Academic literature on the topic 'Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918)'

Abstract: This paper examines the content of Part III, Section XIV of the Versailles Peace Treaty which dealt with Russia and ‘the Russian States', i. e. States that in 1919 were in the process of secession from Russia. The obvious link between the Versailles Peace Treaty and the earlier German-Soviet Brest-Litovsk Treaty of 1918 is illuminated as far as sovereignty in Eastern Europe is concerned. Moreover, the often less discussed nexus between the Versailles Peace Treaty's Section XIV and the German-Soviet Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocols of 1939 is examined. If the Versailles Peace Treaty was the anti-Brest-Litovsk Treaty, then the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact the anti-Versailles Treaty in Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, sovereignty in Eastern Europe as we know it after 1989 and 1991 was to an important extent shaped at Versailles in 1919 which is a continuing legacy of the Versailles Peace Treaty.

This paper analyzes German eastern policy in the years 1917 and 1918. It shows the German concept for the future of Poland and Lithuania that only took shape after German armies had occupied these countries. The Polish question remained the main problem for the German leadership not being able to decide how to cope with Polish national aspirations without ceding part of territory of the German Empire. The collapse of Russia and the two revolutions in 1917 still widened the German aspiration in the East culminating in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that clearly revealed German ambitions.

The editorial board continues to publish the most significant documents, which characterize the status and progress of the Ukrainian national liberation movement, its vision in other countries in the early 20th century. The documents from the first book «Events in Ukraine 1914–1922 their importance and historical background» were published in Volume 39 of the Scientific journal. We publish the papers from the second book in current volume. We have selected 10 documents that chronologically cover the period from January 17 to May 9, 1918, and reproduce the vision of the Ukrainian problem by the ruling circles of Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany, as well as the efforts of Ukrainian public-political figures aimed at the election of Ukraineʼs independence, reproduce the atmosphere of negotiations in Brest-Litovsk. The Austrian drafts of the imperial manifesto on the occasion of the peace treaty with Ukraine and the protocols of meetings of the German, Austrian and Ukrainian delegations during the preparation of the peace treaty are presented as the first 4 documents. The text of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty signed on 9February, 1918 is the fifth document. The following five documents characterize the attitude of Soviet Russia and Poland to the provisions of the Treaty, as well as Germany’s attitude to the state affiliation of the Kholmshchyna. These documents will be useful for both students and researchers of international relations and history of Ukraine in the early 20th century. Whereas we have selected documents from different parts of the book, we stored their serial numbers. Page numbers are shown in square brackets after the text. The language, style of the headings and captions, cursive and text selection are all preserved. Also, for convenience of possible use by interested persons, we submit to them a list of abbreviations from the second book in the original. Keywords: Austro-Hungarian Empire, Brest-Litovsk peace treaty, Galicia, Germany, Ukraine, The Ukrainian Peopleʼs Republic, Ukrainian national movement, Ukrainians, Kholmshchyna.

The topic of study is important due to the expediency of drawing the attention of historians to the facts showing that separated Peace Treaty between the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the states of the Fourth Alliance was a strategic defeat of Ukraine. The Bolshevik October coup of 1917 created a unique opportunity for Ukraine to become an independent state. The solution to this problem rested in hands of people and nation leaders of Ukraine in extremely tough and crucial times. However, no talented strategists assessed Ukraine’s position from the point of view of the state prospects and off ered the right historical choice. Not wishing to support the “imperialist” plans of the Entente, sheltering behind demagogic slogans of universal peace, the socialist leaders of the Ukrainian Central Council decided, it would be better to withdraw Ukraine from the war ensuring stability and peace in its territory. Under such circumstance the Ukrainian People’s Republic signed a separate peace treaty with the states of the Fourth Alliance and in fact became its ally. Consequently, the Entente started treating Ukraine as a country of a hostile camp and corresponding policy was pursued at the Paris Peace Conference. The fatal decision led to the future loss of national statehood of Ukraine, which in the historical perspective had tragic consequences to the Ukrainian people. Our study in a long run calls for a thorough historical analysis of all circumstances associated with a change in foreign policy of the Ukrainian Central Council and its consequences, critical rethinking of past experience in connection with current problems of the implementation of Ukraine’s foreign policy, as well as consideration of mistakes and miscalculations of the diplomatic struggle.

