. In many warring countries, a crisis of the political system was brewing. In Russia, this resulted in the October Revolution, which occurred on October 25, 1917 (old style). The Soviet Republic emerged from the war by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany and its allies Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey.

Peace Decree

The war was the reason that the Russian economy was in a deplorable state. The army, exhausted by trench warfare, gradually degenerated . Thousands of losses did not lift the spirits of the Russian people. Tired of trench life, the soldiers of the Russian army threatened to go to the rear and use their own methods to end the war. Russia needed peace.

The Entente countries, on whose side Russia fought, expressed strong protest against the actions of the Bolsheviks. Vice versa , countries of the Quadruple Alliance, interested in the liquidation of the Eastern Front, quickly responded to the proposal of the Council of People's Commissars. On November 21, 1917, armistice negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk. In accordance with the agreements reached, the parties obliged:

• not to conduct hostilities against each other for 28 days;
• leave military formations in their positions;
• do not transfer troops to other sectors of the front.

Peace negotiations

First stage

On December 22, 1917, delegations from Russia and the countries of the Quadruple Alliance began work on developing the provisions of the future peace treaty. The Russian side was led by A.A., a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Joffe, who immediately proposed a rough plan for the document, based on the provisions of the Decree on Peace. The main points were as follows:

For three days the German side considered the Russian proposals. After this, the head of the German delegation, R. von Kühlmann stated that this plan would be accepted subject to the renunciation of indemnities and annexations by all warring parties. Russian representatives proposed taking a break from work so that countries that had not yet joined the negotiations could familiarize themselves with this project.

Second stage

Negotiations resumed only on January 9, 1918. Now the Bolshevik delegation was headed by L.D. Trotsky, whose main goal was to delay negotiations in every possible way. In his opinion, in the near future Central Europe there must be a revolution that will change the balance of political forces, so the war should be stopped without signing peace. Arriving in Brest-Litovsk, he organizes propaganda activities among the military personnel of the German garrison. Here he is actively helped by K.B. Radek, who organized the publication of the Fakel newspaper on German.

When the negotiators met, von Kühlmann announced that Germany did not accept the Russian version of the treaty, since none of the participants in the war expressed a desire to join the negotiations. Having rejected Russian initiatives, the German delegation puts forward its own conditions. Refusing to free the lands, occupied by the armies of the Quadruple Alliance, Germany demanded large territorial concessions from Russia. General Hoffman presented a map with new state borders. According to this map, more than 150 thousand square kilometers were torn away from the territory of the former Russian Empire. Soviet representatives demanded a break to analyze the current situation and consult with the government.

A division is taking place in the ranks of the Bolshevik leadership. A group of “left communists” proposed to wage the war to a victorious end, rejecting German proposals. The “revolutionary war,” as Bukharin believed, should provoke a world revolution, without which Soviet power has no chance of surviving for long. Few people believed that Lenin was right, who considered the treaty a peaceful respite and proposed agreeing to German conditions.

While the issue of signing a peace treaty was being discussed in Moscow, Germany and Austria-Hungary were concluding a separate treaty with the Ukrainian People's Republic. Central states recognized Ukraine as a sovereign state, and she, in turn, pledged to supply food and raw materials so necessary to the countries of the military bloc.

Growing discontent of the masses , famine in the country, strikes at enterprises force Kaiser Wilhelm to demand that the generals begin military action. On February 9, Russia is presented with an ultimatum. The next day, Trotsky makes a statement in which he announces that the Soviet Republic is withdrawing from the war, disbanding the army, and will not sign the treaty. The Bolsheviks demonstratively left the meeting.

Having announced their withdrawal from the truce, German troops began an offensive along the entire eastern front on February 18. Without encountering any resistance, Wehrmacht units quickly advance into the interior of the country. On February 23, when a real threat of capture loomed over Petrograd, Germany presented an even tougher ultimatum, which was given two days to accept. The city constantly hosts meetings of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, whose members cannot come to a consensus. Only Lenin's threat to resign, which could lead to the collapse of the party, forces a decision in favor of signing a peace treaty.

