Buying peace from the enemy means

supply him with funds

for a new war .

Jean Jacques Rousseau

INTRODUCTION

History is always full of mysteries. Despite the abundance of literature on a particular topic, there are always blank spots. The goal of my work is to color these spots as much as possible. Russian history is unique in its mysteries. This is partly due to the policy of the new government in 1917. But now, after almost a century, the veil of dark secrets and mysteries is being lifted. The new generation - descendants - are rethinking and reevaluating the deeds of their ancestors.

In my work, I will try to solve the following tasks:

1. to study the facts of Russia's withdrawal from the First World War and the conclusion of the Brest Peace.

2. to consider the views of the ruling party of that time in general and some of the most prominent personalities in particular.

3. to assess the possibility of avoiding the conclusion of a "bawdy peace" or to prove its necessity.

4. to reveal some interesting and, perhaps, not known to a wide range of facts. And how, in the light of these facts, this or that event begins to be understood.

The subject of my research is the political situation in Russia and abroad in the period from the end of 1917 to the middle of 1918, the Peace of Brest. The object is the relationship of the young Russian government with the world community and relations within the party.

The study of this topic boiled down to the following: the views of the leaders of the Russian government of that time on the withdrawal from the war, including V.I. Lenin, were clarified. And also, the proposed vision of the current events by our contemporaries, their statements on this topic. Some new facts have been discovered about the relationship between the German government and V.I.Lenin on the eve of the 1917 revolution.

Our history is unusually multifaceted. Every day is filled with events and changes that we need to know, remember and understand. The Brest-Litovsk Peace causes many conflicting feelings and statements. Undoubtedly, everyone has their own opinion on this matter. In my work, I ventured to define my attitude to the "obscene world".

1. The need for Russia to withdraw from the First World War. Peace of Brest.

The question of the evolution of Lenin's views after his coming to power in October 1917. and about the goals that Lenin set for himself before and after the coup, is the main one in studying the history of the Brest Treaty and the more general question of the world revolution associated with it.

The events taking place in Russia at the end of 1917 showed that in order to consolidate power, the Bolsheviks needed peace in the First World War, which began on July 23, 1914. The hungry, badly dressed, embittered army was incapacitated.

In November 1917, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L. Trotsky addressed the Entente states and the countries of the German bloc by radiotele with a proposal to conclude a common peace. But the answer came only from Germany, which, after confidential contacts with Russian parliamentarians, announced that it was ready to begin negotiations "on the establishment of an armistice on all fronts of the belligerent countries." The beginning of the 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, USA, Belgium, Serbia, Romania, Japan and China refused to join the negotiations, we will negotiate with the Germans alone, i.e. announced the signing of a separate peace with the countries of the Quadruple bloc. The headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the German Eastern Front was located in Brest-Litovsk. Brest-Litovsk was chosen by Germany as a place for negotiations. Obviously, negotiating on German-occupied territory suited the German and Austrian governments, since the transfer of negotiations to a neutral city, for example, Stockholm, would result in an inter-socialist conference that could appeal to the peoples over the heads of governments and recognize, for example, a general strike or civil war.

On November 28, 1917, Russia asked its allies to speak at the talks together. “The Russian army and the Russian people,” the Russian government’s note said, “cannot and do not want to wait any longer ... We are embarking on peace negotiations. If the allied peoples do not send their representatives, we will negotiate with the Germans alone. " But the Entente did not reply to this note. Two other attempts by the Russian side to involve the allies in the negotiations were in vain.

The Soviet delegation consisted of the Bolsheviks A. Ioffe (chairman), N. Krylenko (commander-in-chief), N. Sokolnikov, L. Karakhan and the Left SRs Anastasia Bitsenko and S. Maslovsky-Mstislavsky. The Soviet delegation included worker N. Obukhov, peasant R. Stashkov, soldier N. Belyakov and sailor F. Olic, which gave the negotiations a democratic character. The delegation consisted of Rear Admiral V. Altfater, Captain 1st Rank B. Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, and military engineer General K. Velichko as consultants.

From the German side, the State Secretary of the Foreign Office Kühlmann, the Chief of Staff of the Eastern Front, General M. Hoffmann (head of the delegation), and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria-Hungary, Count Chernin, were negotiating. On December 2, an armistice was signed until January 1, 1918.

Negotiations on a separate peace took place at a conference opened in Brest-Litovsk on December 9 (22), 1917. L. Kamenev and M. Pokrovsky were additionally included in the Soviet delegation, and from the end of December, instead of Joffe, the delegation was headed by the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L. Trotsky.

At the first meeting, the Soviet delegation proposed to the German side to base the treaty on the idea of universal democratic peace and to conclude a peace without indemnities and annexation of territories seized during the war. Kuhlmann and Chernin did not object to these conditions, but made them dependent on the participation of the Entente states in the negotiations.

Simultaneously with Russia, Germany was negotiating with the Ukrainian Rada, which declared Ukraine a "people's republic" independent of Russia. Germany offered the Rada, in exchange for bread and meat, military assistance in overthrowing Soviet power (then there were two powers in Ukraine - the Central Rada in Kiev and Soviet power in Kharkov). Such an agreement was concluded. Having concluded it, Germany demanded from Russia to sever Poland, Lithuania, parts of Latvia and Estonia and the adjacent islands (over 150 thousand sq. Km). Trotsky called this a hidden form of annexation, contrary to the peace decree. Negotiations were suspended, the Soviet delegation announced that it was leaving Brest-Litovsk for consultation with the government, as it had previously assumed that "the Germans would simply abandon the occupied regions and give them over to the Bolsheviks."

1.1. The positions of Lenin, Bukharin and Trotsky.

The first time the question of peace was discussed at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks on January 24, 1918, at which positions were outlined:

Lenin	Bukharin	Trotsky
the army is not able to successfully repel the German offensive, "we are forced to conclude now - an obscene peace, but if a war starts, our government will be swept away and peace will be concluded by another government." Having concluded peace, we will preserve the Republic of Soviets of Russia, "which is above all for us and for the international socialist point of view," we will retain the basis for the development of the world revolution, without which "a lasting socialist victory cannot be achieved." "... We have already had a healthy child - a socialist republic", whom "we can kill by starting a war." And this will be the death of Soviet Russia, as the center of the world revolution. This was Lenin's main argument.	not to conclude peace, to declare a "revolutionary war" on Germany, which will help accelerate the world revolution. (The facts about its (revolution) approach were: the strike movement in Austria and Germany grew sharply, according to the Russian model, Soviets of Workers' Deputies were formed in Berlin and Vienna, armed clashes took place on the streets of Berlin in January 1918.) “Signing the peace, - said Bukharin, - we are frustrating this struggle. By preserving our socialist republic, we are losing the chances of an international movement "	"We are stopping the war, we are not making peace, we are demobilizing the army." He is convinced that Germany's forces were exhausted and she is not able to conduct major offensive operations on the Russian front, and if she does, it will accelerate the revolution in Germany and play the role of a detonator of the world revolution.

