Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 9,001
The "Brotfrieden"...
On February 9, 1918, the warring Central Powers, the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire...
...a separate peace with the then "People's Republic of Ukraine" at Brest-Litovsk...
... while the ceasefire negotiations with Russia, the actual enemy of the war, are still ongoing there.
Previously, a nationalistically oriented and self-proclaimed Ukrainian "Central Rada" in Kiev had proclaimed the country's independence from the Russian Empire - in the south of the country (in Odessa) a Bolshevik counter-government had established itself and proclaimed the "Soviet Republic of Odessa" (Одесская Советская Республика/Odesskaya Sovetskaya Respublika), which dominates an area in southern Ukraine that extends far beyond the city limits...:
The interests of the Central Powers on the one hand and the nationalist representatives of Ukraine on the other hand promise worthwhile advantages for both sides:
The "Central Rada" hopes in particular for German help (the other Central Powers are already on the last hole militarily!) against the Bolsheviks at Odessa, the Germans, on the other hand, urgently need food for their starving population...
...and hope to get them from the "Granary Ukraine" in the future.
After four weeks of negotiations with the representatives of the "Central Rada" (from left to right: Mykola Lyubynsky, Vsevolod Holubovych, Mykola Livytsky, Lussenti, Mykhailo Polos and Oleksandr Sevryuk)...
...it was agreed:
Uncaine grain against German military protection - which is why this peace treaty was also commonly called "Brotfrieden" ("Bread Peace") in Germany!
The negotiations lasted four weeks because the representatives of Austria-Hungary turned out to be the main obstacle:
The hardliners in Vienna wanted - in complete misjudgment of their possibilities! - Larger parts of the Ukraine close their border province of Galicia and stand in the way for a long time.
But there was also starvation in Austria-Hungary - and when the first so-called "bread riots" also broke out in Vienna...
...the KuK representatives gave in!
Finally, it was contractually stipulated that the German Reich and Austria-Hungary from the (in name only) "Ukrainian People's Republic" until July 31, 1918 almost 1 million tons (60 million poods) of grain, 400 million eggs and 50,000 tons of cattle (live weight) should be preserved, as well as bacon, sugar, flax, hemp, manganese ores and more!
In return, German and Austro-Hungarian troops would provide military assistance to the Ukrainian People's Republic - de facto only the Germans were capable of this.
As peace negotiations with Russia's new Bolshevik government in Brest-Litovsk stalled...
...(the head of the Bolshevik delegation, Lev Trotsky played for time...
... because he was hoping for a socialist workers' uprising in Berlin and Vienna in view of the poor supply situation) the Germans took this as an opportunity to militarily occupy the entire Ukraine and parts of southern Russia (the Cossack areas on the Don)...:
The following picture shows German troops at Kiev in March 1918...:
The Austro-Hungarians occupy Odessa...
... and drive out the "government" of the "Soviet Republic of Odessa".
Furthermore, the Germans deposed the representatives of the "Central Rada" in Kiev, which they considered "unreliable", arrested their leader, "Prime Minister" Vsevolod Golubowitsch...
...and put in a head of state they liked, Pavlo Skoropadskij, who was born at Wiesbaden...
...who from then on ruled in an authoritarian manner as "Hetman of the Ukraine", spoke fluent German and enjoyed the trust of the actual rulers in Germany, Hindenburg and Ludendorff, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II...:
Of course, the "Ukraine Hetmanate" did not survive the German collapse of November 1918 - but Skoropadsky did.
He fled to Germany during the Russian Civil War...
...and died a few days before the end of the Second World War on April 26, 1945 in Metten in Lower Bavaria, which was lucky for him.
Because if he had lived longer, the Soviets would have insisted on the Yalta agreement and demanded his extradition - which would certainly have meant the gallows in the Lubyanka for him...
On February 9, 1918, the warring Central Powers, the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire...
...a separate peace with the then "People's Republic of Ukraine" at Brest-Litovsk...
... while the ceasefire negotiations with Russia, the actual enemy of the war, are still ongoing there.
Previously, a nationalistically oriented and self-proclaimed Ukrainian "Central Rada" in Kiev had proclaimed the country's independence from the Russian Empire - in the south of the country (in Odessa) a Bolshevik counter-government had established itself and proclaimed the "Soviet Republic of Odessa" (Одесская Советская Республика/Odesskaya Sovetskaya Respublika), which dominates an area in southern Ukraine that extends far beyond the city limits...:
The interests of the Central Powers on the one hand and the nationalist representatives of Ukraine on the other hand promise worthwhile advantages for both sides:
The "Central Rada" hopes in particular for German help (the other Central Powers are already on the last hole militarily!) against the Bolsheviks at Odessa, the Germans, on the other hand, urgently need food for their starving population...
...and hope to get them from the "Granary Ukraine" in the future.
After four weeks of negotiations with the representatives of the "Central Rada" (from left to right: Mykola Lyubynsky, Vsevolod Holubovych, Mykola Livytsky, Lussenti, Mykhailo Polos and Oleksandr Sevryuk)...
...it was agreed:
Uncaine grain against German military protection - which is why this peace treaty was also commonly called "Brotfrieden" ("Bread Peace") in Germany!
The negotiations lasted four weeks because the representatives of Austria-Hungary turned out to be the main obstacle:
The hardliners in Vienna wanted - in complete misjudgment of their possibilities! - Larger parts of the Ukraine close their border province of Galicia and stand in the way for a long time.
But there was also starvation in Austria-Hungary - and when the first so-called "bread riots" also broke out in Vienna...
...the KuK representatives gave in!
Finally, it was contractually stipulated that the German Reich and Austria-Hungary from the (in name only) "Ukrainian People's Republic" until July 31, 1918 almost 1 million tons (60 million poods) of grain, 400 million eggs and 50,000 tons of cattle (live weight) should be preserved, as well as bacon, sugar, flax, hemp, manganese ores and more!
In return, German and Austro-Hungarian troops would provide military assistance to the Ukrainian People's Republic - de facto only the Germans were capable of this.
As peace negotiations with Russia's new Bolshevik government in Brest-Litovsk stalled...
...(the head of the Bolshevik delegation, Lev Trotsky played for time...
... because he was hoping for a socialist workers' uprising in Berlin and Vienna in view of the poor supply situation) the Germans took this as an opportunity to militarily occupy the entire Ukraine and parts of southern Russia (the Cossack areas on the Don)...:
The following picture shows German troops at Kiev in March 1918...:
The Austro-Hungarians occupy Odessa...
... and drive out the "government" of the "Soviet Republic of Odessa".
Furthermore, the Germans deposed the representatives of the "Central Rada" in Kiev, which they considered "unreliable", arrested their leader, "Prime Minister" Vsevolod Golubowitsch...
...and put in a head of state they liked, Pavlo Skoropadskij, who was born at Wiesbaden...
...who from then on ruled in an authoritarian manner as "Hetman of the Ukraine", spoke fluent German and enjoyed the trust of the actual rulers in Germany, Hindenburg and Ludendorff, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II...:
Of course, the "Ukraine Hetmanate" did not survive the German collapse of November 1918 - but Skoropadsky did.
He fled to Germany during the Russian Civil War...
...and died a few days before the end of the Second World War on April 26, 1945 in Metten in Lower Bavaria, which was lucky for him.
Because if he had lived longer, the Soviets would have insisted on the Yalta agreement and demanded his extradition - which would certainly have meant the gallows in the Lubyanka for him...
