Editing Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (section)

==Peace negotiations==
[[Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R92623, Brest-Litowsk, Waffenstillstandsabkommen.jpg|thumb|left|Signing of the armistice between Russia and Germany on 15 December 1917. [[Prince Leopold of Bavaria]] signing the treaty]]
On 15 December 1917, an [[Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers|armistice between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers]] was concluded. On {{awrap|22 December}}, peace negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk.

Arrangements for the conference were the responsibility of General [[Max Hoffmann]], the chief of staff of the Central Powers' forces on the Eastern Front ({{langx|de|Oberkommando-Ostfront}}, {{lang|de|[[Ober Ost]]}}). The delegations that had negotiated the armistice were made stronger. Prominent additions on the Central Powers' side were the foreign ministers of Germany, [[Richard von Kühlmann]], and Austria-Hungary, Count [[Ottokar Czernin]], both the Ottoman grand vizier [[Talaat Pasha]] and Foreign Minister Nassimy Bey. The Bulgarians were headed by Minister of Justice Popoff, who was later joined by Prime Minister [[Vasil Radoslavov]].{{sfn|Wheeler-Bennett|1963|loc=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499045/page/n137 IV. "Peace Without Indemnities or Annexations"]|pp=111–112}}{{Sfn|Lincoln|1986|pages=489–491}}

The Soviet delegation was led by [[Adolph Joffe]], who had already led their armistice negotiators, but his group was made more cohesive by eliminating most of the representatives of social groups, like peasants and sailors, and the addition of tsarist general Aleksandr Samoilo and the noted Marxist historian [[Mikhail Pokrovsky]]. It still included [[Anastasia Bitsenko]], a former assassin, representing the [[Left Socialist-Revolutionaries]] who were at odds with the Bolsheviks. Again, the negotiators met in the fortress in Brest-Litovsk, and the delegates were housed in temporary wooden structures in its courtyards because the city had been burnt to the ground in 1915 by the retreating Russian army. They were cordially welcomed by the German commander of the Eastern Front, [[Prince Leopold of Bavaria]], who sat with Joffe on the head table at the opening banquet with one hundred guests.<ref>{{cite book |title=In The World War |publisher=Cassell and Company, Ltd. |publication-place=London |via=[[Archive.org]] |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.39651 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.39651/page/n241 |chapter=10. Brest-Litovsk |first=Ottokar |last=Czernin |year=1919 }}</ref> As they had during the armistice negotiations, both sides continued to eat dinner and supper together amicably intermingled in the officers' mess.

When the conference convened Kühlmann asked Joffe to present the Russian conditions for peace. He made six points, all variations of the Bolshevik slogan of peace with "no annexations or indemnities". The Central Powers accepted the principles "but only in case all belligerents [including the nations of the Entente] without exception pledge themselves to do the same".<ref>{{harvnb|Lincoln|1986|p=490}}.</ref> They did not intend to annex territories occupied by force. Joffe telegraphed the marvelous news to Petrograd. Thanks to informal chatting in the mess, one of Hoffmann's aides, Colonel Friedrich Brinckmann, realized that the Russians had optimistically misinterpreted the Central Powers' meaning.{{sfn|Wheeler-Bennett|1963|loc=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499045/page/n151 IV. "Peace Without Indemnities or Annexations"]|p=124}} It fell to Hoffmann to set matters straight at dinner on 27 December: Poland, Lithuania and [[Courland]], already occupied by the Central Powers, were determined to separate from Russia on the principle of self-determination that the Bolsheviks themselves espoused. Joffe "looked as if he had received a blow on the head".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hoffmann|first1=Major General Max|title=War Diaries and other papers|date=1929|publisher=Martin Secker|location=London|volume =1|page=209}}</ref> Pokrovsky wept as he asked how they could speak of "peace without annexations when Germany was tearing eighteen provinces away from the Russian state".<ref>{{harvnb|Lincoln|1986|p=401}}</ref> The Germans and the Austro-Hungarians planned to annex slices of Polish territory and to set up a rump Polish state with what remained. The [[Baltic governorates]] were to become client states ruled by German [[prince]]s. Czernin was beside himself that this hitch that was slowing the negotiations; self-determination was anathema to his government and they urgently needed grain from the east because Vienna was on the verge of starvation. He proposed to make a separate peace.<ref>{{harvnb|Lincoln|1986|p=491}}</ref> Kühlmann warned that if they negotiated separately, Germany would immediately withdraw all its divisions from the Austrian front; Czernin dropped that threat. The food crisis in Vienna was eventually eased by "forced drafts of grain from Hungary, Poland, and Romania and by a last moment contribution from Germany of 450 truck-loads of flour".{{sfn|Wheeler-Bennett|1963|loc=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499045/page/n201 V. The Stalemate]|p=170}} At Russian request, they agreed to recess the talks for twelve days.
[[Image:LübA - Sonderdepesche.jpg|thumb|left|Special edition of the {{lang|de|Lübeckischen Anzeigen}}, with the headline as: "Peace with Ukraine"]]

