Decree on Peace

The Decree on Peace, written by Vladimir Lenin, was passed by the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies on the 8 November [O.S.

[2][3] The Decree on Peace was an appeal to the governments of all the warring states and to their peoples to conclude an immediate truce (armistice).

Marc Ferro, however, claims that only after the October Revolution the great exodus of soldiers from the front began, to enjoy the promised gains of peace and land.

[5] The new People’s Commissar for External Affairs, Leon Trotsky published secret treaties between Nicholas II and the Allies in order to provoke international popular outrage.

However, the likelihood of European insurrections was overestimated and instead of triggering a universal proletarian peace, the new regime became embroiled in negotiations with Germany, resulting in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918 under which Russia lost 34% of its population, 54% of its industrial land, 89% of its coalfields, and 26% of its railways.