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The Bolshevik–Makhnovist conflict was a period of
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
and military conflict
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
between the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
and the Makhnovshchina
The Makhnovshchina () was an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society in parts of Ukraine during the Russian Revolution of 1917–1923. It existed from 1918 to 1921, during which time free soviets and libertarian communes operated under t ...
, for control over southern Ukraine
Southern Ukraine ( uk, південна Україна, translit=pivdenna Ukrayina) or south Ukraine refers, generally, to the oblasts in the south of Ukraine.
The territory usually corresponds with the Soviet economical district, the Southern E ...
. The Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
aimed to eliminate the Makhnovshchina and neutralise its peasant base. In turn, the Makhnovists fought against the implementation of the Red Terror
The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in lat ...
and the policy of war communism
War communism or military communism (russian: Военный коммунизм, ''Voyennyy kommunizm'') was the economic and political system that existed in Soviet Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1921.
According to Soviet histo ...
.
The conflict broke out after the Red Army returned to Ukraine in early 1920, following the defeat of the White advance on Moscow. It attacked the Makhnovshchina, which at the time occupied most of southern Ukraine, and carried out a sustained attempt to pacify the region. After a brief truce
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
, in order to ensure the final defeat of the White movement, the Red Army again attacked the Makhnovshchina in November 1920, leading to a resumption of hostilities.
The conflict mainly consisted of guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
, without conventional maneuvers or open battles. It was also highly mobile, with territory regularly changing hands between the two. The Bolsheviks largely maintained territorial control, while the Makhnovists were kept on the defensive. In this condition, the Makhnovists were not able to carry out offensives, instead mostly attacking isolated Red units.
Following the implementation of the New Economic Policy
The New Economic Policy (NEP) () was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, ...
and the onset of fatigue due to the conditions of the war, support for the Makhnovist insurrection began to dwindle. Despite efforts by the Makhnovists to reorganise and carry out larger offensives, by August 1921, the Makhnovshchina had effectively been whiped out. Its core around Nestor Makhno
Nestor Ivanovych Makhno, The surname "Makhno" ( uk, Махно́) was itself a corruption of Nestor's father's surname "Mikhnenko" ( uk, Міхненко). ( 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ("Father Makhno"),; According to ...
fled into exile, while a low-level insurgency persisted throughout the 1920s.
Background
The advent of theOctober Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
caused the outbreak of civil war in Ukraine, as the forces of the Central Council
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and the Soviets
Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union.
Nationality policy in th ...
struggled to take power in the country. When the Ukrainian nationalists
Ukrainian nationalism refers to the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and it also refers to the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The nation building that arose as nationalism grew following the French Revol ...
seized control of Oleksandrivsk
Oleksandrivsk ( uk, Олекса́ндрівськ ) or Aleksandrovsk (russian: Алекса́ндровск ) is a small city in Luhansk Municipality, Luhansk Oblast (region) of Ukraine. Population:
Demographics
Native language as of the Uk ...
, the local Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries
The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revol ...
appealed for support from Ukrainian anarchists
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
to reestablish Soviet power in the city. From the nearby town of Huliaipole
Huliaipole ( uk, Гуляйполе ; ) is a city in Polohy Raion, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. It is known as the birthplace of Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary Nestor Makhno. In 2021, it had a population of Huliaipole was Battle of Huliaipole ...
, an 800-strong detachment of Black Guards
Black Guards (russian: Чёрная гвардия, ) were armed groups of workers formed after the February Revolution and before the final Bolshevik suppression of other leftwing groups. They were the main strike force of the anarchists. They ...
, led by Savely Makhno, reinforced the Red Guards
Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...
and retook the city for the Soviets. The gains of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic
The Ukrainian Soviet Republic (russian: Украинская Советская Республика, translit= Ukrainskaya Sovetskaya Respublika) was one of the earlier Soviet Ukrainian quasi-state formations (Ukrainian People's Republic of S ...
were lost after the Central Council signed a peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...
with the Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
and invited them to invade Ukraine, with the Bolshevik government in Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
later signing their own peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...
with the Central Powers, formally ceding control of Ukraine. By April 1918, after months of fighting against the imperial advance, the anarchists lost control of Huliaipole and were driven out of Ukraine.
After regrouping their forces in Taganrog
Taganrog ( rus, Таганрог, p=təɡɐnˈrok) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of the Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population:
History of Taganrog
The ...
, the anarchists resolved to return to Ukraine and fight a war of independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence.
List
See also
* Lists of active separatist movements
* List of civil wars
* List of o ...
against the Central Powers, with Nestor Makhno
Nestor Ivanovych Makhno, The surname "Makhno" ( uk, Махно́) was itself a corruption of Nestor's father's surname "Mikhnenko" ( uk, Міхненко). ( 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ("Father Makhno"),; According to ...
soliciting the aid of Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
himself in making their return. In July 1918, the Ukrainian anarchists ignited their insurrection against the Central Powers, defeating the Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...
at Dibrivka and eventually retaking Huliaipole. By November 1918, the Central Powers had surrendered
Surrender, in military terms, is the relinquishment of control over territory, combatants, fortifications, ships or armament to another power. A surrender may be accomplished peacefully or it may be the result of defeat in battle. A sovereign ...
and subsequently withdrawn from Ukraine, leaving the region of Pryazovia
Pryazovia ( uk, Приазов'я, sometimes spelled Приозів‘я, Pryozivia; russian: Приазовье, Priazovye) or literally Cis-Azov region is usually used to refer to the geographic area of the north coast of the Sea of Azov. It is ...
under the control of the Makhnovshchina
The Makhnovshchina () was an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society in parts of Ukraine during the Russian Revolution of 1917–1923. It existed from 1918 to 1921, during which time free soviets and libertarian communes operated under t ...
.
While the Makhnovshchina set about establishing libertarian communism
Anarcho-communism, also known as anarchist communism, (or, colloquially, ''ancom'' or ''ancomm'') is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property but retains resp ...
in their captured territory and the anarchist armed forces fought on multiple fronts against the White movement, Don Cossacks
Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: До ...
and Directorate of Ukraine
The Directorate, or Directory () was a provisional collegiate revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian People's Republic, initially formed on November 13–14, 1918 during a session of the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against Ukr ...
, the Bolsheviks finally broke the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace, separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russian SFSR, Russia and the Central Powers (German Empire, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of ...
and ordered the Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
to invade Ukraine, with Christian Rakovsky
Christian Georgievich Rakovsky (russian: Христиа́н Гео́ргиевич Рако́вский; bg, Кръстьо Георги́ев Рако́вски; – September 11, 1941) was a Bulgarian-born socialist revolutionary, a Bolshevi ...
proclaiming the establishment of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
in Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Ukrainian Soviet Army as the 3rd Trans-Dnieper Brigade, with Nestor Makhno subordinating himself to the command of
Under pressure by the advancing Makhnovists, on 30 December, Slaschov's White forces finally quit Katerynoslav province and retreated to
On 8 January, Uboverich ordered the Insurgents to surrender and be integrated into the ranks of the 12th Red Army, in order to join the fight in the
In March 1920, the Kuban region was captured by the Red Army, forcing the
On 21 June, the Insurgents attacked Huliaipole, defeating a 300-strong Red infantry detachment and capturing the town. A few days later they surrounded the 522nd Red Regiment and took them prisoner, with many in the regiment defecting to the Insurgent ranks. As Red Army defections increased, the Bolshevik central command once again turned its attention towards the insurgents, with the Cheka's director
On 14 November, the Bolshevik plans to liquidate the Makhnovshchina were finalised by the
That same night, the Makhnovist commanders in Crimea were summoned to a joint planning conference with the Red Army command, but were ambushed ''en route'' and shot, with both
With the surprise attack having failed to eliminte the Makhnovshchina, Mikhail Frunze deployed almost the entire Southern Front of the Red Army against the Makhnovists, aiming to encircle them. The Red Army mustered together 150,000 soldiers to fight against the insurgents, rallying the 4th, 6th and 13th Armies, along with the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Armies. With the
The Insurgent Army reorganized itself once again, relying on their tested tactics of lightning warfare and decentralization to continue prosecuting the conflict. In response to the outbreak of the 
In May, the Makhnovists mounted an offensive against the Ukrainian Bolshevik capital of
Leaving
Pavel Dybenko
Pavel Efimovich Dybenko (russian: Павел Ефимович Дыбенко), (February 16, 1889 – July 29, 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a leading Soviet officer and military commander.
