The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and its consequences. Peace of Brest - Memorial complex "Brest Hero Fortress"

The question of concluding a separate peace could become, if desired, important factor, consolidating divergent political forces to create a broad government coalition. This was at least the third such unused opportunity since the October Revolution. The first was associated with the Vikzhel, the second with the Constituent Assembly. The Bolsheviks once again ignored the chances of achieving national harmony.

Lenin, regardless of anything, sought to conclude a peace with Germany that was unfavorable for Russia, although all other parties were against a separate peace. Moreover, things were heading towards Germany’s defeat. According to D. Volkogonov, the enemy of Russia “he himself was already on his knees before the Entente.” It cannot be ruled out that Lenin wanted to fulfill the promise of a speedy peace that he made before seizing power. But the main reason, undoubtedly, was the retention, preservation of power, strengthening of the Soviet regime, even at the cost of losing the country's territory. There is also a version that Lenin, who continued to use financial assistance from Germany even after the October Revolution, acted according to the scenario dictated by Berlin. D. Volkogonov believed: “In essence, the Bolshevik elite was bribed by Germany.”

The states of the German bloc, waging a war on two fronts and interested in ending hostilities against Russia, responded to the Bolsheviks’ proposal to conclude peace. On November 20, 1917, negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk between Soviet Russia, on the one hand, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, on the other. A month later, Ukraine, which became independent, also took part in them. The proposal of the Soviet delegation to conclude peace without annexations and indemnities was not taken seriously by Germany, because it occupied a significant part of Russian territory. Having agreed on a separate peace with Ukraine, it demanded that Russia secede Poland, Lithuania, part of Latvia and Estonia. If we assume that Russia could not hold Poland and the Baltic states in any case, then the peace conditions were not too difficult.

Lenin proposed to sign peace immediately. However, not only right-wing, liberal and socialist parties and organizations, but also the majority of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) opposed the conclusion of a separate peace. Lenin met with the strongest resistance from the so-called. “left communists” led by N.I. Bukharin, who dreamed of waging a revolutionary war against Germany in order to ignite the fire of the world revolution. They believed that the conclusion of peace was beneficial to German imperialism, because peace will help stabilize the situation in Germany. Meanwhile socialist revolution was conceived as a global one, its first stage is Russia, the second should be Germany with a strong communist opposition. The “Left Communists” proposed starting a revolutionary war with Germany, which would create a revolutionary situation there and lead to the victory of the German revolution. The same position was shared by the Left Social Revolutionaries and the German communists led by K. Liebknecht and R. Luxemburg. If peace is concluded, there may not be a revolution in Germany. And without a revolution in the West, it will fail in Russia too. Victory is possible only as a world revolution.

Trotsky thought the same, but unlike the “left communists,” he saw that Russia had nothing to fight with. Dreaming of the same thing, he put forward another slogan: “no peace, no war, but disband the army.” It meant: without signing peace with German imperialism and declaring the dissolution of the no longer existing Russian army, the Soviet government appeals to the solidarity of the international proletariat, primarily the German one. Consequently, Trotsky’s slogan was a kind of call for world revolution. He also headed the Soviet delegation at the negotiations and on January 28, 1918, declared that Russia was withdrawing from the imperialist war, demobilizing the army and not signing an aggressive peace.

Trotsky's calculation that the Germans would not be able to advance did not come true. The Germans went on the offensive on February 18. The Council of People's Commissars issued a decree “The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger!”, the formation of the Red Army began, but all this had little effect on the course of events. The Germans occupied Minsk, Kyiv, Pskov, Tallinn, Narva and other cities without a fight. There was no manifestation of solidarity between the German proletariat and Soviet Russia. In this situation, when the danger of the existence of Soviet power loomed, Lenin, threatening to resign, forced the majority of the Central Committee to agree to German conditions. Trotsky also joined him. The Bolsheviks' decision was also supported by the Central Committee of the Left Social Revolutionaries. The Soviet government radioed to the Germans about its readiness to sign peace.

