| Brotfrieden Берестейський мир | |
|---|---|
 Signing of the Peace Treaty ofBrest-Litovsk during the night of 9-10 February 1918. Sitting in the middle from the left:Count Ottokar Czernin,Richard von Kühlmann andVasil Radoslavov | |
| Signed | 9 February [O.S. 27 January] 1918 |
| Location | Brest-Litovsk,Grodno Governorate (under German occupation)[1] |
| Signatories |  Ukrainian People's Republic |
| Languages | |
TheTreaty of Brest-Litovsk, also known as theBread Peace[a] (German:Brotfrieden[a]) orPeace of Brest (Ukrainian:Берестейський мир,romanized: Beresteiskyi myr, "BerestianPeace"), was signed on 9 February 1918 between theUkrainian People's Republic (UPR) and theCentral Powers (Germany,Austria-Hungary, theOttoman Empire, andBulgaria). It endedUkraine's involvement inWorld War I and saw the Central Powers recognise the UPR's sovereignty. The treaty, which followed thearmistice on the Eastern Front in December 1917, was signed at Brest-Litovsk (nowBrest,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 theBolsheviks.
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 theCentral Rada in Kiev (modernKyiv). The peace delegation fromSoviet Russia, led byLeon Trotsky, did not recognise the UPR delegation, instead recognising a delegation from theUkrainian People's Republic of Soviets based in Kharkov (modernKharkiv). Polish representatives from Congress Poland and Austrian Galicia also objected to several terms in the treaty (particularly the concession ofKholm 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 separateTreaty of Brest-Litovsk. The fact that Austria-Hungary justified recognising Ukrainian independence on the basis ofnational self-determination also had the unintended consequence of stimulating nationalist separatism amongst the ethnic minorities within its own borders, speeding up thedissolution of Austria-Hungary within the following nine months.[3]
After the treaty was signed, Austro-German troops intervened in Ukraine and helped drive out theRed Army by April 1918. The presence of Central Powers forces undermined the independence of the Rada and lead to establishment of theUkrainian State of HetmanPavlo Skoropadskyi. After the end of World War I and theUkrainian–Soviet War, the UPR's former territory was split between theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (absorbed into theSoviet Union) and independentPoland in theTreaty of Riga (1921). TheTreaty of Rapallo (1922) between Germany and Russia canceled Germany's recognition of the UPR.
Because of the civil unrest in the Russian Republic culminating in theOctober Revolution, theThird Universal of the Ukrainian Central Rada (20 November 1917) declared the formation of theUkrainian People's Republic under the government of theGeneral Secretariat of Ukraine. The latter announced elections for the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly to be held on 9 January 1918 and the first convocation on 22 January that year.
On 17 December 1917,Vladimir Lenin, as the head of theSovnarkom, released an ultimatum in which he accused theCentral Rada of disorganising the front lines, stopping "any troops going into the region of the Don, the Urals, or elsewhere"; sheltering political enemies such as the members of theCadet Party and those who had sided with Kaledine and requiring to "put an end to the attempts to crush the armies of the Soviet and of the Red Guard in Ukraine". Lenin gave twenty-four hours' notice to the government of what he called "the independent and bourgeois Republic of the Ukraine" to respond. Since Soviet armies were already in Ukraine, the government of Ukraine had to act quickly to preserve the sovereignty of the state.
"The only way to save the situation is by acting quickly and energetically with the Ukrainian delegation." (Czernin, personal diary, 4 Jan. 1918)[4]
"If this outrageous provisioning situation (...) continues, then in a few weeks we will certainly have a collapse and revolution." (Czernin toEmperor Charles, 15 Jan. 1918)[5]
"The entire fate of the Monarchy and the dynasty depends upon the earliest possible conclusion of peace at Brest-Litovsk... If the peace at Brest does not become reality, then there will be revolution here no matter how much there is to eat." (Emperor Charles toCzernin, 17 Jan. 1918)[6]
The UkrainianCentral Rada expressed a desire for a peace treaty with foreign countries and its recognition worldwide. Since the representatives of theBritish and theFrench Empires did not wish to recognise Ukrainian sovereignty, considering it as a part of their major ally, theRussian Empire, the treaty gave a chance for some recognition in the face of the Central Powers. Germany and Austria-Hungary gladly took the opportunity to bring in Ukraine as an ally. Austria-Hungary was edging towards a military victory on all fronts by late 1917,[7] but the Austrian political leadership had been getting increasingly desperate for food since late 1917, in order to feed its starving civilian population inCisleithania and prevent famine and large-scale civil unrest.[8] In peacetime,Transleithania (the Hungarian part of the Habsburg monarchy) provided 65% of Cisleithania's cereal imports, equal to 32% of Austria's requirements; but since the war broke out in 1914, Hungary had prioritised feeding its own population, and Hungarian grain and flour exports to Austria dropped to 2.4% of their pre-war average in 1917.[9]
By early 1918, getting food supplies and preventing popular revolt (as in Russia) dominated Austria-Hungary's foreign policy.[10] This undermined the Habsburgs' military leverage during the Brest-Litovsk peace negotiations, not just in the face of their enemies, but also towards their German allies, as both Central Powers sought to acquireCongress Poland.[10] Vienna desperately sought access to Ukraine's food supplies as soon as possible, as domestic demand for bread and peace soared during the winter of 1917–1918.[11] Hence, Czernin dubbed the proposed treaty with the Ukrainians as a "bread peace" (Brotfrieden).[12]
The peace negotiation was initiated on 3 December 1917 by theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic government, represented by a delegation headed by the Ukrainian-bornLeon Trotsky. The Centrals and Bolsheviks concluded theArmistice of 15 December 1917 (2 December 1917 according to theJulian calendar), which took effect on 17 December. Several resolutions were made from 22 to 26 December, and on 28 December 1917, anarmistice was signed suspending hostilities at the front lines.[citation needed] A Soviet government of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic had been formed inKharkiv on 17 December 1917. The final signing was being delayed by the Bolsheviks in the hope of reaching some agreement with theEntente treaty members.