Third stage

On March 1, the work of the negotiating group resumed. The Soviet delegation was led by G. Ya. Sokolnikov, who replaced Trotsky in this position. In fact, no negotiations were held anymore. On March 3, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was concluded without any reservations. On behalf of the Soviet Republic, the document was signed by Sokolnikov . On behalf of Germany signed by Richard von Kühlmann. Foreign Minister Hudenitz signed for Austria-Hungary. The agreement also bears the signatures of the Bulgarian Envoy Extraordinary A. Toshev and the Turkish Ambassador Ibrahim Hakki.

Terms of the peace treaty

14 articles defined the specific terms of the peace treaty.

According to a secret agreement, Russia had to pay 6 billion marks in indemnity and 500 million rubles in gold for damage caused to Germany as a result of October Revolution. Extremely unfavorable customs tariffs were also restored 1904. Russia lost a territory of 780 thousand square meters. km. The country's population decreased by a third. Under the terms of the Brest Peace Treaty, 27% of cultivated land, almost all coal and steel production, and numerous industrial enterprises were lost. The number of workers decreased by 40%.

Consequences of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

After signing peace with Russia, the German army continued to advance east, leaving behind the demarcation line determined by the treaty. Odessa, Nikolaev, Kherson, Rostov-on-Don were occupied, which contributed to the formation of puppet regimes in Crimea and southern Russia . Germany's actions provoked the formation of Socialist Revolutionary and Menshevik governments in the Volga region and the Urals. In response to the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, the Entente states landed troops in Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok.

There was no one to resist foreign intervention. In the fall of 1917, even before negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk, the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree on the gradual reduction of the army. After the promulgation of the “Decree on Land,” the soldiers, the backbone of the army being peasants, began to leave their units without permission. Massive desertion and removal of officers from command and control leads to complete demoralization of the Russian army. In March 1918, by resolutions of the Soviet government, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and the position of Supreme Commander-in-Chief were abolished, headquarters at all levels and all military departments were disbanded. The Russian army ceased to exist.

The peace treaty with Germany caused a violent reaction from all political forces in Russia itself. In the Bolshevik camp there is a division into separate groups. “Left communists” consider the agreement a betrayal of the ideas of the international revolutionary movement. leave the Council of People's Commissars. N.V. Krylenko, N.I. Podvoisky and K.I. Shutko, who considered the treaty illegal, left their military posts. Bourgeois experts in the field of international law assessed the work of Bolshevik diplomats as mediocre and barbaric. Patriarch Tikhon sharply condemned the agreement, which placed millions of Orthodox Christians under the yoke of infidels. Consequences of the Brest-Litovsk Peace affected all spheres of life of Russian society.

Significance of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

It is difficult to overestimate the significance of the Brest Peace. Having carried out the October coup, the Bolsheviks found chaos in the ruins of the Russian Empire. To overcome the crisis and stay in power, they needed the support of the population, which could only be secured by ending the war. By signing the treaty, Russia was leaving the war. In fact, it was capitulation. According to the terms of the agreement the country suffered colossal territorial and economic losses.

The Bolsheviks sought the defeat of Russia in the imperialist war, and they achieved it. And they also achieved Civil War, which was the result of a split in society into two hostile camps. According to modern historians, Lenin showed foresight in considering this treaty to be short-lived. The Entente countries have defeated the Quadruple Alliance, and now Germany must sign capitulation. On November 13, 1918, the resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee annuls the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk*

Since Russia, on the one hand, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, on the other, agreed to end the state of war and complete peace negotiations as soon as possible, they were appointed plenipotentiary representatives:

From the Russian Federative Soviet Republic:

Grigory Yakovlevich Sokolnikov, member of the Center. Exec. Committee of Soviets Workers, Soldiers. and Cross. Deputies,

Lev Mikhailovich Karakhan, member of the Center. Exec. Committee of Soviets Workers, Soldiers. and Cross. Deputies,

Georgy Vasilyevich Chicherin, Assistant to the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and

Grigory Ivanovich Petrovsky, People's Commissar for internal affairs.

From the Imperial German Government: State Secretary of the Foreign Office, Imperial Privy Councillor, Richard von Kühlmann,

Imperial Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary, Dr. von Rosenberg,

Royal Prussian Major General Hoffmann, Chief of the General Staff of the Supreme Commander on the Eastern Front and

captain 1st rank Gorn.

