Since 1914, Germany had been fighting a two-front war. The eastern front was the war between Germany and Russia. By 1917, Tsar Nicholas II was in personal command of the army, since all his officers had deserted him. Russia’s involvement in World War I result in many causalities. Russia suffered heavy losses against Germany, offset partially by consistent victories against Austria-Hungary. The defeats on the battlefield led to growing dissatisfaction with the war. The people began to feel hostility towards the ineffectual Tsar Nicholas II. The dissatisfaction of the war and imperial regime helped to strengthen the cause of the Bolsheviks, a radical socialist group that was working oppose the tsar and begin a socialist revolution. The Bolsheviks advocated the overthrowing of the Romanov Dynasty and the establishment of a Marxist government …show more content…
The Bolsheviks rose to power by the support of Russian soldiers, and Lenin had promised an end to the war. Now the party had to deliver on their promise or face the consequences. He realized the new Soviet state was too weak to survive a war, and he threatened to resign if the German terms were not met.
On March 3rd 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. Under the treaty, Russia was required to yield sovereignty over territory west of the from the Gulf of Riga to Brest-Litovsk, including Poland, Courland, and Lithuania. In the south, Russia would evacuate the districts of Kars, Ardahan, and Batum to Turkish overrule. Russia would also give up all rights to Ukraine and Finland. These terms were much worse than the rejected terms offered a month earlier.
Russia’s loses were horrendous. Russia lost more than 30 percent of its former lands and more than fifty-five million people by accepting the terms of the treaty. Russia also lost nearly all of its iron and coal resources. Lenin’s justification was that this was breathing space until Russia could recover its