The Central Committee of Lenin was supported by J. Sverdlov, F. A. Sergeev (Artem), I. Stalin, and others. However, the majority were against. Lenin was opposed by the Moscow district and Moscow city party committees, as well as the largest party committees of the Urals, Ukraine and Siberia.

Bukharin's position in the Central Committee was supported by M. Uritsky, F. Dzerzhinsky, A. Bubnov, G. Pyatakov, V. Smirnov, and others.

Trotsky's position was a cross between that of Lenin and Bukharin. As tempting as this formula was, it carried a lot of risk. But the majority supported Trotsky.

1.2. Trotsky's second meeting in Brest-Litovsk.

Before leaving for Brest-Litovsk for the second time, Trotsky met with Lenin and “it was agreed,” Vladimir Ilyich said later, “that we are holding on (that is, we are dragging out the negotiations) until the ultimatum of the Germans, after the ultimatum we surrender (that is. we sign the peace on the terms proposed by the Germans) ". But Trotsky did not fulfill this oral agreement.

On February 9, an unprecedented incident occurred in the history of diplomacy. In response to the German ultimatum to sign peace, Trotsky made a statement: “In the name of the Council of People's Commissars, the Government of the Russian Federal Republic hereby informs the governments and peoples fighting with us, the allied and neutral countries, that, refusing to sign the annexationist treaty, Russia, for its part, declares the state of war with Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria terminated. At the same time, the Russian troops are given an order for complete demobilization along the entire front. "

The delegation thus carried out Trotsky's plan. On February 11, at the direction of Trotsky, a telegram was sent to all the headquarters of the Russian army signed by N. Krylenko (commander-in-chief) to end the war and "withdraw troops from the front line." On the same day, Lenin instructed the Secretary of the Council of People's Commissars N. Gorbunov to telegraph to the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (Krylenko) the following: “To cancel today's telegram about peace and the general demobilization of the army on all fronts by all means available to you. Lenin's Order ”. And the next day, headquarters received a new telegram "about the arrest of all telegrams signed by Trotsky and Krylenko about the disbandment of the army."

1.3. Resumption of peace negotiations.

Meanwhile, the situation at the front was becoming more and more threatening. After waiting a week after its ultimatum, the German side on February 16 announced that from 12 noon on February 18 (n.s.) Germany would resume hostilities along the entire front. The most critical moment in the revolution has arrived. On February 18, 2 sessions of the Central Committee were held. At the morning session, Lenin's proposal to conclude peace was again rejected. Only in the evening, after a bitter struggle with the left communists, the majority (7 - for, 5 - against, 1 - abstained) did the Central Committee accept Lenin's proposal to resume negotiations on the conclusion of peace. On the night of February 19, a telegram was sent to the German government stating that the Council of People's Commissars agreed "to sign a peace on the terms of the Quadruple Alliance in Brest-Litovsk."

However, the German military circles did not intend to abandon territorial claims, which only grew during the negotiations. And now the German side was in no hurry to answer. The military planned to inflict a "short but strong blow" on Russia. “Until we reach Lake Peipus (Lake Pskov), we will not stop,” Hoffman wrote in his service diary. The Germans were occupied in the February days: Dvinsk, Minsk, Polotsk, Rezhitsa and Orsha, on the night of February 24, Pskov and Yuryev. The troops entered the Revel (Tallinn) - Pskov - Minsk line. Petrograd was declared martial law. A committee for the revolutionary struggle was formed from the Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries. The committee was headed by J. Sverdlov.

Only on February 23 was a response from the German side to the Soviet telegram received. In an ultimatum, Germany put forward tougher conditions than at the talks in Brest-Litovsk, giving 48 hours of the deadline for their implementation. Simultaneously, the Austro-German troops launched an offensive along the entire front, threatening to seize Petrograd. The Soviet government was forced to accept the ultimatum, since the old army was demoralized and did not want to fight, and the new, Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army was in its infancy. I received a telegram, an urgent meeting of the Central Committee is going to, which was attended by: Bubnov, Krestinsky, Dzerzhinsky, Ioffe, Stasova, Uritsky, Zinoviev, Sverdlov, Bukharin, Stalin, Trotsky, Lomov (Opokov), Lenin, Sokolnikov, Smilga. Guests: Fenigstein, Smirnov, Shotman, Pyatakov. At this meeting, Sverdlov announced the German conditions. In Lenin's opinion, the policy of the revolutionary phase is over. If this policy continues now, he will leave the government and the Central Committee. An army is needed for a revolutionary war, it does not exist. So you have to accept the conditions. Only after Lenin's categorical statement was made, the Central Committee made a decision to sign the peace.

On February 25 at 3 am, when the term of the German ultimatum was drawing to a close, a meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was opened. After the speech of the leaders of the factions, a roll-call vote took place: each member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee went to the rostrum and, turning to face the audience, had to say "yes" or "no", for which he was voting - for peace or against. As a result, by a majority of 116 votes against 85, with 26 abstentions, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a resolution proposed by the Bolshevik faction to accept the German peace terms. A delegation headed by G. Sokolnikov urgently left for Brest. Without entering into a discussion of the terms of peace, she signed a peace treaty on March 3.

1.4. New world conditions. Signing a contract.

Peace conditions were much more difficult than before. If in December, when the negotiations began, peace could have been concluded by preserving Soviet Estonia and Soviet Finland, without paying indemnities, now significant territories were torn away from Russia: Estonia and Latvia, part of Belarus were cleared of Russian troops and the Red Guard. Finland and the Aland Islands were also freed from Russian troops. Germany retained the Moonsund Islands. Ukraine was recognized as an independent state. Having concluded an agreement on the export to Germany of 60 million poods of foodstuffs, including wheat, fodder for livestock, peas, beans, etc., Germany assumed the role of the defender of Ukraine from the Bolsheviks. In the Caucasus, Kars, Ardahan and Batum retreated to Turkey. In total, Russia was losing about 1 million square meters. km (including Ukraine), on which before the revolution there were 56 million people, 27% of the country's cultivated land, 73% of iron and steel was smelted, 89% of coal was mined, 244 chemical enterprises, 1073 machine-building plants, many other factories and plants and most importantly, 40% of industrial workers. Russia was obliged to pay 3 billion indemnity (6 billion German marks) and stop revolutionary propaganda against the powers of the Quadruple Alliance and the bourgeois governments of Finland and Ukraine.

From the peace treaty between Soviet Russia, on the one hand, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, on the other hand, March 3, 1918:

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.

