I really want my children to write an essay “My Favorite Historical Character” about Old Man Makhno at school. I will try to convey to them the facts, in the hope that they will draw the right conclusions about who the hero is and who they can follow as an example.
The moon is shining through the window,
and into river water.
Father Makhno is riding
And brings freedom.
I will impress them with the story of the baptism of Nestor Ivanovich Mikhnenko, the 5th son in the coachman’s family. By the way, the boy was born on November 7, the red day of the calendar. When the priest took the baby, his cassock caught fire, which was a sure sign that a robber was being baptized. Nestor’s father signed him up a year later so that his youngest son would not be drafted into the army early. The family of the future rebel was poor. Five sons - of course, cool. This is a whole Gang. If you touch anyone on the street, they will tear you up. But food was hard to come by, because their father died when Nestor Makhno was 11 months old.
Nestor Makhno.
In general, at the age of 16, Nestor Makhno was already working at an iron foundry, and also played in a theater group at the plant. The young man’s creative nature gave him no rest; he also joined an anarchist circle. Locals Almost all of Gulyai-Polye were poor, but there were also German colonists, and the Gulyai-Polye Robin Hoods robbed them, distributing the loot to the very poor, and sometimes saving it for weapons or vodka. The poor people did not like the king. His policy of dumping on the world grain market drove millions of the country's peasants into poverty and into the grave.
Ukraine has never loved power, neither tsarist nor any other. Freedom is most important for Ukrainians.
Soon Nestor Makhno was tied up - the novice scumbag shot (but did not hit) his friend’s enemy. He paid off, then the possession of weapons was, as now, a reason for extortion in favor of law enforcement officers. But a year later, the anarchist caudla killed several gendarmes during a robbery. The fact that Makhno was at home at the time and “watching TV with his brothers” did not help - they gave him a punishment. But luck smiled on the young anarchist - it was impossible to hang minors at that time (the year assigned to Makhno at birth saved the guy), and Nestor went to hard labor for 20 years.
The lad suffered and ended up in the Butyrka prison, where he was kept in shackles for his tendency to escape. But they put him in a cell with political prisoners, who set him on the path of justified anarchism - here he passed and school curriculum, and became politically savvy. I became imbued with the ideas of the international, in which two directions fought - Marxist and Bakunin. During the February Revolution of 1917, when the general chaos opened the hospitable doors of prisons, Nestor Makhno also leaned back. The decent young man Makhno went home. Using fake documents. As a person sitting, the authoritative Nestor Ivanovich is elected by his fellow countrymen to five positions at once, and at the same time, he manages to work for free two days a week in the commune.
While the neighboring cities were stripping away the landowners' property, draining the trust of the people, Makhno divided the bourgeois land among the peasants, drank with the guys and worked. He did not hesitate to personally execute looters and crooks, and won sympathy among the people, peasants and intelligentsia. Meanwhile, the commies signed the Brest Peace Treaty, and the Germans came to Ukraine, bringing rich German spirituality to the masses. They impaled, shot, burned alive and robbed - such an enlightened approach was introduced by Nemchura in Ukraine.
While the commune was arming itself, the Germans occupied Gulyaypole. Nestor Makhno went to Moscow for advice and then saw the Soviet government in action: executions, surplus appropriation (the Germans still often impaled him - that’s what the hetmans told them, and the Reds, in the old fashioned way, put him on the wall and that’s it). In Moscow, Makhno communicated with Lenin and other leaders of the revolution. Did not impress. “There are no parties,” said Nestor Makhno, “... but there are groups of charlatans who, in the name of personal gain and thrills... destroy the working people.”
Lyrics, with these thoughts Nestor Makhno returned to Gulyai-Polye, and it began: the invention of the Tachanka (tank civil war), surgical strike tactics flying squads- for big battles, the people willingly came to the call of Old Man Makhno. He came, fought and went home. Thus, he gathered up to 50,000 people! He fucked everyone: the Germans, the Hetmans, the Petliurists, the Whites and the Reds. He willingly executed enemy officers, and easily released or accepted ordinary soldiers. Having defeated one Austrian division, Nestor Makhno distributed money from the Austrian treasury to the Austrians, and they drank it away along with the Makhnovists. Makhnovia, an anarchic republic, flourished in Gulyai-Polye. There was no authority; issues were resolved at meetings, which often turned into drinking sessions.
hmm, this is some kind of special street magic...
Jewish pogroms subsided under Makhno. Seeing a poster on the street “Beat the Jews, save the revolution!”, Father Makhno found the author and personally shot him. Enemies rolled into the anarchist freemen in waves - after the Germans came the Petliurists, against whom Makhno fought with the Reds. Then the Reds declare the Makhnovists a gang, and Makhno fights with them too. Denikin comes - the Reds ask for help and Makhno gives it: “Our main enemies,” said Batko, “are white officers, bourgeois and their henchmen, regardless of nationality. And the Reds are revolutionaries, we will come to an agreement with them.”
Having defeated Denikin, the Bolsheviks (oh, miracle!) again outlawed Makhno. Until Wrangel appeared. For the sake of defeating him, Makhno made peace with Petlyura, and the Reds with Makhno. Moreover, Wrangel himself suggested that Makhno unite in the fight against the Reds, and after victory, carry out land reform so as not to offend the peasants. Chuika let down Father Makhno - he executed the envoy Wrangel, to the delight of the Reds. Parts of the Makhnovists take a dig in the Crimea. In the decisive battle with the selected storm 5000th Cossack division, by a deceptive maneuver, luring them into 250 carts standing peacefully in a row, the Makhnovists exterminated the flower of Wrangel's cavalry. After which Wrangel flees to France.
For the victory over Wrangel and for trusting the Reds, Nestor Makhno paid in full: having no other enemies, the entire Red Army exterminated the troops. On August 21, 1921, Makhno with a detachment of 78 people crossed the Romanian border. The Makhnovists were not bored for a long time either - landowners’ estates began to burn in the area, and the Romanians were happy to hand over Makhno to the Poles. The Poles put Makhno in prison for anti-Polish activities - this is when he beat the Petliurists, and the Polish soldiers got it too. And why the hell was there a right to download in Ukraine! It has long been known that Ukrainians are a patient people, for the time being. If the Ukrainian starts to fight, and he will, then there won’t be enough room for everyone.
On November 7 (October 26), 1888, Nestor Makhno was born, an anarcho-communist, leader of the anarchist armed forces in Ukraine during the Civil War.
Private bussiness
Nestor Ivanovich Makhno (1888 - 1934) born in the village of Gulyaipole, Aleksandrovsky district, Ekaterinoslav province, into a peasant family. For a long time His date of birth was considered to be October 27, 1889; only relatively recently, according to the metric book of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in the village of Gulyaypole, it was established that he was a year older. The parents changed the year of birth so as not to send their son to the army longer. As a teenager, Nestor Makhno was hired as an auxiliary worker for local landowners. After graduating from parochial school, he entered the Kerner iron foundry. In 1906 he joined the “Peasant Group of Anarchist-Communists” and took part in “expropriations.” The Ekaterinoslav province at that time was under martial law. On August 27, 1907, Makhno and two other group members were arrested. The investigation lasted a year and a half. The court sentenced Nestor Makhno to death for “belonging to a malicious gang formed to commit robberies,” however, since according to the documents at the time of the crime the accused was not yet an adult, the death penalty was replaced by eternal hard labor.
Makhno ended up in Butyrka prison. There he ended up in the same cell with Pyotr Arshinov, a former Bolshevik, and since 1904 an anarchist-communist. Communication with Arshinov became a “prison university” for Makhno. Arshinov later wrote: “He studied Russian grammar, studied mathematics, Russian literature, cultural history and political economy...”. From Arshinov, Nestor Makhno learned about Kropotkin and Bakunin, about revolutionary movement in Russia and in Europe. Makhno's behavior in prison was described as "bad" in his personal file. “Stubborn, unable to come to terms with the complete lack of rights of the individual,” Arshinov recalled, “he always argued with his superiors and always sat in cold punishment cells, thus acquiring pulmonary tuberculosis.”
Nestor Makhno was released after the February Revolution. He returned to Gulyaypole on March 24, 1917. The next day, he made a report to the anarchists, in which he spoke about the need for a Peasant Union, so that the peasants could, without waiting for decisions from above, declare the land to be public property. Soon Makhno became the chairman of the Peasant Union. Under his leadership, local peasants received land earlier than in any other country.
