After the transfer of power into the hands of the Bolsheviks on October 25, 1917, a truce was established in the Russian-German fleet. By January 1918, not a single soldier remained in some sectors of the front. The truce was officially signed only on December 2. Leaving the front, many soldiers took away their weapons or sold them to the enemy.
Negotiations began on December 9, 1917 in Brest-Litovsk, which was the headquarters of the German command. But, Germany made demands that contradicted the previously proclaimed slogan "A world without annexations and indemnities." Trotsky, who led the Russian delegation, was able to find a way out of the situation. His speech at the talks came down to the following formula: "Don't sign peace, don't wage war, disband the army." This shocked German diplomats. But it did not deter the enemy troops from decisive action. The offensive of the Austro-Hungarian troops along the entire front continued on February 18. And the only thing that hindered the advance of the troops was the bad Russian roads.
The new Russian government agreed to accept the conditions of the Brest Peace on February 19. The conclusion of the Brest peace was entrusted to Skolnikov G. However, now the terms of the peace treaty turned out to be more difficult. In addition to the loss of vast territories, Russia was also obliged to pay an indemnity. The signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk took place on March 3 without discussion of terms. Russia lost: Ukraine, the Baltic States, Poland, part of Belarus and 90 tons of gold. The Soviet government moved from Petrograd to Moscow on March 11, fearing the capture of the city by the Germans, despite the peace treaty already concluded.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was valid until November, after the revolution in Germany it was annulled by the Russian side. But, the consequences of the Brest peace had time to affect. This peace treaty became one of the important factors in the beginning of the civil war in Russia. Later, in 1922, relations between Russia and Germany were settled by the Treaty of Rapallo, according to which the parties renounced their territorial claims.
Civil War and intervention (briefly)
The civil war began in October 1917 and ended with the defeat of the White Army in the Far East in the autumn of 1922. During this time, various social classes and groups in Russia used armed methods to resolve the contradictions that arose between them.
The main reasons for the start of the civil war include: the discrepancy between the goals of transforming society and the methods for achieving them, the refusal to create a coalition government, the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, the nationalization of land and industry, the elimination of commodity-money relations, the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the creation of a one-party system, the danger of the spread of revolution on other countries, the economic losses of the Western powers during the regime change in Russia.
In the spring of 1918 British, American and French troops landed in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. The Japanese invaded the Far East, the British and Americans landed in Vladivostok - intervention began.
On May 25, there was an uprising of the 45,000th Czechoslovak corps, which was transferred to Vladivostok for further shipment to France. A well-armed and well-equipped corps stretched from the Volga to the Urals. In the conditions of the decayed Russian army, he became the only real force at that time. Supported by the Social Revolutionaries and the White Guards, the corps put forward demands for the overthrow of the Bolsheviks and the convening of the Constituent Assembly.
In the South, the Volunteer Army of General A.I. Denikin was formed, which defeated the Soviets in the North Caucasus. The troops of P.N. Krasnov approached Tsaritsyn, in the Urals, the Cossacks of General A.A. Dutov captured Orenburg. In November-December 1918, an English landing landed in Batumi and Novorossiysk, the French occupied Odessa. In these critical conditions, the Bolsheviks managed to create a combat-ready army by mobilizing people and resources and attracting military specialists from the tsarist army.
By the autumn of 1918, the Red Army had liberated the cities of Samara, Simbirsk, Kazan, and Tsaritsyn.
The revolution in Germany had a significant impact on the course of the civil war. Recognizing its defeat in the First World War, Germany agreed to annul the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and withdrew its troops from the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states.
The Entente began to withdraw its troops, providing only material assistance to the Whites.
By April 1919, the Red Army managed to stop the troops of General A.V. Kolchak. Driven into the depths of Siberia, they were defeated by the beginning of 1920.
In the summer of 1919, General Denikin, having captured Ukraine, moved towards Moscow and approached Tula. The troops of the first cavalry army under the command of M.V. Frunze and the Latvian riflemen concentrated on the Southern Front. In the spring of 1920, near Novorossiysk, the "Reds" defeated the Whites.
In the north of the country, the troops of General N.N. Yudenich fought against the Soviets. In the spring and autumn of 1919 they made two unsuccessful attempts to capture Petrograd.
In April 1920, the conflict between Soviet Russia and Poland began. In May 1920, the Poles captured Kyiv. The troops of the Western and Southwestern fronts launched an offensive, but failed to achieve a final victory.
Realizing the impossibility of continuing the war, in March 1921 the parties signed a peace treaty.
The war ended with the defeat of General P.N. Wrangel, who led the remnants of Denikin's troops in the Crimea. In 1920, the Far Eastern Republic was formed, by 1922 it was finally liberated from the Japanese.
