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war. Lenin however had talked to delegates from the army and had been told that in the event of renewed war the best that could be hopped for was an orderly retreat at worst a precipitate rout34. If the army would not fight then the only alternative was peace - at any price. Trotsky however leaned to a middle course - no war no peace. Russia could not sign a shameful peace but it would withdraw from the war. In effect Trotsky was hoping for a permanent cease fire as exists between Israel and Syria. Lenin seeing the advocates of revolutionary war so strong decided to back Trotsky's no war no peace scheme as the lesser evil.
But the negotiations went on. For no war no peace to work the Quadruple Alliance must expose themselves as the imperialists that they were. Then for Germany to to invade Russia would, so Trotsky hopped, outrage public opinion in Germany sufficiently to cause the German generals to pause.
Meanwhile events in the Ukraine added an extra complication. In Kiev, the capital, sat a moderate socialist government known as the Rada. In Kharkov to the east ruled a Ukrainian Soviet government. The Rada had obtained the right to represent the Ukraine but as the negotiations in Brest Litovsk moved to a close the Rada authority collapsed and Red Guards entered Kiev. Meanwhile the now defunct Rada signed a separate peace with the Quadruple Alliance that committed the Ukraine to supply large quantities of grain and raw materials to them.
Trotsky in the meantime had been leading the Soviet delegation. Conducting the negotiations with an eye to world opinion (the Soviets had insisted that all negotiations should be reported fully) he attempted to spin out the negotiations. Finally the Germans lost patience. The Russians must complete the negotiations by January the 28th (February the 10th). Right up to the end the Quadruple Alliance was still uncertain whether Russia would make peace or attempt to carry on the war (they were totally unaware of the Soviet no war no peace policy). At the last minute the Germans suggested the Ukrainian Soviet government could take over the Rada treaty but Trotsky pointed out that Russia needed the Ukrainian grain for itself.35
On the evening of 28th Kuhlmann the German foreign secretary moved to wind up the negotiations and asked Trotsky for his final word. Now it would be seen whether the negotiators had been successful or whether the war would restart. Trotsky replied by a bitter denunciation of German greed but the Germans and Austrians were used to such rhetoric. Then Trotsky's tone changed. No more would the blood of the Russian toilers be spilt for the cause of either of the two camps of imperialism - Russia was withdrawing from the war and would demobilize her armies.
Kuhlmann and Hoffmann breathed easy. So after all Trotsky would sign.
But Trotsky went on. The proposed peace merely disguised violent seizure of large tracts of land by violence. "Let [next page]