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Treaty of Brest Litovsk Facts

Treaty of Brest Litovsk Facts
The Treat of Brest Litovsk was a peace treaty signed by the newly installed Communist government of Russia with the Central Powers on March 3, 1918 during World War I. It was named for the town where the treaty was signed, German held Brest-Litovsk, now Brest, Belarus. The treat was important because not only did it officially take Russia out of the war, but large parts of Russian territory became independent of Russia and other parts, such as the Baltic territories, were ceded to Germany. Russia also ceded some of its territory to the Ottoman Turks. Although the new Communist government in Russia didn't view the Germans or the other Central Powers as friends, it had a precarious hold at best over the country. It needed to secure its international border in order to consolidate the Bolshevik/Communist Revolution. Ending Russian involvement in the war was also one of the primary points that drove Bolshevik/Communist propaganda. Although Russia leaving the Allies hurt their cause, they were replaced with the United States' entry into the war.
Interesting Treaty of Brest Litovsk Facts:
The Bolsheviks were actually a minority within the numerous communist and socialist groups in Russia at the time, but they were much better organized.
The Bolsheviks came to power in Russia on November 8, 1917 with Vladimir Lenin as their leader and the new head of the Communist Russian state.
Lenin and the Communist Party began negotiations with the Central Powers on December 22, 1917.
Adolph Joffe represented Communist Russia in the negotiations.
The official name of the new Russian state, in English, was the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
Among the chief negotiators for the Central Powers were the following: Richard von Kühlman for Germany, Ottokar Czernin for Austria-Hungary, and Mehmed Talat for the Ottoman Empire.
The city of Brest Litovsk was heavily contested in World War I by the Russians and the Central Powers. After the Germans ultimately drove the Russians from the city in 1915, the Russian employed a scorched earth strategy by burning much of the city as they retreated.
The negotiations were held in a fortress in the city and the negotiators were housed in hastily built wooden structures in the fort's courtyard.
Germany was of course led the negotiations for the Central Powers, which caused some minor conflicts with the Austro-Hungarians, especially over grain shipments that the latter expected to get from the newly conquered territories in the east.
Girgori Sokolnikov signed the agreement for Communist Russia.
Finland, which had long been ruled by Russia and Sweden before that, became an independent state as a result of the treaty.
Poland, which had been partitioned between Germany and Russia before World War I, once again became an independent nation-state.
Armenia also became an independent nation-state, which quickly grew in population from ethnic Armenians fleeing the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. The genocide was aggravated when the Ottomans invaded Armenia in May 1918.
Lenin moved the capital from Petrograd (St. Petersburg) to Moscow after the treaty was signed.


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