March 2, 2026
Was This the Worst Peace Treaty Ever? | Brest-Litovsk (1918)

108 years ago, Lenin signed one of the most punishing peace treaties in modern history.
In this 10-minute Buffs in Brief, Antonia Senior and Roger Moorhouse examine the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk — the deal that took Russia out of the First World War but stripped it of Ukraine, the Baltic states, Finland, and a third of its population.
Why did the Bolsheviks accept such draconian terms?
Did it shape the Treaty of Versailles?
And are there echoes of Brest-Litovsk in today’s geopolitics?
📚 Books mentioned:
The Forgotten Peace – John Wheeler-Bennett
The Eastern Front – Nick Lloyd
Russia: Revolution and Civil War – Antony Beevor
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