The conclusion of the Brest peace. Brest peace: who won, who lost

Signing of the Brest Peace

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is a separate peace treaty between Germany and Soviet Russia, as a result of which the latter, in violation of its conscious obligations to England and France, withdrew from the First World War. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed in Brest-Litovsk

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on March 3, 1918 by Soviet Russia on the one hand and Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey on the other.

The essence of the Brest Peace

Home driving force The October Revolution had soldiers who were terribly tired of the war, which had lasted for four years. The Bolsheviks promised to stop it if they came to power. Therefore, the first decree of the Soviet government was the Decree on Peace, adopted on October 26, according to the old style.

“The Workers' and Peasants' Government, established on October 24-25 ... invites all warring peoples and their governments to begin immediately negotiations for a just democratic peace. A just or democratic peace ... The government considers an immediate peace without annexations (that is, without the seizure of foreign lands, without the forcible annexation of foreign nationalities) and without indemnities. Such a peace is proposed by the Government of Russia to be concluded by all warring peoples immediately ... "

The desire of the Soviet government headed by Lenin to make peace with Germany, albeit at the cost of some concessions and territorial losses, was, on the one hand, the fulfillment of its "pre-election" promises to the people, on the other hand, fears of a soldier's revolt

“Throughout the autumn, delegates from the front came daily to the Petrograd Soviet with a statement that if peace was not concluded before November 1, then the soldiers themselves would move to the rear to make peace with their own means. It became the slogan of the front. Soldiers left the trenches in droves. The October Revolution to some extent suspended this movement, but, of course, not for long ”(Trotsky“ My Life ”)

Brest peace. Briefly

First there was a truce

1914, September 5 - an agreement between Russia, France, England, which forbade the Allies to conclude a separate peace or armistice with Germany
1917, November 8 (O.S.) - The Council of People's Commissars ordered the commander of the army, General Dukhonin, to offer the opponents a truce. Dukhonin refused.
1917, November 8 - Trotsky, as People's Commissar Foreign Affairs, appealed to the Entente states and the central empires (Germany and Austria-Hungary) with a proposal to make peace. No response
November 9, 1917 - General Dukhonin was removed from his post. ensign Krylenko took his place
November 14, 1917 - Germany responded to the proposal of the Soviet government to start peace negotiations
1917, November 14 - Lenin unsuccessfully addressed a note to the governments of France, Great Britain, Italy, the USA, Belgium, Serbia, Romania, Japan and China with a proposal, together with the Soviet government, to start peace negotiations on December 1

“The answer to these questions must be given immediately, and the answer is not in words, but in deeds. The Russian army and the Russian people cannot and do not want to wait any longer. On December 1, we start peace talks. If the allied peoples do not send their representatives, we will negotiate with the Germans alone.

1917, November 20 - Krylenko arrived at the headquarters of the commander-in-chief in Mogilev, retired and arrested Dukhonin. On the same day the general was killed by soldiers
November 20, 1917 - negotiations between Russia and Germany on a truce began in Brest-Litovsk
1917, November 21 - the Soviet delegation outlined its conditions: a truce is concluded for 6 months; hostilities are suspended on all fronts; the Germans clear the Moonsund Islands and Riga; any transfer of German troops to Western Front. To which the representative of Germany, General Hoffmann, said that only the winners can offer such conditions and it is enough to look at the map to judge who the defeated country is
November 22, 1917 - The Soviet delegation demanded a break in the negotiations. Germany was forced to agree to Russia's proposals. A truce was announced for 10 days
1917, November 24 - Russia's new appeal to the Entente countries with a proposal to join the peace negotiations. No answer
1917, December 2 - the second truce with the Germans. This time for 28 days

Peace negotiations

1917, December 9, according to Art. Art. - a conference on peace began in the officers' assembly of Brest-Litovsk. The Russian delegation proposed to adopt the following program as a basis
1. No forcible annexation of territories captured during the war is allowed ...
2. The political independence of those peoples who were deprived of this independence during the present war is being restored.
3. National groups that did not enjoy political independence before the war are guaranteed the opportunity to freely decide the issue .... about his state independence ...
4. In relation to territories inhabited by several nationalities, the right of a minority is protected by special laws ....
5. None of the belligerent countries is obliged to pay other countries the so-called war costs ...
6. Colonial issues are resolved subject to the principles set out in paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4.
December 12, 1917 - Germany and its allies accepted the Soviet proposals as a basis, but with a fundamental reservation: "the proposals of the Russian delegation could be implemented only if all the powers involved in the war ... pledged to comply with the conditions common to all peoples"
1917, December 13 - the Soviet delegation proposed to announce a ten-day break so that the governments of states that have not yet joined the negotiations could familiarize themselves with the developed principles
1917, December 27 - after numerous diplomatic demarches, including Lenin's demand to transfer negotiations to Stockholm, discussions of the Ukrainian question, the peace conference started working again

At the second stage of the negotiations, the Soviet delegation was headed by L. Trotsky

1917, December 27 - Statement by the German delegation that since one of the most essential conditions that were presented by the Russian delegation on December 9 - the unanimous acceptance by all the warring powers of the conditions binding on all - was not accepted, then the document became invalid
1917, December 30 - after several days of fruitless conversations German general Hoffman said: “The Russian delegation spoke as if it were a victor who had entered our country. I would like to point out that the facts just contradict this: the victorious German troops are on Russian territory.
January 5, 1918 - Germany presented Russia with the conditions for signing peace

“Having taken out the map, General Hoffmann said: “I leave the map on the table and ask those present to familiarize themselves with it ... The drawn line is dictated by military considerations; it will provide the peoples living on the other side of the line with peaceful state building and the exercise of the right to self-determination.” The Hoffmann Line cut off a territory of over 150,000 square kilometers from the possessions of the former Russian Empire. Germany and Austria-Hungary occupied Poland, Lithuania, some parts of Belarus and Ukraine, parts of Estonia and Latvia, the Moonsund Islands, the Gulf of Riga. This gave them control over the sea routes to the Gulf of Finland and Bothnia and allowed them to develop offensive operations deep into the Gulf of Finland, against Petrograd. The ports of the Baltic Sea passed into the hands of the Germans, through which 27% of all maritime exports from Russia passed. 20% of Russian imports went through the same ports. Set border was extremely disadvantageous for Russia in a strategic sense. It threatened the occupation of all of Latvia and Estonia, threatened Petrograd and, to a certain extent, Moscow. In the event of a war with Germany, this border doomed Russia to the loss of territories at the very beginning of the war ”(“ History of Diplomacy ”, Volume 2)

1918, January 5 - At the request of the Russian delegation, the conference took a 10-day time-out
January 17, 1918 - The conference resumed its work
1918, January 27 - a peace treaty was signed with Ukraine, which was recognized by Germany and Austria-Hungary on January 12
1918, January 27 - Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia

“Russia takes note of the following territorial changes that come into force with the ratification of this peace treaty: the areas between the borders of Germany and Austria-Hungary and the line that passes ... will no longer be subject to the territorial supremacy of Russia. From the fact of their belonging to the former Russian Empire, no obligations will follow for them in relation to 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.