From the Imperial and Royal General Austro-Hungarian Government:

Minister of the Imperial and Royal Household and Foreign Affairs, His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Privy Councilor Ottokar Count Czernin von and Zu-Chudenitz, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Privy Councilor Cajetan Mere von-Kapos Mere, General of Infantry, His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Privy Councilor Maximilian Chicherich von Bachani.

From the Royal Bulgarian Government:

Royal Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Vienna, Andrey Toshev, Colonel of the General Staff, Royal Bulgarian Military Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the German Emperor and Aide-de-Camp to His Majesty the King of Bulgaria, Peter Ganchev, Royal Bulgarian First Secretary of the Mission, Dr. Theodor Anastasov.

From the Imperial Ottoman Government:

His Highness Ibrahim Hakki Pasha, former Grand Vizier, Member of the Ottoman Senate, Ambassador Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Sultan in Berlin, His Excellency General of the Cavalry, Adjutant General of His Majesty the Sultan and Military Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Sultan to His Majesty the German Emperor, Zeki- Pasha.

The Commissioners met at Brest-Litovsk for peace negotiations and, after presenting their powers, which were found to be in correct and proper form, came to an agreement regarding the following resolutions:

Russia, on the one hand, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, on the other, declare that the state of war between them has ended; They decided to henceforth live among themselves in peace and friendship.

The contracting parties will refrain from any agitation or propaganda against the government or state or military institutions of the other party. So far as this obligation concerns Russia, it extends also to the areas occupied by the powers of the Quadruple Alliance.

The areas lying to the west of the line established by the contracting parties and previously belonging to Russia will no longer be under its supreme authority; the established line is indicated on the attached map (Appendix 1)**, which is an essential part of this peace treaty. The exact definition of this line will be worked out by a Russian-German commission.

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

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

Germany is ready, as soon as general peace is concluded and Russian demobilization is completely carried out, to clear the territory lying east of that indicated in paragraph 1 of Art. 3 lines, since Article 6 does not provide otherwise. Russia will do everything in its power to ensure the speedy cleansing of the provinces of Eastern Anatolia and their orderly return to Turkey.

The districts of Ardahan, Kars and Batum are also immediately cleared of Russian troops. Russia will not interfere in the new organization of state-legal and international legal relations of these districts, but will allow the population of these districts to establish a new system in agreement with neighboring states, especially Turkey.

Russia will immediately carry out the complete demobilization of its army, including military units newly formed by the current government.

In addition, Russia will either transfer its military ships to Russian ports and leave them there until a general peace is concluded, or immediately disarm them. Military vessels 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.

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

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 Russian Red Guards. The eastern border of Estonia runs, in general, along the river. Narov. The eastern border of Livonia runs, in general, through Lake Peipus and Lake Pskov to its southwestern corner, then through Lake Lyubanskoye in the direction of Livenhof on the Western Dvina. Estland and Livonia will be occupied by the German police power until public safety is ensured there by the country's own institutions and until public order is established there. 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 the Russian Red Guard, and Finnish ports will be cleared of the Russian fleet and Russian naval forces. While ice makes it impossible to transfer military ships to Russian ports, only minor crews should be left on them. Russia ceases all agitation or propaganda against the government or public institutions of Finland.

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

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.

Prisoners of war from both sides will be released to their homeland. The settlement of related issues will be the subject of special agreements provided for in Art. 12.

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

Article 10

Diplomatic and consular relations between the contracting parties will resume immediately after the ratification of the peace treaty. Regarding the admission of consuls, both parties reserve the right to enter into special agreements.

Article 11

Economic relations between Russia and the powers of the Quadruple Alliance are determined by the regulations contained in Annexes 2 - 5, with Appendix 2 defining the relationship between Russia and Germany, Appendix 3 between Russia and Austria-Hungary, Appendix 4 between Russia and Bulgaria, Appendix 5 - between Russia and Turkey.

Article 12

The restoration of public law and private law relations, the exchange of prisoners of war and civilian prisoners, the question of amnesty, as well as the question of the attitude towards merchant ships that have fallen into the power of the enemy, is the subject of separate agreements with Russia, which form an essential part of this peace treaty and , so far as possible, come into force simultaneously with it.

