Russian Anarchists and the Civil War Author(S): Paul Avrich Source: Russian Review, Vol

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Russian Anarchists and the Civil War Author(s): Paul Avrich Source: Russian Review, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Jul., 1968), pp. 296-306 Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Editors and Board of Trustees of the Russian Review Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/127258 . Accessed: 15/11/2013 09:46

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This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:46:39 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RussianAnarchists and the Civil War By Paul Avrich HEN thefirst shots of theRussian Civil War werefired, theanarchists, in commonwith the otherleft-wing op- positionparties, were faced with a seriousdilemma. Which side were theyto support?As staunchlibertarians, they held no brieffor the dictatorial policies of Lenin's government, but the prospectof a Whitevictory seemed even worse. Active opposi-. tionto the Sovietregime might tip the balancein favorof the counterrevolutionaries.On the other hand, support for the Bol- sheviksmight serve to entrenchthem too deeplyto be ousted frompower once the dangerof reactionhad passed. It was a quandarywith no simplesolutions. After much soul-searching and debate,the anarchists adopted a varietyof positions, rang- ingfrom active resistance to theBolsheviks through passive neu- tralityto eager collaboration.A majority,however, cast their lotwith the beleaguered Soviet regime. By August1919, at the climaxof theCivil War, Lenin was so impressedwith the zeal and courageof these"Soviet anarchists," as theiranti-Bolshe- vik comradescontemptuously dubbed them,that he counted themamong "the most dedicated supporters of Sovietpower."" An outstandingcase in pointwas Bill Shatov,a formerIWW agitatorin the UnitedStates who had returnedto his native Russiaafter the February Revolution. As an officerin theTenth Red Armyduring the autumn of 1919, Shatov threw his energies intothe defenseof Petrogradagainst the advanceof General Yudenich.The followingyear he was summonedto Chitato becomeMinister of Transport in theFar EasternRepublic. Be- forehe left,Shatov tried to justifyhis collaborationist position to hisfellow libertarians, Emma Goldman and AlexanderBerkman. "NowI justwant to tellyou," he said,"that the Communist state IV. I. Lenin,Sochineniia, 2nd. ed., 31 vols.,Moscow, 1931-1935, XXIV, 437. 296

This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:46:39 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RussianAnarchists and theCivil War 297 in action is exactlywhat we anarchistshave always claimed it would be-a tightlycentralized power still more strengthened by the dangersof the Revolution. Under such conditions,one cannotdo as one wills. One does not justhop on a trainand go, or even ride the bumpers,as I used to do in the United States. One needs permission.But don't get the idea that I miss my American'blessings.' Me for Russia, the Revolution,and its gloriousfuture." The anarchists,said Shatov,were "the roman- ticistsof the Revolution,"but one could not fightwith ideals alone. At the moment,the chieftask was to defeatthe reaction- aries. "We anarchistsshould remaintrue to our ideals, but we should not criticizeat this time. We must work and help to build."2 Shatov was one of a small armyof anarchistswho took up weapons against the Whites duringthe Civil War. Othersac- cepted minorposts withinthe Soviet governmentand urged theircomrades to do likewise,or at least to refrainfrom activities which were hostileto the Bolshevikcause. Yuda Roshchin,a formerBlack Banner terroristand an implacable foe of the Marxists,now surprisedeveryone by hailingLenin as one of the great figuresof the modern age. Accordingto Victor Serge, Roshchineven triedto workout an "anarchisttheory of the dic- tatorshipof the proletariat."Speaking before a group of Mos- cow anarchistsin 1920, he exhortedhis colleagues to cooperate with Lenin's party. "It is the duty of everyanarchist," he de- clared, "to work whole-heartedlywith the Communists,who are the advance guard of the Revolution. Leave your theories alone, and do practicalwork for the reconstructionof Russia. The need is great,and the Bolshevikswelcome you."3

2EmmaGoldman, Living AJy Life, New York,1931, p. 729; AlexanderBerk- man,The BolshevikMyth (Diary 1920-1922),New York,1925, pp. 35-36.

sVictorSerge, Memoires d'un rivolutionnaire,Paris, 1951, p. 134; Berkman, The BolshevikMyth, p. 68.

