Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

The peace treaty signed at Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 was a humiliation for Russia. Soviet Russia ceded to Germany vast territories, including Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Soviet Russia had to give recognition to the independence of Finland, Georgia, and the Ukraine. Reparations of 6 billion Marks were exacted in instalments. It deprived Russia of nearly one third of her agricultural land and population, more than three fifths of her iron-ore and coal production, and one half of her industrial plants. By a single treaty, Russian territorial gains over the past centuries, dating back to Peter the Great, were wiped out. Russia was pushed back and virtually cut off from the Baltic. The treaty was annulled under the terms of the German armistice in November 1918.

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Russian Revolution; Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of

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