Prior to military service
Pavel Dybenko was b ...
.
Despite the integration, tensions between the Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists heightened over time, as the autonomy of the Makhnovshchina was increasingly attacked by their Bolshevik commanders, with Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko
Vladimir Alexandrovich Antonov-Ovseenko (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Анто́нов-Овсе́енко; ua, Володимир Антонов-Овсєєнко; 9 March 1883 – 10 February 1938), real surna ...
and Lev Kamenev
Lev Borisovich Kamenev. (''né'' Rozenfeld; – 25 August 1936) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a prominent Soviet politician.
Born in Moscow to parents who were both involved in revolutionary politics, Kamenev attended Imperial Moscow Uni ...
attempting to resolve the dispute after Dybenko proscribed a Makhnovist conference. But after Nikifor Grigoriev
Nykyfor Oleksandrovych Hryhoriv (né Nychypir Servetnyk, 1884 – 27 July 1919) was a Ukrainian paramilitary leader noted for repeatedly switching sides during the Ukrainian Civil War. He was commonly known as "Otaman Hryhoriv." In some historic ...
mutinied against the Bolsheviks, tensions between the two factions culminated with the Makhnovists being declared outlaws and Makhno resigning his command within the Red Army.
The advance
Advance commonly refers to:
*Advance, an offensive push in sports, games, thoughts, military combat, or sexual or romantic pursuits
*Advance payment for goods or services
*Advance against royalties, a payment to be offset against future royalty pa ...
of the Armed Forces of South Russia
The Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR or SRAF) () were the unified military forces of the White movement in southern Russia between 1919 and 1920.
On 8 January 1919, the Armed Forces of South Russia were formed, incorporating the Volunteer Army ...
subsequently forced the Makhnovists to retreat west to Kherson
Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers appr ...
, while the Bolsheviks quit Ukraine entirely following the fall of Kharkiv. In Kherson, the Makhnovists reconstituted themselves as an independent force, the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine
The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine ( uk, Революційна Повстанська Армія України), also known as the Black Army or as Makhnovtsi ( uk, Махновці), named after their leader Nestor Makhno, was a ...
, and defeated the Volunteer Army
The Volunteer Army (russian: Добровольческая армия, translit=Dobrovolcheskaya armiya, abbreviated to russian: Добрармия, translit=Dobrarmiya) was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from ...
at the Battle of Peregonovka
The Battle of Peregonovka was a September 1919 military conflict in which the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine defeated the Volunteer Army. After retreating west across Ukraine for four months and 600 kilometers, the Insurgent Army turned ...
, allowing them to capture most of southern Ukraine
Southern Ukraine ( uk, південна Україна, translit=pivdenna Ukrayina) or south Ukraine refers, generally, to the oblasts in the south of Ukraine.
The territory usually corresponds with the Soviet economical district, the Southern E ...
and halting the White advance on Moscow. While the Makhnovists were beset by epidemic typhus and attempting to hold off attacks by the White movement, the Red Army returned to Ukraine once again.
First phase (January–September 1920)
Under pressure by the advancing Makhnovists, on 30 December, Slaschov's White forces finally quit Katerynoslav province and retreated to Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
, where they built a new base of operations. The remainder of White forces were split between Odesa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...
and the Don
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
, with their supply lines through Pryazovia
Pryazovia ( uk, Приазов'я, sometimes spelled Приозів‘я, Pryozivia; russian: Приазовье, Priazovye) or literally Cis-Azov region is usually used to refer to the geographic area of the north coast of the Sea of Azov. It is ...
cut off by the Insurgent Army. With the White movement falling into a retreat, the territories that had been cleared by the Insurgent Army were subsequently occupied by the Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
. In the cities of Ukraine, the Bolsheviks began to carry out a political struggle against dissident communists, such as the national communists and the Group of Democratic Centralism
The Group of Democratic Centralism, sometimes called the Group of 15, the Decists, or the Decemists, was a dissenting faction within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the early 1920s.
History
The Group was formed in March 1919 at the 8t ...
, who they denounced as Makhnovists.
In the first week of January 1920, the 14th Red Army took the cities of Katerynoslav
Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
, Chaplyne
Chaplyne ( uk, Чаплине, ; russian: Чаплино) is a rural settlement in Synelnykove Raion, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine. It belongs to Dubovyky rural hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Its latest estimated population was
His ...
, Mariupol
Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russian i ...
, Oleksandrivsk
Oleksandrivsk ( uk, Олекса́ндрівськ ) or Aleksandrovsk (russian: Алекса́ндровск ) is a small city in Luhansk Municipality, Luhansk Oblast (region) of Ukraine. Population:
Demographics
Native language as of the Uk ...
, Huliaipole
Huliaipole ( uk, Гуляйполе ; ) is a city in Polohy Raion, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. It is known as the birthplace of Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary Nestor Makhno. In 2021, it had a population of Huliaipole was Battle of Huliaipole ...
and Berdiansk
Berdiansk or Berdyansk ( uk, Бердя́нськ, translit=Berdiansk, ; russian: Бердя́нск, translit=Berdyansk ) is a port city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast (Oblast, province) in south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the ...
, all without resistance. On 4 January, the Red commander Ieronim Uborevich
Ieronim Petrovich Uborevich ( lt, Jeronimas Uborevičius; russian: Иерони́м Петро́вич Уборе́вич; – 12 June 1937) was a Soviet military commander of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, reaching the rank of koma ...
split up his divisions: the 41st Division was quartered in the insurgent capital of Huliaipole, while the 45th Division was sent west towards Kherson
Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers appr ...
, where they were ordered to wipe out any Insurgent detachments encountered and to disarm the local populace. The Makhnovists had underestimated the rapid advance of the Red Army, with Peter Arshinov
Peter Andreyevich Arshinov (russian: Пётр Андре́евич Арши́нов; 1887–1937), was a Russian anarchist revolutionary and intellectual who chronicled the history of the Makhnovshchina.
Initially a Bolshevik, during the 1905 ...
later analyzing that a tactical error had been made by the insurgents in not establishing a front from Oryol
Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...
to Poltava
Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...
. Instead of reinforcing their northern front, the Makhnovists had diverted their attention towards the reconstruction of Ukraine along anarcho-communist
Anarcho-communism, also known as anarchist communism, (or, colloquially, ''ancom'' or ''ancomm'') is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property but retains resp ...
lines, with their only resistance to the Red advance consisting of propaganda leaflets.
On 5 January, the commander of the 45th Division met with the insurgent commanders Nestor Makhno
Nestor Ivanovych Makhno, The surname "Makhno" ( uk, Махно́) was itself a corruption of Nestor's father's surname "Mikhnenko" ( uk, Міхненко). ( 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ("Father Makhno"),; According to ...
and Semen Karetnyk
Semen Mykytovych Karetnyk (; 1893 – 1920) was a Ukrainian anarchist and a commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (RIAU). He often replaced Nestor Makhno as supreme commander of the Black Army in 1920. Karetnyk gained a reputat ...
in Oleksandrivsk, culminating with the two sides holding a joint assembly, in which they agreed to join forces against the White movement. But despite the initial mutual amicability of the encounter, the Bolsheviks soon made it clear that they were hostile to any political negotiations. On 7 January, the Insurgent Army published a declaration ''To all Peasants and Workers of Ukraine!'', calling for a "Pan-Ukrainian Congress of Workers and Peasants" to self-organize a new order in the country. In the declaration, the Makhnovists further proposed: the rescinding of all White edicts; the redistribution of private property and enterprise to the peasants and workers respectively; the establishment of "free soviets" outside of political party control; the institution of civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
; the abolition of state police; the dual use of both the Soviet ruble
The ruble or rouble (russian: рубль) was the currency of the Soviet Union, introduced in 1922, replacing the Imperial Russian ruble. One ruble was divided into 100 kopecks ( – ''kopeyka'', ''kopeyki''). Soviet banknotes and coins were pr ...
and Ukrainian hryvnia
The or ( ; uk, гривня , : ''hrn''; sign: ₴; code: UAH) has been the national currency of Ukraine since 2 September 1996. The hryvnia is divided into 100 . It is named after a measure of weight used in medieval Kievan Rus'.
Name Etym ...
as currencies; and the construction of a barter economy
In trade, barter (derived from ''baretor'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists distingu ...
. This proclamation was met with opposition by the Bolsheviks, who declared: "Long live the worldwide Bolshevik Communist Party! Long live the Third International
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...
! Down with anarchy!"