In June, at the request of metalworkers and woodworkers, Makhno joined their union and led a strike demanding higher wages. As a result of his activities, workers' pay was increased and the working day was reduced to eight hours. When news of Kornilov's counter-revolutionary speech arrived, Makhno was elected head of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution.
After the occupation of Ukraine by the Germans, Makhno led the detachments of the “revolutionary insurrection”. In retaliation, military authorities burned his mother's house and shot his older brother. By the end of April 1918, Makhno’s troops had to retreat to Taganrog, where, by decision of the rebel conference, they dissolved themselves. Makhno visited Moscow and met with Arshinov and other anarchists. He also met with Sverdlov and Lenin. Makhno praised Moscow as “the center of the paper revolution.” He decided to return to his native land to continue the fight against the Germans and the hetman's government. Gathering a small partisan detachment, Makhno defeated superior enemy forces in the village of Dibrivki on September 30.
By November 1918, there were already about six thousand people in his troops. It was at that time that Makhno received the nickname “father”. The Makhnovists controlled a vast area in the Azov region. The main authority in the Makhnovist movement was the Congress of District Councils. There were three of them in 1919. The construction of a “true Soviet system, in which the Soviets, elected by the working people, would be servants of the people,” was proclaimed.
After negotiations, the militia became part of the Third Trans-Dnieper Division of the Red Army as a brigade. However, the brigade quickly grew and outnumbered both the division and the Second Ukrainian Army. On September 26, Makhno broke through the White front, defeated the western parts of Denikin and captured Berdyansk. For this he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner number four. The Makhnovists also seized a trainload of bread from the Whites and sent it to starving workers in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
However, Trotsky demanded the transformation of Makhnovist units along the lines of the Red Army. Makhno responded to this: “The autocrat Trotsky ordered the disarmament of the rebel army created by the peasantry themselves... for he well understands that as long as the peasants have their own army,... he will never be able to force the Ukrainian working people to dance to his tune.” Finally, the Bolsheviks decided to put an end to the Makhnovists. At the same time, Denikin's powerful offensive began. It became impossible to fight on two fronts. Nestor Makhno managed to escape with a small detachment.
However, during the retreat of the Red Army under the blows of Denikin, fighters native to Ukraine did not want to leave their homes and joined the Makhnovists. In a short time, he again gathered an army of thousands. At first it was pushed back into Western Ukraine, but, having defeated three White regiments on September 26-27, it broke through to the Gulyai-Polye region. This blow slowed down Denikin’s attack on Moscow. Denikin sent the units removed from the Moscow direction to fight Makhno, but he successfully repelled their attacks. He even managed to recapture Ekaterinoslav from Denikin for a month.
Multi-party congresses were convened in the area controlled by Makhno. Enterprises were controlled by workers. Attempts at robbery were brutally suppressed.
In December 1919, Makhno's army and its commander himself were stricken with typhoid fever. This allowed the Whites to recapture Yekaterinoslav, but at that moment the Red Army’s offensive had already begun. The Bolsheviks ordered Makhno to send his troops to the Polish front; they planned to disarm the Makhnovists along the way. However, Makhno refused to do this and began a guerrilla war. It was so successful that it weakened the Red Army in its fight against Wrangel. Makhno did not want to play into the hands of the Whites, and in October 1920 he again entered into an alliance with the Bolsheviks. His army and the Gulyai-Polye region retained autonomy, and the anarchists received freedom of agitation. The Makhnovists took part in the storming of Perekop and the crossing of Sivash, and the liberation of Crimea.
Nestor Makhno
After the defeat of Wrangel, the Bolsheviks decided to put an end to the Makhnovists and unexpectedly began to fight against their allies. Makhno managed to escape from Crimea, and other parts of the Insurgent Army managed to escape from encirclement in Gulyai-Polye. After long battles, when the Makhnovists were already pressed against the Sea of Azov, Nestor Makhno used an unusual maneuver: he disbanded his army with the task of infiltrating through the front and leaving for right-bank Ukraine. This plan was feasible, since Makhno's entire army was mounted and therefore capable of moving quickly.
Having gathered his troops again, Nestor Makhno continues the fight, but luck favors the Red Army. After the announcement of NEP, the peasants lost the desire to fight, and Makhno’s army melted before our eyes. On August 28, 1921, pursued by the Red Army, he broke into Romania with a small detachment. There they were disarmed, but not extradited Soviet Russia. Makhno later moved to Poland and then to France. There, to earn a living, he was a carpenter and stagehand at the Paris Opera, at film studios, a worker in a printing house, at the Renault plant, while simultaneously actively participating in the activities of anarchist organizations. He published articles in the Parisian magazine “Delo Truda” (Paris), worked on memoirs. Nestor Ivanovich Makhno died on July 6, 1934 in Paris and was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery.
What is he famous for?
Until now, the caricature image of Nestor Makhno, created both by Soviet propaganda and the memories of emigrants from the White Army, who also did not have warm feelings for the leader of the Gulyai-Polye detachments, is much better known. One of the first creators of this “black legend” around Makhno was Alexey Tolstoy in the trilogy “Walking through Torment.” Nestor Makhno received an openly grotesque appearance in Pavel Blyakhin’s story “The Little Red Devils” and the film based on it.
What you need to know
A laborer who had only elementary education, unexpectedly proved himself not only to be a courageous soldier, but also a talented military leader. He managed to transform spontaneous detachments into an organized militia, whose forces maintained order in the Gulyai-Polye area. There was only one case of pogrom on Makhnovist territory; its perpetrators were captured and shot. V. Antonov-Ovseenko, who visited Gulyaypole, wrote: “... children's communes and schools are being established - Gulyaypole is one of the most cultural centers Novorossiya - there are three medium ones here educational institutions… Thanks to Makhno’s efforts, ten hospitals for the wounded were opened...” Later in France, Nestor Makhno repeatedly spoke in public debates denying that his troops carried out pogroms against Jews in Ukraine. However, it would be a mistake to idealize the Makhnovists and their leader. A whole series of memoirs, including those that are difficult to suspect of bias, tell of scenes of senseless cruelty and robberies of civilians.
Direct speech
I rushed headlong into battle,
Without asking death for mercy,
And it's not my fault that he's alive
Remained in this whirlwind.
We shed blood and sweat
We were frank with the people.
We were defeated. But
Our idea was not killed.
Let them bury us now
But our Essence will not sink into oblivion,
She will rise at the right time
And he will win. I believe in it!
Poem by Nestor Makhno (1921)
“If comrade Bolsheviks come from Great Russia to Ukraine to help us in the difficult struggle against counter-revolution, we must tell them: “Welcome, dear friends!” If they come here with the goal of monopolizing Ukraine, we will tell them: “Hands off!” From the speech of Nestor Makhno at the 2nd regional congress of Soviets of the Gulyai-Polye region (December 12-16, 1919).
“Nestor Makhno was a great artist who transformed himself unrecognizably in the presence of a crowd. In a small company, he could hardly explain himself; his habit of loud speeches in intimate settings seemed ridiculous and inappropriate. But once he appeared in front of a large audience, you saw a brilliant, eloquent, confident speaker. I once attended a public meeting in Paris where the issue of anti-Semitism and Makhnovshchina was discussed. I was deeply struck then by the amazing power of transformation that this Ukrainian peasant was capable of.” Ida Mett (Guilman), activist of the anarcho-syndicalist movement
“It is difficult to imagine how the history of Russia, and perhaps the world, would have developed if Nestor Makhno had nevertheless been executed in 1910. Historical forks sometimes depend on such circumstances. If there is no talented leader, there is no revolutionary army. The Makhnovist “republic” does not unfold in Denikin’s rear, does not destroy communications, and does not draw troops to itself. The White Army breaks into Moscow. The Bolshevik regime is crumbling. But is another government better - the dictatorship of an aristocracy bent on revenge? The eternal problem of European history of the twentieth century is the choice between communism and fascism. Without Makhno, there might not have been a successful crossing of Sivash in 1920. But without the same Makhno, the Bolshevik military-communist machine would have worked more smoothly, and, who knows, would have burst into Central Europe already in 1919. A New economic policy 1921-1929, which taught the world a lot? Would the Bolsheviks have agreed to it if not for the successes of Makhno and Antonov, if not for the Kronstadt uprising, partly also inspired by the Makhnovist experience? And a significant part of the anti-fascist fighters during the Spanish Civil War repeated the name of Makhno, preparing for the attack. Makhno had already died, and his image inspired people to resist the red and brown totalitarianism that was spreading across Europe.” A. V. Shubin
8 facts about Nestor Makhno
- In his youth, Nestor Makhno once prepared bombs for the “Peasant Group of Anarchist Communists” in the pots where his mother used to knead the dough. When one of the pots ended up in the oven, an explosion occurred.