Reasons for victory Bolsheviks: support for the national outskirts and Russian peasants deceived by the Bolshevik slogan "Land to the peasants", the creation of a combat-ready army, the absence of a common command among the whites, support for Soviet Russia from the labor movements and communist parties of other countries.
The Brest peace is one of the most humiliating episodes in the history of Russia. It became a resounding diplomatic failure of the Bolsheviks and was accompanied by an acute political crisis within the country.
Peace Decree
The "Peace Decree" was adopted on October 26, 1917 - the day after the armed coup - and spoke of the need to conclude a just democratic peace without annexations and indemnities between all warring peoples. It served as the legal basis for a separate agreement with Germany and the other Central Powers.
Publicly, Lenin spoke about the transformation of the imperialist war into a civil war, he considered the revolution in Russia only the initial stage of the world socialist revolution. In fact, there were other reasons as well. The warring peoples did not act according to Ilyich's plans - they did not want to turn bayonets against the governments, and the allied governments ignored the peace proposal of the Bolsheviks. Only the countries of the enemy bloc that were losing the war went for rapprochement.
Conditions
Germany declared that it was ready to accept the condition of peace without annexations and indemnities, but only if this peace was signed by all the belligerent countries. But none of the Entente countries joined the peace negotiations, so Germany abandoned the Bolshevik formula, and their hopes for a just peace were finally buried. The talk in the second round of negotiations was exclusively about a separate peace, the terms of which were dictated by Germany.
Betrayal and necessity
Not all Bolsheviks were willing to sign a separate peace. The left was categorically opposed to any agreements with imperialism. They defended the idea of exporting the revolution, believing that without socialism in Europe, Russian socialism is doomed to perish (and the subsequent transformations of the Bolshevik regime proved them right). The leaders of the left Bolsheviks were Bukharin, Uritsky, Radek, Dzerzhinsky and others. They called for a guerrilla war against German imperialism, and in the future they hoped to conduct regular military operations with the forces of the Red Army being created.
For the immediate conclusion of a separate peace was, above all, Lenin. He was afraid of the German offensive and the complete loss of his own power, which, even after the coup, was largely based on German money. It is unlikely that the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was directly bought by Berlin. The main factor was precisely the fear of losing power. Considering that a year after the conclusion of peace with Germany, Lenin was ready even for the division of Russia in exchange for international recognition, then the terms of the Brest Peace would seem not so humiliating.
Trotsky occupied an intermediate position in the inner-party struggle. He defended the thesis "No peace, no war." That is, he proposed to stop hostilities, but not to sign any agreements with Germany. As a result of the struggle within the party, it was decided to drag out the negotiations in every possible way, expecting a revolution in Germany, but if the Germans present an ultimatum, then agree to all conditions. However, Trotsky, who led the Soviet delegation in the second round of negotiations, refused to accept the German ultimatum. Negotiations broke down and Germany continued to advance. When the peace was signed, the Germans were 170 km from Petrograd.
Annexations and indemnities
Peace conditions were very difficult for Russia. She lost Ukraine and Polish lands, renounced her claims to Finland, gave away the Batumi and Kars regions, had to demobilize all her troops, abandon the Black Sea Fleet and pay huge indemnities. The country was losing almost 800 thousand square meters. km and 56 million people. In Russia, the Germans received the exclusive right to freely engage in entrepreneurship. In addition, the Bolsheviks pledged to pay the royal debts of Germany and its allies.
At the same time, the Germans did not comply with their own obligations. After signing the treaty, they continued the occupation of Ukraine, overthrew the Soviet regime on the Don and helped the White movement in every possible way.
Rise of the Left
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk almost led to a split in the Bolshevik Party and the loss of power by the Bolsheviks. Lenin hardly dragged the final decision on peace through a vote in the Central Committee, threatening to resign. The split of the party did not happen only thanks to Trotsky, who agreed to abstain from the vote, ensuring the victory of Lenin. But this did not help to avoid a political crisis.
The Brest Peace was categorically rejected by the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Party. They left the government, killed the German ambassador Mirbach and raised an armed uprising in Moscow. Due to the lack of a clear plan and goals, it was suppressed, but it was a very real threat to the power of the Bolsheviks. At the same time, in Simbirsk, the commander of the Eastern Front of the Red Army, the Social Revolutionary Muravyov, raised an uprising. It also ended in failure.
Peace delegation led by Ioffe and Kamenev, defended the principle of self-determination in relation to Ukraine and the peoples of the Baltic states, which only played into the hands of the Germans, who saw in this position of the Bolsheviks a convenient form for their aggressive plans. In addition, General Hoffmann demanded that this principle should not apply either to Poland or to the occupied part of the Baltic States, which were considered by the Germans as already separated from Russia.
