#separate peace

by Khaled Abu Toameh

In the eyes of Iran and the Houthis, Trump's separate peace deal that excluded Israel is a captivating green light to continue their attacks on "The Little Satan", while obligingly halting their assaults on vessels in the Red Sea.

Trump's deal with the Houthis sent everyone in the Middle East the message that the Trump administration has finally thrown Israel under the bus.

Worse, Trump's agreement does not require the Houthis to abandon their jihad (holy war) against either the US or Israel.

"[The Palestinians are] ecstatic that their employer, Qatar, just "purchased" the US presidency with a $400 million 747 jet and a Golf Course...." — Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, Palestinian political analyst, X, May 11, 2025.

Qatar wanted the American-Israeli hostage released as a gesture to Trump on the eve of his visit to the Gulf state. Hamas leaders were not able to say no to Qatar, and immediately complied.

This event shows that Qatar has enough influence over Hamas to instruct it to release all the hostages. Qatar could have used its influence from the beginning to force Hamas to release all of them; but it did not.

Qatar wants to make sure that its long-standing allies, Iran and Hamas, remain strong and in power after the current war.

Trump and his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are being played and appear not even to know it. If they do know it, personal friendships and financial rescues have apparently taken priority over hard-nosed negotiating. Their only priority seems to have been raking in trillions of dollars from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, a Trump golf resort in Saudi Arabia, a $400 million "flying palace" from Qatar, a Trump hotel in Dubai and the promise of a Trump Tower in Damascus.

"Donald Trump may go down in history as the American President who empowered Islamism around the globe [by funding Syria's al-Sharaa], more than any other president in the history of the USA." — Nervana Mahmoud, Egyptian political analyst, X, May 13, 2025.

Trump and his advisors undoubtedly have good intentions, but... trying to strike deals with Iran and its Hamas and Houthi terror proxies, instead emboldens these terrorists and enemies of the US.

October 21 1918, Paraćin--After a brief pause near Niš to regroup and allow the French to catch up, the Serbians continued their advance northward to liberate their country.  By October 21, they had engaged German rearguards near Paraćin, on the Morava around sixty miles south of the Danube.  Although the Germans put up a stubborn resistance, they were outnumbered and received little support from their Austrian allies, who just wanted to get their armies out of Serbia and behind the Danube, Sava, and Drina intact.  

Further east, the first French forces had reached the Romanian border on the Danube via Bulgarian railways on the 19th.  On the 22nd, the Allies sent a letter to the Romanian government, urging them to be ready to re-enter the war “about the middle of November,” in conjunction with an Allied push across the Danube.  The Romanians had quietly been preparing for such an eventuality since the Bulgarian collapse, but were wary that entering too soon would just lead to an even swifter defeat by the Germans than in 1916.

To the south, the first British troops also reached the Turkish border near Adrianople, finding only a single Turkish battalion guarding the border crossing.  The Turks, having realized the dire threat to Constantinople, dispatched Charles Townshend, the general captured after the siege of Kut in 1916, to send out the first peace feelers.  Arriving at Mudros on the 20th, he suggested the Turks would accept terms that let them keep Syria and Mesopotamia, albeit with a great deal of autonomy.  While the British quickly rejected these terms, they were completely fine with Townshend’s other stipulation, that the Turks wanted to negotiate solely with the British; after having been left out of the Bulgarian armistice, they were fine with shutting out the French from the negotiations with Turkey.

Today in 1917: First Americans Enter the Front Line Today in 1916: Austrian PM Assassinated Today in 1915: Italian Assaults Fail Everywhere Despite 34 Hour Barrage Today in 1914: Vodka Permanently Banned in Russia

Austrian Foreign Minister Czernin and German Foreign Minister Kühlmann at Buftea.

March 5 1918, Buftea--With Russia now out of the war, the Central Powers turned their attention to the last belligerent on the Eastern Front--the Romanians.  On February 27, Austrian Foreign Minister Czernin met directly with Romanian King Ferdinand, giving him a 48-hour ultimatum to accept the Central Powers’ terms; otherwise, “in six weeks the kingdom and dynasty would have ceased to exist.”  The terms demanded were quite harsh, requiring the cession of the entirety of the Dobruja--that is, all Romanian territory south of the Danube.  Although this would be made up for with land in Bessarabia, it would mean the loss of their major seaport in Constanța; King Ferdinand told Czernin that “Bessarabia was nothing to him, that it was steeped in Bolshevism.”

