Chapter eleven

Notes

1 The range of opinion has been extreme. For example: "In the Ukrainian liberation struggle, Makhno's role was so negative and destructive that he deserves only to be ignored." F. Meleshko, "Nestor Makhno ta ioho anarkhiia," Novyi shliakh (Winnipeg), December 18, 1959, p. 3; "Batko N. Makhno was a capable leader of the Zaporozhian faction of our National Liberation Movement and led an unceasing struggle against the enemies of our people, without surrendering under any circumstances, without betraying his people and without sparing his own strength or life." Vasyl Dubrovskyi, "Batko Nestor Makhno -- ukrainskyi natsionalnyi heroi," Chornomorskyi zbirnyk, Vol. VI (Hertzfeld, 1945), p. 5. For disputes on other issues, see the newspapers Delo truda (Paris) and Volna (New York). The ardor with which polemics on Makhno have continued may be seen in the recent exchanges in Novoe russkoe slovo (New York), January 23, February 2, March 2, March 15, 1969.

2 Aleksei Nikolaev, Zhizn Nestora Makhno (Riga: Izdevnieciba 'Obshche dostupnaia biblioteka,' n.d.); Aleksei Nikolaev, Batko Makhno (Riga: Izdevnieciba 'Laikmets,' n.d.); Aleksei Nikolaev, Pervyi sredi ravnykh (Detroit: Izd. Profsoiuza, 1947); Vasyl Chaplenko, Ukraintsi (New York: All-Slavic Publishing, Inc., 1960); Oles Honchar, Sobor (Kiev: Radianskyi pysmennyk, 1968); Klym Polishchuk, Huliaipilskyi 'Batko', 2 vols. (Kolomyia: Vyd. Oka, 1925-26); Iurii Ianovskyi, Vershnyky, in Tvory, Vol. II (Kiev: Derzhlitvydav, 1958), pp. 169-257.

3 Daniel and Gabriel Cohn-Bendit, Obsolete Communism, the Left-Wing Alternative (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968), pp. 220-234.

4 The New York Public Library has one proclamation and three issues of Put k svobode (Huliai-Pole), Nos. 1-3; two other issues are in European libraries. L. J. van Rossum, "Proclamations of the Makhno Movement, 1920," International Review of Social History, XIII, Pt. 1 (Amsterdam, 1968), p. 249. Van Rossum's publication of eleven proclamations from the archive of the Italian anarchist Ugo Fedeli adds greatly to the fund of documents. A proclamation of the Makhnivtsi against anti-Semitism was published in Volna (New York), No. 58, October, 1924, pp. 39-42. Other proclamations are quoted in Petr Arshinov, Istoriia makhnovskogo dvizheniia (1918-1921 gg.) (Berlin: Izd. 'Gruppy russkikh anarkhistov v Germanii,' 1923). Selections from the protocol of the second meeting of the Huliai-Pole District Conference (February 12, 1919) are published in Petr Struve, "Ideologiia Makhnovshchiny," Russkaia mysl, No. 1-2 (Sofia, 1921), pp. 226-232. Three copies of the Kharkiv Makhno group's newspaper Golos makhnovsta are in the Soviet Union; they are cited in S. Semanov, "Makhnovshchina i ee krakh," Voprosy istorii, No. 9 (Moscow, 1966), p. 57. The Ukrainian-language newspapers Shliakh do voli (Huliai-Pole) and Anarkhist povstanets (Poltava) are unavailable.

5 The outline given here includes the barest essentials to provide the reader with necessary background. A general sketch is found in David Footman, Civil War in Russia (London: Faber, 1961), pp. 245-303. See also Max Nomad, "The Warrior: Nestor Makhno, the Bandit Who Saved Moscow," in Apostles of Revolution (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1939), pp. 302-342, and Victor Peters, Nestor Makhno: The Life of an Anarchist (Winnipeg: Echo Books, 1970).

6 The most authoritative study of the 1906-1909 activities of Makhno and the Huliai-Pole group of anarchists is by G. Novopolin, "Makhno i guliai-polskaia gruppa anarkhistov (po ofitsialnym dannym)," Katorga i ssylka, No. 34 [5] (Moscow, 1927), pp. 70-77. Novopolin's work is based largely on the Odessa prosecutor's indictment of December 14, 1909, which charged fourteen people.