- In exile, Nestor Makhno changed his last name to Mikhnenko.
- During World War II, Makhno's widow Galina Kuzmenko and his daughter Elena were deported to Germany for forced labor. After the end of the war, they were arrested by the NKVD and taken to Kyiv, where they were tried for participation in the Makhnovist movement. Galina Kuzmenko was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Elena - to five. After liberation in 1954, they lived in Kazakhstan, in the city of Dzhambul.
- Nestor Makhno became the prototype of the main character of Yesenin’s dramatic poem “Country of Scoundrels” named Nomakh.
- During the Spanish Civil War, one of the military brigades of the Spanish anarcho-syndicalists was named after Makhno.
Name: Nestor Makhno
Age: 45 years
Place of Birth: Gulyaipole, Russia
A place of death: Paris, France
Activity: political and military leader, anarchist
Family status: was married
Nestor Makhno - biography
Historians often portrayed Makhno as an ataman of slobs who did not recognize order and lived by robbery. This was partly true. But why the mighty Red Army and well-trained White Guard regiments could not cope with yesterday’s farm laborers, historians have not been able to answer.
Born on October 26, 1888. Also known as “Father Makhno”.
The transformation of the boy Nestor into the dashing chieftain Makhno did not happen overnight. It all started in 1906 at an iron foundry in Gulyai-Polye, where a teenage farm laborer was taken as an apprentice. It was here that the fragile consciousness was replenished with the first information about the struggle of the proletariat for its rights. But Nestor cared more for the farm laborers than for the workers, but this did not change the essence of the matter. He gladly participated in tasks assigned by his senior comrades, and at the age of 18 he was arrested for possession of weapons.
Nestor Makhno - Sentenced to the Gallows
During interrogations, Nestor was silent as a fish and did not betray anyone. He was released, but the lesson was of no use. Despite the mother’s attempt to marry her son, the guy was not ready for marriage and abandoned his betrothed. And six months later, in 1908, he took part in an attack on prison staff, which ended in a double murder. Almost all of the detainees were sentenced to death, and 20-year-old Nestor was no exception. The grief-stricken mother in despair wrote a letter to the king asking for mercy for her son. And a miracle happened - the execution was replaced with lifelong hard labor.
During his imprisonment, Makhno was severely beaten more than once, and was imprisoned in a punishment cell six times, where he contracted tuberculosis. The doctors were categorical: the disease was progressing, the lung had to be removed. No one expected him to survive, but Nestor pulled out.
Makhno communicated a lot with political prisoners. One of them, a classic of anarchism, Pyotr Arshinov became a mentor for him, forced him to work on self-education: literature, history, mathematics, philosophy... Interrupted prison universities February Revolution.
To the sounds of "La Marseillaise" all the political figures were released. It seemed that a bright democratic future awaited Russia. Nobody expected that it would turn into a bloody nightmare.
Having served nine years for the ideals of the revolution, Makhno returned to his native place as an authoritative man. In addition to his mother, his pen pal Nastya Vasetskaya was waiting for him in Gulyai-Polye. Nestor, hungry for female affection, immediately proposed to her, which the girl accepted. But the love for the revolution turned out to be stronger than the love for a woman. Leaving his pregnant wife in the care of his mother, Nestor plunged headlong into the maelstrom of revolutionary passions.
Makhno - Defender of farm laborers
When the German boot set foot on the soil of Ukraine, and in Kyiv the Rada declared independence from Russia, Makhno’s head went spinning. Black suddenly turned out to be white, and vice versa. In the same prison he could have asked Arshinov for advice, but here Makhno was like a blind kitten.
Not finding answers to his questions, Nestor went to the cities of Russia to meet with the leaders of the anarchist movement. So, in Moscow he met with the classic of anarchism, Prince Kropotkin, and mentor Arshinov. But the latter refused all entreaties to go with them.
In the Kremlin, Makhno managed to get an appointment with Lenin. The future dad liked the leader of the proletariat, but their views differed. However, Ilyich agreed with the visitor that, with the support of local underground fighters, he would launch a guerrilla war against German troops. This is how the first alliance between the Bolsheviks and the anarchist Makhno was concluded.
At the beginning of the struggle, Makhno's detachment was one of dozens of gangs prowling in search of prey. But wherever Nestor went, he convinced the peasants that he was guarding their interests.
Unlike the Bolsheviks, who proposed nationalizing the land, Dad said that it should not belong to anyone, but that plots of land should be given for use to those who cultivate it. The villagers liked such speeches; they willingly signed up for the detachment or brought their sons to it. Moreover, many villages took food patronage over the father’s divisions to show their unity with him.
War is war, but no one can cancel love: Nestor met the anarchist chieftain Marusya Nikiforova. They say about such people: he will stop a galloping horse and enter a burning hut.
There were legends about the courage of the old man, despite his frail physique, and Marusya could not resist. However, the two strong personalities were not destined to get along together.
When the beautiful brunette Galya appeared in Nestor’s life, he undoubtedly broke off his previous relationship. A former nun, she escaped from the monastery and joined Makhno’s army, becoming a telephone operator. But Galina Kuzmenko could not be called a timid young lady. She took part in battles, fired a machine gun and personally shot two Makhnovists convicted of looting and violence.
Not on the same path with the Bolsheviks
Having finished with the Germans, the Bolshevik government found itself in mortal danger from Denikin's army. The White Guard general was already preparing to take Moscow, when his plans were disrupted by the semi-literate Ataman Makhno.
However, it is wrong to call a chieftain a man who commanded a 50,000-strong army with cavalry, artillery and even airplanes. But how could a man who had never been trained in tactics, who had yesterday’s farmhands under his arms, resist the White Guard? But it was Makhno who, having carried out a stunning raid on the cities of Donbass in 1919, caused a commotion in the rear of Denikin’s troops.
For this, the Bolsheviks nominated Makhno for the Order of the Red Banner for No. 4. The Whites urgently had to remove the best units from the front and send them to suppress the “peasant” rebellion. The delay allowed the Red Army to organize its defense and defend Moscow.
However, observing what the Bolsheviks were doing in the occupied villages, how they unceremoniously confiscated grain and livestock from the peasants, the father began to think.
This difficult situation worsened when General Shkuro began to push back the Makhnovists, and they, not receiving ammunition and medicine from the allies, were unable to hold the line and retreated. Having learned about this, the commander-in-chief of the Red Army, Trotsky, flew into a rage and declared Makhno an outlaw. But his dad got ahead of him, sending a dispatch to the Kremlin that he was devoted to the cause of the revolution, but did not see the same in the Bolsheviks.
Moscow did not attach much importance to the dispatch. Denikin was still strong, and the Bolsheviks again asked Makhno for help.
Choosing between two evils, Nestor sided with the communists. And again, as soon as Denikin’s threat had passed, the Reds decided to neutralize the peasant leader. Baron Wrangel interfered.
Unlike Denikin, he was a reformer and promised radical changes in case of victory. Wrangel sent an envoy to Makhno, but he, not wanting to deal with the nobility, pointedly executed him.
Together with units of the Red Army, the Makhnovists crossed Lake Sivash and defeated Wrangel. Now nothing stopped the communists from finally getting rid of their freedom-loving ally. Makhno's units were to be disbanded, and the refuseniks were to be destroyed. The old man did not agree with this situation.
Ultimately, the chieftain was unable to repel superior forces and retreated to the border. At the end of the summer of 1921, seriously wounded, he ended up in Romania with his wife and a small detachment, from where he was interned in Poland. A little later, fate brought him to Paris.
In recent years, Nestor Ivanovich lived poorly, barely making ends meet. At the same time, he participated in the work of anarchist cells, published in the Parisian magazine Delo Truda and fought against slander against him.
Cheka officers tried to liquidate him several times, but to no avail. In 1934, at the age of 45, Father Makhno died of natural causes from bone tuberculosis. His ashes still rest in the Père Lachaise cemetery.
78 years ago, a dashing Ukrainian chieftain, whose name is associated with many legends and even myths, was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
The life and death of the famous Old Man Makhno have become legendary and have still not lost interest for politicians, historians and adventure lovers around the world. Going down in history as a commander during the Civil War, one of the ideologists of anarchism and a symbol of people's love of freedom, Nestor Ivanovich found himself on the list of iconic figures of the 20th century. In popular memory, Makhno’s life was embodied in a whole cycle of mystical stories in which it is not always possible to distinguish truth from fiction.