At this point, the negotiations broke down. The Germans agreed only to extend the truce for a month, until 15 January.
On January 9, 1918, negotiations resumed. It was clear to everyone that the Germans would resolutely insist on their terms - the seizure of the Baltic states, Belarus and Ukraine under the guise of "the will of their governments", which, according to General Hoffmann, was understood by the German government as a "policy of self-determination."
Trotsky, who headed the new Soviet delegation, with the consent of Lenin, dragged out the negotiations in Brest. At the same time, hurried negotiations for help were being held in secret with the British representative, Bruce Lockhart, and the American Colonel Robins. B. Lockhart has already informed even his government that the resumption of war on the German front is inevitable.
Not only B. Lockhart, but also many Bolsheviks did not see the two main points why Lenin, at all costs, on any conditions, wanted to conclude a peace treaty with the Germans. Firstly, he knew that the Germans would never forgive him for violating the secret agreement and could easily find another, more convenient protege, at least like left SR Kamkov, who also collaborated with them during the war, back in Switzerland. With German support, however, was associated the receipt of significant monetary subsidies, without which, with the complete collapse of the old state organism, it was hardly possible to maintain the party and the new Soviet apparatus of power. Secondly, the resumption of the war with Germany, for the sake of at least the "socialist fatherland", in the conditions of the beginning of 1918, meant the inevitable loss of power in the country by the Bolsheviks and its transfer into the hands of the national democratic parties, primarily into the hands of the right SRs and Cadets.
After the German terms of peace became known, open indignation arose in the party. A majority was formed that considered it impossible to sign a peace treaty that would lead to the complete dismemberment of Russia - moreover, henceforth making the country completely dependent on Germany. This majority, which became known as " left communists”, threw out the slogan about “defending the socialist fatherland”, arguing that since the proletariat seized power, it must defend its state from German imperialism.
On January 10, the plenary session of the Moscow regional bureau of the party called for the termination of peace negotiations with Germany. Here they acted as "left communists" Bukharin, Lomov, Osinsky (Obolensky), Yu. Pyatakov , Preobrazhensky, Bubnov, Muralov and V. M. Smirnov.
The Moscow regional bureau, having demanded the convocation of a party congress, thereby expressed its lack of confidence in the Central Committee. The Ural Party Committee took the side of the "Left Communists". The Petrograd Committee split. Central Committee members Uritsky and Spunde took the side of the opponents of "peace at any cost", and the journal Kommunist, published in Petrograd not only as an organ of the Petrograd Committee, but also as a theoretical organ of the Central Committee, became an organ of the "Left Communists". The "Left Communists" actually had a majority in the party. In their theses, written Radek, they argued that the Leninist point of view is a reflection of the peasant populist ideology, "sliding down onto petty-bourgeois rails ...". It is impossible to build socialism on the basis of the peasantry, the theses asserted, the proletariat is the main support, and it must not make concessions to German imperialism...
These reproaches of the “left communists” against Lenin reflected reality, for he, as the main argument for the need to conclude peace, in his theses of January 20, brought to the fore the idea that the overwhelming mass of the peasantry would undoubtedly vote even “for an aggressive peace” . And what's more, if the war is renewed, the peasantry will overthrow the socialist government. Lenin denied that he had ever spoken of a "revolutionary war" and, as always in critical moments, with surprising composure, "did not hold on to the letter," as he put it, of what he had previously said.
The Left Social Revolutionaries, who were members of the Council of People's Commissars, believed that the Germans would not dare to go on the offensive, and if they did, they would cause a strong revolutionary upsurge in the country to defend the fatherland.
Trotsky and Lenin agreed with this and feared the continuation of the war, not so much in terms of a deep advance of the Germans, but because of the impossibility of preventing the mobilization of national, patriotic forces under war conditions. They foresaw the inevitable rallying of these forces around the Right Social Revolutionaries and the Cadets, around the idea of a Constituent Assembly and, as a result, the overthrow of the communist dictatorship and the establishment in Russia of a national democratic government based on the majority of the population.
This argument, which posed the question not of war or peace, but of the preservation of power, was put forward by Lenin later, on February 24, when he bluntly wrote that "risking war" means making it possible to overthrow Soviet power.
While Trotsky dragged out the negotiations (he returned to Petrograd on January 18), a meeting of the most prominent party workers was prepared, convened for January 21. It could have called itself a party congress with far greater justification than the 7th Congress convened in a hurry in March 1918.