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

Article III

Areas to the west of the line established by the contracting parties and formerly belonging to Russia will no longer be under her sovereignty: the established line is indicated on the attached map, 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, no obligations towards Russia will follow from their former belonging to Russia.

Russia refuses any interference in the internal affairs of these areas. Germany and Austria-Hungary intend to determine the future fate of these areas by demolishing their populations.

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 the line indicated in paragraph 1 of Article III, since Article VI does not state otherwise.

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

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

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

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 shall cease 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 runs generally along the Narva River. The eastern border of Livonia runs, in general, through Lake Peipsi and Lake Pskov to its southwestern corner, then across Lake Luban in the direction of Livengof on the Western Dvina. Estland and Livonia will be occupied by the German police power until public safety there is ensured by the country's own institutions.

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

The contracting parties mutually refuse to reimburse their military expenses, i.e. government costs of waging a war, as well as from compensation for military losses.

On August 27, 1918, a Russian-German financial agreement was signed in Berlin, which was an addition to the Brest Peace. Russia was obliged to pay an indemnity of 6 billion marks to Germany in various forms. The Peace of Brest-Litovsk was annulled by the Soviet government on November 13, 1918.

ECONOMIC AGREEMENT BETWEEN GERMANY AND RUSSIA

Extraction

(Appendix 2) German Trade Agreement Appendix A to Appendix 2

Nationals of both of the contracting parties have the right on the territory of the opposing side, on an equal basis with the indigenous inhabitants, to acquire, own and manage all kinds of movable and immovable property, as well as to dispose of it by sale, exchange, donation, marriage, will or any other method, as well as receive inheritance by will or by virtue of law without the fact that in any of the named cases, they in one form or another are subject to special or higher fees, taxes or levies than the indigenous people ...

The contracting parties undertake not to hinder the mutual relations of both countries by any prohibitions on import, export or carriage and to allow free carriage. Exceptions are allowed only for items that are or will be considered a state monopoly on the territory of one of the contracting parties, as well as for known items, in relation to which exclusively prohibitive rules may be issued for reasons of hygiene, veterinary supervision and public safety or for reasons of weighty political and economic grounds, especially in connection with the post-war transition period ...

The products of Russian agriculture and industry imported into Germany, and the products of German agriculture and industry imported into Russia, should be in the same position with the products of the most favored country ... In no case and for any reason should they not be subject to any higher or special duties, levies, taxes or charges, no additional charges or prohibitions on import, unless the same applies to homogeneous works of any other country ...

Goods of all kinds, transported through the territory of one of both sides, must be mutually exempt from any transit tax, regardless of whether they are transported immediately or loaded during transportation, stored in a warehouse and then loaded again ...

2. The collapse of the government coalition.

Immediately after the signing of the Brest Peace Treaty, despite the resistance of the Left Communists and Left Social Revolutionaries, who accused the Bolsheviks of betraying the world revolution and betraying national interests, the VII (emergency) congress of the RCP (b) ratified the treaty on March 15, 1918 and approved by the IV Extraordinary Congress of Soviets. But the "obscene peace" did not bring consent to Russia. Left Communists, Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks were still in favor of the "revolutionary war." “We stand for a revolutionary war against the bandits of imperialism, who continue to attack us even after the signing of a peace treaty,” said the declaration of the left-wing communists. - We believe that the contract should not be approved. On the contrary, it must be replaced by a call for the sacred defense of the socialist revolution. "

V. Kuibyshev, M. Pokrovsky, G. Sapronov, M. Frunze, A. Bubnov, N. Bukharin, A. Kollontai, V. Obolensky (N. Osinsky), etc. Bukharin refused to join the Central Committee, and V. Smirnov, Obolensky (Osinsky), Yakovleva left their posts in the Council of People's Commissars and the Supreme Council of the National Economy. Together with the left communists, the left SRs left the government. The posts of People's Commissars were left by People's Commissar of Justice I. Steinberg, People's Commissar for City and Local Self-Government V. Trutovsky, People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs V. Proshyan, People's Commissar for State Property V. Karelin and others. "Under the conditions created after the ratification of the treaty, the party recalls its representatives from the Council of People's Commissars", but it was emphasized that "since the Council of People's Commissars will carry out the program of the October Revolution, the party promises him its assistance and support." Left SR functionaries continued their activities in the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, worked in the military department, various committees, commissions and Soviets.

But the "peace" within the bloc of Soviet parties did not last long. When the Germans began to occupy Ukraine, political passions flared up again. On July 6, the Social Revolutionaries killed the German ambassador V. Mirbach. On the same day, the party of the left-wing socialist-revolutionaries appealed to “all workers and Red Army men” with an appeal: “The executioner of the working Russian people, friend and protege of Wilhelm gr. Mirbach was killed by the punishing hand of a revolutionary by decree of the Central Committee of the Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries ... When the German landowners and capitalists were given in the form of tribute land, gold, forests, and all the wealth of the working people ... the executioner Mirbach was killed ... All to defend the revolution ... Forward to the overthrow of German imperialism, starving us ... Long live the uprising against the executioners ... Long live the world socialist revolution. "

Thus, Mirbach's assassination was committed with one goal - to disrupt the Brest-Litovsk Peace, provoke a war with Germany. On July 10, the commander of the Eastern Front, the Left Socialist-Revolutionary M. Muravyov, declared himself "the commander-in-chief of the army operating against Germany," and by telegraph he declared war on Germany. But the troops did not support Muravyov. Muravyov was killed, and his troops of about a thousand people were disarmed.

Mirbakh's murderers Y. Blumkin and I. Andreev fled to the headquarters of a detachment at the Cheka of the left Socialist Revolutionary D. Popov in one of the buildings in Trekhsvyatitelsky lane (B. Vuzovsky lane). There were also members of the Central Committee of the Left SRs - Yu. Sablin, B. Kamkov (Katz), V. Karelin, P. Proshyan, V. Aleksandrovich (deputy chairman of the Cheka) and others. The rebels detained the chairman of the Cheka Dzerzhinsky, who had arrived in Popov's detachment to arrest Blumkin. By the morning of July 7, the number of Bolsheviks arrested by the Left Socialist Revolutionaries had reached 27. Deputy Chairman of the Cheka Latsis, Chairman of the Moscow Soviet P. Smidovich, several Soviet and military workers were brought to the headquarters of Popov's detachment. It was a rebellion against the Bolsheviks. In response, the Bolsheviks arrested the Left Socialist-Revolutionary faction of the V Congress of Soviets, headed by M. Spiridonova.