Bolshevik attack
On 8 January, Uboverich ordered the Insurgents to surrender and be integrated into the ranks of the 12th Red Army, in order to join the fight in the Polish–Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921)
* russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...
. Beset by epidemic typhus and more inclined to fight on their home turf than in western Ukraine
Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austria ...
, the Insurgent Army responded with a categorical rejection of the order, just as the Bolshevik command had anticipated. The following day, the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee
All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee ( uk, italic=yes, Всеукраїнський центральний виконавчий комітет) was a representative body of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets. It was the supreme legislative ...
issued a decree against Makhno and the Insurgent Army, declaring them to be outlaw
An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...
ed for insubordination. Before the decree had even been published, Estonian
Estonian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe
* Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent
* Estonian language
* Estonian cuisine
* Estonian culture
See also ...
and Latvian Riflemen started disarming the Makhnovists that they encountered. The Bolsheviks also initiated an anti-Makhnovist propaganda campaign, de-emphasising the insurgent role in the defeat of the Whites and accusing them of having caused the earlier Soviet defeat in the battle for Donbas.
As hostilities with the Red Army resumed, the Military Revolutionary Council
The Military Revolutionary Council (russian: Военно-революционный Совет , VRS) was the ''de facto'' executive of the Makhnovshchina, empowered to act during the interim between sittings of the Regional Congresses.
Fun ...
was disbanded and its members went underground, while other prominent anarchists, such as Volin
Vsevolod Mikhailovich Eikhenbaum (russian: Все́волод Миха́йлович Эйхенба́ум; 11 August 188218 September 1945), commonly known by his psuedonym Volin (russian: Во́лин), was a Russian anarchist intellectual. H ...
, were arrested by the Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
. By 15 January, the Red Army had occupied Nikopol, where 15,000 insurgents were sick with typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure.
...
, shooting the Makhnovist commanders stationed there and capturing large amounts of war material. Towards the end of January, the 13th Army attacked Huliaipole, during which they killed Savely Makhno, took 300 prisoners of war and captured a substantial amount of the insurgents' military equipment. Further attacks against the Makhnovists were carried out by divisions from Estonia, Latvia and China, due to their lack of ties to Ukraine, resulting in the perceived liquidation of the Insurgent Army. Following the capture of Huliaipole and the dispersal of the insurgent staff, the Southwestern Front declared victory over the Makhnovshchina on 9 February.
Red Terror
With the insurgent army taken care of, the Bolsheviks turned their attention towards carrying out theRed Terror
The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in lat ...
in Ukraine, with Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
himself ordering that all supporters of the partisans be "mercilessly punish d. The Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
were moved into the villages, where they killed all the local Makhnovists and installed Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
officials in power. The Cheka then set about disarming the local populace, taking villagers hostage while their troops set about searching homes and killing the hostages if they found any unreported weaponry. Petro Hryhorenko would later state that "there was no end of bloodshed", drawing attention to reports of one massacre in the Makhnovist town of Novospasivka, where the Cheka had "shot down one in every two able-bodied men". In what Alexandre Skirda described as an act of "outright genocide", an estimated 200,000 Ukrainian peasants were killed during the Red Terror.
The Bolshevik government implemented war communism
War communism or military communism (russian: Военный коммунизм, ''Voyennyy kommunizm'') was the economic and political system that existed in Soviet Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1921.
According to Soviet histo ...
in Ukraine, introducing a strict system of rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...
and food requisitioning, which confiscated agricultural produce and livestock from the peasantry, and even forbade them from fishing, hunting or collecting lumber. The attacks against the Ukrainian peasantry were justified under the policy of Dekulakization
Dekulakization (russian: раскулачивание, ''raskulachivanie''; uk, розкуркулення, ''rozkurkulennia'') was the Soviet campaign of political repressions, including arrests, deportations, or executions of millions of kulak ...
, despite the fact that, by this point in time, only 0.5% of the peasantry owned more than 10 hectares of land. The ''sovkhoz
A sovkhoz ( rus, совхо́з, p=sɐfˈxos, a=ru-sovkhoz.ogg, abbreviated from ''советское хозяйство'', "sovetskoye khozyaystvo (sovkhoz)"; ) was a form of state-owned farm in the Soviet Union.
It is usually contrasted wit ...
es'' also collapsed, with the number of state-owned farms halving and their land area reducing to a third, over the course of 1920. Even the soviet historian noted that to most of the Ukrainian peasantry: "the Soviet economy was a new and abhorrent form of rule ..which in reality had merely set the State in the place of the former big landowner."
The implementation of war communism thus resulted in a resurgence of peasant revolts. Insurgents directed their attacks against Bolshevik officials, particularly members of the Cheka and requisitioning units, of whom over 1,000 were killed by the fall of 1920. The Insurgent Army eventually revealed itself with an ''Address to the Peasants and Workers of Ukraine'', in which they announced their intention to carry out violent retribution against the Bolsheviks. The insurgents began to prosecute a campaign of guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
against the Red Army throughout left-bank Ukraine
Left-bank Ukraine ( uk, Лівобережна Україна, translit=Livoberezhna Ukrayina; russian: Левобережная Украина, translit=Levoberezhnaya Ukraina; pl, Lewobrzeżna Ukraina) is a historic name of the part of Ukrain ...
, where the Makhnovists knew the land and could carry out a series of surprise attacks against the Bolshevik forces. Towards the end of February, the Estonian Red Riflemen in Huliaipole were eliminated in a surprise attack, after which its commanding officers and political commissars were shot, while its rank-and-file soldiers were given the option to either join the insurgent army or be stripped of their uniforms and sent home. This discriminatory policy was extended throughout the Red Army, with the Insurgents issuing an appeal ''To the Comrades from the Red Army of the Front and Rearguard'', in which they encouraged Red soldiers to mutiny and join the insurgent peasantry in the fight against both the Red and White armies. The 42nd Division and Estonian Division were subsequently ordered to root out these guerrilla elements of the Makhnovshchina. After they reoccupied Huliaipole and seized the insurgents' artillery, their job was considered to be finished, and they were transferred into the reserves and to the Crimean Front respectively.
In March 1920, the Kuban region was captured by the Red Army, forcing the Armed Forces of South Russia
The Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR or SRAF) () were the unified military forces of the White movement in southern Russia between 1919 and 1920.
On 8 January 1919, the Armed Forces of South Russia were formed, incorporating the Volunteer Army ...
to evacuate to Crimea, where Pyotr Wrangel
Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (russian: Пётр Никола́евич барон Вра́нгель, translit=Pëtr Nikoláevič Vrángel', p=ˈvranɡʲɪlʲ, german: Freiherr Peter Nikolaus von Wrangel; April 25, 1928), also known by his ni ...
replaced Anton Denikin
Anton Ivanovich Denikin (russian: Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин, link= ; 16 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New St ...
as the commander-in-chief of the Russian Army
The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces.
The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...
. The Bolsheviks were unable to prevent the evacuation, due in part to their lack of a navy, while their attentions also shifted from the Southern Front to the Western Front, as the Polish advance on Kyiv took precedence over the retreating Whites. Wrangel took the opportunity to reorganise his forces and launch an offensive
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
into northern Tavria
Kherson Oblast ( uk, Херсо́нська о́бласть, translit=Khersónsʹka óblastʹ, ), also known as Khersonshchyna ( uk, Херсо́нщина, ), is an oblast (province) in southern Ukraine, currently claimed and partly occupied ...
, aiming to secure a supply of grain and fresh recruits from the region.
Insurgent counteroffensive
By this time, the Insurgents had regrouped their forces enough to begin launching larger operations again. Their 4,000-strong force was split into two contingents, each with their own cavalry, infantry, artillery cannons and ''tachanki''. The insurgents set out from Huliaipole on a series of raids against the Red Army positions innorthern Ukraine
A list of the various regions of Ukraine and/or inhabited by Ukrainians and their ancestors throughout history.
Main historical regions
Traditional regions
The traditional names of the regions of Ukraine are important geographic, historic ...
, taking 13,400 soldiers as prisoners of war, rendering a further 30,000 ''hors de combat
''Hors de combat'' (; ) is a French term used in diplomacy and international law to refer to persons who are incapable of performing their combat duties during war. Examples include persons parachuting from their disabled aircraft, as well as ...