1918, January 28 - in response to a German ultimatum, Trotsky announced that Soviet Russia was ending the war, but was not signing peace - "neither war nor peace." The peace conference is over

The struggle in the party around the signing of the Brest Peace

“The party was dominated by an irreconcilable attitude towards the signing Brest conditions... It found its most striking expression in the grouping of left communism, which put forward the slogan of revolutionary war. The first broad discussion of the differences took place on January 21 at a meeting of active party workers. Three points of view emerged. Lenin was in favor of trying to drag out the negotiations even more, but, in the event of an ultimatum, to capitulate immediately. I considered it necessary to bring the negotiations to a break, even with the danger of a new German offensive, in order to have to capitulate ... already before the obvious use of force. Bukharin demanded war to expand the arena of the revolution. Supporters of the revolutionary war received 32 votes, Lenin collected 15 votes, I - 16 ... More than two hundred Soviets responded to the proposal of the Council of People's Commissars to local Soviets to express their opinion on war and peace. Only Petrograd and Sevastopol spoke out for peace. Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Kharkov, Yekaterinoslav, Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Kronstadt overwhelmingly voted for a break. Such was the mood of our party organizations. At the decisive meeting of the Central Committee on January 22, my proposal passed: to drag out the negotiations; in the event of a German ultimatum, declare the war ended, but do not sign peace; further action depending on the circumstances. On January 25, a meeting of the Central Committees of the Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries took place, at which the same formula passed by an overwhelming majority.(L. Trotsky "My Life")

Indirectly, Trotsky's idea was to disavow the persistent rumors of the time that Lenin and his party were German agents sent to Russia to break it up and get it out of the First World War (it was no longer possible for Germany to wage a war on two fronts) . A submissive signing of peace with Germany would confirm these rumors. But under the influence of force, that is, the German offensive, the establishment of peace would look like a necessary measure.

Conclusion of a peace treaty

February 18, 1918 - Germany and Austria-Hungary launched an offensive along the entire front from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Trotsky suggested asking the Germans what they wanted. Lenin objected: “Now there is no way to wait, it means to hand over the Russian revolution for scrap ... what is at stake is that we, playing with the war, give the revolution to the Germans”
1918, February 19 - Lenin's telegram to the Germans: "In view of the current situation, the Council of People's Commissars sees itself forced to sign the peace conditions proposed in Brest-Litovsk by the delegations of the Quadruple Union"
1918, February 21 - Lenin declared "the socialist fatherland is in danger"
1918, February 23 - the birth of the Red Army
1918, February 23 - a new German ultimatum

“The first two points repeated the ultimatum of January 27th. But the rest of the ultimatum went incomparably further

Point 3 Immediate retreat of Russian troops from Livonia and Estonia.

Clause 4 Russia pledged to make peace with the Ukrainian Central Rada. Ukraine and Finland were to be cleared of Russian troops.

Clause 5 Russia was to return the Anatolian provinces to Turkey and recognize the cancellation of Turkish capitulations

Point 6. The Russian army is immediately demobilized, including the newly formed units. Russian ships in the Black and Baltic Seas and in Arctic Ocean must be disarmed.

Clause 7. The German-Russian trade agreement of 1904 is being restored. To it are added guarantees of free export, the right to export ore duty-free, a guarantee of the most favored nation for Germany at least until the end of 1925 ...

Points 8 and 9. Russia undertakes to stop all agitation and propaganda against the countries of the German bloc, both within the country and in the areas occupied by them.

Clause 10. Peace conditions must be accepted within 48 hours. Authorized with Soviet side are immediately sent to Brest-Litovsk and there they are obliged to sign within three days peace treaty, which is subject to ratification no later than two weeks later"

February 24, 1918 - The All-Russian Central Executive Committee accepted the German ultimatum
February 25, 1918 - The Soviet delegation made a sharp protest against the continuation of hostilities. And yet the advance continued.
1918, February 28 - Trotsky resigned from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs
1918, February 28 - the Soviet delegation was already in Brest
1918, March 1 - resumption of the peace conference
1918, March 3 - signing of a peace treaty between Russia and Germany
1918, March 15 - All-Russian Congress The Soviets ratified the peace treaty by a majority vote

Terms of the Brest Peace

The peace treaty between Russia and the Central Powers consisted of 13 articles. In the main articles, it was stipulated that — Russia, on the one hand, Germany and its allies, on the other, declare an end to the war.
— Russia is making a complete demobilization of its army;
— Russian warships move to Russian ports until the conclusion of a general peace, or they are immediately disarmed.
— From Soviet Russia under the treaty, Poland, Lithuania, Courland, Livonia and Estonia withdrew.
— In the hands of the Germans remained those areas that lay east of the border established by the treaty and were occupied by the time the treaty was signed by German troops.
— In the Caucasus, Russia ceded Kars, Ardagan and Batum to Turkey.
— Ukraine and Finland were recognized as independent states.
— With the Ukrainian Central Rada, Soviet Russia pledged to conclude a peace treaty and recognize the peace treaty between Ukraine and Germany.
— Finland and the Aland Islands were cleared of Russian troops.
— Soviet Russia pledged to stop all agitation against the government of Finland.
— Separate articles of the Russian-German trade agreement of 1904, unfavorable for Russia, came into force again
— The Brest Treaty did not fix the borders of Russia, nor did it say anything about respect for the sovereignty and integrity of the territory of the contracting parties.
— As for the territories that lay east of the line marked in the treaty, Germany agreed to clear them only after the complete demobilization of the Soviet army and the conclusion of a general peace.
— Prisoners of war of both sides were released to their homeland

