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Nestor Makhno in the Russian Civil War Nestor Makhno in the Russian Civil War

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Nestor Makhno in the Russian Civil War Nestor Makhno in the Russian Civil War NESTOR MAKHNO IN THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR NESTOR MAKHNO IN THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR Michael Malet THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE © Michael Malet 1982 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1982 978-0-333-25969-6 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission First published 1982 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-1-349-04471-9 ISBN 978-1-349-04469-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-04469-6 To my children lain, Saffron, and Jonquil Contents Acknowledgements viii Preface ix Chronology xi Introduction xvii Glossary xxv PART 1 MILITARY HISTORY 1917-21 Relative Peace, 1917-18 3 2 The Rise of the Batko, July 1918-February 1919 13 3 The Year 1919 29 4 Stalemate, January-October 1920 54 5 The End, October 1920-August 1921 64 PART 2 MAKHNOVSCHYNA - ORGANISATION 6 Makhno's Military Organisation and Capabilities 83 7 Civilian Organisation 107 PART 3 IDEOLOGY 8 Peasants and Workers 117 9 Makhno and the Bolsheviks 126 10 Other Enemies and Rivals 138 11 Anarchism and the Anarchists 157 12 Anti-Semitism 168 13 Some Ideological Questions 175 PART 4 EXILE 14 The Bitter End 183 References 193 Bibliography 198 Index 213 vii Acknowledgements My first thanks are due to three university lecturers who have helped and encouraged me over the years: John Erickson and Z. A. B. Zeman inspired my initial interest in Russian and Soviet history, and directed me towards the particular area of study which has led to this book; Professor L. B. Schapiro not only directed my research, but was of personal help and encouragement. This book could not have been written without the help of numerous friends. I would ask their forgiveness for not indicating the special help each has given, for this would be invidious. They include: Professor Jean Maitron; Yury Boshyk; Dr John Bradley; Alexandre Skirda; Agustin Souchy; Albert Meltzer; Peter Newell; Professor Paul Avrich; Dr Victor Swoboda; Terry Liddle; Leah Feldman-Downes; Ida Mett-Lazarevich; Giovanni Baldelli; Georges Balkanski; Arthur Mendes-George; William Fishman; Mick Costello; Keith Nathan; Laurens Otter and Soteru Higuchi. Would any people omitted please accept my apologies and consider them­ selves included. Last, but not least, I should like to thank the staffs of: the Bibliotheque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine, Paris; the British Museum; the Centre Internationale de Recherches sur l' Anarchisme, Geneva; the Foreign Office Library; Harvard University Library; the Hoover Library at Stanford University, California; the Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis, Amsterdam; the Library of Congress, Washington; the New York Public Library and the Public Record Office. All those concerned have been both courteous and helpful. viii Preface Until the appearance of Michael Palij's book in 1976, the role of Nestor Makhno in the events of the Russian civil war was almost unknown. His ideas and activities are still anathema in the Soviet Union, the work on him in his own country in the 1920s known only to a few specialists; his ideology has but a small following in Western Europe and the United States; his main area of operations, the Ukraine, is virtually unknown in the West among the general public; and the history of his times has been largely written in terms of the winners rather than the losers, even where the latter helped decide the outcome. This book has three main aims: to place Makhno, and the move­ ment he led, historically where they belong - in the context of a civil war and a conflict of ideas, neither of which is finished. With this in mind, the book has been divided schematically, so that the many questions only indirectly connected with military events can be adequately discussed and easily referred to. In this, the work is complementary to that of Palij, which seeks primarily to place Makhno and the Makhno movement in their Ukrainian context. It is very much the author's hope that his work will be of interest outwith academic and left-wing political circles. It will be clear from the book that the author has some sympathy with Makhno and his ideals, but he trusts that this has not led to gross distortion or untruth. 23 February 1979 M.M. ix Chronology (1) EVENTS DIRECTLY CONCERNING NESTOR MAKHNO 14/27.10.1889 Birth of Nestor Makhno. 1896-1902 Nestor at school. 1906 He joins local anarchist-communist group. August 1908 Arrest of Makhno and others. 1910 Their trial by court martial, Katerynoslav. 2/15.3.1917 Makhno and Arshinov released in Moscow. 