Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of

Bilateral treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and Germany, Austria-Hungary, and their allies. Under its terms, Russia agreed to recognize the independence of Georgia, Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic States, and to pay heavy compensation. Under the November 1918 armistice that ended World War I, it was annulled, since Russia was one of the winning allies.

The Russians had lost millions of men as a result of poor leadership, poor training, and a severe shortage of weapons that saw some regiments go into battle with only 30% of their soldiers armed. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, the provisional government under Alexander Kerensky had chosen to continue a war that by now had become extremely unpopular. This decision contributed to the Bolshevik's victory over the provisional government in October 1917, the second phase of the Russian Revolution. The Bolshevik leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin sent Leon Trotsky to negotiate with the Germans and Austrians, with orders to make peace at any cost. However, the Russians viewed their losses at Brest-Litovsk as only temporary, as they believed that Germany would soon be defeated in the west.

For Germany and Austria-Hungary the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk marked the highest point of the war, as they gained vast areas of land and forced one of their greatest enemies to surrender. With Russia defeated on the Eastern Front, Germany was able to transfer hundreds of thousands of soldiers to bolster its forces on the Western Front. However, the treaty came too late to save the German war effort. Within eight months the blockade of Germany and the intervention of the USA on the Allied side had led to German defeat.