Lenin’s speech at the Seventh Congress of the RCP (b): “You can never bind yourself with formal considerations in a war, ... an agreement is a means of gathering strength ... Some definitely, like children, think: he signed an agreement, which means he sold himself to Satan, went to hell. It's just funny when military history says more clearly that the signing of a treaty in the event of defeat is a means of gathering forces"

Cancellation of the Brest Peace

Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of November 13, 1918
On the annulment of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
To all the peoples of Russia, to the population of all the occupied regions and lands.
The All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets solemnly declares to everyone that the terms of peace with Germany, signed in Brest on March 3, 1918, have lost their force and significance. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk(as well as the additional agreement signed in Berlin on August 27 and ratified by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on September 6, 1918) as a whole and in all points is declared destroyed. All obligations included in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, relating to the payment of indemnity or the cession of territory and regions, are declared invalid ....
The working masses of Russia, Livonia, Estland, Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Finland, the Crimea and the Caucasus, liberated by the German revolution from the oppression of the predatory treaty dictated by the German military, are now called upon to decide their own fate. The imperialist peace must be replaced by a socialist peace concluded by the working masses of the peoples of Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary who have liberated themselves from the yoke of the imperialists. The Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic invites the fraternal peoples of Germany and the former Austria-Hungary, represented by their Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, to immediately begin settling the issues connected with the destruction of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The true peace of the peoples can be based only on those principles which correspond to fraternal relations among the working people of all countries and nations and which were proclaimed by the October Revolution and defended by the Russian delegation in Brest. All occupied regions of Russia will be cleared. The right to self-determination will be fully recognized for the working nations of all peoples. All losses will be laid on the true culprits of the war, on the bourgeois classes.

In the official Soviet history, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is described as an urgent move at the end of 1917, giving a young Soviet Republic a respite to fulfill the promises made in the first decrees and given to the people at the time of the seizure of power. The fact that the signing of the treaty was not only a necessary but also a forced measure was not brought to the attention of the audience.

The decomposition of the army

The army is part of the state apparatus. It is not an independent force. With the help of this tool, the government of any country ensures the implementation of its own decisions when nothing else works. Nowadays, the expression "power department" is widespread, it succinctly and succinctly describes the role of the armed forces in the general state mechanism. Before the February Revolution, the Bolshevik Party actively carried out the decomposition of the Russian army. The goal was to defeat the tsarist government in the World War. The task is not easy, and it was not possible to complete it completely until the very October coup. Moreover, as the course of subsequent events showed, it continued to exist for four long years, while the Civil War was going on. But what was done was enough for the troops to begin to leave their positions en masse and desert. The process of demoralization of the army reached its apogee when the first order of the Petrograd Soviet introduced an elective procedure for appointing commanders. The power mechanism stopped working. The conclusion of the Brest peace in such conditions was indeed an inevitable and forced measure.

Position of the Central Powers

In the central countries opposed to the Entente, things were catastrophic. The mobilization potential was completely exhausted in the middle of 1917, there was not enough food, famine began in Austria-Hungary and Germany. About seven hundred thousand citizens of these states died from malnutrition. The industry, which switched to the production of exclusively military products, could not cope with orders. Pacifist and defeatist sentiments began to emerge among the troops. Actually, the Brest Peace was needed Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany, Bulgaria and Turkey no less than the Soviets. Ultimately, even Russia's withdrawal from the war on the most favorable terms for its opponents could not prevent the defeat of the Central countries in the war.

Negotiation process

The signing of the Brest Peace was a difficult and long process. The negotiation process began at the end of 1917 and continued until March 3, 1918, passing through three stages. The Soviet side offered to end the war on the original terms without presenting demands for annexations and indemnities. Representatives of the Central Powers put forward their own conditions, which the Russian delegation could not fulfill with all its desire, including the signing of the treaty by all the countries of the Entente. Then Leon Trotsky arrived in Brest-Litovsk, whom Lenin appointed as the main "delayer" of the negotiations. His task was to have the peace signed, but as late as possible. Time worked against Austria-Hungary and Germany. The head of the Soviet delegation behaved defiantly and used the negotiating table as a platform for Marxist propaganda, without even thinking about what kind of audience was in front of him. Ultimately, the Bolshevik delegation, having received the German ultimatum, left the hall, announcing that there would be no peace, no war either, and the army would be demobilized. Such an unexpected move caused quite natural reaction. German troops rushed forward without meeting resistance. Their movement could not even be called an offensive, it was a simple movement by trains, cars and on foot. Vast territories were captured in Belarus, Ukraine and the Baltic states. The Germans did not take Petrograd for a banal reason - they simply did not have enough human resources. Having removed the government of the Central Rada, they immediately began the usual robbery, sending Ukrainian agricultural products to starving Germany.

The results of the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty

In these difficult conditions, with the growing internal party struggle, the Brest peace was concluded. Its conditions turned out to be so shameful that the delegates spent a long time deciding who exactly would sign this document. The gigantic size of the indemnities, the retreat to the Central Powers of the vast territories of Ukraine and the Caucasus, the rejection of Finland and the Baltic states in the catastrophic military and economic situation of the enemy seemed something fantastic. Brest peace became a catalyst for the transition of character civil war from focal to total. Russia automatically ceased to be a victorious country, despite the defeat of the Central countries. In addition, the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk was absolutely useless. After the signing of the act of surrender in Compiègne in November 1918, it was denounced.

October 26, 1917 II All-Russian Congress of Soviets at the suggestion of V.I. adopted the famous "Decree on Peace", which outlined the program for Russia's withdrawal from the First World War. In particular, this document contained a proposal to all governments of the belligerent countries to immediately stop fighting on all fronts and start negotiations on the conclusion of a general democratic peace without annexations and indemnities and on conditions of complete self-determination of the peoples regarding their future fate.

See also:

AT Soviet historiography(A. Chubaryan, K. Gusev, G. Nikolnikov, N. Yakupov, A. Bovin) milestone formation and development of the "Leninist peace-loving foreign policy Soviet state based on the cornerstone principle of the peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems. In reality, Lenin's "Decree on Peace" could in no way lay the foundations for a new foreign policy doctrine of Soviet Russia, because:

He pursued a purely pragmatic goal - the withdrawal of dilapidated and exhausted Russia from the state of war;

The Bolsheviks considered the revolution in Russia not as an end in itself, but as the first and inevitable stage in the beginning of the world proletarian (socialist) revolution.