'' and executing 2,000 political commissars and commanding officers. The insurgents also captured a substantial amount of equipment from the Red Army, including 5 artillery cannons, 2,300 artillery shells, 93 machine guns, 2,400,000 cartridges, 3,600 rifles, 25,000 uniforms, a field hospital, and even a ship and an airplane. These raids were complemented by a number of surprise attacks against Red Army units around Huliaipole, during which insurgent cavalry detachments routed the 46th Division, once again bringing the region under insurgent control.
The continuous attacks against Red positions, combined with sustained propaganda efforts and the redistribution of property to the local peasantry, eventually resulted in more partisan detachments joining the Insurgents. The Insurgent Army also issued appeals to the rank-and-file soldiers of the Red Army to cease all attacks against them, identifying the Bolshevik commissars together with the Whites as oppressors of the poor, and urged the Red soldiers to join the insurgents. Within months, the Insurgent Army's ranks increased to 35,000 soldiers, who reestablished the central command of the Military Revolutionary Council, consisting of seven delegates elected by the insurgents themselves, the decisions of which would only be put into effect with the consent of the rank-and-file. On 25 May, the Bolshevik authorities of Katerynoslav province decided to re-focus local efforts on eliminating the resurgent Makhnovshchina, prioritizing anti-insurgent activities over the newly-established Committees of Poor Peasants
In Soviet-ruled Russia the Bolshevik authorities established Committees of Poor easants'' (russian: Комитеты Бедноты, ''komitety bednoty'' or russian: комбеды, ''kombedy'', commonly rendered in English as kombeds) during th ...
and the requisitioning of food.
By June, the Insurgent Army were engaged in sustained combat with the 13th Red Army, which forced the Insurgents to retreat to the area around and , where they intercepted a Red supply train bound for Oleksandrivsk and seized from it a large amount of equipment, including four machine guns. On 8 June, a band of 4,000 insurgents sustained heavy losses after attacking the railway between Pysmenne and . On 13 June, the remnants of this detachment arrived in Novouspenivka, where they discovered a Red Army unit that was carrying a treasury. The insurgents launched a surprise attack against the Reds and seized their money, but when the insurgents attempted to retreat, they were counterattacked by the Red units, which reduced the insurgent detachment to a few dozen survivors and almost captured Nestor Makhno himself. Following this defeat, Makhno led the insurgents back towards Huliaipole, while the 13th Red Army attempted to encircle them. On 14 June, the Red units sent from Chaplyne were defeated by the insurgents at Velykomykhailivka
Velykomykhailivka ( uk, Великомихайлівка) is a Ukrainian village in the Synelnykove Raion of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. It is located on the right bank of the Vovcha River.
It is the administrative center of the Velykomykhailivsky vi ...
, resulting in the destruction of half of the Red's artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to fac ...
and the death of 30 Red soldiers. The unit's commander and commissar were subsequently arrested by their own command, due to the detachment's apparent sympathy towards the insurgents. The following day, an even larger battle took place there, resulting in the retreat of the Red units, which put a critical dent in the 13th Red Army's rear and forced some units to be withdrawn from the Taurida front to protect the Red lines of communication between Polohy
Polohy (, ; russian: Пологи, translit=Pologi) is a city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine, currently under the control of the Russian Armed Forces. It serves as the administrative center of Polohy Raion. Population: .
From 1928 to 1937, it ...
and Volnovakha
Volnovakha ( uk, Волнова́ха, ; russian: Волнова́ха) is a town in Ukraine. It served as the administrative center of Volnovakha Raion, one of the 18 districts of the Donetsk Oblast. Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, ...
.
On 21 June, the Insurgents attacked Huliaipole, defeating a 300-strong Red infantry detachment and capturing the town. A few days later they surrounded the 522nd Red Regiment and took them prisoner, with many in the regiment defecting to the Insurgent ranks. As Red Army defections increased, the Bolshevik central command once again turned its attention towards the insurgents, with the Cheka's director Felix Dzerzhinsky
Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky ( pl, Feliks Dzierżyński ; russian: Фе́ликс Эдму́ндович Дзержи́нский; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed "Iron Felix", was a Bolshevik revolutionary and official, born into Poland, Polish n ...
even arriving in Katerynoslav province to personally direct the anti-Makhnovist campaign. Dzerzhinsky drafted an address to the peasantry of Katerynoslav to try and turn them against the "Makhnovist bandits", alleging links between them and the Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...
, and calling for the "extermination of the Makhnovists like savage beasts". He also ordered that any village found to have collaborated with the Makhnovists was to be "leveled" and promised that Makhnovist defectors would spared if they chose to "expiate their sin" on the Polish front. The insurgents responded by inviting Red Army soldiers to "think on it", reaffirming their goal of establishing a "free soviet regime" and again encouraging them to defect. It was at this point that the Cheka orchestrated a plot to assassinate Makhno, but the attempt was uncovered before it could be carried out and both of the Cheka's agents were executed.
White advance
The Insurgents had themselves claimed that their anti-Bolshevik uprising constituted a " Third Revolution", drawing a direct line of succession from theFebruary Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
and October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
, intending to rally together all revolutionary socialists
The Revolutionary Socialists ( ar, الاشتراكيون الثوريون; ) (RS) are a Trotskyist organisation in Egypt originating in the tradition of 'Socialism from Below'. Leading RS members include sociologist Sameh Naguib. The organisati ...
that still supported "free soviets". This drew the attention of Wrangel, who had just defeated Dmitry Zhloba
Dmitry Petrovich Zhloba (russian: Дмитрий Петрович Жлоба; June 3, 1887 – June 10, 1938) was a Soviet military commander who participated in the Russian Civil War.
He was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, then part of Imperial Russi ...
's 30,000-strong Cavalry Corps in Northern Taurida. Wrangel himself had already reorganized the White movement, making concessions to the local Crimean peasantry and attempting to reach out to other anti-Bolshevik forces. On 9 July, one of Wrangel's emissaries met with the Insurgent staff at , where he proposed that the Insurgents cooperate with the Whites in their war against the Bolsheviks. Outraged by the proposal, the Insurgents immediately shot the messenger and when a second envoy was sent, they lynched him and hung a sign on his corpse that read "all White emissaries will share this one's fate." Despite the insurgent staff having officially rebuffed Wrangel's overtures, Red, White and foreign newspapers continued to circulate rumours of the alleged alliance, even convincing two former insurgent lieutenants to join the Russian Army as a partisan detachment baring Makhno's name. The Makhnovists responded by issuing a categorically anti-Wrangel declaration, in which they reiterated their history of fighting against counterrevolutionaries
A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revoluti ...
and appealed to White soldiers to defect to the insurgent banner.
While the Reds and Whites engaged each other at Orikhiv, the Insurgent Army launched a series of raids into Poltava
Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...
. In the first week of August, they were joined by a 500-strong independent anarchist detachment at , while under pursuit by Red Army units. On 16 August, attacked Myrhorod
Myrhorod ( uk, Ми́ргород, ) is a city in the Poltava Oblast (province) of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Myrhorod Raion (district), the city itself is administratively incorporated as a city of oblast s ...
, where they destroyed local Bolshevik office buildings, killed 21 Red soldiers and looted the regional food committee. They then moved on to Kobeliaky
Kobeliaky ( uk, Кобеля́ки, ) is a city in Poltava Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kobeliaky Raion. Population:
History
During World War II, Kobeliaky was under German occupation from 15 September 1941 until 2 ...
, where they derailed a Red armoured train, and on 24 August, their detachment of 3,000 infantry and 700 cavalry arrived in Hubynykha
Hubynykha ( uk, Губиниха; russian: Губиниха) is an urban-type settlement in Novomoskovsk Raion of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in Ukraine. It is located on the Hubynykha, a left tributary of the Kilchen, in the basin of the Dnieper. Hub ...
. The following day, the insurgents were attacked by the 115th Red Cavalry Regiment and forced to retreat, first to Izium
Izium or Izyum ( uk, Ізюм, ; russian: Изюм) is a city on the Donets River in Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izium Raion (district). Izium hosts the administration of Izium urban hr ...
and then to Starobilsk
Starobilsk ( uk, Старобільськ, russian: Старобельск) is a city in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Starobilsk Raion. The modern settlement was founded in 1686, and it was granted city stat ...
, where they seized 4 machine guns, 40,000 cartridges and 180 horses, before freeing 1,000 Red prisoners of war.
