The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: Lenin's Peace with Germany

In early 1918, with Russia in chaos and the German army advancing, Lenin faced an impossible choice: continue a war the country could not fight, or accept a peace that would cost a third of the empire's territory. This episode follows the tense negotiations at Brest-Litovsk, the internal Bolshevik struggle over whether to sign, and the devastating terms that created a string of puppet states from Ukraine to the Baltic. We look at Trotsky's 'no war, no peace' gamble, the Left SRs' furious opposition, and how the treaty both saved the Bolshevik regime and set the stage for future conflicts. Along the way, we touch on the Ukrainian People's Republic, the Finnish Civil War, and the German occupation that reshaped Eastern Europe. It's a story of realpolitik, desperation, and the brutal math of revolutionary survival.

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