Now Germany put forward much more stringent demands: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia were torn away from Russia; Russian recognition of the independence of Ukraine and Finland; transition to Turkey Kars, Ardahan, Batum; Russia had to demobilize the army and navy, which practically did not exist; pay an indemnity of six billion marks. On these terms, the peace treaty was signed on March 3 in Brest by the head of the Soviet delegation G.Ya. Sokolnikov. The indemnity amounted to 245.5 tons of gold, of which Russia managed to pay 95 tons.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was approved by a majority vote at the VII Bolshevik Congress, held on March 6-8. But the Central Committee of the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party, on the contrary, under pressure from the lower ranks of the party, reconsidered its position and opposed peace. To ratify the Brest Peace Treaty, the IV Extraordinary Congress of Soviets was convened on March 15. It took place in Moscow, where the Soviet government moved due to the approach of the Germans to Petrograd and the strikes of Petrograd workers. Supporters of Lenin and Trotsky voted for the treaty, while the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, anarchists, Socialist-Revolutionaries, and Mensheviks voted against it. The “Left Communists” abstained, and their faction soon disintegrated. In April, Trotsky left the post of People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, became People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, then - Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic. G.V. Chicherin was appointed People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. The Left Socialist Revolutionaries, protesting against the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, left the Council of People's Commissars, although they continued to collaborate with the Bolsheviks.

German units occupied Ukraine and moved deeper into Russian territory and reached the Don. Peace with Russia allowed Germany to transfer its troops to the Western Front and launch an offensive on French territory. However, in the summer of 1918, the French, British, Americans and their allies inflicted decisive defeats on the German army. In November 1918, the countries of the German bloc capitulated, and revolutions took place in Germany and Austria-Hungary. As Lenin foresaw, with the defeat of Germany the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was annulled. Soviet troops occupied Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic states. The Bolsheviks considered the moment favorable for the realization of their main dream - revolution in Europe. However, the trip to Europe did not take place due to the outbreak of civil war.

Signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk meant the defeat and withdrawal of Russia from the First World War.

A separate international peace treaty was signed on March 3, 1918 in Brest-Litovsk by representatives of Soviet Russia (on the one hand) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria) on the other. Separate peace- a peace treaty concluded by one of the participants in the warring coalition without the knowledge and consent of the allies. Such peace is usually concluded before the general cessation of war.

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

History of the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty

First stage

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

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

The armistice negotiations were overshadowed by a tragedy in the Russian delegation: during a private meeting of the Soviet delegation, a representative of the Headquarters in the group of military consultants, Major General V. E. Skalon, shot himself. Many Russian officers believed that he was depressed due to the humiliating defeat, the collapse of the army and the fall of the country.

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

No forcible annexation of territories captured during the war is allowed; the troops occupying these territories are withdrawn as soon as possible.
The full political independence of peoples who were deprived of this independence during the war is being restored.
National groups that did not have political independence before the war are guaranteed the opportunity to freely resolve the issue of belonging to any state or their state independence through a free referendum.
Cultural-national and, under certain conditions, administrative autonomy of national minorities is ensured.
Waiver of indemnities.
Solving colonial issues based on the above principles.
Preventing indirect restrictions on the freedom of weaker nations by stronger nations.

On December 28, the Soviet delegation left for Petrograd. The current state of affairs was discussed at a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b). By majority vote, it was decided to delay peace negotiations as long as possible, in the hope of an early revolution in Germany itself.

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

Second stage

At the second stage of negotiations, the Soviet Delegation was headed by L.D. Trotsky. The German high command expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the delay in peace negotiations, fearing the disintegration of the army. The Soviet delegation demanded that the governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary confirm their lack of intentions to annex any territories of the former Russian Empire - in the opinion of the Soviet delegation, the decision on the future fate of self-determining territories should be carried out through a popular referendum, after the withdrawal of foreign troops and return refugees and displaced persons. General Hoffmann, in a response speech, stated that the German government refuses to clear the occupied territories of Courland, Lithuania, Riga and the islands of the Gulf of Riga.

On January 18, 1918, General Hoffmann, at a meeting of the political commission, presented the conditions of the Central Powers: Poland, Lithuania, part of Belarus and Ukraine, Estonia and Latvia, the Moonsund Islands and the Gulf of Riga went in favor of Germany and Austria-Hungary. This allowed Germany to control the sea routes to the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia, as well as develop an offensive against Petrograd. Russian Baltic ports passed into German hands. The proposed border was extremely unfavorable for Russia: the absence of natural boundaries and the preservation of a bridgehead for Germany on the banks of the Western Dvina near Riga in the event of war threatened the occupation of all of Latvia and Estonia, and threatened Petrograd. The Soviet delegation demanded a new break in the peace conference for another ten days to familiarize its government with German demands. The German delegation's self-confidence increased after the Bolshevik dispersal Constituent Assembly January 19, 1918

