BBESLAU 166 BREST-LITOVSK TREATY sandro Bonvicino, commonly called E Moretto, who flourished in the 16th cen- tury. The city was originally the chief town of the Cenomanni, and became the seat of a Roman colony under Augustus about 15 B. c. It was burned by the Goths in 412, was again destroyed by Attila, was taken by Charlemagne in 774, and was declared a free city by Otho I. of Saxony in 936. In 1426 it put itself under the protection of Venice. In 1796 it was taken by the French, and was as- signed to Austria by the Vienna Treaty of 1815. In 1849 its streets were barri- caded by insurgents, but were carried by the Austrians under General Hajmau. It was ceded to Sardinia by the Treaty of Zurich, 1859. Pop. about 88,400. The province has an area of 1,845 square miles; pop. about 540,000. ^ BRESLAU (bres'lou), a city of Prus- sia, capital of the province of Silesia, at the confluence of the Ohlau vidth the Oder, 190 miles S. E. of Berlin, compris- ing various suburbs, some of them built on islands of the Oder, and united to the body of the town by numerous bridges. It is the center of a very ex- tensive commerce. The fair held here in June for the sale of wool is the greatest of its kind in Germany. Breslau prior to the World War was one of the most ani- mated and prosperous cities in Prussia. Breslau was taken from Austria by Fred- erick the Great. Pop. about 514,000. BREST, a seaport in the N. W. of France, department of Finisterre. It has one of the best harbors in France, and is the chief station of the French ma- rine, having safe roads capable of con- taining 500 men-of-war in from 8 to 15 fathoms at low water. The entrance is narrow and rocky, and the coast on both sides is well fortified. The design to make it a naval arsenal originated with Richelieu, and was carried out by Du- quesne and Vauban in the reign of Louis XIV., with the result that the town was made almost impregnable. Brest stands on the summit and sides of a projecting ridge, many of the streets being exceed- ingly steep. Several of the docks have been cut in the solid rock, and a break- water extends far into the roadstead. The manufactures of Brest are incon- siderable, but it has an extensive trade in cereals, wine, brandy, sardines, mack- erel, and colonial goods. It is connected with the United States by a cable ter- minating near Duxbury, Mass. The Eng- lish and Dutch were repulsed at Brest in 1694. In 1794 it was blockaded by Howe, who won a great victory off the coast over the French fleet. Pop. about 91,000. Brest during the World War (1914-1918) became a great naval port of entry for the ships of the Allies — one of the chief ports of disembarkation in France for the Allied troops. BREST-LITOVSK (Polish Brzesc), a strongly fortified town of the province of Grodno (Russian Poland), on the Bug; commands the intersection of several im- portant railways, being 132 miles E. S. E. of Warsaw, and 682 miles W. S. W. of Moscow. The town has vast magazines and military stores, and an extensive trade in its cloth manufactures, Russian leather, soap, and wood. Once the occa- sional residence of the Kings of Poland, it is now the seat of a Greek and an Armenian Catholic bishop. It fell to Rus- sia in 1795. Pop. about 55,000. BREST-LITOVSK, TREATY OF, the agreement that ended the war be- tween Russia and the Central Powers, March 3, 1918. The event had been foreshadowed by the complete mili- tary collapse of Russia, and the com- ing into power of the Bolshevist regime. Plenipotentiaries of both Powers met in the town from which the treaty takes its name Dec. 22, 1917. Previous to that time an armistice had been signed that was to last from Dec. 17, 1917, to Jan. 14, 1918. The terms of peace sug- gested by the Russian delegates had as their fundamental principle no annexa- tions nor indemnities and free self-de- termination of peoples. They also de- manded that all the issues of the war, such as Alsace-Lorraine and others be embraced in the settlement. The Ger- mans countered with a demand for the severance of Poland and large por~ tions of the Baltic states from Rus- sian control, and a series of humiliat- ing commercial conditions, that would make Russia a field for German ex- ploitation. A time limit of ten days was allowed for the Entente to join in the negotiations, should they so desire. No such wish being expressed by them within that time, the conference pro- ceeded solely on the questions at issue between Russia and the Central Powers. The terms laid down by the latter were declared entirely unacceptable by the Russians. They asserted that the whole of Russia, as it then existed, must be evacuated by the German armies before peace could be concluded. This proposi- tion was declined, and the proceedings reached an impasse. Several adjourn- ments were taken from time to time, but the discussions still proved fruitless. On February 9 the representatives from the Ukraine signed a separate peace with the Central Powers. On February 10 Trotzky issued a statement on behalf of