This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:46:39 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 298 The Russian Review But Roshlchin'slisteners were not impressed. Greetinghis speech witha chorusof jeers and catcalls,they wrote him offas anotherloss to "Soviet anarchism"and a traitorto the cause of Bakunin and Kropotkin.For even in these precariouscircum- stancesa large and militantsegment of the anarchistmovement would deny theirBolshevik adversaries any quarter. The Bri- ansk Federationof Anarchists,for example,called for the im- mediateoverthrow of the "Social Vampires"in the Kremlinwho sucked the blood of the people. Translatingthis appeal intoac- tion,a terroristorganization in Moscow known as the Under- groundAnarchists joined forceswith the Left SRs and bombed the headquartersof the CommunistParty Committee,killing twelveof its membersand woundingfifty-five others, Bukharin among them. In the south,where the authorityof the statewas completely disrupted,anarchist violence found its most fertilesoil. Bands of armed marauders,operating under such names as "Hurri- caiiC' and "Death," sprangup in everyquarter, ready to swoop down on town or village wheneverthe opportunitypresented itself. The Bakunin Partisansof Ekaterinoslavsang of a new "era of dynamite"which would greetoppressors of everystripe, Red and White alike: Down with the noise of churchbells! We shall sound a differentalarm. Withexplosions and groansin the land We shall build our own harmony!4 And in Kharkov a fanatical circle of Anarcho-Futuristspro- claimed""Death to worldcivilization!" and urgedthe darkmass- es to take up theiraxes and destroyeverything in sight. Auarchistsof a more pacific bent denounced these groups as "Sicilian bandits" who used the cloak of anarchismto conceal the predatorynature of theiractivities. For the moderates, 4M. N. Chudnov,Pod chernymznamenem (zapiski anarkhista),Moscow, 1930, pp. 53ff.

This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:46:39 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RussianAnarchists and theCivil War 299 robberyand terrorismwere grotesquecaricatures of anarchist doctrines,which served only to demoralizethe movement'strue adherentsand to discreditanarchism in the eyes of the public. Renouncingviolent action, the milderanarchists armed themselves withnothing more lethal than pen and ink and mounted a verbal attack on the Soviet dictatorship.A major theme of theircriticism was that the BolshevikRevolution had merely substituted"state capitalism" for private capitalism, that one big ownerhad takenthe place of manysfinall ones, so thatthe peasants and workersnow found themselvesunder the heel of a "new class of administrators-anew class born largelyfrom the wombof the intelligentsia."5 In theirview, what had takenplace in Russia closely resembledthe earlierrevolutions in Western Europe: no soonerhad the oppressedfarmers and craftsmenof England and France removedthe landed aristocracyfrom power than the ambitiousmiddle class stepped into the breach and erecteda new class structurewith itselfat the top; in a similar manner,the privilegesand authorityonce shared by the Rus- sian nobilityand bourgeoisiehad passed into the hands of a new rulingclass composedof party officials, government bureau- crats,and technicalspecialists.

As the Civil War deepened,the governmentgrew less and less tolerantof such criticismsand startedclamping down on anarchist groupsin Moscow and Petrograd. As a result,there began an exodus of anarchiststo the Ukraine,the perennialhaven of fugitivesfrom the persecutionsof the centralgovernment. In the cityof Kharkova new anarchistorganization, the Nabat Confederation,sprang up in 1918 and soon could boast of flourishingbranches in all the major cities of the south. As mightbe expected,Nabat's adherentswere extremelycritical of the Sovietdictatorship, yet they believed thatthe mostpress-

WVol'nyiGolos Trudac,September 16, 1918.

This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:46:39 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 300 The Russian Review ing task of the anarchistmovement was to defend the revolution against the White onslaught,even if this should mean a temporaryalliance with the Communists.To save the revolution they pinned theirhopes on a "partisanarmy" organized spontaneouslyby the revolutionarymasses themselves.