By mid-January 1918, a split was forming in the RSDLP (b): a group of “left communists” led by N.I. Bukharin insists on rejecting German demands, and Lenin insists on their acceptance, publishing “Theses on Peace” on January 20. The main argument of the “left communists”: without immediate revolution in countries Western Europe the socialist revolution in Russia will die. They did not allow any agreements with the imperialist states and demanded that a “revolutionary war” be declared against international imperialism. They declared their readiness to “accept the possibility of losing Soviet power"in the name of the "interests of the international revolution." The conditions proposed by the Germans, shameful for Russia, were opposed by: N. I. Bukharin, F. E. Dzerzhinsky, M. S. Uritsky, A. S. Bubnov, K. B. Radek, A. A. Ioffe, N. N. Krestinsky , N.V. Krylenko, N.I. Podvoisky and others. The views of the “left communists” were supported by a number of party organizations in Moscow, Petrograd, the Urals, etc. Trotsky preferred to maneuver between the two factions, putting forward an “intermediate” platform of “neither peace nor war - “We are stopping the war, we are not making peace, we are demobilizing the army.”

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

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

V.I. Lenin

On March 6-8, 1918, at the VII emergency congress of the RSDLP(b), Lenin managed to persuade everyone to ratify the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty. Voting: 30 for ratification, 12 against, 4 abstained. Following the results of the congress, the party was, at Lenin’s suggestion, renamed the RCP(b). The congress delegates were not familiar with the text of the treaty. However, on March 14-16, 1918, the IV Extraordinary All-Russian Congress of Soviets finally ratified the peace treaty, which was adopted by a majority of 784 votes against 261 with 115 abstentions and decided to move the capital from Petrograd to Moscow due to the danger of a German offensive. As a result, representatives of the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party left the Council of People's Commissars. Trotsky resigned.

L.D. Trotsky

Third stage

None of the Bolshevik leaders wanted to put their signature on the treaty, shameful for Russia: Trotsky had resigned by the time of signing, Joffe refused to go as part of the delegation to Brest-Litovsk. Sokolnikov and Zinoviev nominated each other; Sokolnikov also refused the appointment, threatening to resign. But after long negotiations, Sokolnikov still agreed to lead the Soviet delegation. The new composition of the delegation: Sokolnikov G. Ya., Petrovsky L. M., Chicherin G. V., Karakhan G. I. and a group of 8 consultants (among them the former chairman of the delegation Ioffe A. A.). The delegation arrived in Brest-Litovsk on March 1 and two days later signed an agreement without any discussion. The official signing ceremony of the agreement took place in the White Palace (the Nemtsevichs’ house in the village of Skoki, Brest region) and ended at 5 o’clock in the afternoon on March 3, 1918. And the German-Austrian offensive, which began in February 1918, continued until March 4, 1918.

The signing of the Brest Peace Treaty took place in this palace.

Terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Richard Pipes, An American scientist, Doctor of Historical Sciences, professor of Russian history at Harvard University described the terms of this agreement as follows: “The terms of the agreement were extremely onerous. They made it possible to imagine what kind of peace the countries of the Quadruple Entente would have to sign if they had lost the war … " According to this treaty, Russia pledged to make many territorial concessions by demobilizing its army and navy.

The Vistula provinces, Ukraine, provinces with a predominant Belarusian population, the Estland, Courland and Livonia provinces, and the Grand Duchy of Finland were torn away from Russia. Most of these territories were to become German protectorates or become part of Germany. Russia pledged to recognize the independence of Ukraine represented by the UPR government.
In the Caucasus, Russia ceded the Kars region and the Batumi region.
The Soviet government stopped the war with the Ukrainian Central Council (Rada) of the Ukrainian People's Republic and made peace with it.
The army and navy were demobilized.
The Baltic Fleet was withdrawn from its bases in Finland and the Baltic states.
The Black Sea Fleet with its entire infrastructure was transferred to the Central Powers.
Russia paid 6 billion marks of reparations plus payment of losses incurred by Germany during the Russian revolution - 500 million gold rubles.
The Soviet government pledged to stop revolutionary propaganda in the Central Powers and their allied states formed on the territory of the Russian Empire.

If the results of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty are translated into numbers, it will look like this: a territory with an area of 780 thousand square meters was torn away from Russia. km with a population of 56 million people (a third of the population of the Russian Empire), on which before the revolution 27% of cultivated agricultural land, 26% of the entire railway network, 33% 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, 1,685 distilleries, 244 chemical plants, 615 pulp mills, 1,073 engineering factories and home to 40% of the industrial workers.