When Nestor was baptized, the priest's cassock caught fire
Interesting memories of the role of the supernatural in Makhno’s life were preserved thanks to an interview given in Chimkent in the early 1960s by the daughter of Nestor Ivanovich to a correspondent of the newspaper “Gudok” (as is known, the only surviving daughter of Nestor Makhno at the time of publication was named Elena, but the author calls her for some reason - then M. Makhno). According to her, mysticism became firmly entrenched in the ataman’s life almost from his very birth.
“During the baptism of my father in our ancestral village of Gulyaypole, the priest’s cassock flashed,” recalled M. Makhno. “It burned with a smokeless, pale pink, harmless fire. Father immediately predicted: “This child, having matured, will walk through the earth like fire.” And so it became in every sense. Father could walk on burning coals barefoot, and if he wanted to punish someone, he would tightly lock the doors and windows and lower a pack of fireballs onto the culprit, which burned, leaving bloody sores.”
According to eyewitnesses of Nestor's baptism, the priest was more harsh in his forecasts, declaring that he “baptized a robber the likes of which the world has never seen.”
Makhno’s contemporaries recalled that the old man had a terrifying, sullen look that made even his closest associates, who had many ruined lives on their conscience, tremble. They said that the ataman could put his soldiers into a state of euphoria, similar to severe alcohol intoxication, and extract any secret from the prisoners. Even the most inveterate thugs were afraid of him, although Makhno was short, far from athletic, and also disabled: he had one lung removed. As a souvenir of the royal prisons, Nestor “got” incurable tuberculosis.
*Even the most inveterate thugs were afraid of Makhno (in the center), although the old man was short, puny, and even disabled
But despite constant drinking and poor nutrition, Makhno still managed to maintain good physical shape. Otherwise, he would not have been able to fight for so long against numerically superior enemy forces. They say the wounds healed on him like on a dog. Most likely, Makhno had unique parapsychological abilities. This is how his contemporaries explain his ability to influence people.
At times, his comrades-in-arms began to suspect that their dad was “hanging around with evil spirits.”
Not without artistic abilities, Nestor Makhno could skillfully change his appearance. Depending on the situation, he reincarnated either as a hetman gendarme or a White Guard, or as a market trader, or as a lady Once he even played the role of a bride at a rural wedding. Rumors about such “performances” by Nestor Ivanovich gave rise to the opinion that Dad can become invisible, be in several places at the same time, and even turn into a wolf.
Makhno’s daughter recalled an episode when the rebels mistook her father for a brownie: “Having suffered from the campaign, we returned to Gulyai-Polye, flooded the bathhouse, bringing an icon there. The father shouted in rage: “They don’t hang icons in an unclean place and don’t walk around wearing a cross!” - and immediately lost consciousness. And after that I slept for two days. As soon as I woke up, my comrades grabbed us by the throat: “You are leading us to destruction, we must separate.” He answered them: “It was not by miracles that we gathered you together - by peasant truth, with truth we will not only survive, we will win.” The comrades did not let up: “You, Nestor Ivanovich, hang out with evil spirits. While I was sleeping, we saw a brownie in the bathhouse and in the hut. And you were seen walking with him. The father joked: “Moonshine turned out to be strong for you.” And then, becoming more stern, he called everyone into the empty barn and showed off his skills, after which the Orthodox were convinced: God is on the commander’s side.”
“The father, putting the saber on a piece of white canvas, looked at it for a long time until the blade was torn like paper,” Makhno’s daughter told reporters. - Then he placed his silver watch in the empty bottle. Both this and the other empty bottle were plugged with stoppers sealed with candle wax. Before everyone's eyes, the clock somehow moved from one sealed bottle to another, ten minutes behind in time. Just as instantly, he turned a Chinese porcelain cup into a malachite one. I’m not talking about silver - Nestor Ivanovich bent, flattened, and rolled them into rings without touching them. Under his gaze, the spring water in the cast iron turned to boiling water. Cologne flowed from one securely closed bottle into another, empty one, and it disappeared to be found in someone's pocket. My father led his small detachment out of encirclement, placing it over the eyes of the Red Army soldiers. He did the same thing when crossing the border under machine-gun fire.”
Well, why not an analogy with the legendary Zaporozhye Cossacks-characterists, to whom popular rumor attributed many similar skills? Nestor Makhno used his extraordinary talents to collect information or save his people from another trap. In the same interview with the Gudok newspaper, M. Makhno spoke about this incident:
“In the summer of 1920, near the village of Brody, the Reds surrounded my father’s detachment in a forest full of dry wood, which they set on fire to smoke everyone out. The father, remaining unperturbed, said: “By the providence of God, everything is arranged for the benefit of everyone.” He unlocked the steel box that he always carried with him, and pulled out a scarlet arc from a horse harness with the words embossed on it in gold: “The Motherland is humanity.” The soldiers began to murmur, saying that instead of fighting their way to freedom, the old man was acting weird. And the father, turning his face to the burning forest, raised an arc above himself and stepped into the hellish flames, in which a clean, cold corridor immediately formed. Everyone passed through it unharmed. Only wet snow covered them - in the heat.” Another time, having found himself surrounded by the Bolsheviks, the elusive anarchist raised the red banner and, loudly singing “The Internationale,” moved straight towards the Reds. Those, mistaking the Makhnovists for their own, took up the song. While they were figuring out what was what, the dad had already left no trace.
In total, during the period from 1918 to 1921, Nestor Makhno managed to lead his soldiers out of encirclement more than two hundred times. Unique case in the world military history. And this is under conditions of total siege. Over the years, actions against the “Makhnovist gangs” were supervised by such military commanders as Frunze, Parkhomenko, and Budyonny. By the way, it was not for nothing that the commander of the First Cavalry Army described the old man as “a dashing grunt with a hole in his head.” And Dzerzhinsky’s security officers prepared seven attempts on the life of the restless anarchist, but they all ended in failure.
During the Civil War, Makhno received twelve wounds
This is how the daughter explained Nestor Ivanovich’s ability to get out of the most difficult situations: “My father had a talisman in the shape of a crucifix, which became black and sticky like tar on the eve of danger and regained its original appearance as soon as the right decision was made to avoid trouble.”
There was talk among the Makhnovists about their leader’s invulnerability to blades and bullets. It was not for nothing that he never hid behind his fighters in battle, attacking in the front ranks. During the war years, many horses were killed under him, but Makhno himself was almost never hit by bullets. There are several legends about the reasons for such luck.
Deputy Director of the Dnepropetrovsk National Museum named after Dmitry Yavornitsky Valentina Beketova told FACTS this story. In December 1919, the Makhnovists, having captured the city of Yekaterinoslav (present-day Dnepropetrovsk), attacked the local historical museum, the caretaker of which was the famous Ukrainian scientist Dmitry Yavornitsky, who devoted his entire life to studying the history of the Ukrainian Cossacks. The historian kept a bottle of vodka, which he found during excavations of one of the Cossack graves: apparently, the Cossacks “gave” their murdered brother-in-law a gift on the road - “to recover his hangover.” Over hundreds of years, vodka has thickened like honey. It was believed that a person who tasted it gained protection from bullets and sabers. Having heard about the properties of this miracle drink, Makhno immediately requisitioned it.
In addition, there is a legend according to which Makhno had the ability to condense his biofield. Using this skill, the chieftain changed the trajectory of the bullet, preventing it from reaching the target. Being in a state of extreme emotional stress, Nestor Ivanovich subconsciously concentrated, forcing his body to fight for survival and create an invisible energy barrier in front of him.
Yet the famous anarchist did not always manage to remain unscathed. During the war years he was wounded 12 times. However, Makhno knew how to quickly restore strength and, just a day after the injury, was again confident in the saddle. And on August 22, 1921, in one of his last battles, a bullet hit Nestor Ivanovich just below the back of his head and came out of his right cheek. The communist press immediately, for the fifth time, hastened to announce the death of the odious commander. But Frunze, not believing such luck, ordered a thorough check of the information received. And it was not for nothing that he was cautious - Makhno survived this time too. True, after this the old man and his associates crossed Soviet border and took refuge in Romania, leaving his entire treasury in his homeland, rumors about the fate of which still excite the minds of treasure hunters. The ataman himself, who was not taken by either a bullet or a blade, died in Paris in 1934 from tuberculosis in deep poverty.
