Peace talks began in Nov. 1917 and Lenin was desperate for a quick settlement since, in the absence of a peace agreement Russia was open to invasion; Lenin had promised Russia's war-weary workers and peasants peace; and Lenin wanted to be free to concentrate on overcoming the Bolsheviks internal enemies.
Germany was more than willing to negotiate with Russia. It aimed to shut down its Eastern Front in order ton defeat the British and French on the Western Front before the Americans arrived.
A cease-fire between Russia and Germany was agreed soon after the peace talks opened. Negotiations on the permanent peace settlement proved more difficult. The price Germany demanded for ending the war was high: the loss of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, the Ukraine and parts of Armenia. These areas contained 26% of Russia's population, 27% of its arable land and 74% of its coal and iron ore.
The severity of Germany's demands threw Bolshevik leadership into disarray. Left-wing Bs called for rejection of the terms and the launching of a 'revolutionary war' against Germany. Lenin, injecting a dose of realism into proceedings, urged acceptance of Germany's terms and threatened to resign from Sovnarkom if his wishes weren't met.
The Brest-Litovsk treaty, signed in March 1918, solved a problem for the Bolsheviks, but gave them new ones:
The Left SRs, deeply hostile to Brest-Litovsk because it involved loss of huge amounts of land where they were strongest, stormed out of Sovnarkom in protest.
Russia's army chiefs and middle and upper classes were appalled by what they saw as a shameful Bolshevik surrender. Their aim was to overthrow Bolshevism and re-start the war against Germany.

	Created by Rose Cook over 7 years ago

A level History (Russia) Slide Set on Defending the Bolshevik revolution, October 1917-1924, created by Rose Cook on 14/06/2017.