The article provides an analysis of the socio-political and diplomatic activities of Dmytro Levytskyi in 1914–1923, such as participation in revolutionary events in the Dnieper region in 1917–1918; directions of his diplomatic activity in Denmark in 1919–1920; priorities of emigration community work in Vienna in 1921–1922. It was noted that during the national liberation struggle, he, along with other leading figures of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR), did his best to establish the statehood and unification of Ukrainian lands. However, numerous miscalculations of leaders of the young state in the domestic and foreign policies made it impossible to realize the primordial aspirations of Ukrainians. The author presents a review of Dmytro Levytskyi's political views and activities: he welcomed the formation of the Central Council of Ukraine, the proclamation of the independence of the UNR, the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk; as a member of the Galicia-Bukovyna Council he joined the Ukrainian National Union, which advocated the overthrow of the Hetman's power; due to his permanent stay in the capital of the UNR, he did not take an active part in the November disruption, 1918, and the formation of state institutions of the West Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR). However, the ZUNR leadership used his acquaintance with prominent figures of the UNR for establishing bilateral relations with the UNR Directory with the further prospect of unification of two Ukrainian states. Keywords Dmytro Levytskyi, Ukrainian Revolution, Unification of the UNR and ZUNR, diplomatic activity.

On 9 February 1918, at Brest-Litovsk, the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire) concluded an unusually favorable treaty with the government of the Ukrainian Central Rada. By its terms, in exchange for diplomatic recognition and military support against a Russian Bolshevik invasion of the Ukraine, Rada negotiators placed at the disposal of the Central Powers, but primarily Germany, a surplus of foodstuffs and agricultural products estimated at 1,000,000 tonnes. The Brotfrieden, or bread peace, as this arrangement is generally known, had three significant repercussions. First, it greatly undermined Leon Trotsky's bargaining position and obstructionist tactics, forcing the Bolsheviks to accept German terms on 3 March 1918. Second, by acquiring a rich granary, and thus no longer fearing defeat through starvation, it enabled Germany to break the iron ring of the Allied blockade. And, third, it made it impossible for the Ukraine to receive a favorable hearing or reception from the Western (French, English and American) Allies at the peace conference.

The first months of Soviet power raise important questions about the ideology of the transition to socialism and about the nature of Bolshevik power. The destruction of the old state apparatus was accompanied by vigorous institution building; the “red guard attack against capital” was balanced by the emergence of potentially powerful Soviet economic apparatus. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed in March 1918 was followed by a period of state capitalism in which a strong socialist state was to supervise elements of capitalism in the economy. All stages were accompanied by vigorous debate within the party and, from March 1918, by the political alienation of a section of the working class. By the onset of full-scale civil war and the transition to war communism in late spring 1918 the Bolshevik party and the institutions of the new Soviet state dominated the political life of the country. Was there something in Marxist ideology that, when interpreted by Lenin and the Bolsheviks, encouraged centralized and dirigiste forms of government regardless of actual conditions? A large body of literature now exists that examines this issue from various perspectives. This literature has recently been enriched by a number of studies that look at events from the perspective of lower-level participants and area case studies.

After February Revolution of 1917 in Russia, the nations of the previous Russian Imperium began their efforts to get their independency, among them were three nations of Transcaucasia: Armenians (Armenia), Azeris (Azerbaijan), Georgians (Georgia). After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk of 3rd March 1918, Bolshevik Russia in reality handed over the territory of Transcaucasia to Germans and Turks. Especially Turkey became aggressive and expansive. Armenia together with Azerbaijan and then together with Georgia set up Trans-caucasian Federal Democratic Republic which collapsed soon. There were significant discrepancies among the nations. Azerbaijan wanted to get union with Turkey, but Georgia preferred Germany and Armenia counted on “white” Russia (ge¬neral Denikin). Each of these three countries set up own independent republics, among other Democratic Republic of Georgia. Soon Germany and Turkey lost the First World War, but north Caucasus was attacked by troops of General Denikin supported by England and France. Later on, in 1920, Bolsheviks entered this territory. The Red Army of Bolsheviks conquered each of the independent republics one by one, set up own governments and in¬corporated the territories into Russian Socialistic Federal Soviet Republic [RSFSR]. On 16 March 1921, RSFSR signed friendship agreement with Turkey. As a result of this agreement, Russia and Turkey divided the territory of Transcaucasian between them.