7 The most thorough scholarly study of anarchist tendencies in the Makhno movement is by Romuald Wojna, "Nestor Machno: anarchizm czynu," Z Pola Walki, No. 2 [50] (Warsaw, 1970), pp. 45-76. See also "Anarkhizm i makhnovshchina," Anarkhicheskii vestnik, No. 2 (Berlin, 1923), pp. 27-37. Attacks by anarchist enemies of Makhno such as Mark Mrachnyi and Aaron Baron can be approached through a study of Makhno's answers, published in the Paris anarchist paper Delo truda during the mid-1920's. An enlightening, but unfinished, discussion of the relationship of anarchism to the Makhnwshchyna (chiefly a history of the Nabat group) is the study of D. Ierde, "Politychna prohrama anarkhoma-khnivshchyny," Litopys revoliutsii, IX, 1-2 (Kharkiv, 1930), pp. 41-50.

8 Considerable attention is given to Hryhoriiv's revolt in Arthur Adams, Bolsheviks in the Ukraine: The Second Campaign, 1918-1919 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1963).

9 Makhno's role in the struggle against Denikin is the basis of Nomad's epithet: "The Warrior: Nestor Makhno, the Bandit Who Saved Moscow," in Apostles, p. 302.

10 For contemporary accounts of this very confusing period in Makhno's hfe, see Kazimir-Valerian Tesliar, "Pravda o muzhike-anarkhiste Makhno i anarkho-makhnovshchine," Volna (New York), No. 34-35, October-November, 1922, pp. 21-25; Gr. Anar. Molodezhi Varshavy, "Sud nad N. Makhno," Volna, No. 45, September, 1923, pp. 45-46.

11 Nestor Makhno, Russkaia revoliutsiia na Ukraine (Paris: Federatsiia anarkho-kommunisticheskich grupp Severnoi Ameriki i Kanady, 1929), Pod udarami kontr-revoliutsii (Paris: Izdanie Komiteta N. Makhno, 1936), Ukrainskaia revoliutsiia (Paris: Izdanie Komiteta N. Makhno, 1937). These three volumes are hereafter referred to as Makhno I, II, III. The last two were issued posthumously under die editorship of Makhno's major anarchist colleague, Volin (Vsevolod M. Eikhenbaum).

12 Arshinov, Istoriia makhnovskogo dvizheniia; Voline [Vsevolod Eikhenbaum], La revolution inconnue (1917-21) (Paris: Les Amis de Voline, 1947), translated into English as The Unknown Revolution (Kronstadt 1921, Ukraine 1918-21) (London: Freedom Press, 1955).

13 M. Kubanin, Makhnovshchina (Leningrad: Priboi, 1927). Early Bolshevik accounts vary in scholarly level. Many are mere propaganda tracts against an all-too-popular foe. Those which the contemporary Soviet historian Semanov describes as written "in the hot aftermath of the events" are Ia. Iakovlev, Russkii anarkhizm v velikoi russkoi revoliutsii (St. Petersburg: Izd. Kommunisticheskogo internatsionala, 1921), M. Ravich-Cherkasskii, Makhno i Makhnovshchina (Katerynoslav, 1920), R. Eideman, Ochagi atamanshchiny i banditizma (Kharkiv, 1921), D. Lebed, Itogi i uroki let rnakhnovshchiny (Kharkiv, 1921). Semanov's "Makhnovshchina i ee krakh" is one of two Soviet studies in recent years and is the only substantial discussion of the Makhnivshchyna which makes no use of Makhno's memoirs. Semanov's only comment is in note 81, p. 52, which mentions the first two volumes of memoirs and ascribes their editorship to Volin. This would lead one to believe that Makhno's writings were unavailable to Semanov, since he reveals no knowledge of the third volume and since, in fact, Volin did not edit Volume I, as is explained in detail in the introduction to Volume II. He and Makhno were having personal difficulties at the time. The other Soviet work is P. Kh. Bilyi, "Rozhrom Makhnovshchyny," Ukrainskyi istorychnyi zhurnal, XIV, 5 (Kiev, 1971), pp. 10-21, which is devoted to a narrative of die last phase of the Makhnivshchyna. It is especially valuable for information on early Bolshevik literature dealing with Makhno. Of considerable value is the account of the former Makhnivets anarchist I. Teper [Gordeev], Makhno: Ot "edinogo" anarkhizma k stopam rumynskogo korolia (Kiev. Molodoi rabochii, 1924).

