Lenin had made a promise for peace. The people had felt let down by the Provisional Government who had not taken Russia out of the war. Most of the Russian people wanted an end to the war, even if it meant surrender. Lenin was keen to negotiate a peace, and so he held talks with Germany in February 1918. In March 1918 they signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Russia lost a huge amount of land in the treaty, namely its best agricultural land (32%). It lost 26% of its railways and 89% of its coalmines and 54% of its industry. They also had to pay a fine of 3000 million gold rubles. Some people were unhappy at the price of the peace, but ultimately Lenin had kept his promises. Luckily for him the land would be handed back in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.