In September, the Red Army captured Huliaipole
Huliaipole ( uk, Гуляйполе ; ) is a city in Polohy Raion, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. It is known as the birthplace of Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary Nestor Makhno. In 2021, it had a population of Huliaipole was Battle of Huliaipole ...
from the Whites, establishing it as the headquarters of the 42nd Division. By this time, the Makhnovist core consisted of about 2,000 soldiers, but could count on over 20,000 reserves from sympathetic villages. Throughout September, the Insurgents posed the greatest threat to the Bolshevik authorities in Katerynoslav province, with Sergey Kamenev
Sergey Sergeyevich Kamenev (russian: Серге́й Серге́евич Ка́менев; April 16 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._April_4.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>O.S._April_4">Old_Style_and_New ...
demanding the liquidation of the Insurgent Army. But by October, a renewed White offensive had seen the occupation of Oleksandrivsk and had pushed as far as the gates of Katerynoslav, which shifted the priorities of both the Red Army and the Insurgent Army. The Red command came to believe that if they could first defeat the Whites and establish the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
as the sole regime in Ukraine, then the elimination of the Makhnovshchina would quickly follow.
On 27 September, Mikhail Frunze
Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze (russian: Михаил Васильевич Фрунзе; ro, Mihail Frunză; 2 February 1885 – 31 October 1925) was a Bolshevik leader during and just prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Born in the modern-day ...
arrived in Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Northern Taurida Operation
The Northern Taurida operation (6 June – 3 November 1920) was a military campaign of the Russian Civil War between the Red Army and the Wrangel Russian Army for the possession of Northern Taurida. The campaign can be divided into 3 stages: the ...
. While the 30,000-strong Red Army outnumbered the 25,000-strong White Army, the Whites had more than twice the cavalry of the Reds, which gave them greater mobility on the steppe. It was Makhno's 12,000-strong force that had the cavalry numbers to overwhelm the Whites, which pressured the Bolshevik command to open negotiations with the Makhnovists.
Truce (October–November 1920)
On 30 September 1920, a truce was brokered between the Red Army and the Insurgent Army. Negotiators from both factions drafted the terms of a political-military agreement, which would extend civil liberties to Ukrainian anarchists in return for the military subordination of the Insurgent Army to the Bolshevik high command. Together, the united front of the anarchists and the Bolsheviks was able to defeat the White offensive and force them back toCrimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
, where the Whites coordinated their evacuation, bringing an end to the Southern Front of the Russian Civil War
The Southern Front of the Russian Civil War was a theatre of the Russian Civil War.
Don revolts and formation of the Volunteer Army
In the aftermath of the October Revolution, politicians and army officers hostile to the Bolsheviks gravitated ...
.
Second phase (November 1920–August 1921)
One of the Bolshevik signatories to the pact, Sergey Gusev, himself claimed that the military alliance with the Makhnovists had not made for the sake of insurgent aid in the war against Wrangel, "but in order to rid ourselves for a time of an enemy behind our lines", stating that the agreement would always have "quite naturally broken" following Wrangel's defeat. The other Bolshevik signatory wasYakov Yakovlev
Yakov Arkadyevich Yakovlev (real name: Epstein; russian: Я́ков Арка́дьевич Я́ковлев, 9 June 1896, Grodno – 29 July 1938) was a Soviet politician and statesman who played a central role in the forced collectivisation of ag ...
, who denounced the Ukrainian anarchists at the first congress of the Red International of Labor Unions
The Red International of Labor Unions (russian: Красный интернационал профсоюзов, translit=Krasnyi internatsional profsoyuzov, RILU), commonly known as the Profintern, was an international body established by the Comm ...
, blaming the breakdown of the alliance on the Makhnovists, who he labelled as "bandit
Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...
s". Despite the Bolshevik displays of ''Realpolitik
''Realpolitik'' (; ) refers to enacting or engaging in diplomatic or political policies based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than strictly binding itself to explicit ideological notions or moral and ethical ...
'', the Makhnovists hoped that the pact would continue to hold for another few months, which would allow them time to build a libertarian alternative to the Ukrainian Soviet government. The Makhnovist delegation to the anarchist congress in Kharkiv, led by Dmitry Popov, bluntly declared the restoration of the free soviets
Free soviets were the basic form of organization in the Makhnovshchina. These soviets acted independently from any central authority, excluding all political parties from participation, and met to self-manage the activities of workers and peasant ...
and the autonomy of the Makhnovschina, calling on the Bolsheviks to fully implement the terms of the political pact. Other Makhnovists were not so optimistic, with the chief-of-staff Hryhory Vasylivsky even declaring the end of the agreement and calling for the insurgents to prepare for a Bolshevik attack within the week.
On 14 November, the Bolshevik plans to liquidate the Makhnovshchina were finalised by the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee
All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee ( uk, italic=yes, Всеукраїнський центральний виконавчий комітет) was a representative body of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets. It was the supreme legislative ...
, with the approval of both Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
and Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
. The insurgents began reporting to their high command that Makhnovist supporters were being harassed and arrested on charges of banditry
Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...
, as Mikhail Frunze began issuing orders to sweep Ukraine of all "bandits". On 17 November, Frunze issued Order 00106, which integrated the Insurgent Army into the 4th Army and transferred it to the Caucasian Front, although the order was never actually sent to insurgent command. The following week, on 23 November, Frunze issued Order 00149 directly to Makhno, instructing the Insurgent Army to dissolve itself. He then issued Order 00155 to his own troops, instructing them to prepare to liquidate the Makhnovshchina within 48 hours. Copies of these orders, in which Frunze declared the Makhnovists to be outlaws and ordered the concentration of Red Army forces in the Makhnovist region, were not sent to Huliaipole or the delegation in Kharkiv. Vladimir Lenin also directly ordered Rakovsky to covertly initiate the criminalisation of the Ukrainian anarchist movement and to begin preparing charges against them. That same day, spies from the 42nd Rifle Division
The 42nd Rifle Division was a unit of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War. The division, first formed in 1940, was nearly destroyed in the opening days of the Operation Barbarossa defending the Brest Fortress. Disbanded in late Decembe ...
were discovered attempting to locate the exact whereabouts of the insurgent command, with the purpose of aiding a Red Army offensive against the Makhnovshchina. The delegation in Kharkiv responded by pressing Christian Rakovsky
Christian Georgievich Rakovsky (russian: Христиа́н Гео́ргиевич Рако́вский; bg, Кръстьо Георги́ев Рако́вски; – September 11, 1941) was a Bulgarian-born socialist revolutionary, a Bolshevi ...
to arrest the 42nd Division's commanding officers and prevent any Red Army incursion into insurgent-held territory, but the Soviet government claimed it had all been a misunderstanding and promised to investigate it.
Surprise attack
On 26 November, when the Makhnovist delegation inquired about the status of the investigation, they were arrested and sent toMoscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, where they were shot. In total, 346 of the anarchists in Kharkiv were arrested, with a number of prominent Makhnovists being charged with treason and shot by the Moscow Cheka, and almost the entire membership of the Nabat
The Nabat Confederation of Anarchist Organizations, better known simply as the Nabat ( uk, Набат; en, Alarm), was a Ukrainian anarchist organization that came to prominence during the Ukrainian War of Independence. The organization, base ...
being imprisoned. Coordinated mass arrests of anarchists were also carried in the other major cities of southern Ukraine, including Yelysavethrad. The 42nd Division simultaneously led an attack against Huliaipole, while the 2nd Cavalry Corps surrounded the town. Makhno's 150-strong Black Guard detachment quickly rallied the towns defense, but decided to make their escape after spotting a break in the Red lines. After the 3rd Makhnovist Regiment was captured by the 126th Division at , Makhno's forces led a counterattack that pushed the Red forces back to Novouspenivka, taking the opportunity to regroup the insurgent forces, with some Red soldiers even defecting to his ranks. With 1,500 infantry and 1,000 cavalry at their disposal, the insurgents retook Huliaipole from the 42nd Division after hours of fighting, capturing 6,000 Red soldiers in the town, 2,000 of whom also joined the Makhnovist ranks. Among the captured soldiers, the Makhnovists found that they had been given orders to attack the Makhnovists as early as 16 November, a day before the Crimean campaign had even reached its conclusion. Despite the victory, the Makhnovists were forced to abandon Huliaipole and retreat.
That same night, the Makhnovist commanders in Crimea were summoned to a joint planning conference with the Red Army command, but were ambushed ''en route'' and shot, with both Semen Karetnyk
Semen Mykytovych Karetnyk (; 1893 – 1920) was a Ukrainian anarchist and a commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (RIAU). He often replaced Nestor Makhno as supreme commander of the Black Army in 1920. Karetnyk gained a reputat ...
and Petro Havrylenko being killed. The following night, their contingent was encircled in a surprise attack by the Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
and mown down by hundreds of machine guns, wiping out large numbers of insurgents. Part of the detachment was able to escape to Perekop
Perekop (Ukrainian & Russian: Перекоп; ; ) is an urban-type settlement located on the Perekop Isthmus connecting the Crimean peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland. It is known for the fortress Or Qapi that served as the gateway to Crimea. The ...