14 Liubomyr Wynar, "Zviazky Nestora Makhna z Armiieiu U.N.R. (1918-1920)," Rozbudova derzhavy, No. 3 (Montreal, 1953), pp. 15-18. Wynar has also contributed another article that contains useful information on the relationship between the Makhno movement and the Ukrainian national movement: "Prychynky do rannoi diialnosty Nestora Makhna v Ukraini (1917-18)," Rozbudova derzhavy, No. 2 (Montreal, 1953), pp. 14-20.

The article by Dubrovskyi, "Batko Nestor Makhno," is an important work that contains a positive evaluation of Makhno's role in Ukrainian history. It is strictly a narrative, however, and does not analyze Makhno's thought on the Ukrainian question. The most useful commentary by a member of a Ukrainian political faction is Isaak Mazepa, Ukraina v ohni i buri revoliutsii, 3 vols. (Munich: Prometei, 1950-51). A nearly contemporary account of the Makhnivshchyna, and at the same time a particularly interesting Ukrainian political commentary on the movement, is A. S., "Makhnivshchyna," Kalendar 'Hromada' dlia robitnoho naroda v nisti i seli na rik 1926 (Lviv, 1925), pp. 105-109. The best work in English is Nestor Makhno, by Victor Peters, especially for its eyewitness accounts gathered on the Makhnivshchyna.

15 For Makhno's discussion of his Russification, see Makhno II, pp. 153-154.

16 For a description of Huliai Pole, see Natalia Sukhogorskaia, "Vospominanie o makhnovshchine," Kandalnyi zvon, No. 6 (Odessa, 1927), pp-37-38.

17 The general trend of anarchist thinking is outlined by P. Kropotkin, "Natsionalnyi vopros," Listki "Khleb i Volia" (London), No. 16, June 7, 1907, pp. 2-4.

18 Raevskii viewed this lack of attention as the inevitable result of anarchism's development in uni-national states -- above all in Western Europe. He maintained that anarchists in the multi-national Russian Empire must devote more attention to nationalism, citing two articles by Kropotkin as one of the few anarchist attempts to study and explain the growth of nationalism among the non-Russians of the Empire and above all among the working class. M. Raevskii, "Natsionalnyi vopros s tochki zreniia kommunisticheskogo anarkliizma," Burevestnik (Paris), No. 19, February 19, 1910, p. 13.

Kropotkin attributed the lack of anarchist discussion on the nationality question to the influence of French anarchist theorists, who looked on nationalism as a prop of the state and of reaction. He maintained that, although this view was correct for the French and other dominant nationalities, it did not apply to oppressed ones. He generalized from the history of the nineteenth century that no social revolution is possible while a nation is struggling for its liberation. Thus, it would follow from his argument that the success of the struggle for national freedom was a necessary precondition of the struggle for social revolution. Indeed, he believed that if each nation developed its own language and culture it would contribute to the progress of anarchism. Kropotkin, pp. 2-4.

Raevskii commented on the considerable criticism leveled against Kropotkin in anarchist circles because of his favorable attitude toward nationalist movements. He also called on anarchists to formulate tactics for dealing with nationalism among the workers of the oppressed nationalities of Russia. However, Raevskii challenged Kropotkin's assertion that nations struggling for national freedom could not enter the path of social revolution. He cited the Jews, Poles, and Georgians as examples that the struggle for national freedom is an integral part of the struggle for social freedom. Thus, Raevskii saw the reawakening of oppressed nationalities and their struggle for freedom as a positive phenomenon in which anarchists should play a role.