Cette thèse intitulée : Les Forces alliées et associées en Extrême-Orient, 1918-1920 - Les soldats austro-hongrois, concerne un épisode fort méconnu de la Première Guerre mondiale, terminée par le décret du 24 octobre 1919. « Quiconque, écrit M. George F. Kennan, tente de donner, sous un petit format, une idée valable des origines de l'intervention alliée en Sibérie, s'impose une tâche presque impossible » . Le retour en 1920 d'un soldat austro-hongrois italophone, en provenance de Chine, a généré cette thèse, il interpelle et interroge. Que sont allées faire les Forces alliées et associées en Russie en 1918 ? Les raisons de l'intervention se définissaient dans la reconstitution d'un front oriental pour soulager le front occidental, le soutien aux Armées blanches luttant contre les Armées rouges, le rapatriement des Légionnaires tchéco-slovaques. Mais il n'en fut rien. Dans ce conflit, le nationalisme utilisé et galvaudé servit à Masaryk pour fonder la première République tchéco-slovaque, le 28 octobre 1918. Les pays de l'Entente et les États-Unis qui l'ont soutenu dans cette démarche n'ont poursuivi qu'un objectif, le démantèlement de l'Empire austro-hongrois. Outre la fin des Habsbourg, l'Entente ainsi que celles et ceux qui détenaient le pouvoir décisionnel voulaient la disparition des monarchies, excepté celle de l'Empire britannique. Tandis que les soldats des corps expéditionnaires français, britannique et italien, aidés des Légionnaires tchéco-slovaques, combattaient les bolcheviks, Alliés et associés négociaient avec le pouvoir de Lénine. Le refus de l'Occident de reconnaître le gouvernement de l'amiral Koltchak, le fit échouer. Trahi, livré aux maximalistes d'Irkoutsk par les Tchèques, il fut exécuté le 7 février 1920. L'intervention des Forces alliées et associées en Extrême-Orient ciblait un objectif politico-économique. À la fin de 1919, le Conseil supérieur interallié (C.S.I.) rapatria d'abord les corps expéditionnaires, et seulement ensuite les prisonniers. À leur retour, les détenus austro-hongrois italophones connurent de douloureuses difficultés en Italie
The title of my thesis: The Allied and Associated Forces in the Far East, 1918 to 1920, The Austro-Hungarian Soldiers, is about a greatly ignored event of the First World War which was ended by a decree on October 24, 1919. “Whoever, writes Mr. George F. Kennan, attempts to describe in a brief manner, a valid idea of the beginning of the Allied intervention in Siberia, is taking on an almost impossible task”.The return in 1920 of an Italian speaking Austro-Hungarian soldier, coming from China, generated this thesis as he challenges and questions. What were the Allied and Associated Forces going to do in Russia in 1918? The reasons for the intervention were explained as: the reorganization of the Eastern Front to bring some relief to the Western Front, the support of the White Armies against the Red Armies and the sending of the Czechoslovakian Legionnaires back to their home. But none of this happened.In this conflict, the employed and misused nationalism helped Masaryk establish the first Czechoslovakian Republic on October 28, 1918. The countries of the Entente and the United States which supported him in this endeavor had only one objective in mind, the dismantling of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Besides the end of the Hapsburgs, the Entente as well as those who held decisive power wanted the disappearance of monarchies except the one of the British Empire. While the French, British and Italian Expeditionary Forces helped the Czechoslovakian Legionnaires fight the soldiers of the Red Army, the Allied and Associated Forces negotiated with Lenin. The refusal of the West to recognize Admiral Koltchak's government led to his fall. Betrayed and turned over to the Bolsheviks of Irkutsk by the Czechs, he was executed February 7, 1920.The objective of the intervention by the Allied and Associated Forces in the Far East was essentially political and economic. At the end of 1919, the Interallied Superior Counsel (C.S.I.) first sent home the Expeditionary Forces and only later the prisoners. Upon their return, the Italian speaking Austro-Hungarian detainees were confronted with many painful obstacles and difficulties in Italy