On 1 January 1918, a Ukrainian delegation, headed byVsevolod Holubovych, arrived atBrest-Litovsk. The initial delegation besideMykola Liubynsky, Oleksandr Sevriuk, and Mykola Levytsky includedMykhailo Poloz. Initially, the Trotsky-led delegation on behalf of Soviet Russia recognised the delegation of the independent Ukraine People's Republic (UPR) on 10 January 1918.[13] On 12 January 1918, the AustrianCount Ottokar Czernin, representing the Central Powers, also recognised the independent delegation from the Ukrainian People's Republic.[14] But Czernin and Hungarian diplomatCsáky refused to discuss questions ofGalicia,Bucovina, andSubcarpathian Rus, which they considered internal Habsburg affairs.[14] They did acknowledge the claims of the Ukrainian People's Republic to theKholm Governorate (including Brest-Litovsk itself, where the peace talks were held), and the region ofPodlachia, causing protests from Polish stakeholders.[14][15]
On 20 January 1918, the Ukrainian delegation returned toKiev, where theCentral Rada proclaimed a fully-sovereign Ukrainian state on 25 January (dated 22 January). Soon, a new Ukrainian delegation was sent to Brest headed by Oleksandr Sevriuk. Meanwhile, Bolshevik revolts occurred inseveral cities in Ukraine, which more or less forced the Ukrainian People's Republic, which was lacking organised military forces, to seek foreign aid.[14] However, the situation for the Central Powers was also critical, especially forAustria-Hungary, which suffered severe food shortages.[13]
On 21 January 1918, the Bolshevik Russian delegation announced that the Kharkiv-based Bolshevik Ukrainian Republic of Soviets would be attending the peace talks, and began demanding that they should be recognised as the sole representatives of Ukraine rather than the Kyiv-based Central Rada's delegation.[16] On 1 February 1918, a plenary session of the Congress was indeed attended by the Kharkiv Bolshevik delegatesYukhym Medvediev andVasyl' Shakhrai.[14] But the Central Powers continued to negotiate with the delegation from the Ukrainian People's Republic as the sole representatives of Ukraine,[14] regarding the Kharkiv delegation as a Bolshevik ploy to prevent the Centrals from concluding their agreement with the UNR.[17] Previously, Czernin had tried not to make national self-determination a guiding principle during the talks, given the risk of precluding an Austro-Polish union and stimulating nationalist separatism within the Habsburg empire.[16] However, by early February, he had exhausted all other means of obtaining emergency food supplies, and he could only proceed by granting Ukrainian self-determination, acknowledging their territorial claims on Chełm and pledging a new autonomous Ruthenian crownland in eastern Galicia and Bukovina; in exchange for much-needed grain exports to Cisleithania.[15] The danger that the famine-borne popular riots in Austria could escalate into a full-blown revolution that threatened the very survival of the Habsburg state was greater than that posed by antagonising the Polish nationalists, the Russian and Ukrainian Bolsheviks, the German allies, and Austria's own quest to acquire Congress Poland as its prize for the war.[15]
Although the Central Rada had to evacuate from Kyiv on 8 February when the capital was overcome by Bolshevik troops, a peace treaty was signed between the Centrals and the People's Republic on the night of 8–9 February, despite protests by Bolshevik delegates from Kharkiv and Moscow.
