isastrous
treaties have ever been forced upon a vanquished nation. It has been
estimated that the treaties of Brest-Litovsk took from Russia 4 per cent
of her total area, 26 per cent of her population, 37 per cent of her
food stuffs production, 26 per cent of her railways, 33 per cent of her
manufacturing industries, 75 per cent of her coal, and 73 per cent of
her iron.

ROUMANIA MAKES PEACE.--Roumania, deserted by Russia, was forced to
make peace in the spring of 1918, by ceding to her enemies the whole of
the Dobrudja and also about 3000 square miles of territory on her
western frontier. The Central Powers, moreover, were given control of
the vast petroleum fields and the rich wheat lands of the defeated
nation.

A little later, however, the Russian province of Bessarabia decided to
unite itself to Roumania, as most of its people are of the Roumanian
race.

THE RUSSIAN SITUATION IN 1918.--In spite of the Brest-Litovsk
treaties, the Allies continued to regard Russia as a friendly nation.
President Wilson took the lead in this attitude. It was felt that the
Russian people were sadly in need of assistance, but just how this
should be given was a serious problem.

The question was complicated by the presence in Russia of a large army
of Czecho-Slovaks (check'o-slovaks'). These soldiers were natives of the
northwestern Slavic provinces of Austria-Hungary. They had been part of
the Austrian army during the victorious Russian campaigns in Galicia and
had been taken prisoners. The Czecho-Slovaks had always sympathized with
the Allied countries and had fought for Austria unwillingly. Many,
indeed, had later fought as part of the Russian army. When Russia left
the war they feared that they might be returned to the hated Austrian
government. To avoid this their leaders sought and obtained from the
Bolshevik government permission to travel eastward through Russia and
Siberia to the Pacific. Here they planned to take ship and after a
voyage three quarters around the globe take their place in the armies of
the Allies. The long journey began. Then the Bolsheviki, probably acting
under German orders, recalled the permission they had given. The
Czecho-Slovaks went on nevertheless, determined to proceed even if they
had to fight their way. They were opposed at different points by
Bolshevik troops with the assistance of organized bodies of German and
Austrian prisoners, but the Czecho-Slovaks were victorious. In fact,
with the aid