The ending of involvement in the First World War (5) Flashcards
The Bolsheviks come to power promising?
Peace
Why was peace not going to be an option?
Because the Russians were being pushed back by the Germans and that Germany was already occupying a large swath of Russian territory.
What did Trotsky think about the situation with Germany?
Trotsky bulked the idea of making a peace that would involve harsh terms for Russia.
Ideologically what did Lenin think?
Lenin was convinced that revolution would soon engulf Germany and that German workers would join their comrades in Russia in creating a new world, rather than continue fighting them.
What did Lenin know about the Russian army?
That the Russian army couldn’t stop the Germans.
What did Lenin think to do with Germans?
Compromise with the enemy seemed the only way forward and a price working paying to preserve what the Bolsheviks already accomplished.
When did Trotsky negotiate an armistice with the Germans?
At the beginning of December 1917.
What did Bukharin lead?
The “revolutionary war group” of those who believed the Russians should fight on in order to defend socialism and Russia itself.
What did Trotsky do?
He dragged the proceedings out.
Why did Trotsky drag the proceedings?
Hoping the Germans would experience their own revolution before peace was signed particularly if the German war effort in France and Belgium failed.
What did Trotsky call his approach?
“Neither peace nor war”
When was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed?
3rd March 1918, ratified by an emergency Party Congress.
Name a term of the treaty?
Russia lost lands such as Finland, Estonia, Georgia, and Ukraine.
What did this loss of land amount to?
Lost a sixth of the Russian population (62 million) and 2 million square kilometers of land including the area that produced almost a third of Russia’s agriculture produce.
What did Russia also loose other than land?
Lost 26% of Russia’s railway lines and 74% of its iron ore and coal supplies.
