Why was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk an ideological and practical tension for Bolshevik rule?

Correct answer: Peace was gained but Russia had to accept major territorial losses

The Bolsheviks had promised peace, but leaving the First World War required an extremely costly compromise. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, signed in March 1918, ended Russia's participation in the war, helping the new government fulfil its immediate promise to exhausted soldiers and civilians. However, Russia surrendered large territories and accepted severe economic and strategic losses. Many Bolsheviks considered such concessions a betrayal of revolutionary internationalism and feared that the treaty strengthened Germany. In practical terms, Lenin argued that the government needed peace to survive and consolidate power. Option A is correct because it captures both sides of the tension: peace was politically necessary, but the price was territorial loss and ideological criticism. The other options are historically impossible or unrelated to the treaty's central dilemma.