*Having been wounded 12 times during the Civil War, Nestor Makhno died not from bullets, but from tuberculosis (pictured with his daughter Elena in Paris, 1928)
"Old Man", Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Revolutionary Workers' and Peasants' Army Ekaterinoslavsky district, commander of the Red Army brigade, commander of the 1st Insurgent Division, commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
Makhno himself considered himself a military commander, and not a leader of the population of the occupied territory.
Nestor Ivanovich Makhno was born on October 26, 1888 in the village of Gulyai-Polye, Yekaterinoslav province, into a peasant family. It was a large village, in which there were even factories, at one of which he worked as a foundry worker.
The revolution of 1905 captivated the young worker, he joined the Social Democrats, and in 1906 he joined the group of “free grain growers” - anarchist-communists, participated in raids and propaganda of the principles of anarchy. In July-August 1908, the group was discovered, Makhno was arrested and in 1910, together with his accomplices, was sentenced to death by a military court. However, many years before this, Makhno’s parents changed his date of birth by a year, and he was considered a minor. In this regard, the execution was replaced by indefinite hard labor.
In 1911, Makhno ended up in Moscow Butyrki. Here he studied self-education and met Pyotr Arshinov, who was more “savvy” in anarchist teaching, who would later become one of the ideologists of the Makhnovist movement. In prison, Makhno fell ill with tuberculosis and had his lung removed.
The February Revolution of 1917 opened the doors of prison for Makhno, and in March he returned to Gulyai-Polye. Makhno gained popularity as a fighter against autocracy and a speaker at public gatherings, and was elected to the local government body - the Public Committee. He became the leader of the Gulyai-Polye group of anarcho-communists, which subordinated the Public Committee to its influence and established control over the network of public structures in the region, which included the Peasant Union (since August - the Council), the Council of Workers' Deputies and the trade union. Makhno headed the volost executive committee of the Peasant Union, which actually became the authority in the region.
After the start of Kornilov’s speech, Makhno and his supporters created the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution under the Soviet and confiscated weapons from landowners, kulaks and German colonists in favor of their detachment. In September, the volost congress of Soviets and peasant organizations in Gulyai-Polye, convened by the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, proclaimed the confiscation of landowners' lands, which were transferred to peasant farms and communes. So Makhno was ahead of Lenin in implementing the slogan “Land to the peasants!”
On October 4, 1917, Makhno was elected chairman of the board of the trade union of metalworkers, woodworkers and other trades, which united virtually all the workers of Gulyai-Polye and a number of surrounding enterprises (including mills). Makhno, who combined leadership of the trade union with leadership of the largest local armed political group, forced entrepreneurs to fulfill the demands of the workers. On October 25, the union board decided: “Workers who are not members of the union are required to immediately enroll as members of the Union, otherwise they risk losing the support of the Union.” A course was set for the universal introduction of an eight-hour working day. In December 1917, Makhno, busy with other matters, transferred the chairmanship of the trade union to his deputy A. Mishchenko.
Makhno was already faced with new tasks - a struggle for power began to boil between supporters and opponents of the Soviets. Makhno stood for Soviet power. Together with a detachment of Gulyai-Polye men, commanded by his brother Savva, Nestor disarmed the Cossacks, then took part in the work of the Alexander Revolutionary Committee, and headed the revolutionary committee in Gulyai-Polye. In December, on Makhno’s initiative, the Second Congress of Soviets of the Gulyai-Polye region met, which adopted the resolution “Death to the Central Rada.” The Makhnovsky district was not going to submit to either the Ukrainian, Red or White authorities.
At the end of 1917, Makhno had a daughter from Anna Vasetskaya. Makhno lost contact with this family in the military whirlpool of the spring of 1918. After the conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty in March 1918, German troops began advancing into Ukraine. Residents of Gulyai-Polye formed a “free battalion” of about 200 fighters, and now Makhno himself took command. He went to the Red Guard headquarters to get weapons. In his absence, on the night of April 15-16, a coup was carried out in Gulyai-Polye in favor of Ukrainian nationalists. At the same time, a detachment of nationalists suddenly attacked the “free battalion” and disarmed it.
These events took Makhno by surprise. He was forced to retreat to Russia. At the end of April 1918, at a meeting of Gulyai-Polye anarchists in Taganrog, it was decided to return to the area in a few months. In April-June 1918, Makhno traveled around Russia, visiting Rostov-on-Don, Saratov, Tsaritsyn, Astrakhan and Moscow. Revolutionary Russia evokes complex feelings in him. On the one hand, he saw the Bolsheviks as allies in the revolutionary struggle. On the other hand, they very cruelly crushed the revolution “under themselves”, creating a new one, their own power, and not the power of the Soviets.
In June 1918, Makhno met with anarchist leaders, including P.A. Kropotkin, was among the visitors of V.I. Lenin and Ya.M. Sverdlov. In a conversation with Lenin, Makhno, on behalf of the peasantry, outlined to him his vision of the principles of Soviet power as self-government, and argued that anarchists in the countryside of Ukraine are more influential than communists. Lenin made a strong impression on Makhno, the Bolsheviks helped the anarchist leader cross to occupied Ukraine.
In July 1918, Makhno returned to the vicinity of Gulyai-Polye, then created a small partisan detachment, which in September began military operations, attacking estates, German colonies, occupiers and employees of Hetman Skoropadsky. The first major battle with the Austro-Hungarian troops and supporters of the Ukrainian state in the village of Dibrivki (B. Mikhailovka) turned out to be successful for the partisans, earning Makhno the honorary nickname “father”. In the Dibrivok area, Makhno’s detachment united with F. Shchusya’s detachment. Then other local detachments began to join Makhno. The successful partisans began to receive the support of the peasants. Makhno emphasized the anti-landowner and anti-kulak nature of his actions.
The collapse of the occupation regime after the November Revolution in Germany caused a surge in the insurgency and the collapse of the regime of Hetman Skoropadsky. As the Austro-German troops evacuated, detachments coordinated by Makhno's headquarters began to take control of the area around Gulyai-Polye. On November 27, 1918, Makhno’s forces occupied Gulyai-Polye and never left it. The rebels drove the occupiers out of their area, destroyed the resisting farmsteads and estates, and established ties with local governments. Makhno fought against unauthorized extortions and robberies. Local rebels were subordinate to the main headquarters of the rebel troops “named after Old Man Makhno.” In the south of the region there were clashes with the troops of Ataman Krasnov and the Volunteer Army.
In mid-December, fighting began between the Makhnovists and UPR supporters. Makhno entered into an agreement on joint actions with the Ekaterinoslav Bolsheviks and was appointed gubernatorial committee and Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Revolutionary Workers' and Peasants' Army of the Ekaterinoslav region. On December 27-31, 1918, Makhno, in alliance with a detachment of Bolsheviks, recaptured Ekaterinoslav from the Petliurists. But the Petliurists launched a counterattack and recaptured the city. Makhno and the communists blamed each other for the defeat. Having lost half of his detachment, Makhno returned to the left bank of the Dnieper.
Makhno considered himself a military commander, and not a leader of the population of the occupied territory. The principles of organizing political power were determined by the congresses of front-line soldiers and Soviets. The First Congress took place on January 23, 1919, without Makhno’s participation, and began preparations for the more representative Second Congress.
In January 1919, units of the Volunteer Army launched an offensive on Gulyai-Polye. The Makhnovists suffered from a shortage of ammunition and weapons, which forced them to enter into an alliance with the Bolsheviks on January 26, 1919. On February 19, Makhnovist troops entered the 1st Trans-Dnieper Division of the Red Army under the command of P.E. Dybenko as the 3rd brigade under the command of Makhno.
With the Order of the Red Banner for No. 4 (perhaps this is a legend, no one can say for sure, it is not in the award lists, although this does not mean anything).
Having received ammunition from the Reds, on February 4, Makhno went on the offensive and took Bamut, Volnovakha, Berdyansk and Mariupol, defeating the White group. The peasants, submitting to “voluntary mobilization,” sent their sons to the Makhnovist regiments. The villages patronized their regiments, the soldiers chose commanders, the commanders discussed upcoming operations with the soldiers, each soldier knew his task well. This “military democracy” gave the Makhnovists a unique fighting ability. The growth of Makhno's army was limited only by the ability to arm new recruits. For 15-20 thousand armed fighters there were over 30 thousand unarmed reserves.
On February 8, 1919, in his appeal, Makhno put forward the following task: “Building a true Soviet system, in which the Soviets, elected by the working people, would be servants of the people, implementers of those laws, those orders that the working people themselves will write at the All-Ukrainian Labor Congress...”
