On 15 December [O.S. 2 December] 1917, an armistice was signed between the Russian Republic led by the Bolsheviks on the one side, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire—the Central Powers—on the other. The armistice took effect two days later, on 17 December [O.S. 4 December]. By this agreement, Russia de facto exited World War I, although fighting would briefly resume before the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on 3 March 1918, and Russia made peace.
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👉 Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers in the context of Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, which followed months of negotiations after the armistice on the Eastern Front in December 1917, was signed at Brest-Litovsk (now Brest, Belarus).
The Soviet delegation was initially headed by Adolph Joffe, and key figures from the Central Powers included Max Hoffmann and Richard von Kühlmann of Germany, Ottokar Czernin of Austria-Hungary, and Talaat Pasha of the Ottoman Empire. In January 1918, the Central Powers demanded secession of all occupied territories of the former Russian Empire. The Soviets sent a new peace delegation led by Leon Trotsky, which aimed to stall the negotiations while awaiting revolutions in Central Europe. A renewed Central Powers offensive launched on February 18 captured large territories in the Baltic region, Belarus, and Ukraine and forced the Soviet side to sue for peace.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers
- 👉 Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers in the context of Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers in the context of Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Ukraine–Central Powers)
- Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers in the context of Separate peace
Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers in the context of Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Ukraine–Central Powers)
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, also known as the Bread Peace (German: Brotfrieden) or Peace of Brest (Ukrainian: Берестейський мир, romanized: Beresteiskyi myr, "Berestian Peace"), was signed on 9 February 1918 between the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria). It ended Ukraine's involvement in World War I and saw the Central Powers recognise the UPR's sovereignty. The treaty, which followed the armistice on the Eastern Front in December 1917, was signed at Brest-Litovsk (now Brest, Belarus). The Bread Peace fixed the Austro-Hungarian–Ukrainian border on the line of 1914 and made provision for a joint commission to determine the border with Poland. The Central Powers secured grain and other goods from the UPR in return for providing military assistance against the Bolsheviks.
While various negotiators at Brest-Litovsk were seeking to establish a general peace, the Austro-Hungarian delegation was in desperate need of getting access to Ukrainian foodstuffs to address a disastrous famine unfolding amongst its military and civilian population, choosing to sign a separate peace first with the Ukrainian People's Republic delegation, sent from the Central Rada in Kiev (modern Kyiv). The peace delegation from Soviet Russia, led by Leon Trotsky, did not recognise the UPR delegation, instead recognising a delegation from the Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets based in Kharkov (modern Kharkiv). Polish representatives from Congress Poland and Austrian Galicia also objected to several terms in the treaty (particularly the concession of Kholm Governorate to Ukraine), and the fact that the Central Powers chose to conclude a separate peace with Ukraine rather than working out a general peace treaty. As a result, negotiations between the other parties broke down on 10 February, and it would take until 3 March 1918 until the Central Powers and Soviet Russia concluded their own separate Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The fact that Austria-Hungary justified recognising Ukrainian independence on the basis of national self-determination also had the unintended consequence of stimulating nationalist separatism amongst the ethnic minorities within its own borders, speeding up the dissolution of Austria-Hungary within the following nine months.
Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers in the context of Separate peace
A separate peace is an agreement by one nation to cease military hostilities with another, even though allies of the former country remain at war with the latter country. For example, at the start of the First World War, Russia was a member of the Triple Entente. After the February Revolution and the October Revolution, Russia defaulted on its commitments to the Triple Entente by signing a separate peace with Germany and its allies in 1917. This armistice was followed on March 3, 1918, by the formal signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
During the Second World War, after 1941, when the Soviets were allied with the British and the Americans, to the end of the war in 1945, both sides suspected the other of seeking separate peace with Germany, though this did not occur.