The general leadership of the elimination of the mutiny (the number of participants in the mutiny is different from the sources: from 2,000 to 600) was entrusted to the People's Commissar for Military Affairs P. Podvoisky and the commander of the Moscow Military District N. Muralov, and the direct command of the troops - to the head of the Latvian division I.I. Vatsetis. Military units loyal to the Bolsheviks surrounded Popov's house (headquarters) and the houses where the rebels took refuge. After refusing to surrender, they were fired upon from guns, and on the morning of July 7, the mutiny was liquidated. There were few casualties. In Popov's detachment, 14 people were killed and 40 were wounded. The Bolsheviks had one killed and three wounded. Popov fled. By two o'clock in the afternoon, all centers of resistance were suppressed. 13 active participants in the mutiny (Aleksandrovich and others) were shot.

Among the irreconcilable opponents of the conclusion of the Brest Peace Treaty was M. A. Spiridonova. During interrogation by the investigating commission at the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on July 10, 1918, she testified: "I organized the murder of Mirbach from beginning to end ... Blumkin acted on my instructions." On November 27, 1918, the Supreme Revolutionary Tribunal at the VChK, taking into account "special services to the revolution," condemned M. Spiridonova for taking part in the conspiracy of the Left Social Revolutionaries to one year in prison, but two days after the verdict was passed she was amnestied by the decision of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and released out of custody.

There was a split in the party itself. A significant part of the rank-and-file members of the Left SR party opposed M. Spiridonova, B. Kamkov, M. Natanson and other Left SR leaders. By the fall of 1918 the number of party members had decreased from 80 to 30 thousand. Social Revolutionaries I. Belov, P. Egorov, Gr. Kotovsky, you. Kikvidze, P. Lazimir, Yu. Sablin and others joined the RCP (b) and, together with the Bolsheviks, continued the cause of the revolution.

In August 1918, the Party of the Populists-Communists (PNK) was formed from the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries who had dissociated themselves from the party - the leaders of the party G. Sachs, E. Katz and others. The Narodniks-Communists declared themselves the heirs of the traditions of the Narodniks and put forward the task of forming a "highly developed critical personality" ... The building of communism was seen by them as a matter for the near future. The main principle of communism was considered "the absence of any property as the source of all vices."

In September 1918, at the initiative of the Saratov organization of the left-wing socialist-revolutionaries, a congress of party organizations was held with the following positions: “1). inadmissibility of disruption of the Brest Peace; 2). terrorist attacks; 3). the inadmissibility of an active struggle with the ruling party of communists (Bolsheviks) in order to forcibly seize power ”. The majority of the congress decided to form the Party of Revolutionary Communists (PRK). The party (leaders: A. Bitsenko, M. Dobrokhotov) reaffirmed loyalty to the traditions of revolutionary populism and put forward the slogan - "Everything in the Soviets and through the Soviets" to communism. Soviet power is "the best form and weapon in the fight against exploitation." Representatives of the PNK and the PRK were members of local Soviets, participated in the work of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and were its members. The organizations of the Left Social Revolutionaries, which remained on the platform of the former Central Committee, went over to an open struggle against the Bolsheviks under the slogan of a return to the "genuine Soviet system." Their paths with the Bolsheviks finally parted ways after the formation of the committees of the poor.

After the November Revolution of 1918 in Germany and the defeat of the countries of the Quadruple Alliance in the First World War on November 13, 1918, Soviet Russia unilaterally canceled the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. And in the summer of 1918, the Civil War began in Russia.

3. The relationship between Germany and the social. groups of Russia.

Already in the first days of the Bolshevik coup, 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, and not a general, peace with the imperialist German government. It is not surprising that the simplest explanation for Lenin's step was the obligations he had taken before returning to Russia to the German government.

The relationship between the Bolshevik Party and the Kaiser's government during the First World War remained a mystery to historians for a long time. A sensation spread throughout the world that the German government, interested in the speedy weakening of the Russian Empire and the last withdrawal from the war, found it profitable for itself to finance the social parties (including the Leninist group) that stood for the defeat of Russia in the war and conducted intensified defeatist propaganda ... German Social Democrat Eduard Bernstein in 1921. wrote that Lenin and his comrades received from imperial Germany huge sums of money, probably in excess of 50 million German gold marks. Over the years, the historians were given documents that made it possible to deeply and carefully study the now legendary question of German money and the sealed carriage in which Lenin passed through Germany to Russia in April 1917. The still living revolutionaries were surprised: Now we admit how naive we have all been before!
The German government supported the Russian revolutionaries, because 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, however, needed this peace already because in 1917. she did not have the necessary forces to wage a war on 2 fronts. Having staked on the revolution in Russia, Germany during the critical weeks for the interim government supported the Leninist group, helped her and other defeatists to pass through Germany to Sweden, and obtained the consent of the Swedes for the passage of emigrants to the Finnish border. From there it remained very close to Petrograd. It is not surprising that what happened in October 1917. the coup was not a surprise to her; rightly or not, the German government viewed the incident as the work of its own hands.

But Germany would never have been able to achieve its goals with such ease if its interests had not coincided on a number of points with the program of another interested party: the Russian defeatist revolutionaries, whose most influential wing was the Leninist wing (the Bolsheviks).

While coinciding on some points, the goals of Germany and the revolutionaries in the war diverged on others. Germany viewed the latter as a subversive element and hoped to use them to withdraw Russia from the war. Keeping the socialists in power was not part of the plans of the German government. The same looked at the assistance offered by the German government as a means for organizing the revolution in Russia and Europe, primarily 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.

4. Brest Peace. View from the outside.

In Soviet foreign policy, there was probably no agreement more fragile than the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, signed by the Soviet government on March 3, 1918; having existed for just over 9 months, it was torn apart by the German and Soviet governments, and later, during the surrender of Germany in the First World War, it was also canceled by the 116th article of the Versailles Treaty. With the light hand of Lenin, called a respite, the treaty provoked criticism and resistance from the overwhelming majority of revolutionaries, on the one hand, and patriots of Russia, on the other. The first asserted that the Brest-Litovsk Peace was a stab in the back of the German revolution. The second is that this is a betrayal of Russia and its allies. And those, and others, each in its own way, were right. However, for reasons unknown to anyone, Lenin insisted on the Brest Peace Treaty, who, in the end, achieved its signing.

According to Viktor Suvorov, a military intelligence officer and analyst, at a time when Lenin concludes the Brest-Litovsk Peace with Germany and its allies, Germany's position is already hopeless. Does Lenin understand this? Of course. Therefore, he signs the world, which:

Unties Lenin's hands to fight to strengthen the communist dictatorship inside the country;

Provides Germany with significant resources and reserves to continue the war in the west, which has drained both Germany and the Western allies.

