Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in December of 1917

What would be the impact if the Soviets made peace with Central powers in December 1917 ceding Poland,Lithuania, and Courland along with Kars region.

How would this impact the Russian civil war.
 
Would France get knocked out of war. The Us is on it's way so there any reason for France to make peace ?
Mass desertions as Weasel said above. Although unless Paris falls or is in immediate danger of falling I don't think the French government would want to surrender. A more diplomatic Germany would follow up a reasonably successful Spring Offensive (more successful than OTL) to offer peace with France. That kind of public offering of peace might be enough to split the French camp and result in the soldiers putting pressure on the command.
 
A more diplomatic Germany would follow up a reasonably successful Spring Offensive (more successful than OTL) to offer peace with France. That kind of public offering of peace might be enough to split the French camp and result in the soldiers putting pressure on the command.

That kind of offering might be enough to cause the army to force the issue...one way or another. A very public offering with reasonable terms included might make the army and the public accept, or at least call armistice.
 
Mass desertions as Weasel said above. Although unless Paris falls or is in immediate danger of falling I don't think the French government would want to surrender. A more diplomatic Germany would follow up a reasonably successful Spring Offensive (more successful than OTL) to offer peace with France. That kind of public offering of peace might be enough to split the French camp and result in the soldiers putting pressure on the command.
Given everyone knew by spring that US troops are going to be arriving in large numbers the only two ways I can see France making peace are if Paris falls and Germany dramatically moderates its terms, and even then it's pretty unlikely at this point, or if Britain is largely knocked from the continent before the winter of 1918/19.

Given that in OTL the Germans kept very large numbers of troops in the east after the armistice and that there was a ceasefire From December it seems unlikely that an earlier peace treaty would accelerate the movement of troops west by much. Every time the Germans looked like they might win they raised their demands so it seems unlikely that an earlier Eastern peace treaty and taking Paris would lead to moderation in German demands.
 
Couldn't they withdraw and retake the city at a later date with American support ?

Losing Paris would be a massive psychological blow to the French nation. I really don't see the army being willing to fight on after that. Plus, and I don't know this personally, but I've seen it argued that without Paris as the central rail node for much of Norther France, the French army would be largely unable to maintain operations in much of the northern part of the country. If that's the case they'd have to withdraw from a lot of territory, which there's no way they'd be able to do and survive, American support or not.
 
So, the Soviets have not conceded any of Ukraine, or Georgia etc? This would mean that less CP garrisons are needed in the East, and more forces can be withdrawn West. It's Winter, so these forces can also undergo R&R and reorganisation, re-equipping.
 
A better success would be against the British, capturing Ameins and threatening to cut the BEF in half. If the BEF have to do a massive redeployment and perhaps even give up some Belgian and French coastline the chances of Entente victory are worse than if Paris falls.
 
Not doing Ukraine alone frees up about 20 divisions, although most of the ones in the East after the IOTL transfers were B and C formations; they could at least take over some quiet sectors of the front. As for effects of an earlier freeing up of A and B class formations, this could be decisive as taking Amiens and or Hazebrouck would be decisive, surely so if both are. The German Offensives of 1918 by David T. Zabecki outlines that, if either fell, the BEF would automatically lose 50% of their logistics chain and be rendered incapable of offensives. Even worse, the Bethune coal mines would either be cut off or directly overrun, collapsing around 70% of French war production and thus making the incoming Americans irrelevant as it wouldn't be until well into 1919 they could sustain their own logistics needs; the Anglo-French cannot last until 1920 at this point. This would mean a compromise peace in favor of the Central Powers.

If both Amiens and Hazebrouck fall, then it's a decisive victory for Germany. The BEF would have to abandon 90% of its equipment and fallback behind the Somme at the least if not do a "Dunkirk" because they've just lost their logistics entirely. The Germans can then overrun the channel ports, closing the channel approaches to London, as well as allowing them to fully focus on the French armies who now have an open flank due to the loss of Amiens and the British evacuating from their positions. Entirely possible French morale collapses as they abandon Northern France and the Germans directly overrun Paris. This would be a decisive German victory in the war.
 
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What would be the peace terms in either situation ?

Compromise - No Colonies, Restoration of Pre-War borders in the West sans Alsace-Lorraine most likely. Free hand in the East.
Decisive - Neutralized Belgium, colonies, free hand in the East, little to no reparations, plebiscite in Alsace-Lorraine at worst.
 
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