The meeting was attended by 65 delegates, including members of the Central Committee. Reports on peace and war were made by Bukharin, Trotsky and Lenin. Each with their own point of view. Trotsky, like Lenin, understood the danger of the “left communists” slogan about “revolutionary war” (in terms of holding power at that moment) and at the same time, trying to fence off a separate peace with the Germans, put forward the formula “neither peace, nor war !" This formula, directed primarily against the supporters of the war, helped Lenin at that stage to fight for peace, because the decision on war, on which the majority stood, if adopted, would deal Lenin's policy and Lenin himself a mortal blow. At first glance, Trotsky's somewhat anarchic formula was nothing more than a temporary bridge between Lenin and his opponents, who had a majority behind them.
On January 25, in the Council of People's Commissars, with the participation of the Left Social Revolutionaries, the overwhelming majority also passed Trotsky's formula - "No peace, no war."
Therefore, Trotsky's later noisy accusations that he "treacherously", allegedly acting against the majority of the Central Committee, "arbitrarily" broke off negotiations with the Germans on February 10, are without any foundation. In this case, Trotsky acted on the basis of the decision of the majority in both the Central Committee and the Council of People's Commissars. These accusations, made in 1924-1925 mainly by Zinoviev and Stalin in the course of internal party struggle against Trotsky, even then little reckoned with historical reality.
The tense week after the break in negotiations was spent in almost continuous meetings of the Central Committee. Lenin, who remained in the minority, tried in every possible way to find "such a formulation of the question" of a "revolutionary war" that would show its impossibility - putting, for example, on February 17, even before the German offensive, the question - "should a revolutionary war be declared Germany? Bukharin and Lomov refused to vote on such an "unqualifiedly posed" question, because the essence of revolutionary defencism was in response to the German offensive, and not in their own initiative, the fatality of which was beyond doubt.
On February 18, the Germans went on the offensive. The remnants of the demoralized and, after the assassination of General Dukhonin, deprived of the head of the army (the “commander-in-chief” Krylenko devoted himself to the liquidation of the headquarters and command still remaining in certain sectors of the front) could not offer any resistance, and very soon Dvinsk, with its huge warehouses of weapons and supplies, and after him and Pskov, were occupied by the Germans. In the center and especially in the south, the Germans quickly moved forward, meeting scattered resistance from the remnants of the frame of some units and volunteers. Czechoslovak Corps.
On the evening of February 18, Lenin achieved a majority of 7 to 6 on the question of sending a radio telegram to the Germans offering peace. Lenin owed his success entirely to Trotsky. Trotsky's buffer position was revealed at the moment of a direct threat to the authorities themselves: he went over to the camp of Lenin, and his vote gave the majority. (For the offer of peace to the Germans voted: Lenin, Smilga, Zinoviev, Stalin, Sokolnikov, Sverdlov, Trotsky; against - Uritsky, Bukharin, Dzerzhinsky, Krestinsky, Lomov and Ioffe).
The offer of peace was to be sent on behalf of the Council of People's Commissars, where 7 people's commissars were Left Socialist-Revolutionaries. Probably, the decision of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries would have been different if they had known that Lenin received the majority by just one vote and, moreover, by the voice of the author of the formula "no peace, no war." But not knowing the results of the vote in the Bolshevik Central Committee and also fearing to lose power, the Left SR people's commissars voted for the peace proposal by 4 votes to 3.
The German command saw that it could quickly move deep into Russia and easily occupy Petrograd and even Moscow. However, it did not take this step, limiting itself to the occupation of Ukraine, where a sham "hetman" government was created. As indicated Ludendorff, the German command was most afraid of an explosion of patriotism in Russia. Even during the Tarnopol breakthrough in July 1917, Ludendorff gave the order not to develop the offensive, so as not to cause the threat of a deep German invasion to improve the Russian army. A deep invasion now, in 1918, the occupation of Petrograd and the exit to Moscow could lead to the overthrow of the Bolshevik government, could justify the efforts of the generals Alekseeva and Kornilov who collected volunteer army in Rostov-on-Don.
First two pages of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in German, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Turkish and Russian
Thus, the German strategy and policy towards Russia fully coincided with the Leninist policy of peace at all costs.
It is interesting to note that in his report on peace and war at the 7th Party Congress in March 1918, Lenin proved the need for peace by the collapse of the army, devoting a significant part of his report to characterizing the army as a “sick part of the body”, capable only of “flight”, “panic” , "selling their own guns to the Germans for pennies," etc. Lenin nowhere now says that the main blame for the disintegration of the army under the slogan of immediate peace "without annexations and indemnities" lay with the Bolshevik party itself. Having deceived the soldiers with the chimera of the possibility of such a world ( Peace Decree), Lenin now shifted the blame for the shameful conditions of the German world for Russia.
