Lenin, Trotsky, Germany and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The ...

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Lenin, Trotsky, Germany and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk– for organizing a Communist coup in Germany itself, on which, as everyoneassumed, the ultimate victory of socialism in the world would depend.Now Lenin began to assign a completely different role to himself in the worldCommunist movement. It was important for him to bring about a world revolutionunder his own direct leadership and to preserve his position of leadershipwithin the International. For Lenin, the German revolution took second place tothe already victorious revolution in Russia. Even more than that: the revolutionin Germany must not happen too quickly, since when it did, the center of gravityof the Communist world would shift to the industrialized West and Lenin wouldbe left behind as nothing more than the head of the government of an “underdeveloped,”“backward,” and “uncultured” country.It is in the light of Lenin’s changed views about the revolution in Germany thatone must examine the whole history of the negotiations in Brest-Litovsk betweenDecember 1917 and March 1918, which concluded with the formation of a peacetreaty between Russia, on the one hand, and Germany and the other Central Powers,on the other.Lenin’s position at these negotiations – his insistence on forming a “Tilsit truce”for the sake of a respite from war with Germany – seems so reasonable that onecan only marvel at the adventurism, naiveté, and carefree idealism of all of hisopponents, from the Bukharin-led Left Communists to Trotsky with his formula“neither war nor peace.” To be sure, Lenin’s position seems correct mainly becauseit appeals to notions that most people find familiar: a weak army cannotfight against a strong one; if resistance is impossible, a peace treaty must be signedin the face of an ultimatum. But this is an ordinary person’s way of thinking, nota revolutionary’s. Such a way of thinking would not have made it possible toseize power in November 1917 and to hold on to it against a coalition of socialistparties as Lenin had done, with Trotsky’s help, in the days following the takeover.Indeed, such a way of thinking would have made it impossible to be a revolutionary.For some reason, the entire core of the party, with the exception ofLenin, was against signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk; in fact, a large number ofparty functionaries supported Trotsky. And no one viewed the state of things aspessimistically as Lenin. What were all of these people thinking, then? Whatwere they counting on?The revolution and the revolutionaries were subject to their own special laws.These laws were perceived by the majority of the population as incomprehensible,deranged, and irrational. But when it abandoned these laws, the revolutionperished. In them lay its only source of power and its only hope for victory. Leninstepped back from these laws for the sake of preserving his personal power andleadership in the world Communist movement. From the point of view of absoluteCommunist interests, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a catastrophe. It unequivocallydestroyed any chance of an immediate revolution in Germany, and8
Introductionconsequently, of a revolution in Europe. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, formedagainst the wishes of the majority of the revolutionary party, became the firstopportunistic step taken by the Soviet government.Ironically, it turned out that in order to secure a victory for the revolution inRussia, a potential revolution in Germany had to be sacrificed – while in order tosecurity a victory for the revolution in Germany, it might have been necessary tosacrifice Soviet rule in Russia. This was the choice represented for the Sovietgovernment by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk – the first clash between the interestsof the international revolution and the need to cement the power of the CommunistParty in Russia.” 7 A peace treaty with Germany gave the German governmenta certain respite from fighting and improved the general state of the country.As the Left SRs wrote at the time, “the formation of this peace treaty sloweddown the work of the International: bread from regions occupied by Germanyreconciled hungry German workers and soldiers with the German government,” 8while the fact that Russia had “thrown itself on the mercy of the winning sidestrengthened German imperialism not only materially, but spiritually as well.” 9By contrast, the Soviet government’s refusal to sign a treaty would have worsenedGermany’s military and political situation and increased the chances for aGerman revolution. This, at least, was the view shared by the German Communists,on the one hand, and the German government, on the other. As early asDecember 1917, German leftists had tried to prevent the formation of a separatepeace between Russia and Germany. They distributed a declaration which statedthat any peace negotiations would have a ruinous effect on a likely revolution inGermany and must be aborted. 10The positions of Karl Liebknecht, the leader of the German Communists, andLenin, the head of the Soviet government, were unequal. The German Communistsdemanded a revolution in Germany for the sake of a world revolution. Leninstood for the preservation of the Soviet government in Russia at any price, so thathe might preserve power in his own hands and, in time, come to reign over theinternational Communist movement. 11If Liebknecht did want to save the top position in the future Comintern for himself,then this did not go against the interests of the European revolution. Lenin wasunlucky: by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk for the sake of his own power, hedestroyed any chance (however slight it had been) of a victory for the Communistrevolution in Germany and in Europe.It was initially believed that the Bolsheviks were engaging in peace talks with theGerman government exclusively for the purpose of propaganda and in order togain some time, not in order to sign an actual treaty. Liebknecht emphasized thatif the negotiations “did not lead to peace in the spirit of socialism,” it would benecessary “to curtail the negotiations, even if their [Lenin’s and Trotsky’s]9
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Lenin, Trotsky, Germany and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The ...

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