By concluding a separate deal with the enemy, Lenin betrayed Russia's allies. But Lenin betrayed Russia itself. At the beginning of 1918, the victory of France, Great Britain, Russia, the United States and other countries over Germany and its allies was already close and inevitable. Russia lost millions of soldiers in the war and had every right to be among the victors along with its Western allies. But Lenin does not need such a victory, he needs a world revolution. Lenin admits that the Brest-Litovsk Peace was concluded not in the interests of Russia, but in the interests of the world revolution, in the interests of establishing communism in Russia and in other countries. Lenin admits that he "placed the world dictatorship of the proletariat and the world revolution above all national sacrifices."

The defeat of Germany was already close, and Lenin concludes a "peace" according to which Russia renounces its rights to the role of the winner, on the contrary, without a fight, Lenin gives Germany a million square kilometers of the most fertile lands and the richest industrial regions of the country, and pays an indemnity in gold. Why?!

Conclusion.

Having considered the facts proposed in the work, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. The project "world revolution" was initially doomed to failure.

2. The Bolshevik government needed to get out of the war to retain power and for a number of other reasons.

3. The attitude to the Brest-Litovsk peace in Russia was ambiguous. Even the leaders' opinions on this issue were divided.

4. The specter of a "world revolution" pushed Trotsky to a mistake in Brest-Litovsk during his second meeting with the Germans. This was the result of onerous conditions to which Russia had to agree on March 3, 1918.

In conclusion, I outlined the main conclusions that I made on this work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. World history. T. 8.1961.

2. Zhuravlev VV Rubicon of Brest // Questions of the history of the CPSU. 1990. No. 6.

3. Kashtanov S. M. ESSAYS OF RUSSIAN DIPLOMACY. M. Science. 1989.

4. Kuleshov SV, Volobuev OV OUR FATHERLAND // EXPERIENCE OF POLITICAL HISTORY.

5. Lenin V.I. collection op. T.20. T. 35.

6. Mazur V. A. et al. Edited by M. E. Glovatsky. Russian history. 1917 - 1940. Reader. Ekaterinburg. 1993.

7. MANUAL ON THE HISTORY OF THE USSR. For preparatory departments of universities. M. High school. 1984.

8. Minutes of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) ... p. 168.

9. Felshtinsky Yu. The collapse of the world revolution. Peace of Brest. October 1917 - November 1918.M. 1992.

10. Reader on Russian history (1914-1945). M. 1996. // For a full publication, see: Documents of the foreign policy of the USSR. M. 1957.Vol. 1.

11.http: //codex.barrt.ru

12.http: //jkokar.narod.ru/istorija.html.

13.http: //www.kgtei.kts.ru.

14.http: //www.ipc.od.ua

15.http: //tuad.nsk.ru

Dates are in the old style.

Report of the Central Committee to the VIII Congress of the RCP (b).

Bishop Agafangel. Art. About Sergianism. http://www.ipc.od.ua/15sergianstvo.html

Peace of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918 - a peace treaty between Germany and the Soviet government on Russia's withdrawal from the First World War. This peace did not last long, since already on October 5, 1918, Germany dissolved it, and on November 13, 1918, the Brest-Litovsk Peace was dissolved by the Soviet side. It happened 2 days after Germany's surrender in World War II.

Peace opportunity

The issue of Russia's withdrawal from the First World War was extremely topical. The people largely supported the ideas of the revolution, since the revolutionaries promised an early exit of the country from the war, which had lasted for 3 years and was extremely negatively perceived by the population.

One of the first decrees of the Soviet government was the peace decree. After this decree on November 7, 1917, Leon Trotsky appeals to all the belligerent countries with an appeal for an early conclusion of peace. Only Germany replied with consent.

note

At the same time, one must understand that the idea of concluding peace with the capitalist countries was in opposition to the Soviet ideology, which was based on the idea of a world revolution. Therefore, there was no unity among the Soviet regime.

And Lenin had to push through the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty of 1918 for a very long time. There were three main groups in the party:

Bukharin. He put forward the idea that the war should continue at any cost. These are the positions of the classical world revolution.
Lenin. He spoke of the need to sign peace on any terms. This was the position of the Russian generals.
Trotsky. He put forward a hypothesis, which today is often formulated as “No war! No peace! " It was a position of uncertainty, when Russia dissolves the army, but does not leave the war, does not sign a peace treaty. This was the ideal situation for Western countries.

The conclusion of a truce

In total, it was assumed that Russia would lose up to 160 thousand square kilometers of territory.

Lenin was ready to accept these conditions, since the Soviet government did not have an army, and the generals of the Russian Empire unanimously said that the war was lost and that peace should be concluded as soon as possible.

The negotiations were led by Trotsky as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. Noteworthy is the fact of the preserved secret telegrams between Trotsky and Lenin during the negotiations.

To practically any serious military question, Lenin gave the answer that it was necessary to consult with Stalin.

The reason here is not the genius of Joseph Vissarionovich, but the fact that Stalin acted as an intermediary between the tsarist army and Lenin.

During the negotiations, Trotsky dragged out time in every possible way. He said that a revolution was about to happen in Germany, so you just need to wait.

But even if this revolution does not happen, then Germany does not have the strength for a new offensive. Therefore, he was playing for time, waiting for the support of the party.

During the negotiations, an armistice was concluded between the countries for the period from December 10, 1917 to January 7, 1918.

Why did Trotsky play for time?

Taking into account the fact that from the first days of negotiations, Lenin took the position of unambiguously signing a peace treaty, Troitsky's support for this idea meant the signing of the Brest Peace Treaty and the end of the epic with the First World War for Russia. But Leiba did not do this, why? Historians give 2 explanations for this:

He was waiting for the German revolution, which was to begin very soon. If this is true, then Lev Davydovich was an extremely short-sighted person, expecting revolutionary events in a country where the power of the monarchy was strong enough. The revolution eventually happened, but much later than the time when the Bolsheviks expected it.
He represented the position of England, USA and France. The fact is that with the beginning of the revolution in Russia, Trotsky came to the country from the United States with a large amount of money. At the same time, Trotsky was not an entrepreneur, he did not have an inheritance, but he did have large sums of money, the origin of which he never specified. It was extremely beneficial for the Western countries that Russia delayed negotiations with Germany as long as possible, so that the latter would leave its troops on the eastern front. This is quite a few 130 divisions, the transfer of which to the western front could drag out the war.

The second hypothesis may sound like a conspiracy theory at first glance, but it makes sense. In general, if we consider the activities of Leiba Davydovich in Soviet Russia, then almost all of his steps are related to the interests of England and the United States.

Crisis in negotiations

Brest Peace of 1918

Truce

The seizure of power by the Bolsheviks on October 25 (November 7) 1917 took place, including under the slogan of Russia's immediate withdrawal from the war.