Lenin, speaking of the army, deliberately concealed the facts; the demobilization conference in December showed that those units that retained the best combat capability were the most anti-Bolshevik. That is why Krylenko did absolutely nothing for two months, did not want to, and could not do, despite the decision of the Council of People's Commissars on measures to organize and strengthen the army. During the days of the February crisis, the regimental committee of the Preobrazhensky regiment proposed, on behalf of the regiment, which was already stationed in Petrograd, to speak to the Pskov front, but after negotiations with Smolny, it received not only a refusal to do so, but also an order to demobilize.
At the call of Lenin, Krylenko and Raskolnikov made reports to the Central Executive Committee on the state of the army and navy, impressing the Left SR Steinberg that both deliberately exaggerate and dramatize the situation in the army and navy. A decree was issued on the organization of the Red Army, but this army was not intended by Lenin to fight the Germans : already on February 22, a German response was received with consent to sign peace, but on even more difficult conditions. The borders of Russia were thrown back to Pskov and Smolensk. Ukraine, Don, Transcaucasia were separated. Huge, multimillion-dollar indemnity, paid in grain, ore, raw materials, was imposed by the Germans on Russia.
When the terms of the peace became known, Bukharin, Lomov, V. M. Smirnov, Yu. Pyatakov and Bubnov in Moscow, and Uritsky in Petrograd resigned from all their responsible posts and demanded the right to free agitation in the party and outside it against peace with Germans (Lomov, Bukharin, Uritsky, Bubnov were members of the Central Committee). On 23 February, after discussing German terms, a decisive vote took place. Lenin won again only thanks to Trotsky and his supporters who abstained - these were Trotsky, Dzerzhinsky, Ioffe, Krestinsky. Voted against: Bukharin, Uritsky, Bubnov, Lomov. For the immediate signing of peace: Lenin, Zinoviev, Sverdlov, Stalin, Smilga, Sokolnikov and Stasova, who was the secretary. Thus, Lenin had 7 votes in favor (actually, excluding Stasova's vote, 6) against 4, with 4 abstentions.
During the discussion, Stalin tried to offer not to sign the peace, delaying the negotiations, for which he was cut off by Lenin:
“Stalin is wrong when he says that we can not sign. These terms must be signed. If they are not signed, this means a death sentence for the Soviet government "...
Again, Trotsky played a decisive role, splitting in half the majority that was against the signing of the treaty.
Lenin's concession was the decision to convene the 7th Party Congress, since, according to the decision of the Central Committee to convene the congress, "there was no unanimity in the Central Committee on the issue of signing peace."
The next day, upon learning of the Central Committee's decision, the Moscow Regional Party Bureau announced that it considered the Central Committee's peace decision "absolutely unacceptable." The resolution of the Moscow Regional Bureau, adopted unanimously on February 24, read:
“Having discussed the activities of the Central Committee, the Moscow Regional Bureau of the RSDLP expresses its distrust of the Central Committee, in view of its political line and composition, and will, at the first opportunity, insist on its re-election. Moreover, the Moscow Regional Bureau does not consider itself obliged to obey at all costs those decisions of the Central Committee that will be connected with the implementation of the terms of the peace treaty with Austria-Germany.
This resolution was adopted unanimously. Members of the Moscow Regional Bureau - Lomov, Bukharin, Osinsky, Stukov, Maksimovsky, Safonov, Sapronov, Solovyov and others believed that the split in the party "can hardly be eliminated in the near future." But at the same time, they avoided what Stalin's "Short Course of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks" accuses them of - collusion between the "Left Communists" and the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries. If such an agreement had taken place, then, without a doubt, the bloc of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries with the "Left Communists" had every chance of winning. The "Left Communists" were led by faith in the German revolution, without which they saw no possibility for the continued existence of socialist Russia. Lenin shared this view, which he repeatedly repeated in his report at the 7th Congress, and only did not connect the issue of retaining power, as did, for example, Kollontai, with the German Revolution over the next three months. He considered the time before the revolution only as a period during which it was necessary to strengthen power in every possible way, to use a respite. This orientation of the “left communists” towards revolution in the West, ignoring the national problems of Russia, was their main weakness. Lenin remained for them, for all their disagreements with him, the only possible ally. They did not look for support in the forces of national democracy, moreover, they started from it, and therefore, in the real balance of forces outside the party, they were not any significant factor.
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-LitovskThe 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
The main driving force of the October Revolution was the soldiers, who were terribly tired of the war, which lasted for the fourth year. 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 for Foreign Affairs, turned 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 the Western Front is prohibited. 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
- No forcible annexation of territories captured during the war is allowed ...
- The political independence of those peoples who were deprived of this independence during the present war is being restored.