, managing to defeat the 7th Cavalry Division along the way, while being pursued by the 3rd Cavalry Corps and the 52nd Rifle Division
The 52nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, the interwar period, World War II, and the Cold War, formed once during the Russian Civil War and three times during the existence of the Soviet Union.
...
. When they reached their destination, they split into two groups, with one crossing the Syvash
The Syvash or Sivash (Russian and Ukrainian: ; , Cyrillic: Сываш, "dirt"), also known as the or (, ''Gniloye More''; , ''Hnyle More''; , Cyrillic: Чюрюк Денъиз), is a large area of shallow lagoons on the west coast of the Sea ...
while the other faced the 1st Rifle Division at the Isthmus
An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...
. They rejoined each other the following day at , having safely escaped Crimea. Red commanders noted that their "own units displayed no initiative" in attacking the Makhnovists, often not acting without specific orders and only reluctantly engaging. In response, 2,300 Red soldiers were ordered to be shot by their high command, charged with having "undermined the just endeavors of the soviet authorities and of their valiant Red Army." The Red Army command also justified the attacks against the Makhnovists based on claims that they had refused orders and intended to betray them, despite themselves having reportedly planned to break the alliance with the Makhnovists since before the offensive against Wrangel had even begun.
Red troops in mainland Ukraine, who had not themselves participated in the siege of Perekop, were ordered to pursure Karetnyk's detachment and prevent them from regrouping with the other insurgents at Huliaipole. They were caught and encircled at Mykhailivka by the Red Junker Division, 42nd Rifle Division, International Cavalry Brigade and 4th Cavalry Division, under the command of Semyon Timoshenko
Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (russian: link=no, Семён Константи́нович Тимоше́нко, ''Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko''; uk, Семе́н Костянти́нович Тимоше́нко, ''Semen Kostiantyno ...
. Short on ammunition and outnumbered 20-to-1, the insurgent detachment only had 1,000 cavalry, 300 ''tachanki'', 250 machine guns and 6 artilley cannons with which to face the Red divisions. They were able to evade the first encounter but fell into an engagement with the Red Divisions at , capturing the city after a day of fighting and heavy casualties, allowing them to restock ammunition for the first time since their capture of Simferopol
Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, ...
. Rather than moving on immediately, the detachment remained in the town, which allowed the Red forces to regroup and attack, eventually forcing the insurgents to retreat back to Mykhailivka after running through their ammunition. Once again, they were pinned down by the Red cavalry and artillery, resulting in the deaths of 600 insurgents and the rest of the detachment breaking up into small groups and attempting to escape. 200 insurgents were immediately intercepted and killed by the sabres of the International Cavalry Brigade, with less than 300 insurgent cavalry managing to escape to Kermenchyk, where they finally linked up with Makhno's forces on 7 December. The contingent's commanders announced "the return of the Crimean army", now only 1/5th of its original size, and told the story of Karetnik's assassination at a general assembly of the remaining insurgent forces.
Encirclement attempts
With the surprise attack having failed to eliminte the Makhnovshchina, Mikhail Frunze deployed almost the entire Southern Front of the Red Army against the Makhnovists, aiming to encircle them. The Red Army mustered together 150,000 soldiers to fight against the insurgents, rallying the 4th, 6th and 13th Armies, along with the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Armies. With the Revolutionary Military Council
The Revolutionary Military Council (russian: Революционный Военный Совет, Revolyutsionny Voyenny Sovyet, Revolutionary Military Council), sometimes called the Revolutionary War CouncilBrian PearceIntroductionto Fyodor Ra ...
putting pressure on Frunze and Kamenev to liquidate the insurgent movement, they ordered continual sweeps through insurgent-held territory over the subsequent weeks, planning to push them down towards the Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...
, where they would be "ruthlessly exterminate .
But the Makhnovists continued to remain an ephemeral target, launching waves of surprise attacks against Red units and seizing their equipment, before breaking out of their encirclement with relative ease. One Red officer acknowledged that this guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
was made possible by the Makhnovists' popular support, which came from the local peasantry, mine workers, war widows and orphans, and even some former Communist Party members and Red Army soldiers. Frunze responded with an order that the local population be completely disarmed, dispatching Internal Affairs commissar Vladimir Antonov-Saratovsky Vladimir Pavlovich Antonov-Saratovsky (Russian: Владимир Павлович Антонов-Саратовский; 31 July 1884 — 3 August 1965) was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet jurist, and statesman.
Biography
Antonov was born in to t ...
to the Makhnovist region, in order to solidify Bolshevik power and break civilian support for the Makhnovshchina. The Makhnovist movement was also aided by numerous desertions from the Red Army, which became such a systemic problem that the Bolshevik command ordered all Makhnovist prisoners be executed, in order to discourage potential sympathisers. By the time the Crimean army reunited with the Makhnovist core, the insurgents had already seen a number of victories at Komar
Komar may refer to:
Places
* Komar, Iran (disambiguation), places in Iran
* Komar, mountain in central Bosnia, near Travnik
* Komar, Donji Vakuf, village in central Bosnia, between Travnik and Donji Vakuf
* Komar, Travnik, village in central Bo ...
. At the head of a 600-strong detachment, the Makhnovist commander Mykhailo Brova defeated a Russian hussar brigade, and the following day, Makhno himself commanded a 4,000-strong insurgent detachment in routing a Red Kirghiz brigade.
Pursued by the Red Army, which was under orders to annihilate the Makhnovshchina before Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
, the insurgent core subsequently made for Novospasivka, where they joined up with Vdovychenko's insurgent detachment, before finally moving on to Berdiansk
Berdiansk or Berdyansk ( uk, Бердя́нськ, translit=Berdiansk, ; russian: Бердя́нск, translit=Berdyansk ) is a port city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast (Oblast, province) in south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the ...
. There, on 12 December, the Makhnovists encountered a small and ill-equipped Red garrison, many of whom went over to the insurgent side. The Makhnovist raid on Berdiansk resulted in the deaths of about 83 Reds, before the insurgents moved on to Andriivka. Following a short rest at local farmhouses, the insurgents found themselves under assault by units of the 4th Army, which were approaching from the north-west. Surrounded by a much larger Red force, the insurgents managed to go on the offensive, breaking out to the north and escaping with their entire cavalry and almost all of their infantry after a day of constant fighting, in a battle that became known as the "Andriyivsky konfuz". In the process, the insurgents had managed to capture some 20,000 Red soldiers, who were subsequently given the option to either return home or join the insurgent ranks.
Ignorant of the insurgents' exact whereabouts, Frunze again attempted to encircle them, ordering the 2nd Don Division to sweep the area south of the railway between Oleksandrivsk and Volnovakha
Volnovakha ( uk, Волнова́ха, ; russian: Волнова́ха) is a town in Ukraine. It served as the administrative center of Volnovakha Raion, one of the 18 districts of the Donetsk Oblast. Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, ...
, while the cavalry detachment under Roberts Eidemanis
Roberts Eidemanis (russian: Ро́берт Петро́вич Эйдема́н, ''Robert Petrovich Eideman''; 1895 – June 12, 1937) was a Latvian Soviet Komkor, writer and poet.
He was born in Lejasciems, Gulbene Municipality of Latvia a ...
was ordered to prevent the insurgents from breaking out of the encirclement. Frunze also put together three 2,000-strong detachments, reinforced by the 2nd Cavalry Army, to pursue the insurgents, with the intention of whiping them out. Some Red units that had joined the insurgents at Andriivka re-defected and informed their commanders of the insurgent positions. On 16 December, the insurgents were surrounded at Fedorivka
Fedorivka ( uk, Федорівка) may refer to several places in Ukraine:
* Fedorivka, Novoukrainka Raion, Kirovohrad Oblast
* Fedorivka, Luhansk Oblast
* Fedorivka, Vinnytsia Raion, Vinnytsia Oblast
* Fedorivka, Zhmerynka Raion, Vinnytsia Oblas ...