November 8 People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L.D. Trotsky sent the text of the "Decree on Peace" to the ambassadors of all the allied powers, inviting the leaders of these states to immediately stop hostilities at the front and sit down at the negotiating table, but this call was completely ignored by the Entente countries. November 9, 1917 to the commander-in-chief N.N. Dukhonin was instructed to immediately apply to the command of the Fourth Bloc countries with a proposal to stop hostilities and start peace talks with them. General N.N. Dukhonin refused to comply with this order, for which he was immediately declared an "enemy of the people" and removed from his post, which was taken by ensign N.V. Krylenko. A little later, upon the arrival of N.V. Krylenko to Mogilev, General N.N. Dukhonin was first arrested and then killed at the staff car by drunken sailors, and the new Commander-in-Chief immediately followed the instructions of the Central Committee on this issue.

On November 14, 1917, representatives of the German and Austro-Hungarian military leadership informed the Soviet side of their agreement to stop hostilities on Eastern Front and start the process of peace negotiations. On November 20, 1917, the first round of negotiations between Russia and the countries of the Quadruple Bloc began in Brest-Litovsk, at which the leadership of the Soviet delegation represented by A.A. Ioffe (chairman of the mission), L.B. Kameneva, G.Ya. Sokolnikov and L.M. Karakhan immediately announced a declaration of principles, in which they again proposed to conclude a democratic peace treaty without annexations and indemnities. Having received no response to their proposal, the Soviet side refused to conclude a formal truce and took a week-long time-out.

On November 27, 1917, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR approved the "Outline of the peace talks program", compiled by V.I. Lenin, I.V. Stalin and L.B. Kamenev, in which the idea of concluding a general democratic peace was reaffirmed, and three days later the negotiation process resumed in Brest-Litovsk. The result of new negotiations was the signing on December 2, 1917 of an armistice agreement for a period of one month, until January 1, 1918.

On December 9, 1917, a new round of negotiations began, in which the head of the Soviet delegation, A.A. Ioffe announced the declaration "On the principles of universal democratic peace", consisting of six main points. In this declaration, based on the main provisions of the Peace Decree and the Outline of the Peace Negotiation Program, the main components of a democratic peace were once again concretized: "refusal of annexations and indemnities" and "complete self-determination of peoples".

On December 12, 1917, the Austrian Foreign Minister O. Chernin announced a response note to the Soviet side, which stated that the countries of the Quadruple Bloc agreed to immediately conclude a peace treaty with all Entente countries without annexations and indemnities. But for the Soviet delegation, this turn of events was so unexpected that its head, A.A. Ioffe suggested a ten-day break. The opposing side rejected this proposal, and three days later the head of the German delegation, Richard von Kuhlmann, who, by the way, while holding the post of State Secretary (Minister) of Foreign Affairs, was personally involved in the financial support of the Bolshevik Pravda, directly laid claim to the possession of all of Poland, Lithuania , Courland, part of Estonia and Livonia, whose peoples "they themselves expressed a desire to come under the protection of Germany." Naturally, the Soviet delegation categorically refused to discuss this proposal, and a break was announced in the work of the peace conference.

People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L.D. Trotsky once again tried to give the peace talks a general character and addressed with a repeated note to the governments of the Entente countries to sit down at the negotiating table, but he did not receive an answer to his message. In this situation, fearing that the negotiations in Brest would take on an openly separate character, at the suggestion of V.I. Lenin, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR decided to move the peace talks to the capital of neutral Sweden, the city of Stockholm. The Austro-German side rejected this trick of the Soviet government, and Brest-Litovsk remained the place to continue negotiations. At the same time, representatives of the countries of the Quadruple Alliance, referring to the fact that the Entente countries remained deaf to the proposal to conclude a "general democratic peace", abandoned their own declaration on December 12, which seriously aggravated the negotiation process itself.

On December 27, 1917, the second round of the peace conference in Brest-Litovsk began, at which the Soviet delegation was already headed by People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L.D. Trotsky. A new round of negotiations, at the suggestion of the oracle of the revolution, began with an empty theoretical dispute about the state and the right of nations to self-determination. This political chatter, which had become rather annoying for the opposing side, was soon stopped, and on January 5, 1918, the delegation of the countries of the Quadruple Union in an ultimatum presented the Soviet side with new conditions for a separate peace - the rejection from Russia not only of the entire Baltic and Poland, but also of a significant part of Belarus.

On the same day, at the suggestion of the head of the Soviet delegation, a break was announced in the negotiations. L.D. Trotsky, having received a letter from V.I. Lenin and I.V. Stalin, was forced to urgently leave for Petrograd, where he had to give his explanations about his new position regarding the further conduct of negotiations, which he outlined in a letter addressed to V.I. Lenin on January 2, 1918. The essence of the new position of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs was extremely simple: “We stop the war, we demobilize the army, but we don’t sign peace.” In the Soviet historical science position L.D. Trotsky has always been interpreted in derogatory tones and expressions as the position of a "political prostitute" and a traitor to the interests of the working class and the working peasantry. In reality, this position, which was initially supported by V.I. Lenin, was absolutely logical and extremely pragmatic:

1) Since the Russian army cannot, and most importantly, does not want to fight, the old imperial army disband completely, and cease hostilities at the front.

2) Since the opposing side is categorically in favor of a separate peace treaty, which threatens the Bolsheviks with a loss of reputation in the eyes of the world proletariat, a separate treaty with the enemy should by no means be concluded.

3) It is necessary to drag out the negotiation process as long as possible, in the hope that in Germany and other European powers the fire of the world proletarian revolution will flare up in the near future, which will put everything in its place.

4) Refusal to sign a separate treaty with the countries of the Quadruple Alliance will not formally give the Entente countries a reason to launch military intervention against Soviet Russia, which has violated its allied duty.

5) Finally, the refusal to sign a peace treaty will significantly smooth out the contradictions that have already arisen both within the ruling Bolshevik party and in relations between the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs.