As the mostlikely nucleus of such an armythe Nabat leaders looked to the guerillaband led by NestorMakhno, whose fol- lowersregarded him as a new StenkaRazin or Pugachev sent to realize their ancient dream of land and liberty.Traveling on horsebackand in lightpeasant carts (tachanki) on which ma- chine guns were mounted,Makhno and his men moved swiftly back and forthacross the open steppe betweenthe Dnieper and the Sea of Azov, swellinginto a smallarmy as theywent and in- spiringterror in the heartsof theiradversaries. Hithertoinde- pendentguerilla bands accepted Makhno'scommand and rallied to his black banner. Villagerswillingly provided food and fresh horses,enabling the Makhnovtsyto travellong distanceswith littledifficulty. Suddenly they would turn up where least expected, attackthe gentryand militarygarrisons, then vanish as quicklyas theyhad come. In captureduniforms they infiltrated the enemy'sranks to learn theirplans or to fire on them at point-blankrange. When cornered,the Makhnovtsywould bury theirweapons, make theirway singlyback to theirvil- lages, and take up workin the fields,awaiting the nextsignal to uneartha new cache of arms and springup again in an unex- pected quarter. Makhno's insurgents,in the words of Victor Serge, revealed "a truly epic capacity for organizationand combat."8 Yet they owed much of theirsuccess to the excep- tionalqualities of their leader. Makhnowas a bold and resource- fulcommander who combinedan ironwill witha quick sense of

8Serge, Mimoires d'un revolationnaire, p. 135.

This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:46:39 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RussianAn-archi.sts and theCivil War 301 humorand won the love and devotion of his peasant followers. In September1918, when he defeateda muchsuperior force of Austriansat thevillage of Dibrivki, his men bestowed on him theaffectionate title of batko,their "little father."7 Fora time,Makhno's dealings with the Bolsheviks remained reasonablyfriendly, and the Sovietpress extolled him as a "courageouspartisan" and a greatrevolutionary leader. Rela- tionswere at theirbest in March1919, when Makhno and the Communistsconcluded a pactfor joint military action against theWhite Army of General Denikin. Such gestures of harmony, however,could not conceal the basic hostility between the two groups.The Communistshad littletaste for the autonomous statusof Makhno's Insurgent Army or for the powerful attrac- tionwhich it exertedon theirown peasant recruits; the Makh- novtsy,on theirside, feared that sooner or later the Red Army wouldattempt to bringtheir movement to heel.As friction in- creased,the Soviet newspapers abandoned their eulogies of the Makhnovtsyand began to attackthem as "kulaks"and "Anar- cho-Bandits."In May,two Cheka agents sent to assassinate Malkhnowere caught and executed. The following month Trot- sky,Commander-in-Chief of the Bolshevikforces, outlawed Makhno,and Communist troops carried out a lightningraid on hisheadquarters at Gulyai-Polye. Thatsummer, however, the shakyalliance was hastilyre- sumedwhen Denikin's massive drive toward Moscow sent both theCommunists and theMakhnovtsy reeling. On September 26, 1919,Makhno suddenly launched a successfulcounter-at- tackat thevillage of Peregonovka, near the town of Uman, cut- tingthe White General's supply lines and creatingpanic and disorderin hisrear. This was Denikin'sfirst serious reverse in his dramaticadvance into the Russian heartland and a major

7P. Arshinov,Istorfia makhnovskogo dvizheniia (1918-1921 gg.), Berlin, 1923, pp. 57-58.

This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:46:39 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 302 The RussianiReview factorin haltinghis drivetoward the Bolshevikcapital. By the end of the yeara counter-offensiveby the Red Armyhad forced Denikinto beat a swiftretreat to the shoresof the Black Sea.