“Our working community will have full power within itself and will carry out its will, its economic and other plans and considerations through its bodies, which it itself creates, but which it does not endow with any power, but only with certain instructions,” - wrote Makhno and Arshinov in May 1919.
Subsequently, Makhno called his views anarcho-communism of the “Bakunin-Kropotkin sense.”
Speaking on February 14, 1919 at the II Gulyai-Polye district congress of front-line soldiers, Soviets and sub-departments, Makhno stated: “I call on you to unity, because unity is the guarantee of the victory of the revolution over those who sought to strangle it. If comrade Bolsheviks come from Great Russia to Ukraine to help us in the difficult struggle against counter-revolution, we must say to them: “Welcome, dear friends!” But if they come here with the goal of monopolizing Ukraine, we will tell them: “Hands off!” We ourselves know how to raise the emancipation of the working peasantry to a height, we ourselves will be able to arrange for ourselves new life- where there will be no lords, slaves, oppressed and oppressors.”
Hiding behind the slogan of the “dictatorship of the proletariat,” the Bolshevik Communists declared a monopoly on the revolution for their party, considering all dissenters to be counter-revolutionaries... We call on the comrades of workers and peasants not to entrust the liberation of the working people to any party, any central government“The liberation of the working people is the work of the working people themselves.”
At the congress, the political body of the movement, the Military Revolutionary Council (VRC), was elected. The party composition of the VRS was left-socialist - 7 anarchists, 3 left Socialist Revolutionaries and 2 Bolsheviks and one sympathizer. Makhno was elected an honorary member of the VRS. Thus, on the territory controlled by the Makhnovists, an independent system of Soviet power arose, autonomous from the central government of the Ukrainian SSR. This caused mutual distrust between Makhno and the Soviet command.
Makhno invited brigades of anarchists to the area of operation to promote anarchist views and cultural and educational work. Among the visiting anarchists, the old comrade P.A. had an influence on Makhno. Arshinov. In the area where the Makhnovists operated, political freedom existed for leftist movements - the Bolsheviks, left Socialist Revolutionaries and anarchists. Makhno received the chief of staff sent by the division commander Dybenko, the left Socialist Revolutionary Ya.V. Ozerov and communist commissars. They engaged in propaganda, but had no political power.
The commander of the Ukrainian Front, V. Antonov-Ovseenko, who visited the area in May 1919, reported: “children’s communes and schools are being established - Gulyai-Polye is one of the most cultural centers of Novorossia - there are three secondary educational institutions, etc. Through Makhno’s efforts, ten hospitals for the wounded were opened, a workshop was organized to repair guns and locks for guns were made.”
The communists tolerated the openly anti-Bolshevik nature of the Makhnovists' speeches as long as the Makhnovists advanced. But in April the front stabilized, the fight against Denikin’s forces continued with varying degrees of success. The Bolsheviks set a course to eliminate the special situation of the Makhnovist region. Heavy fighting and supply shortages increasingly exhausted the Makhnovists.
On April 10, the III regional congress of peasants, workers and rebels in Gulyai-Polye adopted decisions directed against the military-communist policy of the RCP (b). Chief Dybenko responded with a telegram: “Any congresses convened on behalf of the military-revolutionary headquarters dissolved according to my order are considered clearly counter-revolutionary, and the organizers of such will be subjected to the most repressive measures, up to and including outlawing.” The congress responded to the division commander with a sharp rebuke, which further compromised Makhno in the eyes of the command.
April 15, 1919 member of the RVS of the Southern Front G.Ya. Sokolnikov, with the consent of some members of the RVS of the Ukrfront, brought before the Chairman of the RVS of the Republic L.D. Trotsky questioned the removal of Makhno from command.
On April 25, the Kharkov Izvestia published an article “Down with Makhnovshchina,” which said: “The insurgent movement of the peasantry accidentally fell under the leadership of Makhno and his “Military Revolutionary Headquarters,” in which both the reckless anarchists and the White-Left Socialist Revolutionaries found refuge. and other remnants of “former” revolutionary parties that disintegrated. Having fallen under the leadership of such elements, the movement significantly lost its strength; the successes associated with its rise could not be consolidated by the anarchic nature of its actions... The outrages that are happening in Makhno’s “kingdom” must be put to an end.” This article outraged Makhno and raised fears that it was a prelude to an attack by the Bolsheviks. On April 29, he ordered the detention of some of the commissars, deciding that the Bolsheviks were preparing an attack on the Makhnovists: “Let the Bolsheviks sit with us, just as our Cheka sits in the Cheka’s dungeons.”
The conflict was resolved during negotiations between Makhno and the commander of the Ukrainian Front V.A. Antonova-Ovseenko. Makhno even condemned the most drastic provisions resolutions of the Congress of District Councils, promised to prevent the election of command personnel, which (apparently due to the contagiousness of the example) was so feared in neighboring parts of the Red Army. Moreover, the commanders had already been chosen, and no one was going to change them at that time.
But, having made some concessions, the old man put forward a new, fundamentally important idea that could try on two strategies of the revolution: “Before a decisive victory over the whites, a revolutionary front must be established, and he (Makhno. - A.Sh.) strives to prevent civil strife between the various elements of this revolutionary front."
On May 1, the brigade was withdrawn from the subordination of the P.E. division. Dybenko and subordinated to the emerging 7th Division of the 2nd Ukrainian Army, which never became a real formation. In fact, not only the 7th Division, but the entire 2nd Army consisted of Makhno’s brigade and several regiments that were significantly inferior to it in numbers.
Ataman N.A. provided a new reason for increasing mutual distrust. Grigoriev, who started a rebellion on the right bank of Ukraine on May 6. On May 12, under the chairmanship of Makhno, a “military congress” convened, that is, a meeting of the command staff, representatives of units and the political leadership of the Makhnovist movement. Makhno and the congress condemned N.A.’s speech. Grigoriev, but also expressed criticism towards the Bolsheviks, who provoked the uprising with their policies. The “Military Congress” proclaimed the reorganization of the 3rd Brigade into the 1st Insurgent Division under the command of Makhno.
The reason for a new aggravation of relations with the communists was the deployment of the 3rd brigade to the division. A paradoxical situation when the brigade was composed most army, interfered with the appropriate supply, and the interaction of the command with the huge “brigade”, and the management of its units. The Soviet command first agreed to the reorganization, and then refused to create a division under the command of an obstinate opposition commander. On May 22, Trotsky, who arrived in Ukraine, called such plans “preparation of a new Grigorievshchina.” On May 25, at a meeting of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense of Ukraine, chaired by Kh. Rakovsky, the issue of “Makhnovshchina and its liquidation” was discussed. It was decided to “liquidate Makhno” with the help of the regiment.
Having learned about the intentions of the command, Makhno announced on May 28, 1919 that he was ready to resign, since he “never aspired to high ranks” and “will do more in the future among the grassroots of the people for the revolution.” But on May 29, 1919, the headquarters of the Makhnov division decided: “1) urgently invite Comrade Makhno to remain in his duties and powers, which Comrade Makhno tried to relinquish; 2) transform all Makhnovist forces into an independent rebel army, entrusting the leadership of this army to Comrade Makhno. The army is operationally subordinate to the Southern Front, since the latter's operational orders will proceed from the living needs of the revolutionary front." In response to this step, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Southern Front decided on May 29, 1919 to arrest Makhno and bring him before the Revolutionary Tribunal. Makhno did not accept the title of army commander and continued to consider himself a division commander.
This was announced when the Southern Front itself began to fall apart under the blows of Denikin. The Makhnovist headquarters called for the restoration of unity: “There is a need for cohesion, unity. Only with common effort and consciousness, with a common understanding of our struggle and our common interests for which we are fighting, will we save the revolution... Give up, comrades, all sorts of party differences, they will destroy you.”
On May 31, the VRS announced the convening of the IV Congress of District Councils. The center regarded the decision to convene a new “unauthorized” congress as preparation for an anti-Soviet uprising. On June 3, the commander of the Southern Front, V. Gittis, gave the order to begin the liquidation of the Makhnovshchina and the arrest of Makhno.
On June 6, Makhno sent a telegram to V.I. Lenin, L.D. Trotsky, L.B. Kamenev and K.E. Voroshilov, in which he offered to “send a good military leader who, having familiarized himself with the matter on the spot with me, could take command of the division from me.”