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

Consequences of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty

German troops occupied Kyiv

The advance of the German army was not limited to the occupation zone defined by the peace treaty. Under the pretext of ensuring the power of the “legitimate government” of Ukraine, the Germans continued their offensive. On March 12, the Austrians occupied Odessa, on March 17 - Nikolaev, on March 20 - Kherson, then Kharkov, Crimea and southern part Don region, Taganrog, Rostov-on-Don. The movement of the “democratic counter-revolution” began, which proclaimed Socialist Revolutionary and Menshevik governments in Siberia and the Volga region, the uprising of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries in July 1918 in Moscow and the transition of the civil war to large-scale battles.

The Left Socialist Revolutionaries, as well as the resulting faction of “left communists” within the RCP (b), spoke of “betrayal of the world revolution,” since the conclusion of peace on the Eastern Front objectively strengthened the conservative Kaiser’s regime in Germany. The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries resigned from the Council of People's Commissars in protest. The opposition rejected Lenin's arguments that Russia could not refuse to 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.

Patriarch Tikhon

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

But on August 27, 1918, in Berlin, in the strictest secrecy, the Russian-German additional treaty to the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and the Russian-German financial agreement were concluded, which were signed by plenipotentiary A. A. Ioffe on behalf of the government of the RSFSR, and by von P. on behalf of Germany. Ginze and I. Kriege.

Soviet Russia undertook to pay Germany, as compensation for damage and expenses for maintaining Russian prisoners of war, a huge indemnity of 6 billion marks (2.75 billion rubles), including 1.5 billion in gold (245.5 tons of pure gold) and credit obligations, 1 billion in supplies of goods. In September 1918, two “gold trains” (93.5 tons of “pure gold” worth over 120 million gold rubles) were sent to Germany. Almost all of the Russian gold that arrived in Germany was subsequently transferred to France as indemnity under the Treaty of Versailles.

According to the additional agreement concluded, Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine and Georgia, renounced Estonia and Livonia, which, according to the original agreement, were formally recognized as part of the Russian state, having negotiated for itself the right of access to the Baltic ports (Revel, Riga and Windau) and retaining Crimea and control over Baku , losing to Germany a quarter of the products produced there. Germany agreed to withdraw its troops from Belarus, from the Black Sea coast, from Rostov and part of the Don Basin, and also not to occupy any more Russian territory and not to support separatist movements on Russian soil.

On November 13, after the Allied victory in the war, the Brest-Litovsk Treaty was annulled by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. But Russia was no longer able to take advantage of the fruits of the common victory and take a place among the winners.

Soon the withdrawal of German troops from the occupied territories of the former Russian Empire began. After the annulment of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, Lenin’s authority became unquestioned among the Bolshevik leaders: “By shrewdly agreeing to a humiliating peace, which allowed him to gain the necessary time, and then collapsed under the influence of its own gravity, Lenin earned the widespread trust of the Bolsheviks. When they tore up the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on November 13, 1918, following which Germany capitulated to the Western allies, Lenin's authority was elevated to unprecedented heights in the Bolshevik movement. Nothing better served his reputation as a man who made no political mistakes; never again did he have to threaten to resign in order to insist on his own,” wrote R. Pipes in his work “Bolsheviks in the Struggle for Power.”

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

The conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty led to a split in the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet government and to the formation of a leftist opposition, and for the first and last time this opposition acted openly and officially within the Bolshevik Party as autonomous organization and even had its own press organ.

After the signing of the peace agreement, hostilities did not stop for a day in most of the territory of the former Russian Empire. Germany presented more and more ultimatums, occupied entire regions and cities located east of the border established by the treaty. The Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty turned out to be paper precisely because the Soviet and German governments did not look at the treaty seriously, did not consider it final, and signed the agreement not for the sake of a desire to obtain peace, but only in order to continue the war, but in more favorable conditions for themselves.

Subsequently, until the termination of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, first by the German government on October 5, and then by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on November 13, 1918 (2 days after surrender of Germany), the opponents were in a state of “neither war nor peace” (Trotsky).

This situation, according to Trotsky, was nothing more than a “respite” preparing the Bolshevik party for its next stage: the revolutionary war (only for Trotsky’s respite, unlike Lenin, the Bolsheviks did not pay for an agreement with the “imperialists”). This revolutionary war began on November 13, 1918.