This dissertation is a quantitative study with elements of qualitative analysis. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate WHAT was written about Ukraine's independence 1917 in Swedish press 1917–1918. The qualitative part of the survey was intended to answer the question if the newspaper's political attitude influenced the news reports during the chosen period. The exact periodization was determined to be between March 1, 1917 and June 30, 1918. This periodization was chosen because of the March Revolution in 1917, which triggered independence declarations in a number of countries oppressed by Moscow, who now saw their chance of freedom. June 1918 became the end of the investigation because it was just when the peace agreement between Ukraine and the Soviet Union was signed. The source material has been chosen to represent a multitude of ideological orientations. It was liberal, moderate, conservative, liberal and left-wing orientations. The source material consisted of newspaper articles from the following newspapers: Dagens Nyheter, Aftonbladet, Göteborgs Aftonblad, Svenska Dagbladet, Dalpilen, Kalmar Tidning and Norrskensflamman. Quantitative methodology was used on the source material. This method consisted of a reviewing of newspaper articles in searching of news reports from Ukraine or articles which had something to do with the events in Ukraine. Every newspaper was searched day after day. The crawled material was presented in two chapters representing different periods. The first chapter of the results presented the results from 1917, and more precisely from March to December 1917. The second chapter presented the results from 1918, but also from December 1917, that is, the result from December 1917 through June 1918. The whole result was then discussed in a separate chapter where the qualitative analysis was also discussed. The result of the quantitative analysis showed that it has been written relatively sparcely about Ukraine's independence although the volume of articles increased from December 1917 and even more in 1918. Sometimes there were articles on the first page. But for the most part, the articles with Ukraine issues were placed among other foreign articles. It was also found in the survey that it was the first World War that drew attention to the newspapers, even though the events in Petrograd and then in Ukraine took more space. This survey also showed that what was written about Ukraine's independence was also what appears in the reference literature. The news reports reported how Ukraine proclaimed independence in March 1917 and later on proclaimed an independent republic in November 1917 when the Bolsheviks conducted their coup d'état in Petrograd. The newspapers also wrote how the Russian Communists sent a declaration of war to Ukraine in December 1917 and about the war that followed. The articles also tell us how negotiations on Ukraine Peace went on in Brest-Litovsk, and how they ended up with alliance between Germany and Ukraine with the campaign against the communists. It was told how the German army marched into Ukraine to free it from the bolsheviks. Until May 1918 there were battles between the German-Ukrainian Army and the Communists. In June 1918 the peace agreement was signed and this survey’s investigation ended. The survey showed that it was written about Ukraine's independence in all newspapers. Dagens Nyheter had the most news articles linked to the survey. Although the number of articles was not subject for analysis in this survey. The qualitative analysis was based on using Höjelid's theoretical concepts "positive sound" and "negative sound" on the quantitative analysis material. The qualitative analysis’ result showed that it was almost impossible to see the differences between the newspapers because the articles were traded between the newspapers, i.e. the content was copied straight away. It should be noted that not all content was the subject of copying between the newspapers. Copying occurred to a greater extent, but there were still original articles derived from the respective newspaper. Most of the articles were also direct telegrams that were communicated abroad to the newspaper's editors. A lot of these telegrammic articles were sent with a purpose to mislead society. These angled articles were published without further examination in Swedish press. There were articles from, for example, Dagens Nyheter whose editors noted the "strange Petrograd reports" and informed about it for the purpose of enlightening the public. However, as most newspapers were occupied with World War I, as was shown in the source material, the newspaper editorial office was less interested in other foreign events. Therefore, such angled articles could be found in Swedish press on a larger scale.
