how much land did Russia actually give over in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

Question

how much land was it? i'd kinda like a size reference, like the size of America or something. I know it included what are now called Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and part of Poland but how much land is that???

Answer 1

"The Russians lost more than 300,000 square miles of territory and in excess of 50 million people. Of greater significance, however, was the loss of huge sources of iron and coal in the ceded areas. From the Allied perspective, the treaty was a disaster in that it allowed the Germans to transfer soldiers to the Western Front, where they immediately gained numerical superiority."


Total U.S. area is 3,718,711 square miles

so, the area lost would be roughly approximate to:

Texas which is 268,601 square miles

plus

Maine which is 35,387 square miles

There's a map illustrating the land ceded at the site below.

Answer 2

It actually included the Ukraine, and beyond to the Don River. The area that Bolshevik Russia gave up included something like half her industry, and a third of her agricultural source.

I am afraid I cannot give a size reference, but it was a vast area - something like the size of the USA. The Bolsheviks had wanted to negotiate a peace treaty with the central powers (i.e. Germany & Austro-Hungary & pals) on a basis of no concessions. The central powers, knowing of the weakness and desperation of the new Bolshevik state, offered very harsh terms. When the Bolsheviks refused to negotiate (following a policy of 'no war, no peace' ), the German & other armies advanced further into Russia, meeting with little or no opposition. The Bolsheviks were then forced to accept even harsher terms, described by Lenin as 'giving up land instead of time' (thinking that revolution in the west would reverse the results of the treaty). The treaty allowed the Germans to withdraw crack troops from the eastern front to prepare for the spring offensive a year later, in an effort to end the war once and for all in their favour. The vast area occupied (albeit with elderly and less fit troops) drew on over-stretched resources, and was not sustained.