Since it was precisely this slogan that attracted most of the army and the population to the side of the Bolsheviks, the very next day - October 26 (November 8) - at the suggestion of the Bolsheviks, the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets held in Petrograd adopted a Decree on Peace, in which it was announced that the new government "proposes all the belligerent peoples and their governments to begin immediately negotiations on a just and democratic peace "(Decrees of the Soviet government. Vol. 1. Moscow, 1957, p. 12).

On November 8 (21), simultaneously with the radiogram of Acting Supreme Commander-in-Chief General N.N. Dukhonin with orders to stop hostilities and begin peace negotiations with the enemy, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L.D. Trotsky sent a note to the Allied Powers with a similar proposal.

Dukhonin refused to carry out the order of the Council of People's Commissars and was removed from office. Reporting on this part of the army, the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V.I.

In a radio message, Lenin also ordered: "Let the regiments standing in positions immediately choose those authorized to formally enter into negotiations on an armistice with the enemy."

The German leadership only on November 14 (27) announced its agreement to start peaceful on December 1; Lenin formally warned the governments of the allied powers about this and offered to send his representatives, stipulating that in the case of the enemy, the RSFSR would start negotiations anyway.

The armistice negotiations took place in Brest-Litovsk from November 20 (December 3) 1917; the Soviet delegation was headed by A.A. Ioffe. 2 (15) on the Eastern Front was concluded for a period of 28 days with automatic prolongation (one of the parties undertook to notify about the termination 7 days in advance).

Negotiations in Brest-Litovsk began on December 9 (22), 1917.The Soviet delegation consisted of 5 delegates - members of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, of whom three represented the Bolshevik Party - Adolf Ioffe, Lev Kamenev, Grigory Sokolnikov, two (Anastasia Bitsenko and Sergei Mstislavsky).

In addition, the delegation consisted of 5 members (sailor, soldier, peasant, worker, warrant officer of the fleet), who did not play any role, and 8 military specialists (one of them - Major General Vladimir Skalon - shot himself before the start of negotiations, November 29), before the opening of the conference, during a private meeting of the Soviet delegation, a representative of the Headquarters in a group of military consultants shot himself; the secretary of the delegation was the Bolshevik Lev Karakhan.

The German delegation at the negotiations was headed by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Richard von Kühlmann, the Austro-Hungarian delegation was led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Imperial Court, Count Ottokar Cherin von und zu Hudenitz, the Bulgarian - by the Minister of Justice Hristo Popov, the Turkish - by the Grand Vizier Talaat Pasha.

The Soviet delegation, which initially relied on dragging out the negotiations, put forward a program that was obviously unacceptable for the Central Powers, which included, inter alia, the refusal of annexations and indemnities, the liberation of the occupied territories, etc.

In response, von Kuhlmann announced on December 12 (25) that the Central Powers agreed to these conditions, but on condition that the Soviet delegation guaranteed that the Entente countries would also fulfill them. The Soviet delegation demanded a 10-day break, ostensibly in order to negotiate with the Entente countries.

Then, referring to the principle put forward by the Soviet delegation on the right of nations "to freely decide the question of belonging to any state or of their state independence," the German and Austro-Hungarian delegations stated that the people of Poland, Lithuania, Courland and part of Estonia and Livonia have already declared their "striving for full state independence" (which was a hidden form of the annexation of these lands) and suggested that the Soviet government withdraw its troops from here. On December 15 (28), the Soviet delegation departed for Petrograd; In fulfillment of its obligations, the NKID formally appealed to the governments of the Entente countries with an invitation to join the negotiations (as expected, there was no response).

The SNK and the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) confirmed their position: the negotiations should not be interrupted, since the RSFSR does not have the strength to resist the Central Powers, and the negotiations should be delayed as much as possible, since a revolution is expected in Europe from day to day. Use the gained time, on the one hand, for the deployment of anti-war agitation and the disintegration of enemy troops, and on the other hand, for the formation of military units.

On December 20, 1917 (January 2, 1918), the Council of People's Commissars put forward a proposal to move the negotiations to neutral Stockholm (Sweden), which was regarded by the Central Powers as an attempt to drag out the negotiations and was rejected.

These days, during the absence of Soviet representatives in Brest-Litovsk, a delegation from the Central Council of Ukraine arrived here.

note

Without making a final decision on recognizing the Central Rada as the legal representative of the Ukrainian people, the German delegation decided to start negotiations with the Ukrainian delegation (chairman - Secretary of Trade and Industry of the General Secretariat of Ukraine Vsevolod Goubovich) in order to be able to put pressure on both the Soviet and Austro- the Hungarian side (since Ukraine claimed a number of regions inhabited by Ukrainians that were part of Austria-Hungary).

The composition of the Soviet delegation before the new round of negotiations was changed: “representatives of the people” were excluded from it; The political part was significantly expanded - up to 12 people: People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Lev Trotsky (chairman), Adolph Ioffe, Lev Karakhan, head of the department of external relations of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Karl Radek, Chairman of the Moscow Council Mikhail Pokrovsky, Anastasia Bitsenko, People's Commissar for Property and a member of the Central Committee of Partia Left Socialist-Revolutionaries Vladimir Karelin, Chairman of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Ukraine Efim Medvedev, Chairman of the Soviet Government of Ukraine Vasily Shakhrai, Chairman of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania Stanislav Bobinsky, Commissioner for Lithuanian Affairs under the SNK of the RSFSR Vincas Mitskevichyus-Kapsukas, member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Vahan Teryan. The military part of the delegation was reduced to 3 people (Rear Admiral Vasily Altfater, Major General Alexander Samoilo, Captain Vladimir Lipsky).

... the main significance of our success lies in the fact that for the first time in history the imperialist government ... was forced to accept the declaration of the proletarian government ...

On December 6, 1918, an agreement was reached between the Soviet delegation and representatives of Austria-Hungary to conclude a 10-day armistice on the Eastern Front. It was decided to continue the negotiations after a short break, during which the Soviet diplomats were to return to Moscow and receive instructions on their further activities.

On December 6, Trotsky informed the ambassadors of Great Britain, France, the United States, Italy, China, Japan, Romania, Belgium and Serbia that the negotiations in Brest-Litovsk had been interrupted for a week, and invited the governments of the "allied countries to determine their attitude" towards them.

On December 10, at a meeting of the Council of People's Commissars, the issue of instructions for the Soviet delegation at the peace negotiations was discussed - in the decision of the Council of People's Commissars it was written: "Instructions on negotiations - on the basis of the" Decree on Peace "". In the composition of the delegation itself, some changes were made: “representatives of the revolutionary classes” were excluded from its old composition, and a number of officers were added to the remaining ones - Generals Vladimir Skalon, Yuri Danilov, Alexander Andogsky and Alexander Samoilo, Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Tseplit and Captain Vladimir Lipsky.