19 Interest was centered on Jewish nationalism, a very atypical form, given the Jewish minority status and the Zionist movement. Kropotkin's articles on the nationality problem were prompted by the inquiries of Marc Jahrblum, a Zionist anarchist. M. Raevskii (L. Fishelev) was Jewish.

20 The formation of a specifically Ukrainian group of anarchists was announced in 1914. Its goal was to issue propaganda in the Ukrainian language. Nabat (Geneva), No. 1, July, 1914. There is no indication that this group undertook any activity.

21 Paul Avrich, The Russian Anarchists (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1967), pp. 43-49.

22 Ibid., pp. 62-63.

23 Katerynoslav (Dnipropetrovsk); Odessa and Balta (Odessa oblast); Cherkasy, Smila, Shpola, Zvenyhorodka, Uman, and Zolotonosha (Cherkasy oblast); Elizavethrad (Kirovhrad oblast); Vinnytsia and Pohrebyshche (Vinnytsia oblast); Melitopol, Oleksandrivsk (Zaporizhzhia) and Huliai-Pole (Zaporizhzhia oblast); Romny (Sumy oblast); Nizhyn (Chernihiv oblast); Zhytomyr and Berdychiv (Zhytomyr oblast); Lutsk (Volyn oblast); Novopavlivka (Voroshylovhrad oblast).

Newspapers consulted: Listki "Khleb i Volia" (London), No. 1, October 30, 1906, through No. 17, June 20, 1907; Nabat (Geneva), No. 1, July, 1914; Nos. 2-3, May-June, 1915; No. 4, April, 1916; Anarkhist (Geneva), No. 1, October, 1907; No. 5, March, 1910; Burevestnik (Paris), No. 1, July 20, 1906, through No. 19, February, 1910; Buntar (Geneva), No. 1, December, 1906; No. 1, May 15, 1908; Khleb i volia (London), No. 1, August, 1903, through No. 25, November, 1905; Khleb i volia (Paris), No. 1, February, 1909; No. 2, July, 1909; Almanakh, No. 1 (Paris, 1909).

24 A report from Shpola mentioned the necessity for anarchist newspapers and leaflets in Ukrainian in order to work among the peasants and workers. A report from Chyhyryn informed of conversions to anarchism from the Revolutionary Ukrainian Party, while another from Romny (northern Poltava gubernia) told of the conversion of that city from a center of the Ukrainian "Spilka" to anarchism. Anarkhist (Geneva), No. 1, October 10, 1907, p. 33 and No. 2, April, 1908, p. 29.

One informant from Nizhyn wrote of distributing leaflets in the "Little Russian language." Khleb i volia (London), No. 11, September, 1904, p. 4. Another article outlined the beginnings of the anarchist movement in the Ukraine, including developments in Nizhyn; it also contained information on Ukrainian parties and stressed the paucity of anarchist literature (only in Russian) as opposed to Social Democratic literature (in three languages: Russian, Ukrainian and Yiddish). L. Pridesnianskii, "Pervye shagi anarkhizma na Ukraine," Almanakh, No. 1 (Paris, 1909), pp. 117-125.

Finally, a report from Chernihiv gubernia discussed the work of the Ukrainian Social Democrats. It mentioned the lack of influence of the Russian Social Democrats, referred to the activity of the Bund and commented on the large number of Jews among the "progressive" proletariat. Khleb i volia (London), Nov. 13-14, October-November, 1904, p. 8.

25 Arshinov joined the anarchist movement in 1906. From 1911 until 1917 he served with Makhno in Butyrki. Contacts between them were renewed in 1918 during Makhno's trip to Moscow. In April 1919, Arshinov joined Makhno and remained with him until the beginning of 1921 as a member of the Cultural Enlightenment Section and editor of Put k svobode. Volin, "Predislovie," in Arshinov, pp. 12-14.

26 Mykola Irchan asserts that he was told this by Makhno. M. Irchan, Makhno i Makhnivtsi (Kaminets: Vyd. "Striltsia," 1919), p. 19. Makhno later admitted that by July 1918 he was no longer in command of his "native language." Makhno II, pp. 153-154.

