Editing Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (section)

===Territorial cessions in eastern Europe===
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2021}}
{{Further|1918 Central Powers occupation of Ukraine}}
Russia renounced all territorial claims in [[Finland]] (whose [[Finnish Declaration of Independence|independence]] it had already recognized), [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], most of [[Belarus]], and [[Ukraine]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Service |first=Robert |url=http://archive.org/details/historyofmodernr00robe |title=A history of modern Russia from Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0674018013 |pages=75–80}}</ref> The territory of the [[Kingdom of Poland (1916–18)|Kingdom of Poland]] was not mentioned in the treaty, as the Germans refused to recognize the existence of any [[Poland|Polish]] representatives, which in turn led to Polish protests. The treaty stated that "Germany and Austria-Hungary intend to determine the future fate of these territories in agreement with their populations." Most of the territories were in effect ceded to Germany, which intended to have them become economic and political dependencies, where the local German-speaking minority would be the ruling elite. New monarchies were to be created in Lithuania and the proposed "[[United Baltic Duchy]]" (which was planned to comprise Latvia and Estonia). Later in 1918, German aristocrats [[Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach]] (for Lithuania), and [[Adolf Friedrich, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]] (for the planned United Baltic Duchy), were nominally appointed, but in reality never became, rulers of these envisaged new pro-German countries.

This plan was detailed by German [[General of the Infantry (Germany)|General]] [[Erich Ludendorff]], who wrote, "German prestige demands that we should hold a strong protecting hand, not only over German citizens, but over all Germans."<ref>{{cite book|last=Ludendorff|first=Erich von|title=The General Staff and its Problems|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.24787|year=1920|location=London|pages=562}}</ref>

[[File:Three bones–a bountiful tip (Bushnell caricature, 1918).JPG|thumb|"Three bones—a bountiful tip", a political cartoon from 1918 by American cartoonist [[E. A. Bushnell]] ]]
[[File:Map Treaty of Brest-Litovsk-en.jpg|thumb|Territorial claims ceded by Soviet Russia to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]]
The occupation of the western part of the former Russian Empire ultimately proved a costly blunder for Berlin, as over one million German troops lay sprawled out from Poland nearly to the [[Caspian Sea]], all idle and depriving Germany of badly needed manpower in France. The hopes of using Ukraine's grain and coal proved abortive; in addition, the local population became increasingly hostile to the occupation. Revolts and guerrilla warfare began breaking out all over the occupied territory, many of them inspired by Bolshevik agents. German troops also had to intervene in the [[Finnish Civil War]], and Ludendorff became increasingly concerned that his troops were being affected by propaganda emanating from Moscow, which was one of the reasons he was reluctant to transfer divisions to the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]. The attempt at establishing an independent Ukrainian state under German guidance was unsuccessful as well. However, Ludendorff completely ruled out the idea of marching on Moscow and Petrograd to remove the Bolshevik government from power.

Germany transferred hundreds of thousands of veteran troops to the Western Front for the 1918 [[German spring offensive|Spring Offensive]], which shocked the Allied Powers but ultimately failed. Some Germans later blamed the occupation for significantly weakening the Spring Offensive. The Germans began slowly but steadily withdrawing personnel from the occupied territories from east to west as the troop transfers to the Western Front continued throughout 1918. Local independence movements, particularly those based in what is now Belarus and Ukraine, moved in to fill the void the Germans left behind and established themselves in the newly freed territories.

[[Belarusian People's Republic|Belarus]] and [[Ukrainian People's Republic|Ukraine]] became independent, while [[Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)|Poland]], [[Estonia]], [[Governorate of Livonia|Livonia]], and [[Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1918)|Courland]] become protectorates of the German Empire.<ref name=":0" /> Later, [[Moldavian Democratic Republic|Bessarabia]] united with Romania.

Russia lost 34% of its population, 54% of its industrial land, 89% of its coalfields, and 26% of its railways. Russia was also fined 6 billion marks.{{Sfn|Liulevicius|2009}}