On December 9, already at the first meeting, the Soviet delegation proposed to adopt a program of six main and one additional points as the basis for negotiations:

no violent 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 is restored, which were deprived of this independence during the war;
national groups that did not have political independence before the war are guaranteed the opportunity to freely decide the issue of belonging to a state or their state independence through a free referendum;
the cultural-national and, in the presence of a number of conditions, administrative autonomy of national minorities is ensured;
waiver of contributions is made;
the solution of colonial questions is carried out on the basis of the same principles.

In addition, Ioffe proposed not to allow indirect constraints on the freedom of weaker nations by nations of stronger

After three days of heated discussion of the Soviet proposals by the countries of the German bloc, a statement was made that the German Empire and its allies as a whole (with a number of remarks) accept these provisions of world peace and that they “join the view of the Russian delegation condemning the continuation of the war for the sake of purely conquering goals "

On December 15, 1917, the next stage of negotiations ended with the conclusion of an armistice for a period of 28 days. The Soviet delegation lifted the condition for the withdrawal of troops from the Moonsund archipelago, and the Central Powers did not demand the cleansing of Anatolia.

The description is based on the book by A.M. Zayonchkovsky "World War 1914-1918", ed. 1931 g.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, one of the directions of the foreign policy of the Russian Empire was to gain control over the Black Sea straits of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. Joining the Entente in 1907 could resolve this issue in a war with the Triple Alliance. Speaking briefly about Russia in the First World War, I must say that this was the only chance when this problem could be solved.

Russia's entry into the First World War

On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. In response, Nicholas II signed a general mobilization decree three days later. Germany responded by declaring war on Russia on August 1, 1914. It is this date that is considered the beginning of Russia's participation in the World War.

There was a general emotional and patriotic upsurge throughout the country. People volunteered for the front, demonstrations were held in large cities, and German pogroms took place. The inhabitants of the empire expressed their intentions to wage the war to a victorious end. Against the background of popular sentiment, St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd. The country's economy gradually began to be transferred to a military track.

Russia's entry into the First World War responded not only to the idea of protecting the Balkan peoples from an external threat. The country also had its own goals, the main of which was the establishment of control over the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, as well as the annexation of Anatolia to the empire, since there were more than a million Christian Armenians living there. In addition, Russia wanted to unite under its command all the Polish lands, which in 1914 were owned by the opponents of the Entente - Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Combat actions 1914-1915

They had to start hostilities at an accelerated pace. German troops were advancing on Paris and in order to pull out part of the troops from there, on the Eastern Front, it was necessary to launch an offensive of two Russian armies in East Prussia. The offensive did not meet any resistance until General Paul von Hindenburg arrived here, who established a defense, and soon completely surrounded and defeated Samsonov's army, and then forced Renenkampf to retreat.

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In the southwestern direction in 1914, the headquarters carried out a number of operations against the Austro-Hungarian troops, occupying part of Galicia and Bukovina. Thus, Russia played its part in saving Paris.

By 1915, the lack of weapons and ammunition in the Russian army began to affect. Coupled with heavy losses, the troops began to retreat east. The Germans expected to withdraw Russia from the war in 1915 by transferring the main forces here. The equipment and size of the German army forced our troops to leave Galicia, Poland, the Baltic States, Belarus and part of Ukraine by the end of 1915. Russia found itself in an extremely difficult situation.

Few people know about the heroic defense of the Osovets fortress. The small garrison of the fortress defended it from superior German forces for a long time. Large-caliber artillery did not break the spirit of the Russian soldiers. Then the enemy decided to launch a chemical attack. The Russian soldiers did not have gas masks and almost immediately the white shirts were stained with blood. When the Germans went on the offensive, they were met with a bayonet counterattack by the defenders of Osovets, all in bloody rags covering their faces and cries of rasping blood "For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland." The Germans were driven back, and this battle went down in history as "Attack of the Dead".

Rice. 1. Attack of the dead.

Brusilov breakthrough

In February 1916, with a clear advantage in the east, Germany transferred its main forces to the Western Front, where the Battle of Verdun began. By this time, the Russian economy was completely rebuilt, equipment, weapons, and ammunition began to arrive at the front.

Russia again had to act as an assistant to its allies. On the Russian-Austrian front, General Brusilov began preparations for a large-scale offensive in order to break through the front and withdraw Austria-Hungary from the war.

Rice. 2. General Brusilov.

On the eve of the offensive, the soldiers were busy digging trenches in the direction of the enemy's positions and camouflaging them in order to get as close to them as possible before a bayonet attack.

The offensive made it possible to advance tens, and in some places hundreds of kilometers to the west, but the main goal (to defeat the army of Austria-Hungary) was never resolved. But the Germans were never able to take Verdun.

Russia's withdrawal from the First World War

By 1917, dissatisfaction with the war was growing in Russia. There were queues in large cities, there was not enough bread. Anti-landlord sentiments grew. The political disintegration of the country began. Fraternization and desertion were widespread at the front. The overthrow of Nicholas II and the coming to power of the Provisional Government finally disintegrated the front, where committees of soldiers' deputies appeared. Now they were deciding whether to go on the attack or even abandon the front.

Under the Provisional Government, the formation of the Women's Death Battalion gained wide popularity. There is one known battle where women took part. The battalion was commanded by Maria Bochkareva, who came up with the idea of forming such detachments. The women fought on a par with the men and valiantly repulsed all Austrian attacks. However, due to the large losses among women, it was decided to transfer all women's battalions to serve in the rear, away from the front line.

Rice. 3. Maria Bochkareva.

In 1917, VI Lenin secretly entered the country from Switzerland through Germany and Finland. The Great October Socialist Revolution brought the Bolsheviks to power, who soon concluded the shameful Brest Separate Peace Treaty. This is how Russia's participation in the First World War ended.

What have we learned?

The Russian Empire played perhaps the most important role in the victory of the Entente, twice saving its allies at the cost of the lives of its own soldiers. However, the tragic revolution and a separate peace deprived her not only of achieving the main goals of the war, but also of her inclusion in the composition of the victor countries in general.

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Peace opportunity

One of the first decrees of the Soviet government was the peace decree. After this decree on November 7, 1917, he appeals to all the belligerent countries with an appeal for an early conclusion of peace. Only Germany replied with consent. At the same time, one must understand that the idea of concluding peace with the capitalist countries was in opposition to the Soviet ideology, which was based on the idea of a world revolution. Therefore, there was no unity among the Soviet regime. And Lenin had to push through the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty of 1918 for a very long time. There were three main groups in the party:

Bukharin. He put forward the idea that the war should continue at any cost. These are the positions of the classical world revolution.
Lenin. He spoke of the need to sign peace on any terms. This was the position of the Russian generals.
Trotsky. He put forward a hypothesis, which today is often formulated as “No war! No peace! " It was a position of uncertainty, when Russia dissolves the army, but does not leave the war, does not sign a peace treaty. This was the ideal situation for Western countries.

