The Brest Peace

Conclusion of the Brest Peace took place on March 3, 1918. Participants in the agreement were: Russia - the first party, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey - the second. The operation of this peace treaty was short-lived. It lasted a little over nine months.

It all began with the first talks in Brest, where Kamenev LB and Ioffe AA, representatives of Mstislavsky SD, Karakhan LM made speeches from Russian Bolsheviks. At the last minute before leaving for this border town it was decided that the participation of the representatives of the people was necessary. Those were the soldiers, the worker, the sailor and the peasant, who were lured by big business travelers. Undoubtedly, the opinion of this group was not taken into account during negotiations and was simply not heard.

In the course of the talks, the fact that the German side, in addition to signing peace, wishes to conclude it without indemnities and annexations, as well as wants to obtain from Russia the right of nations to self-determination, is thus revealed, thus planning to gain control over Ukraine and the Russian Baltic. It became obvious that Russia could lose Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, as well as the territory of Transcaucasia.

The signing of the Brest Peace was only a temporary truce in the fighting. Lenin, Sverdlov and Trotsky were worried that if the conditions of the German side were fulfilled, they would be overthrown for betraying, since the bulk of the Bolsheviks did not agree with the policy of Vladimir Ulyanov.

In January 1918, the second stage of negotiations was held in Brest. The delegation was headed by Trotsky without the presence of representatives of the people. The main role in this round belonged to the Ukrainian delegation, the main requirement of which was the detachment of the lands of Bukovina and Galicia from Austria-Hungary. At the same time, the Ukrainian side did not want to know the Russian delegation. Thus, Russia has lost its ally in the person of Ukraine. For Germany, the latter was advantageous by placing on its territory a significant number of warehouses with weapons and military uniforms. The Brest peace, because of the inability to reach common ground, ended with nothing and was not signed.

The third stage of the negotiations began, during which a representative from the Russian delegation Trotsky, L.D. Refused to recognize representatives from Ukraine.

On March 3, 1918, the Brest Peace was signed. As a result of this agreement, Poland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Crimea, Ukraine and Transcaucasia were separated from Russia. Among other things, the fleet was disarmed and issued to Germany, an indemnity of six billion gold marks was imposed, as well as one billion marks to compensate the German citizens that they suffered during the revolution. Austria-Hungary and Germany received warehouses with weapons and ammunition. The Brest Peace also imposed on Russia an obligation to withdraw troops from these territories. Their place was occupied by the armed forces of Germany. An additional agreement to the peace treaty stipulated the economic position of Germany in Russia. Thus, German citizens were given the right to engage in entrepreneurial activity in the territory of Russia, despite the ongoing process of nationalization.

The Brest peace restored customs tariffs with Germany, established in 1904. Because of the Bolsheviks' non-recognition of tsarist debts, Russia was forced under the treaty to confirm them to countries such as Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey and Germany and begin to pay off those debts.

The countries that were part of the Entente bloc did not approve the Brest Peace and in mid-March 1918 declared its non-recognition.

In November 1918, Germany renounced the terms of the peace agreement. Two days later, it was canceled by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. A little later, German troops began to leave the former territory of Russia.