A special edition (Extrablatt) of the German newspaperLübeckische Anzeigen printed an announcement on "Peace with Ukraine": "Today on 9 February 1918 at 2 o'clock in the morning the Peace between theQuadruple Alliance and theUkrainian People's Republic was signed".[18]
| Ukraine | German Empire | Austria-Hungary | Bulgaria | Ottoman Empire | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head of delegation | Sevriuk [uk] | Foreign state secretary | von Kühlmann | Foreign Minister | Czernin | Prime Minister | Radoslavov | Grand Vizier | Mehmed Talat |
| Foreign Minister | Liubynsky | Ober Ost | Hoffmann | Ambassador | Toshev | I. Hakki Pasha | |||
| Levytsky [uk] | I. Stoianovich | A. Nessimi Bey | |||||||
| Economical Adviser | Ostapenko | T. Anastasov P. Ganchev | Ahmed İzzet Pasha | ||||||
Within days of the treaty's signing, an army of over 450,000 men from the Central Powers entered Ukraine, and after only a month, most of the Bolshevik troops had left the country without any significant resistance. Soon after the takeover of Kiev by Ukrainian and German troops, the Tsentralna Rada could return to Kiev on 2 March.[19]
The treaty recognised the following as theUkrainian People's Republic's boundaries: in the west, the 1914 Austro-Hungarian–Russian boundary, which excluded the UkrainianGalicia in the new Ukrainian state; in the north, the line running fromTarnogród,Biłgoraj,Szczebrzeszyn,Krasnystaw,Radzyń Podlaski andMiędzyrzec Podlaski in the presentLublin Voivodeship (Poland); Sarnaki, in the presentMasovian Voivodeship (Poland) andKamyanyets andPruzhany, in the presentBrest Region (Belarus). The exact boundaries were to be determined by a mixed commission on the basis of ethnic composition and the will of the inhabitants (Article 2).[20] According to the census conducted by the Austrian troops in 1916 in these areas (counties of Biłgoraj, Chełm, Hrubieszów, Tomaszów, Zamość) the Catholic population constituted from 65 to 85%, the people speaking Polish from 78 to 98% of the total population, while the Orthodox population constituted from 2 to 10%, and the people speaking Ruthenian from 0 to 3% of the total population.[21]
The treaty also provided for the regulated evacuation of the occupied regions (Article 3), the establishment of diplomatic relations (Article 4), mutual renunciation of war reparations (Article 5), the return of prisoners of war (Article 6) and the exchange of interned civilians and the renewal of public and private legal relations (Article 8). Article 7 provided for the immediate resumption of economic relations and trade and also set down the principles of accounting and tariffs.[20]
Austria-Hungary and the Ukrainian People's Republic also signed a secret agreement regardingGalicia andBukovina. Austria-Hungary agreed to unify by 31 July 1918 into one crownland the areas of eastern Galicia and Bukovina in which the Ukrainian population predominated, but on 4 July Austria-Hungary annulled the secret agreement under the pretext that Ukraine had not delivered to it the amount of grain promised under the treaty, but it is believed to be really the result ofPolish pressure.[14] On the other hand the reason for annulment was that after the Vienna's requested to keep the agreement secret, Sevriuk excited with signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk disclosed the information to the Ukrainians of Lemberg (Lviv). The revelation of the secret in such way led Austro-Hungarians to destroy the copy of the agreement and later denied existence of it in any way, while Czernin soon resigned.[22]
The Central Powers signed a separateTreaty of Brest-Litovsk with theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic on 3 March 1918. Russia agreed to recognise the concluded treaty with the Ukrainian People's Republic and to sign a peace treaty with Ukraine immediately to define the borders between Russia and Ukraine without delay, to clear the Ukrainian territory of Russian troops and the RussianRed Guard and to put an end to all agitation or propaganda against the government or the public institutions of the Ukrainian People's Republic (article 6).[23]
The treaty immediately caused much opposition among Poles, particularly those in Austria-Hungary. Polish politicians in the Austrian Parliament immediately began their protests, paralysing it; civil servants began a strike; and spontaneous demonstrations took place in various cities and towns. Most notably, thePolish Auxiliary Corps refused to follow imperial orders, and, after theBattle of Rarańcza, broke through the front lines to join Polish forces in theRussian Civil War. Although the imperial and royal government in Vienna withdrew from parts of the treaty on 4 March 1918, the damage inflicted on any remaining sense of loyalty or trust towards the monarchy among the Poles was devastating and beyond repairability, while the pro-Habsburg and anti-independence faction of the Polish politicians participating in the government suffered total humiliation and irreversible discreditation in the eyes of the Polish population which ceased to regard any possible Austro-Polish Solution as a viable option, focusing instead entirely on re-establishing independence.[24]
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk provided the Ukrainian People's Republic with German and Austro-Hungarian military aid in clearing Bolshevik forces from Ukraine in February–April 1918, but the treaty also meant that theEntente Powers suspended relations with the Ukrainian People's Republic.
Soon, however, the invited foreign forces from the Central Powers were seen as occupiers by a major part of the Ukrainian population and also parts of theTsentralna Rada. In late April, the German Supreme Commander in Ukraine,Hermann von Eichhorn, issued an order making Ukrainians subject to German military courts for offenses against German interests, the First Ukrainian Division (theBlue coats) was disarmed and German soldiers even arrested two ministers after they had criticised the German actions. The final break with the Tsentralna Rada came on 29 April, when GeneralPavlo Skoropadskyi declared himselfhetman of the Ukrainian state.[25]
TheTreaty of Rapallo of 1922 betweenGermany andSoviet Russia canceled the German commitments made at Brest-Litovsk. The disintegration of Austria-Hungary in late 1918 automatically annulled its commitments.Turkey renounced the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk by signing a treaty with theUkrainian SSR in 1922. OnlyBulgaria, as far as is known, did not formally annul the treaty.[14]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