On June 9, Makhno sent a telegram to V.I. Lenin, L.D. Kamenev, G.E. Zinoviev, L.D. Trotsky, K.E. Voroshilov, in which he summed up his relationship with the communist regime: “The hostile and recently offensive behavior of the central government towards insurrection that I have noted leads with fatal inevitability to the creation of a special internal front, on both sides of which will be the working masses who believe in the revolution. I consider this the greatest, never forgivable crime against the working people and I consider myself obligated to do everything possible to prevent this crime... I consider my resignation from my post to be the surest means of preventing the crime impending on the part of the authorities.”
Meanwhile, the Whites invaded the Gulyai-Polye area. For some time, with a small detachment, Makhno still fought side by side with the red units, but on June 15, with a small detachment, he left the front. Its units continued to fight in the ranks of the Red Army. On the night of June 16, seven members of the Makhnovist headquarters were shot by the verdict of the Donbass revolutionary tribunal. The chief of staff of Ozerov continued to fight with the whites, but on August 2, according to the verdict of the VUCHK, he was shot. Makhno gave money to groups of anarchists who went out to prepare terrorist attacks against the Whites (M.G. Nikiforova and others) and the Bolsheviks (K. Kovalevich and others). On June 21, 1919, Makhno’s detachment crossed to the right bank of the Dnieper.
In July, Makhno married Galina Kuzmenko, who became his fighting friend for many years.
Makhno tried to stay away from the front rear so as not to contribute to the successes of the Whites. Makhno's detachment attacked Elisavetgrad on July 10, 1919. On July 11, 1919, the Makhnovists united with the detachment of the nationalist ataman N.A. Grigorieva. In accordance with the agreement of the two leaders, Grigoriev was declared commander, and Makhno - chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Insurgent Army. Makhno's brother Grigory became the chief of staff. Disagreements arose between the Makhnovists and the Grigorievites in connection with N.A.’s anti-Semitism. Grigoriev and his reluctance to fight against the Whites. July 27 N.A. Grigoriev was killed by the Makhnovists. Makhno sent a telegram on air: “Everyone, everyone, everyone. Copy - Moscow, Kremlin. We killed the famous ataman Grigoriev. Signed - Makhno."
Under pressure from Denikin, the Red Army was forced to retreat from Ukraine. The former Makhnovists, who found themselves under the command of the Bolsheviks in June, did not want to go to Russia.
Most of the Makhnovist units operating as part of the Red Army, as well as part of the 58th Red Division, went over to Makhno’s side. On September 1, 1919, at a meeting of army command staff in the village. The “Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (Makhnovists)” was proclaimed in Dobrovelichkovka, a new Revolutionary Military Council and army headquarters headed by Army Commander Makhno were elected.
The superior forces of the Whites pushed the Makhnovists back near Uman. Here the Makhnovists entered into an “alliance” with the Petliurists, to whom they handed over their convoy with the wounded.
In July-August 1919 white army advanced across the vast expanses of Russia and Ukraine towards Moscow and Kyiv. The officers peered into the horizon. A few more victorious battles, and Moscow will greet its liberators with the ringing of bells. On the flank of Denikin’s campaign against Moscow, it was necessary to solve a “simple” task - to finish off the remnants of the Southern Group of Reds, Makhno’s gang and, if possible, the Ukrainian nationalist Petlyura, who was getting under the feet of Russian statehood. After the Whites drove the Reds out of Yekaterinoslav with a dashing raid and thereby overcame the Dnieper barrier, the cleansing of Ukraine seemed a done deal. But when the Whites entered the area where Makhno had gathered his forces in early September, difficulties arose. On September 6, the Makhnovists launched a counterattack near Pomoschnaya. They moved from all sides, and the discordant crowd just before the attack turned into a dense formation. The Whites fought back, but it turned out that Makhno at that time bypassed their positions and captured a convoy with ammunition. They were what the “father” needed.
On September 22, 1919, General Slashchev gave the order to put an end to Makhno in the Uman region. How much time can you waste on this gang! Of course, the Makhnovists are numerous, but they are a rabble, and the disciplined forces of the Volunteer Army are superior to the bandits in their combat effectiveness. After all, they are chasing the Reds! Slashchev's units dispersed in different directions to drive the beast. The Simferopol White Regiment occupied Peregonovka. The trap slammed shut. General Sklyarov’s detachment entered Uman and began to wait for the “game” to be brought to him.
Meanwhile, the “game” itself drove the hunters. On September 26, a terrible roar was heard - the Makhnovists blew up their stock of mines, which were still difficult to carry with them. It was both a signal and a “psychic attack.” The cavalry and infantry rushed towards the whites, supported by many machine guns on carts. Denikin’s troops could not stand it and began to seek salvation on the heights, thereby opening the way for the Makhnovists to key crossings and forks in the roads. At night, the Makhnovists were already everywhere, the cavalry pursued those retreating and fleeing. On the morning of September 27, the Makhnovist cavalry mass crushed the ranks of the Lithuanian battalion and cut down those who did not have time to flee. This formidable force moved on, destroying the whites who got in their way. Having brought up their guns, the Makhnovists began to shoot the battle formations pressed against the river. Their commander, Captain Hattenberger, realizing that defeat was inevitable, shot himself. Having killed the remaining whites, the Makhnovists moved to Uman and drove Sklyarov’s forces out of there. Slashchev's regiments were broken in parts, Denikin's front was broken through on the flank.
The Makhnovist army, loaded onto carts, moved deep into Denikin’s rear. Looking at this breakthrough, one of the surviving officers sadly said: “At that moment, great Russia lost the war.” He was not so far from the truth. Denikin’s rear was disorganized, and a Makhnovia hole formed in the center of the white “Dobrovoliya”. And then the news came - the same force struck the Bolsheviks almost at the very heart of their regime - on September 25, the Moscow City Committee of the Communist Party took off. The anarchists took revenge on the communists for Makhno’s comrades shot by the revolutionary tribunal. This was the third force of the Civil War, obeying its own will and its own logic.
Makhno's army burst into operational space behind Denikin's rear. Makhno, commanding the central column of rebels, occupied Aleksandrovsk and Gulyai-Polye in early October. In the area of Gulyai-Polye, Aleksandrovsk and Yekaterinoslav, a vast rebel zone arose, which absorbed part of the White forces during Denikin’s attack on Moscow.
In the Makhnovist region, on October 27 - November 2, a congress of peasants, workers and rebels was held in Aleksandrovsk. In his speech, Makhno stated that “the best volunteer regiments of Gen. Denikin was completely defeated by rebel detachments,” but also criticized the communists, who “sent punitive detachments to “suppress the counter-revolution” and thereby interfered with the free insurrection in the fight against Denikin.” Makhno called for joining the army “to destroy all violent power and counter-revolution.” After the speech of the Menshevik worker delegates, Makhno again took the floor and sharply spoke out against the “underground agitation on the part of the Mensheviks,” whom, like the Socialist Revolutionaries, he called “political charlatans” and called for “no mercy” for them and “drive them out.” After this, some of the working delegates left the congress. Makhno responded by saying that he did not “brand” all workers, but only “charlatans.” On November 1, he appeared in the newspaper “Path to Freedom” with the article “It cannot be otherwise”: “Is it acceptable that the workers of the city of Aleksandrovsk and its surroundings, in the person of their delegates - the Mensheviks and right Socialist Revolutionaries - on a free business worker-peasant and at the insurgent congress held opposition to the Denikin founders?
October 28 - December 19 (with a break of 4 days) the Makhnovists held Big City Ekaterinoslav. Enterprises were transferred into the hands of those who work for them. On October 15, 1919, Makhno addressed the railway workers: “In order to quickly restore normal railway traffic in the area we liberated, as well as based on the principle of establishing a free life by the workers’ and peasants’ organizations themselves and their associations, I propose to fellow railway workers and employees to energetically organize and establish the movement itself, setting a sufficient payment for passengers and cargo, except for military personnel, as a reward for its work, organizing its cash desk on a comradely and fair basis and entering into the closest relations with workers’ organizations, peasant societies and rebel units.”
In November 1919, counterintelligence arrested a group of communists led by regimental commander M. Polonsky on charges of preparing a conspiracy and poisoning of Makhno. On December 2, 1919, the accused were shot. In December 1919, the Makhnovist army was disorganized by a typhus epidemic, then Makhno also fell ill.