By mid-January 1918, the latter circumstance began to acquire paramount importance. At this time, the “left communists” headed by N.I. Bukharin, F.E. Dzerzhinsky, M.S. Uritsky, K.B. Radek and A.M. Kollontai. This rather noisy and influential faction of the Bolsheviks, which was supported by a number of leaders of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Party (B.D. Kamkov, P.P. Proshyan), categorically opposed any agreements with the enemy and stated that only “ revolutionary war"with German imperialism will save the Bolsheviks from the universal disgrace of the accomplices of world capital and create the necessary conditions to kindle the fire of the world proletarian revolution. Moreover, at this time B.D. Kamkov and P.P. Proshyan turned to K.B. Radek, N.I. Bukharin and G.L. Pyatakov with a proposal to arrest the entire Council of People's Commissars headed by V.I. Lenin and form a new government consisting of Left Social Revolutionaries and Left Communists, which could be headed by Georgy Leonidovich Pyatakov, but this proposal was rejected by them.

In the meantime, another principled approach to solving this problem was outlined in the party leadership, which was expressed by V.I. Lenin. The essence of his new position, which he reached at the end of December 1917, was also extremely simple: to conclude a separate peace with Germany and its allies at any cost.

In historical science, the question of the motives that prompted the leader of the revolution to such a political conclusion, which ran counter to all the postulates of orthodox Marxism, has long been discussed.

Soviet historians (A. Chubaryan, K. Gusev, A. Bovin) claimed that V.I. Lenin came to this conviction under the pressure of harsh objective circumstances, namely the complete disintegration of the old Russian army and the uncertainty about the timing of the proletarian revolution in Europe, primarily in Germany itself.

Their opponents, mainly from the liberal camp (D. Volkogonov, Yu. Felshtinsky, O. Budnitsky), are sure that, while advocating extremely harshly for the conclusion of a separate peace with Germany, V.I. Lenin only fulfilled his obligations to his German sponsors, who generously forked out for the October Revolution.

On January 8, 1918, after discussing the new Leninist theses at an enlarged meeting of the Central Committee, an open vote was held, which clearly showed the alignment of forces in the top party leadership: the position of N.I. Bukharin was supported by 32 participants in this meeting, for L.D. Trotsky was voted by 16 participants, and the position of V.I. Lenin was supported by only 15 members of the Central Committee. On January 11, 1918, the discussion of this issue was submitted to the Plenum of the Central Committee, where the position of L.D. was supported by a small majority. Trotsky. This situation forced V.I. Lenin to make partial adjustments to his previous position: no longer insisting on the immediate conclusion of peace, he proposed to delay the process of negotiations with the Germans in every possible way. The next day, the Trotskyist slogan "no war, no peace" was approved by a majority vote at a joint meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) and the PLSR, which was immediately formalized as a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR. Thus, all supporters of peace in both ruling parties, in particular members of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) V.I. Lenin, G.E. Zinoviev, I.V. Stalin, Ya.M. Sverdlov, G.Ya. Sokolnikov, I.T. Smilga, A.F. Sergeev, M.K. Muranov and E.D. Stasov, and members of the Central Committee of the PLSR M.A. Spiridonova, A.L. Kolegaev, V.E. Trutovsky, B.F. Malkin and A.A. Bidenko again remained in the minority. On January 14, 1918, the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets approved a resolution reflecting the position of L.D. Trotsky, and on the same day the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs left for Brest-Litovsk, where on January 17 the third round of peace negotiations began.

Meanwhile, in Brest itself, negotiations were in full swing between Austro-German representatives and the leadership of the Ukrainian People's Rada (N.A. Lyublinsky), whose government the Bolsheviks recognized back in December 1917. On January 27, 1918, immediately after the signing of a separate treaty with the government of the Ukrainian People's We are glad that the delegation of the Quadruple Alliance in an ultimatum demanded that the Soviet side immediately respond to its terms of the peace treaty.

The next day, L.D. Trotsky, on behalf of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, announced a declaration in which:

1) it was announced the termination of the state of war between Russia and the countries of the Quadruple Bloc - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria, as well as the complete demobilization of the old Russian army;

In Soviet historiography (A. Chubaryan, K. Gusev), this ultimatum of the head of the Soviet delegation was always regarded as another act of vile betrayal on the part of the “Jewish Trotsky”, who violated the oral agreement with V.I. Lenin that after the new "German ultimatum we sign a peace treaty."

Modern Russian historians, including outspoken apologists L.D. Trotsky (A. Pantsov), they say that the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs acted in strict accordance with the decision of the Central Committee of both ruling parties and the resolution of the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and their oral agreement with V.I. Lenin clearly contradicted them.

February 14, 1918 declaration by L.D. Trotsky received official support at a meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and its chairman Ya.M. Sverdlov, and a day later the German command in the person of Leopold of Bavaria and Max Hoffmann announced the end of the truce and the resumption of hostilities along the entire front from noon on February 18. In this situation, on the evening of February 17, 1918, an emergency meeting of the Central Committee was convened, at which six of the eleven members of the highest party Areopagus, namely L.D. Trotsky, N.I. Bukharin, M.S. Uritsky, G.I. Lomov, N.N. Krestinsky, A.A. Ioffe, spoke out against the resumption of the negotiation process in Brest.

The Germans launched an offensive at the front and by the end of February 19 occupied Polotsk and Dvinsk. In this critical situation, at a new meeting of the Central Committee, with seven votes in favor, it was decided to immediately resume the peace process. In this situation, L.D. Trotsky announced his resignation from the post of People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, and the leader of the left communists N.I. Bukharin - about his withdrawal from the Central Committee and the editorial board of Pravda.

On February 23, 1918, the Soviet government was presented with new conditions for a separate peace treaty and a very strict framework for signing and ratifying it. In particular, the German side demanded that all of Poland, Lithuania, Courland, Estonia and part of Belarus be torn away from Russia, as well as the immediate withdrawal of Soviet troops from the territory of Finland and Ukraine, and the signing of a similar peace treaty with the government of the Central Rada.

On the same day, a new meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) was convened, at which the votes on the German ultimatum were distributed as follows: seven members of the Central Committee voted “for” its adoption - V.I. Lenin, I.V. Stalin, G.E. Zinoviev, Ya.M. Sverdlov, G.Ya. Sokolnikov, I.T. Smilga and E.D. Stasova, "against" - four members of the highest party Areopagus - N.I. Bukharin, A.S. Bubnov, G.I. Lomov and M.S. Uritsky, and "abstained" - also four members of the Central Committee - L.D. Trotsky, F.E. Dzerzhinsky, A.A. Ioffe and N.N. Krestinsky. Thus, at the most critical moment, when the issue of retaining one's own power was being decided, the majority of the members of the Central Committee "trembled" and voted for the conclusion of an "obscene" peace with the Germans.