- National groups that did not enjoy political independence before the war are guaranteed the opportunity to freely decide the issue .... about his state independence ...
- In relation to territories inhabited by several nationalities, the right of a minority is protected by special laws ....
- None of the belligerent countries is obliged to pay other countries the so-called war costs ...
- 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, the German General Hoffmann declared: “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. The established 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 of the 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
- 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
- March 15, 1918 - The All-Russian Congress of Soviets ratified the peace treaty by a majority of votes
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;
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Russian warships move to Russian ports until the conclusion of a general peace, or they are immediately disarmed.
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Poland, Lithuania, Courland, Livonia and Estonia departed from Soviet Russia under the treaty.
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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.
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In the Caucasus, Russia ceded Kars, Ardagan and Batum to Turkey.
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Ukraine and Finland were recognized as independent states.
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With the Ukrainian Central Rada, Soviet Russia pledged to conclude a peace treaty and recognize the peace treaty between Ukraine and Germany.
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Finland and the Aland Islands were cleared of Russian troops.
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Soviet Russia pledged to stop all agitation against the government of Finland.
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Separate articles of the Russian-German trade agreement of 1904, unfavorable for Russia, came into force again
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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.
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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 simply ridiculous when military history says more clearly that the signing of a treaty in the event of a 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. The 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 annihilated. 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.
Signing of the Brest Peace
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk meant the defeat and withdrawal of Russia from the First World War.
A separate international peace treaty was signed on March 3, 1918 in Brest-Litovsk by representatives of Soviet Russia (on the one hand) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria) on the other. Separate peace- a peace treaty concluded by one of the participants in the warring coalition without the knowledge and consent of the allies. Such a peace is usually concluded before the general cessation of the war.
The signing of the Brest Peace Treaty was prepared in 3 stages.
The history of the signing of the Brest Peace
First stage
Soviet delegation in Brest-Litovsk met by German officers
The Soviet delegation at the first stage included 5 commissioners - members of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee: A. A. Ioffe - chairman of the delegation, L. B. Kamenev (Rozenfeld) and G. Ya. Sokolnikov (Brilliant), SRs A. A. Bitsenko and S. D Maslovsky-Mstislavsky, 8 members of the military delegation, 3 translators, 6 technical officers and 5 ordinary members of the delegation (sailor, soldier, Kaluga peasant, worker, ensign of the fleet).
The armistice negotiations were overshadowed by a tragedy in the Russian delegation: during a private meeting of the Soviet delegation, a representative of the Headquarters in a group of military consultants, Major General V. E. Skalon, shot himself. Many Russian officers believed that he was crushed because of the humiliating defeat, the collapse of the army and the fall of the country.
Based on the general principles of the Decree on Peace, the Soviet delegation immediately proposed that the following program be adopted as the basis for negotiations:
- No forced 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 the peoples who were deprived of this independence during the war is being restored.
- National groups that did not have political independence before the war are guaranteed the opportunity to freely decide the question of belonging to any state or their state independence by means of a free referendum.
- Cultural-national and, under certain conditions, administrative autonomy of national minorities is ensured.
- Refusal of contributions.
- Solution of colonial issues on the basis of the above principles.
- Prevention of indirect restrictions on the freedom of weaker nations by stronger nations.
On December 28, the Soviet delegation left for Petrograd. The current state of affairs was discussed at a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b). By a majority of votes, it was decided to drag out the peace negotiations as long as possible, in the hope of an early revolution in Germany itself.
The Entente governments did not respond to an invitation to take part in peace negotiations.
Second phase
At the second stage of the negotiations, the Soviet Delegation was headed by L.D. Trotsky. The German high command expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the delay in peace negotiations, fearing the disintegration of the army. The Soviet delegation demanded that the governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary confirm their lack of intentions to annex any territories of the former Russian Empire - according to the Soviet delegation, the decision on the future fate of self-determining territories should be carried out by a popular referendum, after the withdrawal of foreign troops and return refugees and displaced persons. General Hoffmann in his response speech stated that the German government refuses to clear the occupied territories of Courland, Lithuania, Riga and the islands of the Gulf of Riga.
On January 18, 1918, General Hoffmann, at a meeting of the political commission, presented the conditions of the Central Powers: Poland, Lithuania, part of Belarus and Ukraine, Estonia and Latvia, the Moonsund Islands and the Gulf of Riga retreated in favor of Germany and Austria-Hungary. This allowed Germany to control the sea routes to the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia, as well as to develop an offensive against Petrograd. The Russian Baltic ports passed into the hands of Germany. The proposed border was extremely unfavorable for Russia: the absence of natural borders and the preservation of Germany's foothold on the banks of the Western Dvina near Riga in the event of war threatened to occupy all of Latvia and Estonia, threatened Petrograd. The Soviet delegation demanded a new interruption of the peace conference for another ten days in order to familiarize their government with the German demands. The self-confidence of the German delegation increased after the Bolsheviks dispersed the Constituent Assembly on January 19, 1918.