The Soviets' only hopes were that time would make their allies agree to join the negotiations or that the western European proletariat would revolt and so their best strategy was to prolong the negotiations. As Foreign Minister [[Leon Trotsky]] wrote, "To delay negotiations, there must be someone to do the delaying".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Trotsky|first1=Leon|title=My Life|url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1930/mylife/1930-lif.pdf|website=Marxists|publisher=Charles Schribner's Sons|page=286|date=1930}}</ref> Therefore, Trotsky replaced Joffe as the leader.

On the other side were significant political realignments. On New Year's Day in Berlin, the Kaiser insisted that Hoffmann reveal his views on the future German–Polish border. He advocated taking a small slice of Poland; Hindenburg and Ludendorff wanted much more. They were furious with Hoffmann for breaching the chain of command and wanted him to be dismissed and sent to command a division. The Kaiser refused, but Ludendorff no longer spoke with Hoffmann on the telephone since the communication was now through an intermediary.{{sfn|Wheeler-Bennett|1963|loc=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499045/page/n163 IV. "Peace Without Indemnities or Annexations"]|pp=130–136}}

The German Supreme Commanders were also furious at ruling out of annexations, contending that the peace "must increase Germany's material power".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ludendorff|first1= General|title=The General Staff and its problems The history of the relations between the high command and the German Imperial Government as revealed in official documents|date=1920|publisher= Hutchinson|location=London|volume =2|page=209}}</ref> They denigrated Kühlmann and pressed for additional territorial acquisitions. When Hindenburg was asked why they needed the Baltic provinces he replied, "To secure my left flank for when the next war happens."<ref name="Stevenson2009">{{cite book|first=David |last=Stevenson|title=Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy|date=2009|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-7867-3885-4|page=315}}</ref> However, the most profound transformation was that a delegation from the [[Central Rada|Ukrainian Rada]], which had declared independence from Russia, had arrived at Brest-Litovsk. They would make peace if they were given the Polish city of [[Chełm|Cholm]] and its surroundings, and they would provide desperately needed grain. Czernin no longer was desperate for a prompt settlement with the Russians.

[[Image:Trotzki Deutsche Brest-Litowsk1917.jpg|thumb|Trotsky being greeted by [[German Empire|German]] officers]]
When they reconvened, Trotsky declined the invitation to meet Prince Leopold and terminated shared meals and other sociable interactions with the representatives of the Central Powers. Day after day, Trotsky "engaged Kühlmann in debate, rising to subtle discussion of first principles that ranged far beyond the concrete territorial issues that divided them".<ref>{{harvnb|Lincoln|1986|p=494}}</ref> The Central Powers signed a [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Ukraine–Central Powers)|peace treaty with Ukraine]] during the night of 8–9 February even though the Russians had retaken [[Kiev]]. German and Austro-Hungarian troops entered Ukraine to prop up the Rada. Finally, Hoffmann broke the impasse with the Russians by focusing the discussion on maps of the future boundaries. Trotsky summarised their situation "Germany and Austria-Hungary are cutting off from the domains of the former Russian Empire territories more than 150,000 square kilometers in size".<ref>{{harvnb|Lincoln|1986|p=496}}</ref> He was granted a nine-day recess for the Russians to decide whether to sign.