On February 24, at a meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, after an extremely tense discussion, the Bolshevik resolution on the adoption of new terms of the peace treaty was approved by a small majority. And late in the evening of the same day, a new Soviet delegation consisting of G.Ya. left for Brest-Litovsk to sign a peace treaty with the countries of the Quadruple Bloc. Sokolnikova, L.M. Karakhan, G.V. Chicherin and G.I. Petrovsky.

On March 3, 1918, the leaders of both delegations signed Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, under the terms of which:

A vast territory of more than 1 million square meters was torn away from Soviet Russia. kilometers, on which more than 56 million people lived - the entire territory of Poland, the Baltic States, Ukraine, part of Belarus and Turkish Armenia;

Soviet Russia had to pay the countries of the Quadruple Alliance a huge military indemnity in the amount of six billion gold marks and agree to the complete transfer of all industrial enterprises and mines, where before the war 90% of all coal was mined and more than 70% of iron and steel were smelted.

According to V.I. Lenin, in such humiliating and "obscene" conditions of the Brest peace treaty, which the Soviet government was forced to sign, were to blame, first of all, "our unfortunate leftists Bukharin, Lomov, Uritsky and Co." Furthermore, whole line Soviet and Russian historians(Yu. Emelyanov) claims that not a single theoretical or political error N.I. Bukharin did not have such catastrophic consequences for our country and tens of millions of its citizens.

On March 8, 1918, at the emergency VII Congress of the RCP (b), the terms of the Brest Peace Treaty after a sharp controversy between V.I. Lenin and N.I. Bukharin were passed by a large majority, since the majority of his delegates agreed with Lenin's argument that the international world revolution so far is just beautiful fairy tale and no more. On March 15, 1918, after no less heated and heated discussion at the IV Extraordinary Congress of Soviets, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was ratified by roll call and entered into force.

In historical science, there are still diametrically opposed assessments of the Brest peace treaty, which largely depend on the political and ideological views of their authors. In particular, V.I. Lenin, who had no sympathy for the patriarchal thousand-year-old Russia, directly called Brest Treaty "Tilsit" and "obscene" peace, but vital to the salvation of the power of the Bolsheviks. The same assessments were shared by Soviet historians (A. Chubaryan, A. Bovin, Yu. Emelyanov), who were forced to talk about the brilliant insight and political wisdom of the leader, who foresaw the imminent military defeat of Germany and the annulment of this treaty. In addition, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was traditionally regarded as the first victory of the young Soviet diplomacy, which laid the foundations for the peace-loving foreign policy of the USSR.

AT modern science assessments of the Brest Treaty have changed significantly.

Historians of the liberal persuasion (A. Pantsov, Yu. Felshtinsky) believe that this agreement was not a victory, but the first major defeat of the Bolshevik course to prepare for the world proletarian revolution. At the same time, this peace became a kind of maneuver in the field of tactics and a short-term retreat of the Bolsheviks on the tortuous and difficult path of struggle for the victory of the world socialist revolution.

Historians of a patriotic persuasion (N. Narochnitskaya) are convinced that for V. Lenin and other leaders of Bolshevism, the Russian proletarian revolution was a kind of "bunch of brushwood" capable of igniting the fire of the world proletarian revolution. Therefore, the Brest Treaty was a direct betrayal of the national interests of Russia, which marked the beginning of its collapse and the most difficult Civil War.

2. "Left SR rebellion" and its political consequences

After the ratification of the Brest peace treaty, the "left communists" did not give up hope for its denunciation. In particular, in May 1918, at the Moscow Conference of the RCP(b), N.I. Bukharin, N.V. Osinsky and D.B. Ryazanov (Goldenbach) again called for the denunciation of the Brest Treaty, but the majority of the delegates of this party forum did not support their proposal.

Another attempt to denounce the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was the "Left SR rebellion", which took place in Moscow on July 6-7, 1918. The events associated with this rebellion were as follows: The Cheka, under a plausible pretext, entered the German embassy and, having killed the German ambassador Count V. Mirbach, hid in the headquarters of the Cheka troops, which was headed by their fellow party member Dmitry Popov.

After the accomplishment of this terrorist act, V.I. Lenin and Ya.M. Sverdlov went to the German embassy, and the chairman of the Cheka, F.E. Dzerzhinsky went to the headquarters of the Cheka troops to arrest Ya. G. Blyumkin and N.A. Andreeva. Upon arrival at the place of F.E. Dzerzhinsky was taken under arrest, and the headquarters of the Cheka troops, on the orders of D.I. Popov was turned into an impregnable fortress, where more than 600 well-armed Chekists dug in.

Upon learning of the arrest of F.E. Dzerzhinsky, V.I. Lenin instructed to arrest the entire faction of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries who took part in the work of the Fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and to take their leader Maria Spiridonova as a hostage in exchange for saving the life of F.E. Dzerzhinsky. At the same time, the commander of the division of the Latvian riflemen I.I. Vatsetis was ordered to storm the mansion of the Cheka troops and suppress the "Left SR rebellion". On the night of July 7, 1918, a division of Latvian riflemen, with the support of field artillery, launched an assault on the headquarters of the Cheka troops, which ended in the complete defeat of the rebels and the release of F.E. Dzerzhinsky.

The trial of the rebels was quick and just: several hundred people, including Ya.G. Blyumkin and N.A. Andreev, were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, and the immediate inspirer and leader of this rebellion, Deputy Chairman of the Cheka V.A. Aleksandrovich was shot. The same result ended with the new “Left SR rebellion”, raised in Simbirsk by the commander of the Eastern Front, the Left SR M.A. Muravyov, who was shot dead on July 10, 1918 upon arrival for negotiations in the building of the provincial executive committee.

In Soviet and Russian historical science (K. Gusev, A. Velidov, A. Kiselev), it was traditionally asserted that the July events in Moscow and Simbirsk were deliberately organized by the leadership of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Party (M.A. Spiridonova, P.P. Proshyan), who not only wanted to denounce the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, but also, having provoked a government crisis, to remove from power the Bolshevik Party, which, planting committees, began to pursue a disastrous economic course in the countryside.

In foreign historiography (Yu. Felshtinsky), there is a rather exotic version, which says that the so-called “Left SR rebellion” was organized by “left communists”, in particular, the head of the Cheka, F.E. Dzerzhinsky, who also sought to denounce the "obscene" Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and kindle the fire of the world proletarian revolution.