The Makhnovshchinareached its crestin the monthsfollow- ing thevictory at Peregonovka.During October and November, Makhno occupied Ekaterinoslavand Aleksandrovskfor several weeks and thus obtained his firstchance to apply the concepts ofanarchism to citylife. Makhno'saim was to throwoff domina- tion of everytype and to encourage economic and social self- determination.Thus, when the railroad workersof Aleksan- drovskcomplained that they had not been paid formany weeks, he advised themto take controlof the railwaylines and charge thepassengers and freightshippers what seemed a fairprice for theirservices. Such utopian projects,however, failed to win over morethan a small minorityof workingmen,for, unlike the farmersand artisansof the village,who were independentpro- ducersaccustomed to managingtheir own affairs,factory workers and minersoperated as interdependentparts of a compli- cated industrialmachine and were lost withoutthe guidance of supervisorsand technicalspecialists. Furthermore,the peasants and artisanscould barterthe productsof theirlabor, whereas the urbanworkers depended on regularwages fortheir survival. Makhno,moreover, compounded the confusionwhen he recog- nized all paper moneyissued by his predecessors-Ukrainianna- tionalists,Whites, and Bolsheviksalike. He never understood the complexitiesof an urban economy,nor did he care to un- derstandthem. He detestedthe "poison"of the citiesand cher- ished the natural simplicityof the peasant environmentinto whichhe had been born. In any event,Makhno found very little time to implementhis ill-definedeconomic programs. He was foreveron the move, rarelypausing even to catch his breath. The Makhnovshchina,in the wordsof one of the batko'sassoci-

This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:46:39 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Russian Anarchistsand the Civil War 303 ates, was a "republicon tachanki. . . . As always, the insta- bilityof the situationprevented positive work. "8

At the end of 1919, Makhno received instructionsfrom the Red Commandto transferhis armyforthwith to the Polishfront. The orderwas plainlydesigned to draw the Makhnovtsyaway fromtheir home territoryand thusleave it open to the establish- ment of Bolshevikrule. Makhno refusedto budge. Trotsky's responsewas firmand unhesitating:he outlawedthe Makhnov- tsyand senthis troopsagainst them. There ensued eightmonths of bitterstruggle with losses high on both sides. A severe ty- phus epidemic augmentedthe toll of victims.Badly outnum- bered,Makhno's partisans avoided pitchedbattles and reliedon theguerrilla tactics they had perfectedin morethan two years of Civil War.

Hostilitieswere broken off in October 1920, when Baron Wrangel, Denikin's successor in the south, launched a major offensive,striking northward from the Crimeanpeninsula. Once morethe Red Armyenlisted Makhno's aid, in returnfor which the Communistsagreed to amnestyfor all anarchistsin Russian prisonsand guaranteedthe anarchistsfreedom of propaganda on conditionthat they refrain from calling for the violentover- throwof the Sovietgovernment. Barely a monthlater, however, the Red Armyhad made sufficientgains to assurevictory in the Civil War, and the Soviet leaders toreup theiragreement with Makhno. Not only had the Makhnovtsyoutlived their useful- ness as a militarypartner, but as long as the batko was leftat large the spiritof primitiveanarchism and the danger of a peasant jacquerie would remainto haunt the unsteadyBolshe- vik regime. Thus, on November25, 1920, Makhno'scommand- ers in the Crimea,fresh from their victories over Wrangel'sar- my,were seized by the Red Armyand immediatelyshot. The

WVoline,La revolutioninconnue (1917-1921), Paris, 1943, pp. 578, 603.