Already in the first days of the Bolshevik revolution, Lenin disagreed with the majority of his party on the issue of concluding peace: contrary to the expectations of the socialists, he agreed in principle to sign a separate, rather than a general, peace with the “imperialist” German government. The simplest explanation for Lenin’s step was the commitments he had taken to the German government even before returning to Russia.

The relationship between the Bolshevik Party and the Kaiser's government during the First World War has long remained a mystery to historians. Information spread around the world as a sensation that the German government, interested in the speedy weakening of the Russian Empire and the latter’s exit from the war, found it profitable to finance the social parties (including the Leninist group), which stood for the defeat of Russia in the war and conducted intensive defeatist propaganda . German Social Democrat Eduard Bernstein in 1921 wrote that Lenin and his comrades received huge sums of money from Kaiser Germany, probably exceeding 50 million German gold marks. After many years, documents were placed at the disposal of historians that allowed them to deeply and carefully study the now legendary issue of German money and the sealed carriage in which Lenin traveled through Germany to Russia in April 1917.

The German government supported the Russian revolutionaries, since, not without reason, it believed that the revolution would lead to the collapse of the Russian Empire, its withdrawal from the war and the conclusion of a separate peace, which the revolutionaries promised to give after coming to power. Germany needed this peace already because in 1917. it did not have the necessary forces to wage a war on 2 fronts. Having relied on the revolution in Russia, Germany supported the Leninist group in critical weeks for the provisional government, helped it and other “defeatists” pass through Germany to Sweden, and received the consent of the Swedes for the passage of emigrants to the Finnish border. From there it was very close to Petrograd. Occurred in October 1917. the coup was not a surprise to her; fair or not, the German government looked at what happened as the work of its own hands.

But Germany would never have been able to achieve its goals so easily if its interests had not coincided in a number of points with the program of another interested party: the Russian defeatist revolutionaries, the most influential wing of which was Lenin’s (the Bolsheviks). How did the interests of Germany and the revolutionaries coincide in this matter?

Like the German government, the Leninist group was interested in the defeat of Russia. The Bolsheviks wanted the collapse of the Russian Empire. The Germans wanted this for the sake of the general weakening of post-war Russia. The revolutionaries, many of whom demanded the separation of the border regions from the Russian Empire also for national reasons, looked at the growth of national separatist tendencies (nationalism of small nations) as a phenomenon that was in direct connection with the revolutionary movement.

While agreeing on some points, the goals of Germany and the revolutionaries in the war diverged on others. Germany looked at the latter as a subversive element and hoped to use them to bring Russia out of the war. Keeping the socialists in power was not part of the plans of the German government. They also looked at the help offered by the German government as a means to organize a revolution in Russia and Europe, especially in Germany. But the revolutionaries knew about the German “imperialist” plans. At the same time, each side hoped to outplay the other. Ultimately, the Leninist group won this game.

The program of the Soviet socialists was abstract: revolution. Lenin's program was specific: revolution in Russia and his own rise to power. Like a man subservient to his own purpose, he accepted everything that contributed to his program and discarded everything that hindered him. If the Quadruple Alliance offered assistance, then insofar as this assistance contributed to Lenin's rise to power, it should be accepted. If this assistance could be provided on the terms of Lenin’s proclamation of a certain political platform, then insofar as this platform contributed to the achievement of the main goal: Lenin’s coming to power, it should be accepted and announced. The Germans were interested in a separate peace with Russia - Lenin made the slogan of immediately signing peace and ending the war the main point of his program. The Germans wanted the collapse of the Russian Empire - Lenin supported the revolutionary slogan of self-determination of peoples, which allowed for the actual collapse of the Russian Empire.