By mid-January 1918, a split was taking shape in the RSDLP(b): a group of "left communists" headed by N. I. Bukharin insisted on rejecting the German demands, and Lenin insisted on their acceptance, publishing the Theses on Peace on January 20. The main argument of the “left communists” is that without an immediate revolution in the countries of Western Europe, the socialist revolution in Russia will perish. They did not allow any agreements with the imperialist states and demanded that "revolutionary war" be declared on international imperialism. They declared their readiness "to accept the possibility of losing Soviet power" in the name of "the interests of the international revolution." The conditions proposed by the Germans, shameful for Russia, were opposed by: N. I. Bukharin, F. E. Dzerzhinsky, M. S. Uritsky, A. S. Bubnov, K. B. Radek, A. A. Ioffe, N. N. Krestinsky , N. V. Krylenko, N. I. Podvoisky and others. The views of the "left communists" were supported by a number of party organizations in Moscow, Petrograd, the Urals, etc. Trotsky preferred to maneuver between the two factions, putting forward an "intermediate" platform "neither peace, nor war "-" We stop the war, we do not conclude peace, we demobilize the army.
On January 21, Lenin gives a detailed justification for the need to sign peace, announcing his "Theses on the immediate conclusion of a separate and annexationist peace" (they were published only on February 24). 15 participants of the meeting voted for Lenin's theses, 32 people supported the position of the "Left Communists" and 16 - the position of Trotsky.
Before the departure of the Soviet delegation to Brest-Litovsk to continue negotiations, Lenin instructed Trotsky to drag out the negotiations in every possible way, but in the event that the Germans presented an ultimatum, peace would be signed.
IN AND. Lenin
On March 6-8, 1918, at the 7th emergency congress of the RSDLP (b), Lenin managed to persuade everyone to ratify the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Voting: 30 for ratification, 12 against, 4 abstentions. Following the results of the congress, the party was, at the suggestion of Lenin, renamed the RCP (b). The congress delegates were not acquainted with the text of the treaty. Nevertheless, on March 14-16, 1918, the IV Extraordinary All-Russian Congress of Soviets finally ratified the peace treaty, which was adopted by a majority of 784 votes against 261 with 115 abstentions and decided to transfer the capital from Petrograd to Moscow in connection with the danger of a German offensive. As a result, representatives of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Party left the Council of People's Commissars. Trotsky resigned.
L.D. Trotsky
Third stage
None of the Bolshevik leaders wanted to put their signature on the shameful treaty for Russia: Trotsky had resigned by the time of signing, Ioffe refused to go as part of a delegation to Brest-Litovsk. Sokolnikov and Zinoviev proposed each other's candidacies, Sokolnikov also refused the appointment, threatening to resign. But after long negotiations, Sokolnikov nevertheless agreed to lead the Soviet delegation. The new composition of the delegation: G. Ya. The delegation arrived in Brest-Litovsk on March 1 and two days later, without any discussion, signed the contract. The official ceremony of signing the agreement took place in the White Palace (the house of the Nemtsevichs in the village of Skokie, Brest region) and ended at 5 p.m. on March 3, 1918. And the German-Austrian offensive that began in February 1918 continued until March 4, 1918.
The signing of the Brest peace treaty took place in this palace
Terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Richard Pipes, an American scientist, doctor of historical sciences, professor of Russian history at Harvard University, described the terms of this agreement as follows: “The terms of the agreement were extremely burdensome. They made it possible to imagine what kind of peace the countries of the Quadruple Accord would have to sign if they lost the war … ". According to this treaty, Russia was obliged to make many territorial concessions by demobilizing its army and navy.
- The Vistula provinces, Ukraine, provinces with a predominantly Belarusian population, Estland, Courland and Livonia provinces, the Grand Duchy of Finland were torn away from Russia. Most of these territories were to become German protectorates or become part of Germany. Russia pledged to recognize the independence of Ukraine represented by the government of the UNR.
- In the Caucasus, Russia conceded the Kars region and the Batumi region.
- The Soviet government ended the war with the Ukrainian Central Council (Rada) of the Ukrainian People's Republic and made peace with it.
- The army and navy were demobilized.
- The Baltic Fleet was withdrawn from its bases in Finland and the Baltic.
- The Black Sea Fleet with all the infrastructure was transferred to the Central Powers.