27 Mazepa discusses this weakness and illustrates it by pointing to these facts: (1) the first city election in Katerynoslav, in which Ukrainian parties won 9 out of 113 seats, was considered a victory; (2) throughout Katerynoslav gubernia, Soviets and dumas were almost never controlled by Ukrainian political groups; (3) in the whole gubernia Ukrainians were able to publish only one weekly newspaper, and this was the result of a collective effort by all parties. Mazepa, Vol. I, pp. 25-26.

28 B. Belash, "Makhnovshchina (otryvki iz vospominanii B. Belasha)," Litopys revoliutsii, VII, 3 (Kharkiv, 1928), p. 194. Makhno makes mention of a visit by M. Nikoforova on August 29, 1917. Makhno I, p. 62. In discussing the events of January 1918 and cooperation with the Bolshevik forces, Makhno mentions Nikoforova's role as a delegate to the Revolutionary Committee. Makhno II, p. 116.

29 Makhno I, pp. 189-191.

30 Ibid., pp. 107-127.

31 Ibid., p. 181.

32 See Avrich, pp. 122-203, for a general discussion of the Bolshevik-anarchist relationship. It must be remembered that, while the Bolshevik "purge" of anarchists ended cooperation between the two, the Bolshevik regime continued to hold a fascination for anarchists, since they often continued to view it as "revolutionary." While Makhno was, of course, aware of the "purges," his subsequent alliances with the Bolsheviks must be placed in the context of the temporary weakness of Bolshevism in the Ukraine and the great strengur of the "reactionary" forces represented by Denikin.

33 The importance of the anti-Hetman movement in fomenting Ukrainian national consciousness and serving as a vehicle for the Directory's bid for power is asserted by Mazepa: "Discounting its eventual failure . . . the anti-Hetman rebellion played a historic role in the Ukrainian liberation struggle. It awoke Ukrainian consciousness in the people." Mazepa, Vol. I, p. 59. While this assessment is essentially true in the north and west, the anti-Hetman movement did not have a similar effect in the east and south. Petr Arshinov, who throughout his work shows the usual anarchist lack of concern for the nationality issue, asserts that: "The rebellion did not everywhere retain its revolutionary popular essence, its faithfulness to the interests of its class. At the same time that the rebellion in southern Ukraine took up the black banner of anarchism and went down the path of anarchy and self-rule for laborers, in the western and northwestern parts of the Ukraine, after the overthrow of the Hetman, the rebellion fell under the influence of elements of democratic nationalism, foreign and hostile to it (Petliurists) . . . In this manner, the uprising of the peasants of Kiev, Volhynia, Podillia, and a part of Poltava gubernias, although it had common roots with the other uprisings, in its later development did not find within itself its true historic tasks or its own organized force. It fell under the control of the enemies of labor and thus became a blind instrument of reaction in their hands." Arshinov, p. 48. Thus, Arshinov sees peasant rebelliousness as a tremendous force that could be harnessed and shaped by the politically conscious.

Others have attempted to explain on socio-economic grounds the difference between the area of the Makhnivshchyna and the territory controlled by the nationalists. "From one side the closeness of major working centers, and from the other the German and Greek colonies surrounding the Ukrainian peasantry, erased that with which the Ukrainian intelligentsia later tried to inoculate the Makhnivshchyna." Teper, p. 48. M. Kubanin has discussed this difference as the result of the national compactness of the village in the nationalist region, which gave a nationalist hue to the hatred of the city, the greater percentage of trade carried on by Jews, and the high percentage of Polish landlords. Kubanin, pp. 29-30. Certainly more careful socio-economic analysis is necessary. Yet the role of the leader must not be underestimated. Thus, it would be interesting to see to what degree the regions held by Hryhoriiv and Makhno differed, and how much the direction of the movements they led was dependent on their leadership.

34 Mazepa, Vol. I, p. 63. Makhno's reaction to proponents of Vynnychenko after the Directory's assumption of power was similar. In his memoirs he claims to have duelled verbally with the Ukrainian forces: "Where, I ask you, friend, in the revolutionary Ukrainian villages and cities, will you find among the workers such fools as to believe in the 'socialism' of the Petliurist-Vynnychenkist Ukrainian government or 'Ukrainian Directory' as it styles itself?" Makhno III, p. 154.