We must give credit to Lenin. He fulfilled his promise to the government in the first hours of coming to power: on October 26, at the Congress of Soviets, he read out the famous decree on peace. For the Entente, therefore, Germany’s role in the October coup was obvious. Already on October 27 (November 9), London newspapers, and the Germans themselves, could not remain silent for long, declaring that the Russian revolution was not an accident, but a natural result of German policy. On November 9 (22), fulfilling another point of the agreement between the Bolsheviks and Germany, Trotsky, as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, announced the intentions of the Soviet government to publish secret diplomatic documents. In theory, the publication of secret treaties was detrimental to both the Central Powers and the Entente. But since the secret treaties related to the First World War were concluded by Russia with its allies France and England, and not with the Central Powers, the latter remained the winner. On November 14 (27), the German High Command gave its consent to conduct official peace negotiations with representatives of the Soviet government. The start of negotiations was scheduled for November 19 (December 2), and in a statement dated November 15 (28), the Soviet government indicated that if France, Great Britain, Italy, the USA, Belgium, Serbia, Romania, Japan and China refused to join the negotiations, “ we will negotiate with the Germans alone,” that is, it announced the signing of a separate peace with the countries of the Fourth Bloc. On November 20 (December 3), a Russian delegation consisting of 28 people arrived in Brest-Litovsk, where the headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the German Eastern Front was located. Brest-Litovsk was chosen by Germany as a place for negotiations. Negotiations in German-occupied territory suited the German and Austrian governments, since moving the negotiations to a neutral city, for example Stockholm, would result in an inter-socialist conference that could appeal to the people “over the heads of the governments” and call, for example, for a general strike or civil war. In this case, the initiative would pass from the hands of German and Austro-Hungarian diplomats to Russian and European socialists.

From the Soviet side, the delegation was headed by three Bolsheviks (A.A. Ioffe, L.B. Kamenev, and G.Ya. Sokolnikov) and two left Socialist-Revolutionaries (A.A. Bitsenko and S.D. Maslovsky-Mstislavsky). On the German side, negotiations were to be conducted by a group of military men led by General Hoffmann. The Russian delegation insisted on concluding peace without annexations and indemnities. Hoffmann did not seem to mind, but only on the condition that the Entente also agreed to these demands. Since, as was clear to everyone, the Soviet delegation was not authorized by England, France and the United States to negotiate with the Quadruple Alliance, the question of a universal democratic peace hung in the air. In addition, the delegation of the Central Powers insisted that it was authorized to sign only a military truce, and not a political agreement. And despite the outward politeness of both sides, a common language was not found.

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

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

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

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

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

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

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

Leon Trotsky stated: “We are withdrawing our army and our people from the war. Our soldier-plowman must return to his arable land in order to peacefully cultivate the land this spring, which the revolution transferred from the hands of the landowners to the hands of the peasant. We are withdrawing from the war. We refuse 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 on 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. Russian troops At the same time, an order is given for complete demobilization along the entire front."

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

However, contrary to the expectations of the Soviet leadership, on February 18, Austro-Hungarian troops launched an offensive along the entire front. Almost no one opposed them: the advance of the armies was only hampered by bad roads. On the evening of February 23, they occupied Pskov, and on March 3, Narva. The Red Guard detachment of sailor Pavel Dybenko left this city without a fight. General Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich wrote about him: “Dybenko’s detachment did not inspire confidence in me; it was enough to look at this sailor’s freemen with mother-of-pearl buttons sewn onto their wide bell-bottoms, with rollicking manners, to understand that they would not be able to fight with regular German units. My fears were justified..." On February 25, Vladimir Lenin wrote bitterly in the newspaper "Pravda": "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 large 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, as it were, transferred its fate into the hands of the German people. We do not doubt for a minute that this is the triumph of imperialism and militarism over 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 previously belonging to Russia will no longer be under its control. supreme power: 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 future destiny these areas after demolition with their population.

Article IV

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

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

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

Article V

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

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

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

March 3, 1918, peace treaty between Soviet Russia and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey. Germany annexed Poland, the Baltic states, part of Belarus and Transcaucasia, and received an indemnity of 6 billion marks. V.I. Lenin considered it necessary to conclude the Brest Peace Treaty in order to preserve Soviet power. The conclusion of the Brest Peace Treaty caused an acute crisis in the leadership of Soviet Russia. A group of “left communists” led by N.I. Bukharin opposed the Brest Peace Treaty and was ready to “accept the possibility of losing Soviet power” in the name of the interests of the world revolution. Nevertheless, in the face of the advance of German troops, the treaty was ratified by the 4th Congress of Soviets. Canceled by the government of the RSFSR on November 13, 1918 after the defeat of Germany in World War I.