24.3/6.4.1917 Makhno back in Hulyai Pole. 29.3/11.4.1917 Foundations of Hulyai Pole Peasant Union laid. Early June 1917 Makhno leads successful strike, Hulyai Pole. 11/24-16/29.6.1917 1st Provincial Peasant Congress, Kateryno­ slav. August 1917 Hulyai Pole group letter to Kropotkin. 28.8/10.9.1917 Regiment disarmed at Orikhiv. 2/15-4/17.12.1917 Provincial Congress of Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Deputies, Katerynoslav. 27.12.1917/9.1.1918 Sixteen Cossack trains try to break through at Olexandrivske. 1/14.1.1918 Makhno helps to restore Soviet power, Ole x­ andrivske. 15.4.1918 Hulyai Pole betrayed to Central Powers. End April 1918 Taganrog conference of Hulyai Pole anar­ chists. 4.5.1918 Makhno leaves Rostov for Tsaritsyn. 2 or 3.6.1918 Makhno leaves Saratov for Moscow. 29.6.1918 Makhno leaves Moscow for the Ukraine. 4.7.1918 Makhno makes first contacts with peasants, from Rozhdestvenka. July 1918 Schus takes refuge in forest after defeat. 28.9.1918 First brief occupation of Hulyai Pole. xi xu Nestor Makhno in the Russian Civil War 5.10.1918 Battle of Dibrivki. 12-16.11.1918 Founding Conference of Nabat, Kursk. 27.11.1918 Permanent occupation of Hulyai Pole. 26.12.1918 Bolshevik and insurgent forces under Makhno attack Katerynoslav. 29.]2.1918 Nationalists retake Katerynoslav. 3.1.1919 Front unit delegate congress, Polohy. 23.1.1919 1st regional congress, Velyka Mykhailivka. 26.1.1919 Chubenko-Dybenko agreement, Nyzhnyod­ niprovske. ]2.2.1919 2nd regional congress, Hulyai Pole. 5.4.1919 Makhno advance to Kuteinykove: Shkuro counter-attack. 2-7.4.1919 Nabat congress, Yelyzavethrad. 10.4.1919 3rd regional congress, Hulyai Pole. 29.4.1919 Antonov-Ovseyenko at Hulyai Pole. April 1919 Arshinov arrives at Hulyai Pole. April 1919 Rosa Luxemburg commune starts again. 7.5.1919 Kamenev at Hulyai Pole. 12.5.1919 Gorkaya incident. 14.5.1919 Renewed Makhnovist and Soviet attacks. ]7.5.1919 First number of 'Road to Freedom' pub­ lished. 19.5.1919 Shkuro counter-attack at junction of Makhno brigade and 9th division of 13th Army. 4.6.1919 Trotski's Order 1824 forbids 4th congress. 5.6.1919 Battle of Svyatodukhivka. 6.6.1919 Whites take Hulyai Pole. 9.6.1919 Makhno resigns his command, Haichur station. 17.6.1919 Makhnovist staff shot under Order 1824, Kharkiv. Early July 1919 Makhno-Hryhoriyiv agreement. 12.7.1919 Makhno attack on Yelyzavethrad. 27.7.1919 Sentove denouement. 13-15.8.1919 Novy Buh revolt. August 1919 Arrival of Volin: made chairman of RVS. 2-7.9.1919 Insurgent fighting against Whites in Pomi­ schna-Novoukrainka area. About 20.9.1919 Makhno-Petliura agreement, Uman. 26.9.1919 Battle of Perehonivka. Chronology xiii 5.10-4.11.1919 Occupation of 0lexandrivske. 7.10.1919 Start of five-day battle at Volnovakha. 23/24.10.1919 Occupation and abandonment of Mariupil. 27.10-2.11.1919 Olexandrivske congress. 28.10--6.11.1919 First occupation of Katerynoslav. 9.11-9.12.1919 Second occupation of Katerynoslav. November 1919 Makhnovist-Borotbist talks, Katerynoslav. 4/5.12.1919 Arrest and execution of Polonski. 5.1.1920 Meeting of Red and insurgent forces, Olex­ andrivske. 9.1.1920 Makhno outlawed by Bolsheviks. 14.1.1920 Volin, ill with typhus, seized by Bolsheviks in Kryvy Rih. 13.6.1920 Novouspenivka debacle. 5.7.1920 Issue of 'Road to Freedom' - first since Katerynoslav. 9.7.1920 Vrangel messenger to Makhno hanged. 1-7.8.1920 Makhno in Zinkiv. 3-8.9.1920 Nabat conference, Kharkiv. 30.9.1920 Makhno proposed armistice to Bolsheviks. 10/15.10.1920 Makhno-Bolshevik agreement signed. 4.11.1920 Nabat paper reappeared, Kharkiv. 7/8.11.1920 Successful crossing of Sivash. 22.11.1920 Makhno attends show at Polohy. 23.11.1920 Frunze's Order 00149. 26.11.1920 Simultaneous attacks on anarchists and in­ surgents. 1.12.1920 Battle of Tymoshivka. 12.12.1920 Attack on Berdyansk. 14-12.1920 Andriyivka 'konfuz'. 30.12.1920-22.1.1921 Continuous Bolshevik pursuit. 14/15.3.1921 Makhno seriously wounded: forces split. June 1921 Death of Schus. 28 and 30.6.1921 Bad insurgent defeats, Poltava province. 13-28.8.1921 Journey to Romania. 2.9.1921 Reported contact with Ukrainian mission, Bucharest. 17.9.1921 Russians demand Makhno's extradition. 1.12.1921 Goldman and Berkman left Russia. 11.4.1922 Makhno expelled from Romania into Poland. 27.11-1.12.1923 His trial and acquittal, Warsaw. xiv Nestor Makhno in the Russian Civil War 4.1.1924 Sent to live under surveillance, Poznan province. July 1924 Makhno goes to Danzig. Winter 1924/5 Makhno escapes to Berlin. By April 1925 Makhno in Paris. March 1926 Publication of 'Platform'. June 1926 Assassination of Petliura; debate with Kessel. October 1928 Unsuccessful operation on dum-dum bullet. April 1929 French anarchists appeal for income for Makhno. 1932 Makhno breaks with Arshinov. 16.3.1934 Makhno admitted to pauper Tenon hospital.
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