The Treaty of Brest-Litvosk was the peace treaty between Russia and the Triple Alliance signed on March 3, 1918. It confirmed Russia's surrender from World War 1 following the Bolshevik revolution.
By October 26, 1917, the Bolsheviks had signed a Decree on Peace with hopes of coming to a peace agreement with Germany. The Russians had gone through tremendous financial issues that was bound to follow a war. One of the reasons the Bolsheviks were able to come to power was due to their eagerness to end the war while the provisional government, between Febuary and November of 1917, had kept Russia in the war. The people no longer wanted this burden and Lenin promised 'peace at any price' in order to keep the Bolsheviks in power.
Lenin's 'peace at any price' really became reality when the Treaty of Brest Litvosk was signed. Russia lost one sixth of its population by giving up huge pieces of land to the Germans. 27% of quality farmland and 74% of iron and coal reserves were given up. Much of the Russian held territories in Europe were given up to Germany.
This treaty allowed Lenin to focus on consolidation of power within Russia instead of the war front. Lenin was able to maintain power over the Bolshevik party and brought revitalized support from pockets of Russians. The loss of resources, territory and population did hurt the Bolshevik regime at first, but by the end of the war in 1918 the treaty was annulled with the loss of Germany. Temporarily, Lenin did see a drop in followers as Russians who were 'lost' turned to anti-Bolshevism and even pushed to continue the war instead. Increases in opposition ultimately led to the Russian Civil War. Germany saw the treaty as one of the 'greatest successes of world history.' For the few remaining months of the war, this gave Germany a large boost in morale as the amount of land and resources increased to help the raging war. The two front war that Germany had feared was no longer a issue and focus could be put on the western front.
Treaty of Versailles:
The Treaty of Versailles was a treaty made solely for Germany following the end of World War 1. After months of deliberation, the terms were finally accepted and signed on June 28th, 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. The allied countries each had their own aims within the treaty with respect to the losses experienced in the war. Each country laid blame on Germany.
Britain sacrifice many resources and lives for the sake of the war. The deaths of about 1 million British led the people to demand the death of the Kaiser. The British government saw it differently. Although they equally laid blame on Germany, Prime Minister Lloyd George wanted to maintain the Germany economy instead of decimating the Germany economy. The British, perhaps because of their isolation from Germany, wanted sensible amounts of monetary reparations and military reductions. Germany was to remain a great economic power, to encourage European trades, and also have an army capable of defending itself. The German colonies and territories, in contrast, were to be divided among the victors. Finally, Britain supported the League of Nations, which would act as a peace keeping organization. Germany would join the league after she has displayed a peaceful nature.
In general, the French had aims of a similar structure to that of Britain, but at a more extreme level. France was not as lucky as Britain. They were not an island off the Western coast of Europe. At times during the war, the French home front was also the war front. Most of the fighting fought in World War 1 was on French soil, so understandably the French would loathe diplomacy towards Germany. Territories and colonies would also be taken and divided among the winners. The Saar, with its coal and iron mines, would be given to France to help industrialize. Alsace and Lorraine would return to France after being stolen in the France-Prussian war. Reparation payments would be so great, the army entirely dismantled so that Germany could never rise again to threaten France. The League of Nations was seen as pointless and Germany should not be allowed to join .
The United States, being on a separate continent from much of the events of World War 1, took on the stance of isolationism. The people made demands to separate themselves from the European problems, but President Woodrow Wilson had different aspirations. He thought that the previously German territories should be given the right to determine its own future through plebiscites. Colonies would be controlled under by the League through mandates supervised by the allies. Reparation payments would be kept low to prevent aggravating Germany into a state of vengeance (perhaps this was to keep France and Britain in debt to USA). The USA also wanted the German army to dismantle, but also every other country as this would ensure world peace. The League of Nations, originating from Woodrow Wilson, must be set up under the treaty and Germany was allowed to join if they proved they were peaceful.
Key Terms of the Treaty of Versailles:
- German colonies were split among the allies. Alsace-Lorrain returned to France. Saar Plebiscite controlled by League for 15 years but coal mines were run by France. West Prussia to Poland to split Germany.
- Reparations not decided at Versailles but German signed a 'blank check.' Later decided to be 6,600 million pounds in 1921
- Germany army was sizable at about 100,000 men. Tanks, submarines and conscription banned. Navy only had 6 warships. Airforce dismantled
- Rhineland demilitarised and German military permanently prohibited from entering
- League of Nations set up to maintain peace and solve international conflicts.
- Germany was to blame for war
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