In our opinion, there are much more white spots and unsolved mysteries in the history of this rebellion than it seems at first glance, since researchers have not been able to properly answer even two completely obvious questions:

1) why exactly the chairman of the Cheka F.E. Dzerzhinsky personally went to the headquarters of the Cheka troops to arrest the killers of the German ambassador;

2) if the decision to kill the German ambassador was sanctioned by the Central Committee of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Party, then why is its entire faction, including M.A. Spiridonov, calmly waited for her isolation and arrest on the sidelines of the Fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets.

Speaking essentially, it should be recognized that the July events in Moscow and Simbirsk drew a line under the period of development of Soviet statehood on a two-party basis and became the starting point for the formation of a one-party Bolshevik system in the country. During this period, the activities of all Socialist-Revolutionary, Menshevik and anarchist groups and parties, the existence of which still created the illusion of proletarian-peasant democracy in the country, were banned.

The Brest Treaty itself was denounced by the Soviet government on November 13, 1918, that is, exactly one day after the surrender of Germany and its military allies to the Entente countries, which put a long-awaited end to the First World War.

The direct result of the Brest Peace and the suppression of the "Left SR rebellion" was the adoption of the first Constitution of the RSFSR. According to most authors (O. Chistyakov, S. Leonov, I. Isaev), for the first time the issue of creating the first Soviet Constitution was discussed at a meeting of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on March 30, 1918. On April 1, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee formed a constitutional commission, in which included representatives of his three party factions (Bolsheviks, Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, Maximalist Socialist-Revolutionaries) and representatives of the six leading people's commissariats - for military and maritime affairs, for nationalities, internal affairs, justice, finance and the Supreme Council of National Economy. Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Ya.M. Sverdlov.

During the work on the draft Constitution, which lasted more than three months, a number of fundamental disagreements arose on the following issues:

1) the federal structure of the state;

2) organ systems Soviet power in places;

3) the social and economic foundations of Soviet power, etc.

In particular, representatives of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (V.A. Algasov, A.A. Schreider) and Maximalist Socialist-Revolutionaries (A.I. Berdnikov) very persistently suggested:

1) put the administrative-territorial principle at the basis of the Soviet federation state structure with the provision of the broadest possible rights to all subjects of the federation to manage their own territories;

2) liquidate the lower levels of the Soviet state system and replace them with traditional rural assemblies, which, having lost their political functions, turned into municipal authorities;

3) carry out total socialization of property and tighten the principles of universal labor service, etc.

During a heated and lengthy debate, in which many prominent Bolsheviks took part, including V.I. Lenin, Ya.M. Sverdlov, I.V. Stalin, N.I. Bukharin, L.M. Reisner, M.F. Latsis and M.N. Pokrovsky, these proposals were rejected. The final draft of the Soviet Constitution was approved by a special commission of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), headed by V.I. Lenin.

On July 4, 1918, this project was submitted for consideration by the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and already on July 10, the congress delegates approved the first Constitution of the RSFSR and elected new composition The All-Russian Central Executive Committee, consisting entirely of Bolsheviks.

The main provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic were consolidated in six separate sections:

2) general provisions the Constitution of the RSFSR;

3) the construction of Soviet power;

4) active and passive suffrage;

5) budget law;

6) about the emblem and flag of the RSFSR.

The Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People, which was fully included in the Constitution of the RSFSR, determined the political and social basis new Soviet statehood - the power of the Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies and "the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the poorest peasantry in order to completely suppress the bourgeoisie, abolish the exploitation of man by man and establish socialism in the country."

The state structure of the RSFSR was based on the principles of the national federation, the subjects of which were declared national republics, as well as various regional unions, consisting of several national regions. supreme body state power the All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers', Peasants' and Cossacks' Deputies was becoming in the country, the exclusive competence of which included all issues state building: approval and amendment of the Constitution of the RSFSR; declaration of war and conclusion of peace; ratification peace treaties, general management of external and internal politics states; establishment of national taxes, duties and fees; the basics of the organization of the armed forces, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and legal proceedings; federal law, etc.

For everyday and operational work, the congress elected from among its members the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK RSFSR), which formed the Council of People's Commissars (SNK RSFSR), which consisted of people's commissars who headed the sectoral people's commissariats (People's Commissariats). And the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and the SNK in equally they had the right to issue legislative acts, which was a direct consequence of the complete denial by the Bolsheviks of the well-known bourgeois principle of separation of powers. Regional, provincial, district and volost congresses of Soviets, as well as city and village Soviets, which formed their own executive committees (executive committees), became local state authorities.

It should be emphasized that the well-known principle of “democratic centralism” was put at the basis of the organization of Soviet power at all levels, according to which the lower bodies of Soviet power were strictly subordinated to the higher ones, which were charged with the obligation to implement all decisions of the higher Soviets that did not violate their competence.

The Constitution of the RSFSR legislated not only a new type of Soviet statehood, but also a new type of Soviet democracy, since it openly proclaimed class principle democratic rights and freedoms. In particular, all "socially alien class elements" were deprived of the right to vote, and the representation from the social groups of working people who were endowed with the right to vote was far from equal. For example, in elections to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, city Soviets had a fivefold advantage over provincial Congresses of Soviets, etc.

In addition, the Soviet electoral system retained the principle of indirect elections that existed in Tsarist Russia. Only elections to grassroots city and rural Soviets were direct, and deputies of all subsequent levels were elected at volost, district, provincial and regional congresses of Soviets.

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

For the Russian Federative Soviet Republic:

Grigory Yakovlevich Sokolnikov, member of the Center. Performed Committee Owls. Worker, Soldier and Peasants. deputies,

Lev Mikhailovich Karakhan, member of the Center. Performed Committee of Soviets Workers., Sold. and Peasant 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 Office of Foreign Affairs, Imperial Actual Privy Councilor Richard von Kühlmann,

Imperial Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary, Dr. von Rosenberg,

Royal Prussian Major General Hoffman, Chief general staff 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 house and Foreign Affairs, His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Privy Councilor Ottokar Count Czernin von i zu-Khudenitz, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Privy Councilor Mr. Kajetan Merey von Kapos Mere, General of the Infantry of His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty's Privy Councilor, Mr. Maximilian Cicerich von Bachani.

From the Royal Bulgarian Government:

Royal Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Vienna, Andrei 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 Bolgars, Petr Ganchev, Royal Bulgarian First Secretary of the Mission, Dr. Teodor 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 Commissioner of His Majesty the Sultan to His Majesty the German Emperor, Zeki Pasha.

