MAPS OF HISTORY · ON THIS DAY · MARCH 3 · Signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918)ON THIS DAY · 3 MARCH 1918
Signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
3 Mar 1918 — Trotsky’s “no war, no peace” policy fails when Germany advances, forcing Lenin to accept its terms. Russia signs away Poland, the Baltics, Finland and Ukraine, losing a third of its people and half its industry. Germany has won in the east. Watch what it does with that victory.
3 MARCH 1918 · THE GREAT WAR, 1871–1923 These maps are reconstructed from published sources · Cliopatria v 0.2.1 · National Army Museum: Mesopotamia campaign · Natural Earth physical geography · National Army Museum: Ramadi, September 1917 · Maps of History: Great War geographic decisions · National Army Museum: Salonika campaign · US Military Academy World War I atlas, chart 15 · US Military Academy World War I atlas, chart 16 · US Military Academy World War I atlas, chart 39 · US Military Academy World War I atlas, chart 41 · US Military Academy World War I atlas, chart 47 · US Military Academy World War I atlas, chart 49
Source details Cliopatria contributors / Seshat Global History Databank. Source polygons retained with original identities; geographic selections and corrections by Maps of History.. CC BY 4.0 National Army Museum; Basra, Kut, Baghdad and late 1917 campaign positions.. Historical evidence citation, no artwork copied Made with Natural Earth; geographic reference and physical land only. No modern political boundary is used as a historical boundary.. Public domain National Army Museum, accession 1965-10-209-49; Ramadi captured 28–29 September 1917.. Historical evidence citation Maps of History. Campaign-sector connectors and contextual regions are identified separately from imported vector outlines.. Original geographic reconstruction using attributed historical evidence National Army Museum: late 1916 Albanian coast–Monastir–Doiran–Struma line and 1918 liberation campaign.. Historical evidence citation; no artwork copied US Military Academy, Department of History & War Studies, World War I chart 15. Selected geographic front facts reconstructed independently; no claim of blanket public-domain artwork rights.. Geographic evidence citation; source index requests permission for map reprints. Original artwork is not redistributed. US Military Academy, Department of History & War Studies, World War I chart 16. Selected geographic front facts reconstructed independently; no claim of blanket public-domain artwork rights.. Geographic evidence citation; source index requests permission for map reprints. Original artwork is not redistributed. US Military Academy, Department of History & War Studies, World War I chart 39. Selected geographic front facts reconstructed independently; no claim of blanket public-domain artwork rights.. Geographic evidence citation; source index requests permission for map reprints. Original artwork is not redistributed. US Military Academy, Department of History & War Studies, World War I chart 41. Selected geographic front facts reconstructed independently; no claim of blanket public-domain artwork rights.. Geographic evidence citation; source index requests permission for map reprints. Original artwork is not redistributed. US Military Academy, Department of History & War Studies, World War I chart 47. Selected geographic front facts reconstructed independently; no claim of blanket public-domain artwork rights.. Geographic evidence citation; source index requests permission for map reprints. Original artwork is not redistributed. US Military Academy, Department of History & War Studies, World War I chart 49. Selected geographic front facts reconstructed independently; no claim of blanket public-domain artwork rights.. Geographic evidence citation; source index requests permission for map reprints. Original artwork is not redistributed. Annual source features can describe claims, legal territory or military control. Occupied extensions are separated from the prewar Central Power homelands, while the original source names and shapes remain available.
The area east/north of the sourced western front is selected within the 1914 historical French, Belgian and Luxembourg footprints. It represents military control, not annexation.
The displayed state is iss 18 mar. Geographic reference dates and reconstruction methods are recorded for each feature.
reconstruction: 12 November 1917 Piave withdrawal reference · reconstruction: 1871–1918 · reconstruction: 1917 annual control · reconstruction: 1918 limit of occupation after Brest-Litovsk · reconstruction: 1918.2 · reconstruction: 30 December 1917 · reconstruction: 30 December 1917 northern line reference · reconstruction: Late 1916 allied line · reconstruction: Late 1917 campaign-sector reference · reconstruction: Spring 1917 Hindenburg withdrawal
Layer records and reconstruction methods
The moment in context The Bolsheviks had taken power promising to end Russia’s war. Peace, however, came with German demands for territory that Trotsky was unwilling to concede. At Brest-Litovsk he offered “no war, no peace”: Russia would stop fighting, but would sign no treaty. This left the outcome in German hands. When Germany launched Operation Faustschlag, its troops advanced against almost no organized resistance. Lenin pressed a fiercely divided Bolshevik leadership to accept the terms, and the treaty was signed on 3 March 1918.
From Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and WWI , chapter 11 of The Great War, 1871–1923 (APR 1918).
The place: Signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk — map and full story →
Teach this in 5 minutes Why it happened — Lenin’s cold arithmetic. The Central Committee faced three proposals. Bukharin wanted revolutionary war; Trotsky sought neither war nor a signed peace; Lenin urged…The turn — The treaty signed, 3 March 1918. On 3 March the signature secured Germany’s eastern settlement and sharpened the race in the west. Germany needed troops both to hold its gains and…What it changed — The last race. About 48 divisions moved west, and Germany prepared the five-hour bombardment for Michael, scheduled for 21 March. Against that temporary…Then ask the room: Why did the gains at Brest-Litovsk fail to save Germany? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
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