Denna avhandling är en kvantitativ studie med inslag av kvalitativ analys. Syftet med denna kvantitativa studien var att undersöka VAD som skrevs om Ukrajinas självständighet 1917 i svensk press 1917–1918. Den kvalitativa delen av undersökningen ämnade att besvara frågan om tidningens politiska hållningen påverkade nyhetsrapporteringen under den valda perioden. Den exakta periodiseringen fastställdes att vara mellan den 1 mars 1917 och den 30 juni 1918. Denna periodisering valdes på grund av marsrevolutionen 1917 som utlöste självständighets-förklaringar i en rad länder som var förtryckta av Moskovitien och som nu såg sin chans till frihet. Juni 1918 blev slutpunkten i undersökningen därför att det var just då som fredsavtalet mellan Ukrajina och Sovjet undertecknades. Källmaterialet har valts att representera en mångfald ideologiska inriktningar. Det var liberal, moderat, konservativ, frisinnad samt vänstersocial inriktningar. Källmaterialet bestod av tidningsartiklar från följande tidningar: Dagens Nyheter, Aftonbladet, Göteborgs Aftonblad, Svenska Dagbladet, Dalpilen, Kalmar tidning och Norrskensflamman. Det användes kvantitativ metod på källmaterialet som bestod i en genomsökning av tidningsartiklarna efter nyhetsrapporter från Ukrajina eller som hade något med händelserna i Ukrajina att göra. Varje tidning genomsöktes dag för dag. Det genomsökta materialet presenterades i två kapitel som representerade olika perioder. Det första resultatkapitlet presenterade resultatet från år 1917, och mer exakt från mars till december 1917. Det andra kapitlet presenterade resultatet från år 1918, men även från december 1917, det vill säga resultatet från och med december 1917 till och med juni 1918. Det hela resultatet diskuterades sedan i ett eget kapitel där även den kvalitativa analysen diskuterades. Resultatet från den kvantitativa analysen visade att det har skrivits relativt sparsmakat om Ukrajinas självständighet även om artikelmängden ökade från december 1917 och ännu mer under 1918. Ibland förekom det artiklar på första sidan. Men för det mesta placerades artiklarna med Ukrajina-frågor bland andra utlandsartiklar. Det framgick också i undersökningen att det var mest första världskriget som upptog tidningarnas uppmärksamhet, även om händelserna i Petrograd och sedan i Ukrajina tog allt mer plats allt eftersom. Denna undersökning visade också att det som skrevs om Ukrajinas självständighet var också det som förekommer i referenslitteraturen. Nyhetsrapporterna berättade hur Ukrajina utropat sin självständighet i mars 1917 tills landet proklamerat en oberoende republik i november 1917 när bolsjevikerna genomförde sin statskupp i Petrograd. Tidningarna skrev också hur de ryska kommunisterna skickade krigsförklaring till Ukrajina i december 1917 och om det kriget som följde efter det. Artiklarna berättar även om hur förhandlingarna för Ukrajinafreden gick till i Brest-Litovsk samt hur dessa avslutades med att Tyskland allierade sig med Ukrajina i kampen mot kommunisterna. Det berättades hur den tyska armén marscherade in i Ukrajina för att befria det från bolsjevikerna. Fram till maj 1918 pågick det strider mellan tysk-ukrajinska armén och kommunisterna. I juni 1918 undertecknades fredsavtalet och där slutade undersökningen.  Undersökningen visade att det skrevs om Ukrajinas självständighet i samtliga tidningar. Dagens Nyheter hade flest nyhetsartiklar kopplade till undersökningen. Även om antalet artiklar ej var i syfte att analysera i denna undersökning. Den kvalitativa analysen gick ut på att använda Höjelids teoretiska begrepp ”positiv klang” och ”negativ klang” på den kvantitativa analysens resultatmaterial. Det kvalitativa resultatet visade att det var nästintill omöjligt att se skillnad mellan de olika tidningarna eftersom artiklarna traderades mellan tidningarna, det vill säga innehållet kopierades rakt av. Det bör påpekas att inte allt innehåll var ämne för kopiering mellan tidningarna. Kopieringen förekom i större utsträckning men det fanns ändå originella artiklar som härstammade från respektive tidning. De flesta av artiklarna var dessutom direkta telegram som kommunicerades i utlandet till tidningens redaktioner. En hel del av dessa telegraferade artiklar skickades med ett givet syfte att vilseleda samhällsopinionen. Dessa vinklade artiklar publicerades utan vidare granskning i svensk press. Det förekom artiklar från exempelvis Dagens Nyheter vars redaktion uppmärksammat de ”märkliga Petrogradrapporter” och informerat om det i möjligt syfte att upplysa allmänheten. Men eftersom de flesta tidningarna var upptagna med första världskriget, som det visades i källmaterialet, var tidningsredaktionerna mindre intresserade av andra utländska händelser. Därför kunde sådana vinklade artiklar förekomma i svensk press i en större omfattning.

