Russian expansionism during World War I concluded to defeat. The fiasco of Tsarism led to the emergence of the Russian Revolution by the end of February in 1917. Nevertheless the new Russian government had been emphasizing the goal of the final victory continuously, which led to the victory of the anti-expansionist Bolshevik movement. Lenin’s followers had signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk at the spring of 1918, but in the autumn of 1918 the Bolshevik government declared it null. The Allied Powers originally counted on the participation of Russia at the peace talks in Versailles, but by January 1918 they changed their mind. At the same time they invited all the Russian political movements to Princes Islands nearby Constantinople.
Article by Géza Gecse in West Bohemian Historical Review 02/2014, pp.127-144., issued by the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen and University of Hamburg