The plenipotentiaries met at Brest-Litovsk for peace talks, and after presenting their credentials, found to be in correct and proper form, came to an agreement on the following decrees.

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 continue to 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 establishments of the other side. Since this obligation concerns Russia, it also extends 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 belonging to before Russia, will no longer be under her supreme authority; the established line is indicated on the attached map (Annex I), which is an essential part of this peace treaty. The exact definition of this line will be worked out by the Russian-German commission.

For the aforementioned regions, their former belonging to Russia will not entail any obligations in relation to 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 by demolition with their population.

Article IV

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

The districts of Ardagan, 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, but will allow the population of these districts to establish new system in harmony with neighboring states, especially Turkey.

Article V

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

In addition, Russia will either transfer its warships to Russian ports and leave there until the conclusion of a general peace, or immediately disarm. The military courts of states that are still at war with the powers of the quadruple alliance, since these ships are in the sphere of Russian power, are equated with Russian military courts.

The restricted zone in the Arctic Ocean remains in force until the conclusion of a universal peace. In the Baltic Sea and in the parts of the Black Sea subject to Russia, the removal of minefields must begin immediately. Merchant shipping in these maritime regions is free and immediately resumed. In order to work out more precise regulations, in particular for the publication to the public of safe routes for merchant ships, mixed commissions will be created. Navigation routes must be kept clear of floating mines at all times.

Article VI

Russia undertakes to immediately conclude 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.

Estonia and Livonia are also immediately cleared of Russian troops and the Russian Red Guard. The eastern border of Estonia runs generally along the Narva River. The eastern border of Livonia generally runs through Lake Peipus and Lake Pskov to its southwestern corner, then through Lake Luban in the direction of Livenhof on the Western Dvina. Estland and Livonia will be occupied by the German police authorities until public security is ensured there by the country's own institutions and until state order is established there. Russia will immediately release all arrested or taken away inhabitants of Estonia and Livonia and ensure the safe return of all taken away Estonians and Livonians.

Finland and the Åland Islands will also be immediately cleared of Russian troops and the Russian Red Guard, and Finnish ports of the Russian fleet and Russian naval forces. As long as the ice makes it impossible to transfer warships to Russian ports, only insignificant crews should be left on them. Russia stops all agitation or propaganda against the Finnish government or public institutions.

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

Article VII.

Based on the fact that Persia and Afghanistan are free and independent states, the contracting parties undertake to respect the political and economic independence and the territorial integrity of Persia and Afghanistan.

Article VIII.

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

Article IX.

The contracting parties mutually renounce the reimbursement of their military expenses, i.e., state expenses for the conduct of the war, as well as compensation for military losses, i.e., those losses that were inflicted on them and their citizens in the zone of military operations by military measures, in including all requisitions made in the enemy country.

Article X

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 XI

Economic relations between Russia and the powers of the quadruple alliance are determined by the decrees contained in appendices 2-5, with appendix 2 defining relations between Russia and Germany, appendix 3 between Russia and Austria-Hungary, appendix 4 between Russia and Bulgaria, Annex 5 - between Russia and Turkey.

Article XII.

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 attitude towards merchant ships that has fallen into the power of the enemy is the subject of separate treaties with Russia, which form an essential part of the present peace treaty, and, as far as possible, come into force simultaneously with it.

Article XIII.

When interpreting this agreement, 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 XIV.

The present peace treaty will be ratified. The exchange of instruments of ratification should take place as soon as possible in Berlin. The Russian government assumes 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 enters into force from the moment of its ratification, unless otherwise follows from its articles, annexes to it or supplementary treaties.

In witness thereof, the Commissioners have personally signed this treaty.

Authentic in five copies.

(Signatures).

The conclusion of the Brest peace took place on March 3, 1918. The parties to the agreement were: Russia - the first side, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey - the second. The effect of this peace treaty was short-lived. it lasted a little over nine months.

It all started with the first negotiations in Brest, where Kamenev L.B. and Ioffe A.A., as well as Mstislavsky S.D., Karakhan L.M. acted as representatives of the Russian Bolsheviks. AT last minute before leaving for this border town, it was decided that the participation of representatives of the people was necessary. These were a soldier, a worker, a sailor and a peasant who was lured by large business trips. Of course, the opinion of this group was not taken into account during the negotiations and was simply not heard.

During the negotiations, the fact was revealed that the German side, in addition to signing peace, wants to conclude it without indemnities and annexations, and also longs to achieve from Russia the right of nations to self-determination, thus planning to get under own control 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 hostilities. Lenin, Sverdlov and Trotsky were worried that if the conditions of the German side were met, they would be overthrown for treason, since the bulk of the Bolsheviks did not agree with the policies of Vladimir Ulyanov.

In January 1918, the second stage of negotiations took place in Brest. The delegation was headed by Trotsky without the presence of representatives of the people. The main role in the course of this round belonged to the Ukrainian delegation, whose main demand was the secession of the lands of Bukovina and Galicia from Austria-Hungary. At the same time, the Ukrainian side did not want to know the Russian delegation. Thus, Russia has lost an ally in the person of Ukraine. For Germany, the latter was beneficial by placing on its territory a significant number of warehouses with weapons and military uniforms. The Brest peace, due to the impossibility of reaching common points of contact, ended in nothing and was not signed.

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

On March 3, 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. The result of this agreement was the rejection of Poland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Crimea, Ukraine and Transcaucasia from Russia. Among other things, the fleet was disarmed and issued to Germany, an indemnity of six billion marks in gold was imposed, as well as one billion marks to compensate for the damage to German citizens that they suffered during the revolution. Austria-Hungary and Germany received warehouses with weapons and ammunition. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk also imposed on Russia an obligation to withdraw troops from the said territories. Their place was taken by the armed forces of Germany. to the peace treaty stipulated economic situation Germany in Russia. Thus, German citizens were endowed with the right to engage in entrepreneurial activities in Russia, despite the process of nationalization taking place in it.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk restored customs tariffs with Germany established in 1904. Due to the non-recognition by the Bolsheviks of the tsarist, according to this agreement, she was forced to confirm them to such countries as Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey and Germany and begin to make payments on these debts.

The countries that were part of the Entente bloc did not approve of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and in mid-March 1918 announced their non-recognition.

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