35 For example, the issue of May 17, 1919, carried slogans such as: "Is it possible you do not know that all workers are equal, that the revolution does not know national enmity?" Arshinov, p. 204, quotes an October 1919 statement of the Makhno forces that independence for the Ukraine exists only in terms of the "self-determination of the laborers."

36 Put k svobode (Huliai-Pole), No. 1, May 17, 1919, p. 3; and Arshinov, p. 112. The above newspaper issue also includes an article, "Grigoriev -- Novyi Petliura," warning that Hryhoriiv wished to assist the bourgeoisie to enter the Ukraine with "fire and sword."

37 Even Teper, who charged Makhno with having embraced Ukrainian nationalism just before his flight into Rumania in 1921, writes that: "Makhno himself was as far from nationalism as from the anti-Semitism, which so many people ascribe to him." Teper, p. 50. And, in discussing Ukrainian attempts to take control of the Makhnivshchyna, he says: "It would be comic to maintain that Makhno and the basic cadre of the Makhnivshchyna originating in Zaporizhzhia might sympathize with these national reformers." Teper, p. 49. Dubrovskyi, who casts Makhno as a Ukrainian national hero, nevertheless admits his inattention to the national problem, pp. 21-22. See also Arshinov, pp. 203-213; Semanov, p-40; Kubanin, pp. 163-165.

38 Meleshko, December 25, 1959, p. 3. The degree to which "Ukrainian" was a political and sociocultural term, not a national designation, is shown in a note from Halyna Kuzmenko that Meleshko cites: "My husband wishes to see you. I pledge nothing will happen to you. Nestor treats Ukrainians well!"

39 For accounts of this agreement, see Arshinov, pp. 137-138; Dubrovskyi, p. 12; Mazepa, Vol. II, pp. 112-113. The Galician Sich Riflemen were the major proponents of an alliance with Makhno. For their answer to Ukrainian critics of such an alliance, see Irchan, pp. 27-32.

40 Dubrovskyi, p. 12, cites 3,000 as the number of wounded.

41 Arshinov, p. 137. This evaluation of the Petliura forces' policy is also put form by Kubanin, p. 109, who sees it as an attempt to buy off the Denikin forces; and by V. Rudnev, Makhnovshchina (Kharkiv: Bibl. "Oktiabria," 1928), p. 49. Mazepa, Vol. II, p. 113, contests this accusation, claiming that the declared war between the Directory and Denikin made it impossible. Meleshko, February 19, 1960, p. 3, sees the Petliura forces' inaction as a lost opportunity.

Wynar maintains that Makhno betrayed Petliura by abandoning the Ukrainian National Republic's forces, and he dismisses as spurious any allegations that Petliura planned to sacrifice Makhno to Denikin. "Zviazky," pp. 16-17. That the Petliura forces were far from satisfied with Makhno as an ally is evident from several proposals in an intelligence report of the Petliura counter-intelligence, dated October 4, 1919: "...3) Makhno himself and his unit do not recognize any authority and are against it by its nature. They are incapable of being subject to the government and command of the Ukrainian National Republic even if they wished to; 4) As a major armed group of bandits, the Makhnivtsi are a constant and major threat to our front and rear, and therefore: 5) When military circumstances permit, it would be best to squeeze the units of Makhno into Denikin's rear where they would be a constant, solid threat for Denikin. For the liquidation of Makhno's banditry with his system of mobility, it would be necessary for the Denikinites to use three times as many forces as Makhno commands." "Makhno ta ioho viisko," Litopys chervonoi kalyny (Lviv, 1935), pp. 16-17.

Although this report does not indicate a plot to sell out Makhno to Denikin, it illustrates the potential danger of the Makhno alliance for the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR). Also, Makhno's flight to Denikin's rear forces, far from being an unexpected betrayal of the UNR forces, may have taken place through their influence (the discrepancy in dating may be a lag in recording the document). A final reason for Makhno to have distrusted the Petliura forces is that his emissary to them was both a Ukrainian nationalist and the leader of a plot against him (cf. footnote 50).