BREST PEACE

PEACE OF Brest-Litovsk, a peace treaty concluded on March 3, 1918 between Soviet Russia on the one hand and the states of the Quadruple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria) - on the other hand, ending Russia’s participation in the First World War (cm. FIRST WORLD WAR 1914-18).
Peace negotiations
The issue of exit from the First World War was one of the key issues in Russian politics 1917-1918. Bolsheviks (cm. BOLSHEVIKS) stated that since the war is imperialistic and predatory, a speedy peace is necessary, even if it is separate (cm. SEPARATE PEACE). But this peace should be honorable for Russia and not include annexations (cm. ANNEXATION) and indemnities (cm. CONTRIBUTION). During the October Revolution of 1917 (cm. OCTOBER REVOLUTION 1917) The Decree on Peace was adopted (cm. DECREE ON PEACE)”, which invited all participants in the war to immediately conclude peace without annexations and indemnities. Only Germany and its allies responded to this proposal, whose military and economic situation, like Russia’s, was extremely difficult. In December 1917, a truce was concluded, Russian-German (with the participation of Germany's allies) negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk (cm. BREST (in Belarus)). They quickly showed that the German side does not take seriously the slogans of peace without annexations and indemnities, considering Russia’s desire to conclude a separate peace as evidence of its defeat. The German side acted from a position of strength and dictated terms that included both annexation and indemnity. German and Austro-Hungarian diplomacy also took advantage of the fact that Soviet Russia granted the formal right to self-determination to Poland, Finland, Ukraine, the Baltic and Transcaucasian countries, while supporting, however, the communist struggle for power in these countries. The states of the Quadruple Alliance demanded non-interference in the affairs of these countries, hoping to take advantage of their resources necessary to win the war against the Entente. But Russia also urgently needed these resources to restore its economy.
At the same time, the Central Rada (cm. CENTRAL RADA) - governing body Ukrainian people's republic- signed a separate peace with Germany and its allies, according to which German troops were invited to Ukraine to protect its government from the Bolsheviks, and Ukraine supplied food to Germany and its allies. Soviet Russia did not recognize the power of the Central Rada in Ukraine and considered it the legal representative Ukrainian people Soviet Ukrainian government in Kharkov. Soviet troops took Kyiv on February 9, 1918. But Germany, continuing to recognize the Central Rada, forced L. D. Trotsky to take this into account (cm. TROTSKY Lev Davidovich), who served as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. It became obvious that the conclusion of peace would lead to the occupation of Ukraine by the Germans.
The humiliating agreement with the imperialists was unacceptable to the revolutionaries, both from the point of view of the Bolshevik Communists and from the point of view of their government partners, the Left Social Revolutionaries. (cm. LEFT SRs). As a result, the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) decided that Trotsky should delay the negotiations as long as possible, in the expectation that the revolution would sweep over Germany, which was also exhausted by the war. As subsequent events showed, a revolution was indeed brewing in Germany, but not a “proletarian” one, but a democratic one.
Ultimatum
On February 10, Germany presented an ultimatum to the Soviet delegation about the impossibility of endlessly delaying peace negotiations. Germany demanded that Russia renounce its rights to Poland, Transcaucasia, the Baltic states and Ukraine, the fate of which would be decided by Germany and its allies, support for revolutionary uprisings in these countries, payment of indemnities by Russia, etc. Without betraying the principles with which the Bolsheviks came to power, they could not sign such a peace. Trotsky protested against the ultimatum, stopped negotiations, declared the state of war ended and left for Petrograd, leaving the German representatives perplexed.
Heated discussions took place among the Bolsheviks and the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries. Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V.I. Lenin (cm. LENIN Vladimir Ilyich), who believed that in the conditions of the disintegration of the old army, the widespread desire for peace and at the same time with the threat of civil war, it was impossible to wage a war with Germany. Recognizing that the world was difficult and shameful (“obscene”), Lenin demanded that an ultimatum be accepted in order to provide the Soviet government with a respite. He accused Trotsky of breaking discipline with dire consequences: the Germans would resume the offensive and force Russia to accept even more hard world. Trotsky put forward the slogan: “No peace, no war, but dissolve the army,” that is, refusal to sign peace and end the state of war, dissolution of the old decayed army. By delaying the signing of peace, Trotsky hoped that Germany would transfer troops to the West and would not attack Russia. In this case, signing shameful world would become unnecessary. Trotsky’s calculations were based on the fact that Germany did not have the strength to occupy Russia along with Ukraine. Germany and Austria stood on the brink of revolution. In addition, by not concluding peace, the Bolsheviks did not compromise themselves by betraying the interests of the Motherland and coming to terms with the enemy. By disbanding the army, they strengthened their influence among the mass of soldiers, tired of the war.
