Deutschland, Mitteleuropa und die Revolutionierung Russlands
Germany, Mitteleuropa and the Revolutionising of Russia

Summary/Abstract: April 1917 the German political and military leadership organised the passage of Lenin and a group of his associates from neutral Switzerland through Germany and Scandinavia to Petrograd (Saint Petersburg), and then – through considerable financial support – made it possible for the Bolsheviks to seize power in Russia in autumn of the same year. The most important result of Germany’s efforts aimed at destabilising the internal situation in Russia was the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest between Germans and the Bolsheviks – struggling to maintain power in their country plunged in chaos and civil war – in March 1918. Pursuant to this treaty, Germany obtained control over a huge area from Finland to the Caucasus which had previously been controlled by the Russian Empire; this opened the way for Germany to implement its Mitteleuropa programme. This success, however, proved only temporary and was invalidated by the Germany’s defeat in World War I;in the armistice concluded in November 1918, it had to agree to, among others, annul the Treaty of Brest and lose the conquered territories in Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, Lenin and the Bolsheviks managed to stay in power in Russia and later tried to incite a revolution in Germany, which they believed was the prerequisiteof a world revolution due to Germany’s high degree of industrialisation, strong worker class and geopolitical location.

• Details
• Contents