A separate peace is an agreement of two states in a state of war, which they conclude secretly and without participation or contrary to the wishes of their allies or members of the coalition of which they are representatives.
Examples
During a joint struggle with a common enemy, members of such communities quite often commit themselves not to conclude such agreements with him. Therefore, during World War II, 26 of the countries that are representatives of the anti-Hitler association signed the Declaration of the United Nations, according to which they did not have the right to conclude a peace treaty with opponents. A similar example can be considered the agreement of the USSR and Great Britain.
A separate peace was also concluded between Egypt and Israel in 1979, while other Arab countries strongly opposed such agreements.
Background of the Brest Peace
The first meeting devoted to the signing of a peace treaty between Russia and Germany took place in Brest-Litovsk in 1917. The Soviet delegation proposed the creation of a document that would be fully consistent with the idea of a universal democratic peace. Germany, however, did not like such a proposal, since their military districts did not want to retreat from their desires to seize enemy territories, which only increased during the negotiations.
A separate peace with Germany, according to the requirements of Hitler’s representatives, provided for harsh conditions put forward by Russia. Their implementation was given only 48 hours. Along with the announcement of their claims, the Austro-German army launched an offensive on all fronts, threatening to occupy Petrograd. The Soviet representatives had no choice but to accept all the conditions put forward by the enemies, since the troops were in transition. The old army refused to fight the enemy and was clearly demoralized, but the new, Worker-Peasant, was at the initial stage of formation.
Signing
Not taking into account the attitude of the Left Communists and Socialist Revolutionaries, who accused the Bolshevik government of betraying the revolution and betraying their interests, the separate peace of Russia and Germany was signed in March 1918 during the Fourth Extraordinary Congress of Soviets.
The ceasefire did not last long. After the November Revolution took place in Germany and the countries of the Fourth Union were defeated, the Bolsheviks decided to annul the peace agreement unilaterally.
Basel world
In 1795, in the city of Basel, in France, two peace agreements were concluded at once: one on April 5 with Prussia, the second on July 22 with Spain. A prerequisite for the creation of such treaties was the fact that Russia began to play an important role in the position of European states. So, Prussia was no longer part of Poland, and its king refused to remain a member of the coalition that opposed the French Republic. In addition, he did not want to declare war on her and was ready to support all the rulers of the states that were his like-minded people in this matter.
A separate peace with Prussia implied the rejection of the Prussian king from his Zarein possessions, which he ceded to the French Republic. In addition, Prussia would receive a fee if the left bank of the Rhine River was free.
Conclusion
A separate peace can rightfully be considered an important tool that contributes to a favorable outcome of the war for both warring states. The conclusion of such agreements can save many lives and ensure the territorial integrity of the countries that have signed them.