Left communists (cm. LEFT COMMUNISTS) led by N.I. Bukharin (cm. BUKHARIN Nikolai Ivanovich) and the majority of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries believed that it was impossible to leave other peoples under German rule, that it would be necessary to wage a revolutionary, first of all guerrilla warfare with German imperialism. They believed that the Germans, in any case, even after signing peace, would continue to put pressure on Soviet Russia, trying to turn it into their vassal, and therefore war was inevitable, and peace would demoralize supporters of Soviet power. Such a world would provide Germany with additional resources to overcome the social crisis; a revolution would not take place in Germany.
But Lenin considered the calculations of Trotsky and Bukharin to be erroneous, fearing that in the conditions of the German offensive the Soviet government would not remain in power. Lenin, for whom the question of power was “the key question of every revolution,” understood that successful resistance to the German invasion was impossible without widespread support in the country. And the social support of the Bolshevik regime was limited, especially after the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly (cm. CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY). This meant that continuing the war would lead to a "power shift" from the Bolsheviks and left Socialist Revolutionaries to a broader coalition, where the Bolsheviks could lose their dominant position. Therefore, for Lenin, continuing the war with a retreat into the interior of Russia was unacceptable. The majority of the Central Committee initially supported Trotsky and Bukharin. The position of the left received the support of the Moscow and Petrograd party organizations of the RSDLP (b), as well as approximately half of the country’s party organizations.
The socialist fatherland is in danger
While there were heated debates in the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b), the Germans went on the offensive on February 18 and captured Estonia. An attempt was made to resist them. Near Pskov, parts of the retreating Russian army encountered a German detachment that had already occupied the city. Having broken through the city and blowing up an ammunition depot, the Russians took up positions near Pskov. Detachments of sailors and workers led by P. E. Dybenko were sent near Narva (cm. DYBENKO Pavel Efimovich). But the work detachments were militias that did not represent a serious military force, the sailors were poorly disciplined and did not know how to fight on land. Near Narva, the Germans scattered the Red Guards, Dybenko hastily retreated. By February 23, the Germans threatened Petrograd. True, due to the extended communications, the Germans did not have the opportunity to advance deep into Russia. Lenin wrote the appeal “The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger!”, where he called for the mobilization of all revolutionary forces to repel the enemy. But the Bolsheviks did not yet have an army that could defend Petrograd.
Faced with resistance in his party, Lenin threatened to resign (which in these conditions meant a split in the Bolshevik party) if the “obscene” peace terms were not accepted. Trotsky understood that if the Bolsheviks split, it would be impossible to organize resistance to the German invasion. In the face of such threats, Trotsky gave in and began to abstain from voting on peace. Left communists found themselves in the minority in the Central Committee. This allowed Lenin to gain a majority and predetermined the conclusion of peace on March 3, 1918. According to its terms, which were worsened even compared to the ultimatum of February 10, Russia renounced its rights to Finland, Ukraine, the Baltic states and Transcaucasia, parts of Belarus, and had to pay indemnity.
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.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk had many unfavorable consequences. A coalition with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries was becoming impossible (on March 15, they left the government in protest, not wanting to compromise themselves by capitulating to Germany). Germany's occupation of Ukraine (with subsequent expansion on the Don) disrupted the ties between the center of the country and the grain and raw materials regions. At the same time, the Entente countries began intervention in Russia, trying to reduce the possible costs associated with its capitulation. The occupation of Ukraine aggravated the food problem and further aggravated relations between the townspeople and the peasantry. His representatives in the Soviets, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, launched a propaganda campaign against the Bolsheviks. Surrender to Germany became a challenge to the national feelings of the Russian people; millions of people, regardless of their social origin, were opposed to the Bolsheviks. Only a very tough dictatorship could resist such sentiments.
Peace with Germany did not mean the Bolsheviks abandoned the idea of world revolution as such. The Bolshevik leadership believed that without a revolution in Germany, isolated Russia would not be able to move on to the construction of socialism. After the start of the November Revolution (cm. NOVEMBER REVOLUTION 1918 in Germany) in Germany, the Council of People's Commissars annulled the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on November 13, 1918. However, its consequences had already made themselves felt, becoming one of the factors in the beginning of a large-scale Civil War (cm. CIVIL WAR in Russia) in Russia. Post-war relations between Russia and Germany were regulated by the Treaty of Rapallo 1922 (cm. TREATY OF RAPALLE 1922), according to which the parties abandoned mutual claims and territorial disputes, especially since by this time they did not even have a common border.

Encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .

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