Article 13

When interpreting this treaty, the authentic texts for relations between Russia and Germany are Russian and German, between Russia and Austria-Hungary - Russian, German and Hungarian, between Russia and Bulgaria - Russian and Bulgarian, between Russia and Turkey - Russian and Turkish.

Article 14

This peace treaty will be ratified. The exchange of instruments of ratification should take place in Berlin as soon as possible. Russian government undertakes the obligation to exchange instruments of ratification at the request of one of the powers of the Quadruple Alliance within a two-week period.

A peace treaty comes into force from the moment of its ratification, unless otherwise follows from its articles, appendices or additional treaties.

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

Original in five copies.

Appendix 2

Peace terms proposed by Germany on February 21, 1918 in response to the Soviet government's message of agreement to sign peace

“Germany is ready to resume negotiations and make peace with Russia on the following terms:

1. Germany and Russia declare an end to the state of war. Both peoples are ready to henceforth live in peace and friendship.

2. Regions lying west of the line communicated by the Russian commissioner in Brest-Litovsk and previously included in Russian Empire, are no longer subject to the territorial sovereignty of Russia. In the Dvinsk region this line extends to the eastern border of Courland. The fact that these regions formerly belonged to the Russian Empire does not result in any obligations for them towards Russia. Russia refuses any interference in the internal life of these regions. Germany and Austria-Hungary intend to determine the future fate of these areas in accordance with their populations. Germany is ready immediately, upon the conclusion of a general peace and the complete completion of Russian demobilization, to clear the area lying east of the indicated line, since from Art. 3 does not imply anything else.

3. Livonia and Estland are immediately cleared of Russian troops and the Red Guard and are occupied by German police forces until the local authorities are able to guarantee calm and order is restored. All political arrested local citizens are immediately released.

4. Russia immediately makes peace with the Ukrainian People's Republic. Ukraine and Finland are promptly cleared of Russian troops and Red Guards.

5. Russia, by all means at its disposal, will promote the speediest and systematic return of Turkey to its Anatolian provinces and recognize the abolition of Turkish capitulations.

6a). Complete demobilization Russian armies, including those newly formed by the current government, must be carried out immediately.

6b). Russian military vessels in the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Arctic Ocean must either be transferred to Russian ports, where they must be interned until a general peace is concluded, or must be immediately disarmed. Warships of the Entente located in the sphere of influence of Russia are considered as Russian.

6c). Merchant shipping in the Black and Baltic Seas is immediately restored, as provided for in the armistice agreement. The necessary mine clearance begins immediately. The blockade in the Arctic Ocean remains until universal peace is concluded.

7. The German-Russian trade treaty of 1904 comes into force again, as provided for in Article 7 (clause 2) of the peace treaty with Ukraine, and the special favored treatment provided for in Article 11 (clause 3, paragraph 1) of the trade treaty is excluded in relation to eastern countries; further, the entire first part of the final protocol is restored. Added to this are: guarantees of free export and the right to duty-free export of ore; early start of negotiations on concluding a new trade agreement; a guarantee of most favored nation status at least until the end of 1925, even in the event of a declaration of termination of the temporary treaty, and, finally, conditions corresponding to Article 7, paragraphs 3 and 4 (paragraph 1) and paragraph 5 of the peace treaty with Ukraine.

8. Issues of a legal nature are regulated in accordance with the decisions of the Russian-German legal commission adopted in the first reading; since no decisions were made, the proposals from the German side regarding compensation for losses of private individuals come into force, and the Russian proposal regarding compensation for the maintenance of prisoners of war comes into force. Russia will allow and will, to the best of its ability, support the activities of German commissions in the sense of caring for German prisoners of war, civilian prisoners and settlers.

9. Russia undertakes to cease all official or official-sponsored agitation or propaganda against the Allied governments and their state and military institutions, also in areas occupied by the Central Powers.

10. The above conditions must be accepted within 48 hours. The Russian plenipotentiaries must immediately go to Brest-Litovsk and there sign a peace treaty within three days, which is subject to ratification no later than two weeks.