Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

In March 1918, representatives of Russian Communist party signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ending the war that began between the German and Russian Empires in 1914. The German negotiator was General Max Hoffman, General Paul von Hindenburg's Chief of Staff. Leon Trotsky was appointed by Communist Party General Secretary Vladimir Lenin to represent the Soviet delegation. The Treaty was written in German and Russian; the French language, regarded as the "language of diplomacy", was not used. This was representative of the hegemonic struggle Germany regarded itself in with France at the time of World War I.

Based upon Germany's Machtstellung, or "position of power", the delegation that regarded itself as successors of Tsarist Imperialism gave up all legitimate claims to territory which included much of what is now Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Estonia and Latvia.

## Sources[edit]

* Sir John Wheeler- Bennett, Brest-Litovsk: The Forgotten Peace, March, 1918 (London, 1938).