Having retreated from Yekaterinoslav under the onslaught of the Whites, Makhno with the main forces of the army retreated to Aleksandrovsk. On January 5, 1920, units of the 45th division of the Red Army arrived here. At negotiations with representatives of the red command, Makhno and representatives of his headquarters demanded that they be allocated a section of the front to fight the whites and maintain control over their area. Makhno and his staff insisted on concluding a formal agreement with the Soviet leadership. January 6, 1920 Commander of the 14th I.P. Uborevich ordered Makhno to advance to the Polish front. Without waiting for an answer, the All-Ukrainian Revolutionary Committee declared Makhno outlawed on January 9, 1920, under the pretext of his failure to comply with the order to go to the Polish front. The Reds attacked Makhno's headquarters in Aleksandrovsk, but he managed to escape to Gulyai-Polye on January 10, 1920.
At a meeting of command staff in Gulyai-Polye on January 11, 1920, it was decided to grant the rebels a month's leave. Makhno declared his readiness to “go hand in hand” with the Red Army while maintaining independence. At this time, more than two Red divisions attacked, disarmed and partially shot the Makhnovists, including the sick. Makhno's brother Grigory was captured and shot, and in February, another brother Savva, who was involved in supplies in the Makhnovist army, was captured. Makhno went into hiding during his illness.
After Makhno's recovery in February 1920, the Makhnovists resumed hostilities against the Reds. In winter and spring a debilitating guerrilla warfare, the Makhnovists attacked small detachments, workers of the Bolshevik apparatus, warehouses, distributing grain supplies to the peasants. In the area of Makhno's actions, the Bolsheviks were forced to go underground, and spoke openly only accompanied by large military units. In May 1920, the Council of Revolutionary Insurgents of Ukraine (Makhnovists) was created, headed by Makhno, which included Chief of Staff V.F. Belash, commanders Kalashnikov, Kurylenko and Karetnikov. The name SRPU emphasized that we are not talking about the RVS, usual for a civil war, but about a “nomadic” government body of the Makhnovist republic.
Wrangel’s attempts to establish an alliance with Makhno ended in the execution of the White emissary by decision of the SRPU and the Makhnovist headquarters on July 9, 1920.
In March-May 1920, detachments under the command of Makhno fought with units of the 1st Cavalry Army, VOKhR and other forces of the Red Army. In the summer of 1920, the army under the overall command of Makhno numbered more than 10 thousand soldiers. On July 11, 1920, Makhno’s army began a raid outside its region, during which it took the cities of Izyum, Zenkov, Mirgorod, Starobelsk, Millerovo. On August 29, 1920, Makhno was seriously wounded in the leg (in total, Makhno had more than 10 wounds).
In the conditions of Wrangel’s offensive, when the Whites occupied Gulyai-Polye, Makhno and his Socialist Party of Ukraine were not against concluding a new alliance with the Reds if they were ready to recognize the equality of the Makhnovists and the Bolsheviks. At the end of September, consultations about the union began. On October 1, after a preliminary agreement on the cessation of hostilities with the Reds, Makhno, in an address to the rebels operating in Ukraine, called on them to stop hostilities against the Bolsheviks: “by remaining indifferent spectators, the Ukrainian rebels would help the reign in Ukraine of either the historical enemy - the Polish lord, or again royal power headed by a German baron." On October 2, an agreement was signed between the government of the Ukrainian SSR and the Socialist Party of Ukraine (Makhnovists). In accordance with the agreement between the Makhnovists and the Red Army, hostilities ceased, an amnesty was declared in Ukraine for anarchists and Makhnovists, they received the right to propagate their ideas without calling for the violent overthrow of the Soviet government, to participate in councils and in elections to the V Congress of Councils scheduled for December. The parties mutually agreed not to accept deserters. The Makhnovist army came under operational subordination to the Soviet command with the condition that it “preserved the previously established routine within itself.”
Acting together with the Red Army, on October 26, 1920, the Makhnovists liberated Gulyai-Polye, where Makhno was stationed, from the Whites. The best forces of the Makhnovists (2,400 sabers, 1,900 bayonets, 450 machine guns and 32 guns) under the command of S. Karetnikov were sent to the front against Wrangel (Makhno himself, wounded in the leg, remained in Gulyai-Polye) and participated in the crossing of Sivash.
After the victory over the Whites on November 26, 1920, the Reds suddenly attacked the Makhnovists. Having taken command of the army, Makhno managed to escape from the blow dealt to his forces in Gulyai-Polye. Southern Front of the Red Army under the command of M.V. Frunze, relying on his multiple superiority in forces, managed to encircle Makhno in Andreevka near the Sea of Azov, but on December 14-18, Makhno broke into operational space. However, he had to go to the Right Bank of the Dnieper, where the Makhnovists did not have sufficient support from the population. During heavy fighting in January-February 1921, the Makhnovists broke through to their native places. On March 13, 1921, Makhno was again seriously wounded in the leg.
On May 22, 1921, Makhno moved to a new raid to the north. Despite the fact that the headquarters of the unified army was restored, the forces of the Makhnovists were dispersed, Makhno was able to concentrate only 1,300 fighters for operations in the Poltava region. At the end of June - beginning of July M.V. Frunze inflicted a sensitive defeat on the Makhnovist strike group in the area of the Sulla and Psel rivers. After the announcement of the NEP, peasant support for the rebels weakened. On July 16, 1921, Makhno, at a meeting in Isaevka near Taganrog, proposed that his army make its way to Galicia to raise an uprising there. But disagreements arose over what to do next, and only a minority of fighters followed Makhno.
Makhno with a small detachment broke through all of Ukraine to the Romanian border and on August 28, 1921 crossed the Dniester into Bessarabia.
Wrangel tanks.
Once in Romania, the Makhnovists were disarmed by the authorities, in 1922 they moved to Poland and were placed in an internment camp. On April 12, 1922, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee announced a political amnesty, which did not apply to 7 “hardened criminals,” including Makhno. Soviet authorities demanded the extradition of Makhno as a “bandit.” In 1923, Makhno, his wife and two associates were arrested and accused of preparing an uprising in Eastern Galicia. On October 30, 1923, a daughter, Elena, was born to Makhno and Kuzmenko in a Warsaw prison. Makhno and his comrades were acquitted by the court. In 1924, Makhno moved to Danzig, where he was again arrested in connection with the killings of Germans during the civil war. Having fled from Danzig to Berlin, Makhno arrived in Paris in April 1925 and from 1926 settled in the suburb of Vincennes. Here Makhno worked as a turner, carpenter, painter and shoemaker. Participated in public discussions about the Makhnovist movement and anarchism.
In 1923-1933. Makhno published articles and brochures devoted to the history of the Makhnovist movement, the theory and practice of anarchism and the labor movement, and criticism of the communist regime. In November 1925, Makhno wrote about anarchism: “the absence of his own organization capable of opposing its living forces to the enemies of the Revolution made him a helpless organizer.” Therefore, it is necessary to create a “Union of Anarchists, built on the principle general discipline and general leadership of all anarchist forces."
In June 1926, Arshinov and Makhno put forward a draft “Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists,” which proposed to unite the anarchists of the world on the basis of discipline, combining anarchist principles of self-government with institutions where “leading positions in the economic and social life of the country” are preserved. Supporters of the "Platform" held a conference in March 1927, which began to create the International Anarcho-Communist Federation. Makhno entered the secretariat to convene its congress. But soon leading anarchist theorists criticized the Platform project as too authoritarian and contrary to the principles of the anarchist movement. Desperate to come to an agreement with the anarchists, in 1931 Arshinov switched to the position of Bolshevism, and the idea of “platformism” failed. Makhno did not forgive his old comrade for this renegade.
Peculiar political testament Makhno became his 1931 letter to the Spanish anarchists J. Carbo and A. Pestaña, in which he warned them against an alliance with the communists during the revolution that had begun in Spain. Makhno warns his Spanish comrades: “Having experienced relative freedom, the anarchists, like ordinary people, became carried away by free speech.”
Makhno with his daughter.
Since 1929, Makhno’s tuberculosis worsened, he took part in less and less social activities, but continued to work on his memoirs. The first volume was published in 1929, the other two were published posthumously. There he outlined his views on the future anarchist system: “I thought of such a system only in the form of a free Soviet system, in which the entire country is covered by local, completely free and independent social self-government of workers.”
At the beginning of 1934, Makhno’s tuberculosis worsened and he was admitted to the hospital. He died in July.
Makhno's ashes were buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery next to the graves of the Parisian communards. Two years after his death, the black banner of anarchy, which had fallen from Makhno’s hands, would again develop next to the red and republican banners in revolutionary Spain - contrary to the warnings of the father and in accordance with the experience of the Makhnovist movement, in accordance with the very logic of the struggle against oppression and exploitation.