- Russia paid 6 billion marks in reparations plus the payment of losses incurred by Germany during the Russian revolution - 500 million gold rubles.
- The Soviet government pledged to stop revolutionary propaganda in the Central Powers and allied states formed on the territory of the Russian Empire.
If the results of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk are translated into the language of numbers, it will look like this: a territory of 780,000 square meters was torn away from Russia. km with a population of 56 million people (a third of the population of the Russian Empire), on which before the revolution there were 27% of cultivated agricultural land, 26% of the entire railway network, 33% of the textile industry, 73% of iron and steel were smelted, 89% of coal was mined and 90% sugar; there were 918 textile factories, 574 breweries, 133 tobacco factories, 1685 distilleries, 244 chemical plants, 615 pulp mills, 1073 machine-building plants and 40% of industrial workers lived.
Russia was withdrawing all its troops from these territories, while Germany, on the contrary, was introducing them there.
Consequences of the Brest Peace
German troops occupied Kyiv
The advance of the German army was not limited to the zone of occupation defined by the peace treaty. Under the pretext of ensuring the power of the "legitimate government" of Ukraine, the Germans continued their offensive. On March 12, the Austrians occupied Odessa, on March 17 - Nikolaev, on March 20 - Kherson, then Kharkov, Crimea and the southern part of the Don region, Taganrog, Rostov-on-Don. A “democratic counter-revolution” movement began, proclaiming Socialist-Revolutionary and Menshevik governments in Siberia and the Volga region, an uprising of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries in July 1918 in Moscow and the transition of the civil war to large-scale battles.
The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, as well as the faction of “Left Communists” that had formed within the RCP(b), spoke of the “betrayal of the world revolution,” since the conclusion of peace on the Eastern Front objectively strengthened the conservative Kaiser regime in Germany. The Left SRs resigned from the Council of People's Commissars in protest. The opposition rejected Lenin's arguments that Russia could not but accept the German conditions in connection with the collapse of its army, putting forward a plan for the transition to a mass popular uprising against the German-Austrian invaders.
Patriarch Tikhon
The Entente powers took the concluded separate peace with hostility. On March 6, British troops landed in Murmansk. On March 15, the Entente announced the non-recognition of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, on April 5, Japanese troops landed in Vladivostok, and on August 2, British troops landed in Arkhangelsk.
But on August 27, 1918, in Berlin, in the strictest secrecy, a Russian-German supplementary treaty to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and a Russian-German financial agreement were concluded, which were signed on behalf of the government of the RSFSR by Plenipotentiary A. A. Ioffe, and on behalf of Germany - von P. Ginze and I. Krige.
Soviet Russia pledged to pay Germany, as compensation for damages and expenses for the maintenance of Russian prisoners of war, a huge indemnity of 6 billion marks (2.75 billion rubles), including 1.5 billion in gold (245.5 tons of pure gold) and credit obligations, 1 billion deliveries of goods. In September 1918, two "gold echelons" (93.5 tons of "pure gold" worth over 120 million gold rubles) were sent to Germany. Almost all Russian gold that arrived in Germany was subsequently transferred to France as an indemnity under the Versailles Peace Treaty.
Under the supplementary agreement, Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine and Georgia, renounced Estonia and Livonia, which, under the original agreement, were formally recognized as part of the Russian state, bargaining for itself the right to access the Baltic ports (Revel, Riga and Windau) and retaining Crimea, control over Baku , giving Germany a quarter of the products produced there. Germany agreed to withdraw its troops from Belarus, from the Black Sea coast, from Rostov and part of the Don basin, and also not to occupy any more Russian territory and not to support separatist movements on Russian soil.
On November 13, after the Allied victory in the war, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was annulled by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. But Russia could no longer take advantage of the fruits of the common victory and take a place among the winners.
Soon the withdrawal of German troops from the occupied territories of the former Russian Empire began. After the annulment of the Brest Treaty among the Bolshevik leaders, Lenin's authority became indisputable: “By perspicaciously accepting a humiliating peace that gave him the necessary time, and then collapsed under the influence of his own gravity, Lenin earned the broad confidence of the Bolsheviks. When on November 13, 1918 they tore up the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, following which Germany capitulated to the Western Allies, Lenin's authority in the Bolshevik movement was raised to an unprecedented height. Nothing better served his reputation as a man who made no political mistakes; never again did he have to threaten to resign in order to insist on his own,” R. Pipes wrote in his work “The Bolsheviks in the Struggle for Power”.
The civil war in Russia continued until 1922 and ended with the establishment of Soviet power in most of the territory of the former Russia, with the exception of Finland, Bessarabia, the Baltic States, Poland (including the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus that became part of it).
