Peace negotiations began on December 22, 1917, a week after the conclusion of an armistice between Russia and the Central Powers, at Brest-Litovsk (modern
Brest, Belarus, near the Polish border). The
Germans were represented officially by Foreign Secretary
Richard von Kühlmann, but the most important figure in shaping the peace on the German side was General
Max Hoffmann, Chief of Staff of the German armies on the
Eastern Front (
Oberkommando-Ostfront).
Austria-Hungary was represented by Foreign Minister
Ottokar Czernin, and from the
Ottoman Empire came
Talat Pasha.
The Germans demanded the "independence" of Poland and Lithuania, which they already occupied, while the Bolsheviks demanded "peace without annexations or indemnities" — in other words, a settlement under which the revolutionary government that succeeded the
Russian Empire would give neither territory nor money.