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| 1918, Jan. 4 |
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| Beginning of the peace discussions at Brest, after a suspension of ten days. Trotsky refused to recognize the new Baltic states without a plebiscite, and much acrimonious discussion ensued. | 1 |
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| Jan. 12 |
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| Latvia declared its independence. | 2 |
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| Feb. 1 |
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| The Central powers recognized the independence of the Ukraine. | 3 |
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| Feb. 9 |
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| TREATY OF PEACE between the Central powers and the Ukraine signed at Brest-Litovsk. | 4 |
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| Feb. 10 |
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| Trotsky declared the war ended, without peace having been made. | 5 |
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| Feb. 18 |
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| The Germans at once resumed hostilities. They took Dvinsk (Feb. 18), Dorpat (Feb. 24), Reval (Feb. 25), Pskov (Feb. 25), and Narva (March 4), advancing to within 100 miles of Petrograd. | 6 |
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| Feb. 28 |
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| The Russians, at the insistence of Lenin, renewed negotiations at Brest. | 7 |
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| March 2 |
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| At the request of the Finnish government the Germans occupied the Aaland Islands. | 8 |
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| March 3 |
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| The Russians signed the TREATY OF BREST-LITOVSK, abandoning Poland, Lithuania, the Ukraine, the Baltic provinces, Finland, and Transcaucasia. | 9 |
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| March 3 |
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| In order to clear the Bolsheviks out of the Ukraine, the Germans and Austrians sent an expeditionary force. They occupied Kiev (March 3), Odessa (March 13), Nicolaiev (March 17), and Kharkov (April 8), and then invaded the Crimea, taking Sevastopol (May 1). The Ukraine henceforth became an important granary for the Central powers, though the returns were never as great as anticipated. Under German direction Gen. Paul Skoropadski was proclaimed hetman of the Ukraine (April 29). | 10 |
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| April 3 |
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| German forces landed in Finland itself. They took Helsingfors (April 13) and Viborg (April 30). After a five-day battle the Whites, supported by the Germans, defeated the Reds and the Finnish civil war came to an end (May 7). | 11 |
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| June 4 |
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| The Lithuanian assembly elected Duke William of Württemberg king. | 12 |
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