Given that German forces had invaded Russia, advanced hundreds of miles, and enforced an extremely harsh peace of the Russians after a similar ultimatum given only eleven days earlier, the Romanians had every reason to panic.  However, their negotiating position was far stronger than it appeared, or than they themselves realized.  Emperor Charles was dissatisfied with the extremely harsh terms imposed on Russia, and did not want a repeat in Romania--especially since the sticking point was northern Dobruja, which had been a last minute demand of the Bulgarians.  Charles did not want to resume the war just to “satisfy Bulgaria’s unrestrained desire for conquest.”  He refused to let Austro-Hungarian troops participate in an invasion of Romania unless the latter refused an offer that let them keep northern Dobruja.  

His foreign minister, who had already issued an ultimatum to the Romanians, was not pleased, and neither were the Germans.  The Romanian army, unlike the Russians, were prepared to resist an attack, and the Germans did not have enough troops in the area to guarantee success on their own (although they were willing to divert 5 divisions that were otherwise slated to head to the Western Front).  Only after a personal appeal from Kaiser Wilhelm did Charles agree to cooperate, but even then under the proviso that if the Romanians put up serious resistance, that a new peace offer be sent under which the Romanians would be allowed to keep northern Dobruja.

The Romanian army, meanwhile, prepared for a resumption of hostilities.  They knew that their situation was likely hopeless if the Central Powers were determined to destroy them.  They no longer had Russian help, and the Central Powers had effectively outflanked them by moving into Ukraine.  French military advisor Berthelot wrote his government that “the Romanian Army will make them pay dearly but their success is not in doubt.  It will only be a matter of weeks.”

After much debate (and several attempted resignations by PM Averescu), the Romanian government and King agreed to accept the Central Powers’ demands in full.  At 7PM on March 5, the Romanian foreign minister arrived at Buftea, and within hours signed the preliminary peace; the official peace treaty would be signed later after additional negotiations (largely among the Central Powers), but the Romanians would have already agreed to the most contentious articles, including:

The immediate demobilization of eight divisions (not all, as the Romanians were technically fighting Russia over Bessarabia).  

The immediate dismissal of all Allied military missions (such as Berthelot’s)

The cession of the entirety of the Dobruja; the final peace would determine its ultimate disposition.  The Central Powers would, nevertheless, be “concerned” to guarantee the Romanians access to Constanța.  

The agreement, “in principle,” to minor border adjustments in Austria’s favor

The agreement, “in principle,”  to major economic concessions (especially in oil and grain) to the Central Powers.  

Active support of the Central Powers’ continuing operations in Ukraine by transporting German and Austrian troops across their territory to Odessa.

Today in 1917: Austrian Romanian POWs Agree to Fight Austria Today in 1916: German High Seas Fleet Makes Furthest Sortie South Today in 1915: Queen Elizabeth Fires Across Gallipoli Peninsula

January 16 1918, Vienna--The Austrian half of the Dual Monarchy had the worst food situation of any of the Central Powers in Europe.  With its own food-producing region in Galicia ravaged by war, with Hungary generally unwilling to share any of its food, and with Germany unwilling to provide food or coal to ship any food, the outlook in the winter of 1918 was quite dim.  On January 14, the bread ration was cut by 20%, from 7.5 oz to just under 6 oz per day.  These cuts, combined with the continued frustration that a peace with the defeated Russians had not yet been signed, led to the outbreak of general strikes on January 16.  In modern-day Austria, over 100,000 workers participated, and the strikes even spread to Hungary over the coming days.

Emperor Charles wrote to Czernin, his foreign minister and representative at the Brest-Litovsk peace talks, saying “if peace is not made at Brest it will be revolution here, no matter how much there is to eat.”  Czernin replied that “I fear it is already too late to check the total collapse which is to be expected in the next few weeks.”  The Austrians, desperately seeking to avoid a revolution at home, thus turned to desperation at Brest-Litovsk.  Ukraine, considered Russia’s breadbasket, was thought to have large stores of food.  Despite having very little bargaining position (having essentially no army of their own), the Ukrainians demanded territory in eastern Galicia, especially the city of Chelm (in modern-day Poland).  Despite knowing this would anger Austria’s large (and loyal) Polish population, Czernin was still tempted by the offer.  Meanwhile, Trotsky took the news from Austria as a vindication of his strategy--if he could only delay for long enough through the winter, the revolution would spread to Austria and Germany and a humiliating peace could be avoided.

January 3 1918, Brest-Litovsk--So far, the negotiations at Brest-Litovsk had just included Russia and the four Central Powers; although Russia’s ethnic minorities were the subject of much discussion, their representatives were not present.  This changed on January 3, when a delegation from the Ukrainian Rada arrived and was invited to separate talks with the Central Powers.  Both sides hoped to use these negotiations to gain leverage over the Bolsheviks--the Ukrainians hoped that international recognition and German aid would secure their independence, while the Central Powers hoped that the threat of a peace deal with Ukraine might force the increasingly-stubborn Bolsheviks to accept a peace quickly.  The including of the Ukrainians, however, raised problems for the Austrians, who had a substantial Ukrainian minority of their own in Galicia, and wanted to ensure that the pre-war borders would be fully respected.