History
M.A.
This thesis analyzes how the Habsburg state tried to preserve itself late in the First World War by cooperating with German plans to create a powerful Central European economic block. While Habsburg leaders initially aimed to preserve a conservative monarchical order in the Austro-Hungarian sphere of influence, this paper argues that the Dual Monarchy's response to the increasingly serious shortage of food and its economic negotiations with Germany, which culminated at the peace conference in Brest-Litovsk, show how by late 1917 the Habsburg state was willing to participate in a fundamental reordering of Europe in a final attempt to save itself.
Temple University--Theses

‘The evolution of dimplomacy’ looks briefly at the evolution of modern diplomacy, focusing on diplomats and what they do, paying attention to the art of treaty-making. A case can be made that treaties of international peace and cooperation comprise nothing less than the diplomatic landscape of human history, from the benchmark European treaties of the Congress of Vienna (1815), Brest-Litovsk (1918), and Versailles (1919) to the milestone events such as the Covenant of the League of Nations (1919), the United Nations Charter (1948), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949).

The article considers the possibility of interpreting the meaning of the “middle” as a methodological tool for studying social reality. Various types of “middle” are analyzed. “The Middle” J. P. Sartre/V. S. Bibler has liberal Cartesian roots. Through the principle of “I am responsible for my being-for- Other, but I am not its foundation,” it is aimed at the mastery and control of the Other by the Self. This type of “middle” allows the unity of the Self with the Other while maintaining the independence of the subjects from each other. This unity of subjects involves the regulation of relations between them through a change in the subject of dialogue (the interpolar “middle”) and the transition from dialogue as a one-time act to a process of multi-level dialogue. Examples of the Westphalian peace treaty between Catholics and Protestants (1649) and the Brest- Lithuanian peace treaty between Russia and Germany (1918) are given as examples of a successful change in the subject of dialogue. “Middle” M. M. Bakhtin/B. A. Lectorsky has social-democratic/ Christian-democratic roots. Through the principle of “I am for the Other from the point of view of the Other/Other for me from my point of view”, she aims to form a common foundation of the brotherly culture of I and the Other. This type builds the unity of the Self with the Other as a result of the inner need of both to serve each other. “For each other” and “from each other” can be reduced to identity in the idea of the “middle” of R. S. Grinberg on the basis of public-private partnerships. In this “middle” version, independence (the “from” tool) and ministry (the “for” tool) generate the “for / from” tool as a “middle” methodology. It is also proposed to consider the logic of the evolution of culture through the transition from the idea of a one-shot dialogue to the idea of multi-level dialogue: “thesis-antithesis chaos (the middle is struggling within itself between internal opposites) — thesis- antithesis…”.

The Ukrainian lands became an epicentre of the movement of refugees who were assisted by a range of organisations. This chapter considers the role of governmental bodies in the Russian Empire and the new entities that appeared on Ukrainian territory following the February 1917 Revolution: the Ukrainian Central Rada, and the Ukrainian National Republic (UNR). It discusses the developing framework and implementation of public policy in relation to refugees, the activity of local government and non-governmental organisations which supported refugees. The chapter considers refugees’ life in Ukraine in 1914-18. During the peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk in February 1918, Ukrainian delegates took the initiative in organizing the re-evacuation of refugees; the agreement between Ukraine and Austro- Hungarian, German, Polish and Russian representatives concerning repatriation was an early example of inter-governmental regulation of a new humanitarian problem.