. For 14 hours, the insurgents fought against the 2nd Cavalry Army and Eidemanis' forces. The battle was apparently confused, with documented cases of friendly fire
In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while eng ...
by Red units, as both sides were wearing the same uniform. The engagement eventually resulted in a stalemate and the insurgents abandoned many of their black standards in the battlefield, along with most of their equipment, including all of their artillery cannons. In a telegram to Lenin, Frunze reported devastating losses on the Makhnovist side, with only a small detachment of cavalry escaping.
Retreat and pursuit
On 19 December, the insurgents were again encircled by a large Red force at Kostyantin, but managed to escape. By this time, the insurgents were down to only 3,000 soldiers and often faced Red forces between 3 and 5 times their size. The insurgents responded by splitting up into several small detachments and scattering throughout Ukraine, abandoning their heavy weapons in order to stay mobile on the open steppe. Some insurgent detachments even made it as far asKyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, attacking members of the Cheka, requisitioning units and Communist Party officials. was among the prominent Ukrainian Bolsheviks that were killed in a surprise attack by the insurgents. Makhno himself led a detachment towards Yuzivka, but was turned back by a larger enemy force and retreated to Yelysavethrad, taking care to avoid the roads in order to make their pursuit more difficult.
was put in command of a "flying corps", composed of the Red Army's best units in Ukraine, that was charged with pursuing the insurgents throughout the country, aided by the Red Cossacks under Vitaly Primakov
Vitaliy Markovich Primakov ( rus, Виталий Маркович Примаков, Vitaliy Markovich Primakov; uk, Віталій Маркович Примаков) (3 December 1897 – 12 June 1937) was a Soviet Union, Soviet revolutionar ...
and Grigory Kotovsky
Grigory Ivanovich Kotovsky (russian: Григо́рий Ива́нович Кото́вский, ro, Grigore Kotovski; – August 6, 1925) was a Soviet military and political activist, and participant in the Russian Civil War. He made a career ...
. Makhno's detachment found itself surrounded, only able to advance slowly under heavy machine-gun fire and artillery bombardment. According to Peter Arshinov
Peter Andreyevich Arshinov (russian: Пётр Андре́евич Арши́нов; 1887–1937), was a Russian anarchist revolutionary and intellectual who chronicled the history of the Makhnovshchina.
Initially a Bolshevik, during the 1905 ...
, none of the insurgents there wanted to disperse, as they were "all determined to die together, side by side." The Makhnovists managed to approach the border with Galicia, before swinging around and heading back across the Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
, eventually ending up in Poltava
Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...
. From there they went north towards Belgorod
Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics
The population of Be ...
, where they managed to shake off the pursuing Cossacks by the end of January. At this point they had travelled more than 1,500 kilometers, lost most of their equipment and half of their detachment, but were now in a position to go on the offensive. In February, Makhno's detachment went on to province of Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Kursk
Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...
, where they captured Korocha
Korocha (russian: Короча) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Korochansky District in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Korocha River (Seversky Donets River, Seversky Don ...
, before resolving to return to their home region via the Don
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
, pursued the whole way by the 2nd Cavalry Army. Meanwhile, back in southern Ukraine
Southern Ukraine ( uk, південна Україна, translit=pivdenna Ukrayina) or south Ukraine refers, generally, to the oblasts in the south of Ukraine.
The territory usually corresponds with the Soviet economical district, the Southern E ...
, the encircled local insurgents were already carrying out reprisals against the Cheka, requisitioning units and other government functionaries.
The Ukrainian Soviet government were increasingly worried by the persistence of the Makhnovist movement, with Eidemanis publishing several papers on how he thought the insurgency could be overcome, through both military and political means. Lenin himself blamed the continuation of the insurgent movement on Mikhail Frunze, who he rebuked at the 10th Bolshevik Party Congress and again demanded the immediate liquidation of the Makhnovists. Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonnyy ( rus, Семён Миха́йлович Будённый, Semyon Mikháylovich Budyonnyy, p=sʲɪˈmʲɵn mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ bʊˈdʲɵnːɨj, a=ru-Simeon Budyonniy.ogg; – 26 October 1973) was a Russian ca ...
reported that he faced great difficulty maintaining discipline within his own ranks, having at one point shot a number of brigade and regimental commanders after they had been defeated by the insurgents, declaring that: "none of the commanders had any inclination to complete the task of wiping out Makhno, regardless of cost and with all possible speed." Furthermore, soldiers continued to desert the Red Army in order to join the insurgents. One notable case happened on 9 February, when Grigori Maslakov led his entire brigade in defecting from the 4th Cavalry Division to the Insurgent Army, in which he came to command insurgent operations in the Don
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
and Kuban
Kuban (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Pontic–Caspian steppe, ...
regions.
This was all happening at a time when anti-Bolshevik uprisings were sweeping through the country, with rebellions breaking out in Tambov
Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna and ...
, Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
, Karelia
Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...
and even Kronstadt
Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for "crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of ...
. In Ukraine alone, an estimated 50,000 people were in open revolt against the government. The Makhnovists themselves maintained a core group of 2,000 infantry, 600 cavalry, 80 machine guns and 10 artillery cannons, with the ability to field 10,000 more for large scale operations. The Soviet government responded by introducing the New Economic Policy
The New Economic Policy (NEP) () was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, ...
(NEP), which brought an end to the policy of "war communism
War communism or military communism (russian: Военный коммунизм, ''Voyennyy kommunizm'') was the economic and political system that existed in Soviet Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1921.
According to Soviet histo ...
". The cessation of food requistioning removed the main grievance that the peasants had against the Bolsheviks, effectively severing the Makhnovshchina from their war-weary peasant base. The Makhnovist's peasant base, which they had relied on for supplies and logistics, started to melt away.
Reorganization
The Insurgent Army reorganized itself once again, relying on their tested tactics of lightning warfare and decentralization to continue prosecuting the conflict. In response to the outbreak of the Kronstadt rebellion
The Kronstadt rebellion ( rus, Кронштадтское восстание, Kronshtadtskoye vosstaniye) was a 1921 insurrection of Soviet sailors and civilians against the Bolshevik government in the Russian SFSR port city of Kronstadt. Locat ...
in March 1921, Mykhailo Brova's detachment was dispatched to the Don
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
and Kuban
Kuban (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Pontic–Caspian steppe, ...
regions, while others were sent to Voronezh
Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...
and Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Petro Petrenko
Petro Petrenko (1890–1921) was a Ukrainian military commander in the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
Biography
In 1890, Petro Petrenko was born in the village of Velykomykhailivka. With the outbreak of World War I, he was called to th ...
led the defense against further Red assaults, but after a botched insurgent counter-offensive resulted in Makhno being seriously wounded, on 15 March, the insurgents split up into independent sotnias of 100-200 men. Makhno's own detachment was forced by the 9th Red Cavalry Division into a long 120 mile retreat to Novospasivka. Here they ran into more Red cavalry and subsequently fled to , where five machine gunners sacrified themselves in order to cover for the wounded Makhno's escape. On 17 March, following a skirmish at Pokrovske, Makhno's remaining detachment fled on to Hryshyne, where they reestablished contact with Fedir Shchus
Fedir Shchus ( uk, Федір Щусь, 25 March 1893 – 30 June 1921), also Fyodor Shuss or Feodosiy Shchus, was a commander (ataman) in the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine of Nestor Makhno.
Biography
Fedir Shchus was born into a poo ...
' detachment after a few days of separation. The insurgents began to regroup their forces once again, setting a rendezvous in Kobeliaky
Kobeliaky ( uk, Кобеля́ки, ) is a city in Poltava Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kobeliaky Raion. Population:
History
During World War II, Kobeliaky was under German occupation from 15 September 1941 until 2 ...
for the beginning of May.
In response to the rebound of the Makhnovshchina, the Fifth All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets
Fifth All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets ( uk, П'ятий Всеукраїнський з'їзд Рад) was a congress of Soviets (councils) of workers, peasants, Red-army-men deputies that took place in Kharkiv on February 25 - March 3, 1921.
C ...
had called for a formal campaign against "bandit
Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...
ry" and offered amnesty to those charged with banditry if they turned themselves in before 15 April. Thousands of insurgents gave themselves up, including a number of leading Makhnovists, such as the former artillery commander Vasyl Sharovsky. Despite the intensification of the Red Army offensive, the Insurgent Army continued prosecuting its war into the spring of 1921. The Red Cavalry had found itself largely ineffective against the Makhnovist core and were thus transferred to Crimea, in order to put down Brova's insurrection. When Semyon Budyonny's own cavalry detachment fell into an encounter with Makhno's, the Red Cossacks were forced to flee in the face of the superior insurgent numbers, with the defeat even catalyzing a number of desertions from the 1st Cavalry Army __NOTOC__
The 1st Cavalry Army (russian: Первая конная армия, Pervaya konnaya armiya) was a prominent Red Army military formation. It was also known as "Budyonny's Cavalry Army" or simply as ''Konarmia'' (Кона́рмия, "Horse ...