The conclusion of a truce

On November 20, 1917, negotiations on the forthcoming peace began in Brest-Litovsk. Germany offered to sign an agreement on the following conditions: severing from Russia the territory of Poland, the Baltic states and part of the Baltic Sea islands. In total, it was assumed that Russia would lose up to 160 thousand square kilometers of territory. Lenin was ready to accept these conditions, since the Soviet government did not have an army, and the generals of the Russian Empire unanimously said that the war was lost and that peace should be concluded as soon as possible.

The negotiations were led by Trotsky as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. Noteworthy is the fact of the preserved secret telegrams between Trotsky and Lenin during the negotiations. To practically any serious military question, Lenin gave the answer that it was necessary to consult with Stalin. The reason here is not the genius of Joseph Vissarionovich, but the fact that Stalin acted as an intermediary between the tsarist army and Lenin.

During the negotiations, Trotsky dragged out time in every possible way. He said that a revolution was about to happen in Germany, so you just need to wait. But even if this revolution does not happen, then Germany does not have the strength for a new offensive. Therefore, he was playing for time, waiting for the support of the party.
During the negotiations, an armistice was concluded between the countries for the period from December 10, 1917 to January 7, 1918.

Why did Trotsky play for time?

He was waiting for the German revolution, which was to begin very soon. If this is true, then Lev Davydovich was an extremely short-sighted person, expecting revolutionary events in a country where the power of the monarchy was strong enough. The revolution eventually happened, but much later than the time when the Bolsheviks expected it.
He represented the position of England, USA and France. The fact is that with the beginning of the revolution in Russia, Trotsky came to the country from the United States with a large amount of money. At the same time, Trotsky was not an entrepreneur, he did not have an inheritance, but he did have large sums of money, the origin of which he never specified. It was extremely beneficial for the Western countries that Russia delayed negotiations with Germany as long as possible, so that the latter would leave its troops on the eastern front. This is quite a few 130 divisions, the transfer of which to the western front could drag out the war.

Crisis in negotiations

On January 8, 1918, as was stipulated by the armistice, the parties again sat down at the negotiating table. But literally right there, these negotiations were canceled by Trotsky. He referred to the fact that he urgently needed to return to Petrograd for consultations. Arriving in Russia, he raised the question of whether to conclude the Brest Peace in the party. He was opposed by Lenin, who insisted on the early signing of the peace, but Lenin lost 9 votes to 7. This was facilitated by the revolutionary movements that began in Germany.

On January 27, 1918, Germany made a move that few expected. She signed a peace treaty with Ukraine. It was a deliberate attempt to play off Russia and Ukraine. But the Soviet government continued to bend its line. On this day, a decree was signed on the demobilization of the army

We are withdrawing from the war, but we are forced to refuse to sign a peace treaty.
Trotsky

Of course, this shocked her on the German side, which could not understand how to stop fighting and not sign peace.

On February 11, at 17:00, a telegram from Krylenko was sent to all front headquarters that the war was over and we needed to return home. The troops began to retreat, exposing the front line. At the same time, the German command brought 2 Trotsky's words to Wilhelm, and the Kaiser supported the idea of an offensive.

On February 17, Lenin again made an attempt to persuade the party members to sign a peace treaty with Germany. Once again, his position is in the minority, since the opponents of the idea of signing the peace convinced everyone that if Germany did not go on the offensive in 1.5 months, then it would not go on the offensive further. But they were very wrong.

Signing an agreement

On February 18, 1918, Germany launched a large-scale offensive in all sectors of the front. The Russian army was already partially demobilized and the Germans were quietly moving forward. There was a real threat of complete capture of the territory of Russia by Germany and Austria-Hungary. The only thing that the Red Army was worthy of was to give a small battle on February 23 and slightly slow down the enemy's advance. Moreover, the battle was given by officers who changed into a soldier's greatcoat. But this was one hotbed of resistance, which could not solve anything.

Lenin, under the threat of resignation, pushed through the party's decision to sign a peace treaty with Germany. As a result, negotiations began, which ended very quickly. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on March 3, 1918 at 17:50.

On March 14, the 4th All-Russian Congress of Soviets ratified the Brest Peace Treaty. In protest, the Left Social Revolutionaries withdrew from the government.

The conditions of the Brest Peace were as follows:

Complete rejection of the territories of Poland and Lithuania from Russia.
Partial rejection of the territory of Latvia, Belarus and the Caucasus from Russia.
Russia completely withdrew its troops from the Baltic States and Finland. Let me remind you that Finland had already been lost before.
The independence of Ukraine was recognized, which passed under the protectorate of Germany.
Russia ceded eastern Anatolia, Kars and Ardahan to Turkey.
Russia paid Germany an indemnity of 6 billion marks, which was equal to 3 billion gold rubles.

Under the terms of the Brest Peace, Russia was losing an area of 789,000 square kilometers (compare with the initial conditions). This territory was inhabited by 56 million people, which was 1/3 of the population of the Russian Empire. Such large losses became possible only because of the position of Trotsky, who at first was playing for time, and then brazenly provoking the enemy.

The fate of the Brest-Litovsk Peace

It is noteworthy that after the signing of the agreement, Lenin never used the word "treaty" or "peace", but replaced them with the word "respite." And it really was so, because the world did not last long. Already on October 5, 1918, Germany terminated the treaty. The Soviet government dissolved it on November 13, 1918, 2 days after the end of the First World War. In other words, the government waited for the defeat of Germany, made sure that this defeat irrevocably and calmly canceled the treaty.

Why was Lenin so afraid to use the word "Brest Peace"? The answer to this question is quite simple. After all, the idea of concluding a peace treaty with the capitalist countries was in opposition to the theory of the socialist revolution. Therefore, the recognition of the conclusion of peace could be used by Lenin's opponents to eliminate it. And here Vladimir Ilyich showed a fairly high degree of flexibility. He made peace with Germany, but in the party he used the word respite. It was because of this word that the decision of the congress to ratify the peace treaty was not published. After all, the publication of these documents using Lenin's formulation could have been met negatively. Germany made peace, but she did not enter into any respite. The world puts an end to the war, and a respite means its continuation. Therefore, Lenin acted wisely not to publish the decision of the 4th Congress on the ratification of the Brest-Litovsk agreements.

Summary: Struggle for Russia's withdrawal from the First World War. Peace of Brest. Actions of the government of soviet russia to exit the first world war; exit from the first world war

Jean Jacques Rousseau

From the peace treaty between Soviet Russia, on the one hand, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, on the other hand, March 3, 1918: