There are many myths around the Brest Peace. Some historians blame the Bolsheviks for "depriving Russia of a well-deserved victory." By concluding the Brest Peace Treaty, Russia lost its territory and paid indemnity. But a country whose army has lost its combat capability is forced to conclude peace. Otherwise, the continuation of the war could be a greater disaster than the conclusion of peace at any cost. Those who accused the Bolsheviks proceed from the fact that in 1918 the Russian army could continue the war. Is it so?
It started in February
After the February Revolution, the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies on March 1 (14), 1917, issued Order No. 1. He ordered parts of the capital's garrison to elect soldiers' committees to control the commanders; issue weapons only by order of committees; established the subordination of the units of the garrison to the Soviet, etc. As a result, not officers, but soldiers' committees became the main ones in the army. By order of May 9, 1917, the Socialist-Revolutionary AF Kerensky, Minister of War and Navy of the Provisional Government, put into effect the "Declaration of the Rights of the Soldier", thereby legitimizing the elected army and naval committees. So during the war, the Provisional Government began a liberal experiment on the army.
The commanders of the units of the Western Front in late March - early April 1917 reported a "catastrophic decline in discipline" and "mistrust between officers and soldiers." The army was falling apart. This is also evidenced by the reports of the Headquarters on the mood in the army. The army was poorly controlled and did not want to fight. The Bolsheviks practically did not take part in these events. Only after Lenin's arrival in Russia in April 1917 did they manage to launch their agitation. The number of Bolsheviks at that time was about 24 thousand. How could they disintegrate an army of 10 million? The Bolsheviks campaigned freely for only 4 months: after the July speech, their organizations were crushed, and the leaders fled or were arrested. The Bolsheviks resumed their activities only in August-September 1917.
Lenin - a German spy?
Some believe in the version that was spread by the Provisional Government, they say, Lenin is a German spy. The main evidence is the memorandum of the German Foreign Minister R. Kühlmann of November 20, 1917. “We were faced with the task of gradually weakening Russia … Only when the Bolsheviks began to receive a constant flow of funds from us through various channels and under various guises did they find themselves in able to create their own organ - "Pravda", to carry out energetic propaganda ". But no documents on the transfer of money to the Bolsheviks appeared. Often denouncers of the Bolsheviks refer to documents from the so-called. "Sisson Foundation", although most scholars have recognized these documents as a forgery.
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Is it possible to take the Reichminister at his word, without supporting documents? But these are just words. Moreover, if Germany was so rich that it was able to finance the revolution in Russia, then why did it not save itself from the revolution? The Kaiser's regime collapsed a year after the October Revolution in Russia, and was also provoked by it.
There is no point in denying that the Bolsheviks used aid from abroad (American subsidies to Trotsky, money from American oil workers, etc.). But almost all Russian parties have benefited from foreign aid. And from the Provisional Government only foreign loans amounted to 1.8 billion rubles (4 billion German marks). Hundreds of times more than the Bolsheviks allegedly received. But this did not help them retain power.
Fight for peace
At the suggestion of the Bolsheviks on October 26 (November 8), 1917, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets adopted the "Decree on Peace." Negotiations began with Germany. The Germans declared that peace "without annexations and indemnities" is possible only with the consent of the Western powers. And they said that Russia should recognize the occupied lands of Poland and the Baltic states as "self-determined", that they expressed a desire to be with Germany. Then they added Finland and Ukraine to these territories.
The Bolsheviks came to power under the slogan of immediate peace, therefore they insisted on ending the war even by partially losing the country's territory - so as not to lose everything. But the leading majority spoke in favor of continuing the "revolutionary" war with Germany and Austria-Hungary - until the victory of the revolution and there. Trotsky's curious point of view won out - Russia does not sign the world on such conditions, but does not wage war and dissolves the army. He hoped that if Germany continued the war with Russia, the outraged "German proletariat" would overthrow the Kaiser's rule. The Russian army took Trotsky's statement as demobilization.
And Germany resumed the offensive and seized more and more territories. The Bolsheviks were forced to agree with Lenin's proposal to conclude peace. As a result, Germany offered even more difficult conditions, and Russia was forced to accept them. On March 3, 1918, according to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Russia lost Poland, the Baltic States, Finland, Ukraine, the region in the Caucasus, and, moreover, had to pay an indemnity.
Simultaneously with the beginning of the Brest talks in Paris, Anglo-French consultations on the "Russian question" were opened. Their memorandum spoke about the need to keep in touch with the breakaway from Russia "Ukraine, Finland, Siberia, Caucasus"; to provide subsidies "for the reorganization of Ukraine"; create a barrier from Armenia and Georgia on the path of Pan-Turkism. It was assumed that Ukraine will remain "the field of activity of France"; England "will take over the other southeastern regions of the country." That is, in fact, England and France entered into a secret agreement on the division into spheres of influence of Russia - a country that was still considered their ally in the war! This pact was an outright conspiracy of the Western powers at the expense of a weakened Russia.
alternative history
To what extent did the Brest-Litovsk Peace correspond to Russia's interests? Perhaps the continuation of the war would have led to fewer losses?
Germany could not advance in the east for a long time, she needed troops in the west. And the advance of German troops in Russia had to stop. But Germany would hardly have stopped the war with Russia - it would have simply shifted it onto the shoulders of its puppets, such as, for example, the German protege Ataman Krasnov, who in 1918 waged a war with the RSFSR in the south. If the war with Germany continued, there would be more such Krasnovs. The defeat of Germany in the First World War would not have ended the Civil War in Russia. Moreover, given the position of the allies and their support for the separatists, Russia then might not have survived as a single power.
It should also be borne in mind that a great role in the defeat of Germany was played by the revolutionary example of Russia and the decomposition of the Kaiser's army by the "infection of Bolshevism." This could not have happened if the October Revolution had not happened. Then Germany would hardly have been defeated on the Western Front until the end of 1918. Could Russia have fought further?
Continuation of the war would have cost hundreds of thousands of casualties. Moreover, all the problems raised by the revolution would not have gone anywhere. Being driven into the depths, they would again make themselves felt, so that the Civil War, and in this case, would be difficult to avoid.
End of the world
The defeat of Germany and the Compiegne armistice declared the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty null and void, and two days later, on November 13, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets, by its decree, also annulled the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty. Article 12 of the armistice provided for the withdrawal of German troops from all Russian territories. But with a proviso: "When the allies decide that the moment has come for this, taking into account the internal state of these territories." The secret addition to Article 12 stated that the "moment" when the "allies decide" would come when they could be replaced by the Entente forces or the government it recognized. The troops friendly to the Entente meant the troops of the separatists. The agreement between the Entente and Germany created the conditions for the dismemberment of Russia. But the further presence of German troops in Russia threatened them with decomposition with the ideas of Bolshevism. Without waiting for the Entente's approach, they were forced to surrender the territory of the Red Army.
The Brest-Litovsk Peace provided Germany with the means to continue the war. If it were not for the October Revolution in Russia and the subsequent occupation of part of its territory, for which Germany had to allocate up to 50 divisions, then Germany could have fought longer. In 1919, exhausted France could go to a separate peace, fearing the strengthening of its Anglo-Saxon allies after the war, but this was prevented by the November revolution in Germany.
However, even if old Russia found its way to victory in the war, the West would try to cut its fruits as much as possible. Russia would face opposition from former allies who did not want to strengthen it. In the same way as it happened and is happening throughout our history.
Boris VOLODIN, Evgeny MIRONOV