.
In May, the Makhnovists mounted an offensive against the Ukrainian Bolshevik capital of Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Poltava
Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...
. The Red Army also suffered heavy losses, but were able to more effectively replenish those losses due to their much larger reserves. On 26 June, when Mikhail Frunze himself was ambushed and wounded by insurgents, the Red Army central command took the opportunity to finally relieve him from command, replacing him with the former Tsarist officer Konstantin Avksentevsky
Konstantin Alekseyevich Avksentevsky (October 12, 1890 – November 2, 1941) was a Soviet army commander. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and for the Bolsheviks in the subsequent civil war. He was a recipient of the Order ...
. Under Avksentevsky's command, the Red Army offensive against the Makhnovists was stepped up, with prominent Bolsheviks such as Roberts Eidemanis
Roberts Eidemanis (russian: Ро́берт Петро́вич Эйдема́н, ''Robert Petrovich Eideman''; 1895 – June 12, 1937) was a Latvian Soviet Komkor, writer and poet.
He was born in Lejasciems, Gulbene Municipality of Latvia a ...
, Vasily Blyukher
Vasily Konstantinovich Blyukher ( rus, Васи́лий Константи́нович Блю́хер, Vasiliy Konstantinovich Blyukher; 1 December 1889 – 9 November 1938) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Earl ...
and Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
taking charge of on-the-ground operations. With this change in leadership, the Red Army finally adopted new tactics. Following Eidemanis' suggestions, instead of pursuing the insurgents, the Reds established a series of garrisons along the predicted lines of the Makhnovist raids.
Defeat
By the summer of 1921, the Makhnovshchina had effectively been defeated, both militarily and politically, with Red Army garrisons everywhere and their peasant base exhausted by the long war. The season brought with it a drought, which forced the insurgent core out of Ukraine on a series of raids aroundSouthern Russia
Southern Russia or the South of Russia (russian: Юг России, ''Yug Rossii'') is a colloquial term for the southernmost geographic portion of European Russia generally covering the Southern Federal District and the North Caucasian Federal ...
, before returning to Ukraine through the Don. This repeated crossing of the Bolshevik lines showed a weakness in Eidemanis' tactics, with the Bolshevik command resolving to combine it with Frunze's previous tactics of pursuit, which would together cut down on the Makhnovist capability to escape. Although it had finally gained the upper hand with the defeat of the numerous other rebellions around Russia, the Red Army still found itself unable to fully tame the insurrection in Ukraine. In July 1921, there were still 18 insurgent bands, with 1,042 men and 19 machine guns, operating in Donetsk
Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...
alone. The Red Army command resolved to focus its energies entirely on wiping out the Makhnovist core by fielding a motorized detachment, commanded by Marcian Germanovich
Marcian Yakovlevich Germanovich (Russian: Маркиан Яковлевич Германович; October 29, 1895 – September 20, 1937) was a Soviet division commander and Komkor (corps commander). He fought in the Imperial Russian Army in Wor ...
, to pursue Makhno's 200-strong ''sotnia''. On 12 July, the motorized detachment disembarked from its armored train at Tsarekonstantinovka but one of its armored cars was immediately ambushed by the Makhnovists, who captured the crew and ran the car out of fuel. The subsequent pursuit of the Makhnovists lasted five days and covered 520 kilometers, causing the insurgents heavy losses and almost running them out of ammo, before they were finally able to shake the armored detachment off their trail. With Makhno having again slipped away from the Red Army, on 22 July, Eidemanis ordered the execution of a number of Makhnovist reserves, while Frunze again demanded the "definitive liquidation" of the Makhnovist movement.
By August, the insurgent army had almost been completely eliminated. Some insurgent commanders like Vasyl Kurylenko
Vasyl Kurylenko ( uk, Василь Куриленко, ) was a commander in the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
Biography
In 1890, Vasyl Kurylenko was born in the small village of Osypenko, Berdiansk Raion, Novospasivka, where he worked ...
had already been killed and others like Fedir Shchus
Fedir Shchus ( uk, Федір Щусь, 25 March 1893 – 30 June 1921), also Fyodor Shuss or Feodosiy Shchus, was a commander (ataman) in the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine of Nestor Makhno.
Biography
Fedir Shchus was born into a poo ...
and Foma Kozhyn
Foma Kozhyn ( uk, Фома Кожин) was a Ukrainian revolutionary and the commander of the machine-gun regiment of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
Biography
Foma Kozhyn was born into a peasant family, at the end of the 19th centur ...
were gravely wounded, while Makhno himself was hiding out in Donetsk
Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...
. On 4 August, Frunze held a press conference in which he confidently declared victory over the insurrection, reporting that only a few small insurgent bands were left to wipe out. A wounded Makhno finally accepted defeat and decided to flee into exile, in order to receive medical attention.
Leaving Viktor Bilash
Viktor Fedorovych Bilash ( uk, Віктор Федорович Білаш; 1893 – 24 January 1938) was the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (RIAU) under Nestor Makhno. A gifted military commander, Bilash himself pl ...
in command of the insurgent core in Ukraine, Makhno set off on 13 August, taking with him his wife and his black sotnia - consisting of 100 cavalry. On 16 August, they crossed the Dnieper, under constant pursuit by the Red cavalry, which wounded Makhno even further. On 19 August, they encountered the 7th Cavalry Division at Bobrynets
Bobrynets (, russian: Бо́бринец, yi, בוברניץ) is a city in Kropyvnytskyi Raion, Kirovohrad Oblast (oblast, province) of Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Bobrynets urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population:
...
. Unable to retreat, the insurgents attacked the division and captured their machine guns, before continuing again on their journary, having lost 17 of their own men. On 22 August, Makhno was shot in the neck, causing a scar where the bullet exited through his right cheek. On 26 August, they fought a final battle with the Red Cavalry, during which the last of his old comrades, including Petro Petrenko, were killed. After one of the insurgent scouts was captured on his way to the Polish border, the detachment changed direction and headed for the Dniester
The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...
. On 28 August, the insurgents disguised themselves as Red Army soldiers and accosted the Soviet border guards, disarming them before fording the river under heavy fire. Finally in Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, they were themselves disarmed by the Romanian border guards and taken to an internment camp. In exile, many of the Makhnovists found themselves drifting between a series of concentration camps and prisons. Leading figures of the Makhnovist movement, such as Volin, Peter Arshinov and Nestor Makhno himself, eventually ended up in Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, where their exile lasted up until their deaths.
Meanwhile, Bilash had found himself unable to sustain the guerrilla war, with his detachment almost being wiped out in an ambush at Znamianka. Some of the survivors managed to flee across the border, but Bilash himself was arrested by the Cheka and transferred to Kharkiv, where he wrote his memoirs before his trial and execution. During the autumn of 1921, 30 Makhnovist commanders and 2,443 insurgents surrendered to the Soviet government, some of whom even asked for official recognition of their role in fighting the White movement. Despite the defeat, the Makhnovist insurrection continued on underground throughout the 1920s: in 1922, a Makhnovist band was eliminated in Poltava; in 1923, a clandestine Makhnovist organization was dismantled; in 1924, there were reported to still be 18 insurgent bands operating in Ukraine. Makhnovist activity even persisted up until the outbreak of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, when the Green Guard
The Green Guard ( uk, Зелена Гвардія) was an anarchist guerrilla unit in occupied Ukraine during World War II.
History
The Green Guard was formed in 1942 in the Kyiv Oblast, then part of the ''Reichskommissariat Ukraine'', by the fo ...
s rose up against the Nazi occupation of Ukraine
During World War II, (abbreviated as RKU) was the civilian occupation regime () of much of Nazi German-occupied Ukraine (which included adjacent areas of modern-day Belarus and pre-war Second Polish Republic). It was governed by the Reich Mini ...
.
References
Bibliography
* * * * * * * 1920 in Ukraine 1921 in Ukraine Anti-Bolshevik uprisings Conflicts in 1920 Conflicts in 1921 Guerrilla wars Insurgencies in Europe Last stands Makhnovshchina Ukrainian anti-Soviet resistance movement Ukrainian War of Independence {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolshevik-Makhnovist conflict