Parted red curtains; in the center, in a trench, a German soldier, eyes closed, hands in overcoat pockets, leans against one side of a trench, smoking a pipe, his rifle resting on the other side of the trench. To the right, a Red soldier, red from red fur hat to red boots, holds two rifles. To the left, a Russian soldier casts away his his hat, backpack, and rifle. Across the bottom of the stage it reads, 1918. Operett: "Trockij", Operetta Trotsky. A watercolor postcard by Schima Martos.

1918. Operett: "Trockij", Operetta Trotsky

Other views: Larger, Back, LargerBack

Sunday, February 10, 1918

"We are removing our armies and our people from the war. Our peasant soldiers must return to their land to cultivate in peace the fields which the Revolution has taken from the landlord and given to the peasants. Our workmen soldiers must return to the workshops and produce, not for destruction but for creation. They must, together with the peasants, create a Socialist State.

We are going out of the war. We inform all peoples and their Governments of this fact. We are giving the order for a general demobilization of all our armies opposed at the present to the troops of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria. We are waiting in the strong belief that other peoples will soon follow our example."

Quotation Context

Excerpt from the February 10, 1918 speech by Leon Trotsky to the Central Power delegates at the Brest-Litovsk peace negotiations. Both the Russians and German civilian representatives claimed to believe in the right of self-determination of the peoples of occupied territory, but the German High Command refused to evacuate. Trotsky considered such self-determination none at all, and would not sign a 'peace of annexation.' His formula was to have the Russians leave the war, with no peace in place, thinking there was a good chance the Germans would not resume the war. In this he was mistaken.

Source

Brest-Litovsk: The Forgotten Peace; March 1918 by John W. Wheeler-Bennett by John W. Wheeler-Bennett, page 226, publisher: The Norton Library, publication date: 1971, first published 193

Tags

1918-02-10, 1918, February, Brest-Litovsk, no war, no peace,