The Bolsheviks, having realized that whatever peace emerged was likely to be highly unfavorable to them, had been trying to delay the process as much as possible, asking for a recess to replace negotiators (Trotsky would arrive in person in early January), and asking that the conference as a whole be moved to Stockholm, in an attempt to incorporate the western Allies.  Mainly, the Bolsheviks hoped that increasing discontent in Germany would lead to a revolution there before a punitive peace could be enforced.  A few days later, German Chancellor Kühlmann would note: “Ils nónt que le choix à quelle sauce ils se feront manger”--Their only choice is which sauce with which they will be eaten.

In the meantime, the Central Powers had their own internal fallings out.  Hindenburg & Ludendorff wanted the treaty to include large annexations of Poland, while Hoffmann (actually present at the conference), not wanting to incorporate a large Polish minority in Germany proper, only wanted slight border adjustments.  Hindenburg & Ludendorff, as usual, threatened to resign if they did not get their way, and demanded that Hoffmann be sacked; the Kaiser protected Hoffmann and refused (for now) to make a decision on Poland.  Ludendorff himself refused to join the negotiations personally, saying that his presence might just spoil them instead; Austrian Foreign Minister Czernin, growing increasingly frustrated with Ludendorff’s hard-line positions preventing an immediate peace, hoped that “heaven grant the man such gleams of insight again and often!”

Albert von Mensdorff (1861-1945), former Austrian ambassador to the UK.

December 19 1917, Geneva--With Russia now having concluded an armistice with the Central Powers, and Italy having been gravely weakened at Caporetto, Austria-Hungary was in a position of strength not seen since at least the Brusilov Offensive.  From the British perspective it also meant that an acceptable peace might be found with the Austrians without offending any important allies (the Italians and Serbians being essentially liabilities at this point).  Some in the Foreign Office began to hope that Austria, enlarged by gains in the east, might even be a useful counterweight to the Germans.

Acting on this hope, the British dispatched Jan Smuts, South Africa’s top general (now serving on the Imperial War Cabinet), to meet with Albert von Mensdorff, former Austrian ambassador to Britain, in Geneva.  Smuts proposed a separate peace, and a larger Habsburg federation, including not just Austria and Hungary, but also Poland and perhaps a south Slavic state (pending negotiations with the Serbians): “our object now [is] to assist Austria to give the greatest freedom and autonomy to her subject nationalities.”  The Czechs, typically, were forgotten in Smuts’ analysis.  Mensdorff, however, refused to discuss a separate peace, but only wanted to discuss Austria’s role in a general peace--which Smuts was not authorized to discuss.  The two parted ways on December 19, having made no progress.

Today in 1916: Allies Recognize Legitimacy of Venizelos’ Greek Government Today in 1915: Evacuation of Anzac and Suvla at Gallipoli Today in 1914: Enver Pasha Takes Command in the Caucasus

December 25 1917, Brest-Litovsk--With an armistice having been concluded, the Russians and the Central Powers now turned to the question of a final peace.  Negotiations opened at Brest-Litovsk on December 22, with Joffe, Russia’s lead negotiator, proposing essentially a more detailed version of Russia’s basic peace proposal since the overthrow of the Czar--a peace without indemnities or annexations, and of self-determination for long-oppressed peoples.  Czernin, the Austrian Foreign Minister, replied when the negotiations reopened on Christmas.  He largely accepted Russia’s points in style, but in substance managed to work them into his favor.  Self-determination, while important, should be a matter for each country to work out--Austria-Hungary’s complex problems with its nationalities was not a matter for the peace conference.  Similarly, Germany’s colonies should be returned to her as part of a peace without annexations, and their future was an internal German matter.

Despite these caveats, the Russians still saw Austria’s response as a good sign--that the Bolsheviks, for example, might still have a free hand in the Ukraine, or even that Latvia or Lithuania could be returned for them to sort out.  Privately, on the other hand, the Austrians were convinced that they needed Poland, at the very last, with Czernin telling Emperor Charles as much in a letter on the same day.  The Germans had more expansive aims, and the next day told the Russians in no uncertain terms that they would continue to occupy what they had taken in the Baltic until peace was restored in Europe; afterwards, plebiscites would be conducted (under German supervision) to decide their future.  This was not what the Russians were hoping for:

Joffe looked as if he had received a blow to the head....Pokrovsky said, with tears in his eyes, it was impossible to speak of a peace without annexations when about 18 [provinces] were torn from the Russian Empire.  In the end the Russians threatened to break off the conference and depart.

Today in 1916: “Joan The Woman” Premieres In New York Today in 1915: The Only Christmas Truce of 1915 Today in 1914:  The Peace At Christmas; The War At Christmas