Both Germany and the RSFSR were left vulnerable in the period following the end of World War I. Germany had lost the war, leaving it diplomatically isolated, and the Treaty of Versailles after the war led to German disarmament and the cession of German territories, including all her colonies. The Soviet Union had left the war before its end in 1917, due to the Bolshevik revolution and ceded many of its Western territories to Germany in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk; after Germany's defeat, this territory was transformed into a number of new, independent states, including Poland. Like the Germans, the Russians were left diplomatically isolated as their transition to communist rule had led to the loss of western allies as "the policies pursued by the victors, especially France, left no alternative to Germany but to move closer to Russia"[5]