[[File:German soldiers and Soviet troops gathering together (February 1918).jpg|thumb|German and Soviet troops gathering together, February 1918]]
In Petrograd, Trotsky argued passionately against signing and proposed that instead, "they should announce the termination of the war and demobilization without signing any peace."{{sfn|Wheeler-Bennett|1963|loc=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499045/page/n217 V. The Stalemate]|pp=185–186}} Privately, in correspondence with [[Count Otto von Czernin]], Trotsky had expressed his willingness to relent to peace terms upon the resumption of a German offensive although with moral dissent.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Deutscher |first1=Isaac |title=The Prophet: The Life of Leon Trotsky |date=6 January 2015 |publisher=Verso Books |isbn=978-1-78168-560-0 |page=389 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yN-QEAAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> Lenin was for signing rather than having an even more ruinous treaty forced on them after a few more weeks of military humiliation. The "[[Left Bolsheviks|Left Communists]]", led by [[Nikolai Bukharin]] and [[Karl Radek]], were sure that Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria were all on the verge of revolution. They wanted to continue the war with a newly raised revolutionary force while awaiting these upheavals.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fischer |first1=Ruth |author-link=Ruth Fischer |title=Stalin and German Communism: A Study on the Origins of the State Party |date=1982 |orig-year=1948 |publisher=Transition Books |location=New Brunswick NJ |page=39 |isbn=0878558802}}</ref> Consequently, Lenin agreed to Trotsky's formula – a position summed up as "no war – no peace" – which was announced when the negotiators reconvened on 10 February 1918. The Soviets thought that their stalling was succeeding until 16 February when Hoffmann notified them that the war would resume in two days, when 53 divisions [[Operation Faustschlag|advanced]] against the near-empty Soviet trenches. On the night of 18 February, the Central Committee supported Lenin's resolution that they sign the treaty by a margin of seven to five. Hoffmann kept advancing until 23 February when he presented new terms that included the withdrawal of all Soviet troops from Ukraine and Finland. The Soviets were given 48 hours to open negotiations with the Germans, and another 72 to conclude them.<ref>{{cite web |title=Treaties of Brest-Litovsk |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/treaties-of-Brest-Litovsk |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=3 March 2021}}</ref> Lenin told the Central Committee that "you must sign this shameful peace in order to save the world revolution".{{sfn|Wheeler-Bennett|1963|loc=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499045/page/n297/mode/2up VII. "The Tilsit Peace"]|p=260}} If they did not agree, he would resign. He was supported by six Central Committee members, opposed by three, with Trotsky and three others abstaining.<ref>Fischer, 1982, pp. 32–36.</ref> Debate in the [[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] was intense, with [[Left Socialist-Revolutionaries|Left SRs]] jeering Lenin as a traitor. [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] explained that they must "concede space...in order to win time."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kirasirova |first=Masha |url=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/leidenuniv/detail.action?docID=7388439 |title=The Eastern International: Arabs, Central Asians, and Jews in the Soviet Union's Anticolonial Empire}}</ref> The measure passed 116 to 85.<ref name="Kotkin 2014">{{cite book | last=Kotkin | first=Stephen | title=Stalin | publisher=Penguin Press | publication-place=New York | year=2014 | isbn=978-1594203794 | oclc=893721553 | page=}}</ref>

Trotsky resigned as foreign minister and was replaced by [[Georgy Chicherin]].

When Sokolnikov arrived at Brest-Litovsk, he declared "we are going to sign immediately the treaty presented to us as an ultimatum but at the same time refuse to enter into any discussion of its terms".{{sfn|Wheeler-Bennett|1963|loc=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499045/page/n305 VII. "The Tilsit Peace"]|pp=268–269}} The treaty was signed at 17:50 on 3 March 1918.