This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:46:39 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 304 The Russian Review next day Trotskyordered an attackon Makhno'sheadquarters in Gulyai-Polye,while the Cheka simultaneouslyarrested the membersof the Nabat Confederationin Kharkovand carried out raids on anarchistclubs and organizationsthroughout the country.During the attackon Gulyai-Polye,most of Makhno's staffwere capturedand imprisonedor simplyshot on the spot. The batko himself,however, together with a batteredremnant of an armywhich had once numberedin the tens of thousands, managed to elude his pursuers. After wandering over the Ukrainefor the betterpart of a year, the partisanleader, ex- hausted and still sufferingfrom unhealed wounds, crossed the DniesterRiver into Rumania and eventuallyfound his way to Paris. The downfallof Makhnomarked the beginningof the end of Russian anarchism. Three monthslater, in February1921, the movementsuffered another major blow when Peter Kropotkin, nearlyeighty years old, fell ill with pneumoniaand died. Kro- potkin'sfamily declined Lenin's offerof a state burial, and a committeeof anarchistswas set up to arrangea funeral. Lev Kamenev,Chairman of the Moscow Soviet,allowed a handful of imprisonedanarchists a day's libertyto take part in the pro- cession. Bravingthe bittercold of the Moscow winter,20,000 marched in the cortege to the Novodevichii Monastery,the burial place of Kropotkin'sprincely ancestors. They carried placards and black bannersbearing demands forthe release of all anarchistsfrom prison and such mottoesas "Where thereis authoritythere is no freedom"and "The liberationof the work- ingclass is thetask of the workers themselves." A choruschanted Eternal Memory. As the processionpassed the Butyrkiprison, the inmatesshook the bars on theirwindows and sang an anar- chisthymn to the dead. Emma Goldman spoke at Kropotkin's graveside.and studentsands workers placed flowersby his tomb.

This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:46:39 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Russsian.Anarchists and the Civil War 305 Kropotkin'sbirthplace, a large house in the old aristocratic quarterof Moscow, was turnedover to his wife and comrades to be used as a museumfor his books,papers, and personalbe- longings. Supervisedby a committeeof scholarlyanarchists, it was maintainedby contributionsfrom friends and admirers throughoutthe world.9 At Kropotkin'sfuneral the black flagof anarchismwas parad- ed throughMoscow forthe last time.Two weekslater the Kron- stadt rebellionbroke out, and a new wave of political arrests swept the country.Anarchist book stores,printing offices, and clubs wereclosed and thefew remaining anarchist circles broken up. Even the pacifistfollowers of Tolstoy-a nuumberof whom had been shot duringth Civil War forrefusing to serve in the Red Army-wereimprisoned or banished.In Moscow a circleof leading "Soviet anachists"known as the Universalistswere ar- restedon trumped-upcharges of "banditry and undergroundac- tivities,"and theirorganization was replaced by a new group called the"Anarcho-Biocosmists," who pledged unwaveringsup- port of the Soviet governmentand solemnlydeclared theirin- tentionto launcha social revolution"in interplanetaryspace but not upon Sovietterritory."'` Repressioncontinued unabated as the monthsadvanced. In September 1921, the Cheka executed two well-knownanar- chists without a trial and without bringingformal charges against them. Emma Goldman was so outragedthat she con- sideredmaking a scene in themanner of the Englishsuffragettes by chainingherself to a bench in the hall where the Third CominternCongress was meetingand shoutingher proteststo

9The museumwas closed afterthe death of Kropotkin'swidow in 1938. In 1967, the authorvisited the house and foundit being used fora purposeof whichKropotkin himself would surely have approved:it servesas a schoolfor Britishand Americanembassy children, with a playgroundin the gardenand an interiorfilled with children's books and art work. 10G.P. Maximoff,The Guillotineat Work,Chicago, 1940, p. .362.

This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:46:39 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 306 TI/heRussian Review the delegates.She was dissuadedfrom doing so by her Russian friends,but soon afterwardshe and Berkman,profoundly dis- heartenedby the turnthe revolutionhad taken,made up their mindsto leave the country."Grey are the passingdays," Berk- man recordedin his diary. "One by one the embersof hope have died out. Terrorand despotismhave crushedthe lifeborn in October. The slogans of the Revolutionare foresworn,its ideals stifledin theblood of thepeople. The breathof yesterday is doomingmillions to death; the shadow of today hangs like a black pall over the country.Dictatorship is tramplingthe massesunder foot. The Revolutionis dead; itsspirit cries in the wilderness. . . JI have decided to leave Russia.""

"Berkman,the BolshevikMyth, p. 319.

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