Russian Anarchists and the Civil War

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The Editors and Board of Trustees of the Russian Review
Russian Anarchists and the Civil War
Author(s): Paul Avrich
Source: Russian Review, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Jul., 1968), pp. 296-306
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Editors and Board of Trustees of the Russian Review
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RussianA narchisatns dt heC ivil War
By Paul Avrich
HEN thef irssth otso f theR ussianC ivilW ar weref ired,
thea narchistsin, commonw itht he otherl eft-winogp -
positionp artiesw, eref acedw itha seriousd ilemmaW. hichs ide
were theyt o support?A s staunchl ibertariants,h eyh eld no
brieff ort hed ictatoriaplo licieso fL enin'sg overnmenbtu, t the
prospecto f a Whitev ictoryse emede venw orse.A ctiveo pposi-.
tiont o the Sovietr egimem ightt ip the balancei n favoro f the
counterrevolutionarOiens .t heo therh and,s upporft ort heB ol-
sheviksm ights ervet o entrenchth emt oo deeplyt o be ousted
fromp owero nce the dangero f reactionh ad passed. It was a
quandaryw ithn o simples olutionsA. fterm uchs oul-searching
and debate,t hea narchistasd opteda varietyo fp ositionsr,a ng-
ingf romac tiver esistancteo theB olsheviktsh rougpha ssiven eu-
tralityto eager collaborationA. majorityh,o weverc, ast their
lotw itht heb eleagueredS ovietr egime.B y August1 919,a t the
climaxo f theC ivilW ar,L eninw as so impressedw itht he zeal
and courageo f these" Sovieta narchists,a"s theira nti-Bolshe-
vik comradesc ontemptuousdlyu bbed them,t hath e counted
thema mong" them ostd edicateds upporterosf Sovietp ower.""
An outstandincga se in pointw as Bill Shatov,a formeIrW W
agitatori n the UnitedS tatesw ho had returnedto his native
Russiaa ftert heF ebruaryR evolutionA. s an officeirn theT enth
Red Armyd uringt hea utumno f1 919,S hatovt hrewh ise nergies
intot he defenseo f Petrogradag ainstt he advanceo f General
Yudenich.T he followingy earh e was summonedt o Chitat o
becomeM inisteorf T ransporitn theF ar EasternR epublic.B e-
foreh e leftS, hatovt riedt o justifhyi sc ollaborationipsots itionto
hisf ellowli bertarianEsm, maG oldmana nd AlexandeBr erkman.
"NowI justw antt o telly ou,"h e said," thatt heC ommunisstt ate
IV. I. Lenin,S ochineniia2, nd. ed., 31 vols.,M oscow,1 931-1935,X XIV, 437.
296
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RussianA narchistasn d theC ivilW ar 297
in action is exactlyw hat we anarchistsh ave always claimed it
would be-a tightlyc entralizedp ower still more strengthened
by the dangerso f the Revolution. Under such conditions,o ne
cannotd o as one wills. One does not justh op on a traina nd go,
or even ride the bumpers,a s I used to do in the United States.
One needs permission.B ut don't get the idea that I miss my
American' blessings.' Me for Russia, the Revolution,a nd its
gloriousf uture."T he anarchistss,a id Shatov,w ere "the roman-
ticistso f the Revolution,"b ut one could not fightw ith ideals
alone. At the momentt, he chieft askw as to defeatt he reaction-
aries. "We anarchistss hould remaint ruet o our ideals, but we
should not criticizea t this time. We must work and help to
build."2
Shatov was one of a small armyo f anarchistsw ho took up
weapons against the Whites duringt he Civil War. Othersa c-
cepted minorp osts withint he Soviet governmenta nd urged
theirc omradest o do likewise,o r at least to refrainf roma ctivities
which were hostilet o the Bolshevikc ause. Yuda Roshchin,a
formerB lack Banner terrorista nd an implacable foe of the
Marxistsn, ow surprisede veryoneb y hailingL enin as one of the
great figureso f the modern age. Accordingt o Victor Serge,
Roshchine ven triedt o worko ut an "anarchistt heoryo f the dic-
tatorshipo f the proletariat."S peakingb eforea group of Mos-
cow anarchistsin 1920, he exhortedh is colleagues to cooperate
with Lenin's party. "It is the duty of everya narchist,"h e de-
clared, "to work whole-heartedlyw ith the Communists,w ho
are the advance guard of the Revolution. Leave your theories
alone, and do practicalw ork for the reconstructionof Russia.
The need is great,a nd the Bolsheviksw elcome you."3
2EmmaG oldman,L ivingA JyL ife,N ew York,1 931, p. 729; AlexanderB erk-
man,T he BolshevikM yth( Diary 1920-1922),N ew York,1 925, pp. 35-36.
sVictorS erge,M emoiresd 'un rivolutionnairPea, ris,1 951, p. 134; Berkman,
The BolshevikM yth,p . 68.
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298 The Russian Review
But Roshlchin'sli stenersw ere not impressed. Greetingh is
speech witha choruso f jeers and catcalls,t heyw roteh im offa s
anotherl oss to "Soviet anarchism"a nd a traitort o the cause of
Bakunin and Kropotkin.F or even in these precariousc ircum-
stancesa large and militants egmento f the anarchistm ovement
would deny theirB olshevika dversariesa ny quarter. The Bri-
ansk Federationo f Anarchistsf, or example,c alled for the im-
mediateo verthrowo f the "Social Vampires"i n the Kremlinw ho
sucked the blood of the people. Translatingt hisa ppeal intoa c-
tion,a terrorisotr ganizationi n Moscow known as the Under-
groundA narchistsjo ined forcesw itht he Left SRs and bombed
the headquarterso f the CommunistP arty Committee,k illing
twelveo f its membersa nd woundingf ifty-fiovteh ers,B ukharin
among them.
In the south,w here the authorityo f the statew as completely
disrupted,a narchistv iolence found its most fertiles oil. Bands
of armed marauders,o peratingu nder such names as "Hurri-
caiiC' and "Death," sprangu p in everyq uarter,r eady to swoop
down on town or village whenevert he opportunityp resented
itself. The Bakunin Partisanso f Ekaterinoslavs ang of a new
"era of dynamite"w hichw ould greeto ppressorso f everys tripe,
Red and White alike:
Down with the noise of churchb ells!
We shall sound a differenatl arm.
Withe xplosionsa nd groansi n the land
We shall build our own harmony!4
And in Kharkov a fanatical circle of Anarcho-Futuristpsr o-
claimed" "Deatht o worldc ivilization!"a nd urgedt he darkm ass-
es to take up theira xes and destroye verythingin sight.
Auarchistso f a more pacific bent denounced these groups
as "Sicilian bandits" who used the cloak of anarchismt o con-
ceal the predatoryn atureo f theira ctivities.F or the moderates,
4M. N. Chudnov,P od chernymz namenem( zapiski anarkhista),M oscow,
1930, pp. 53ff.
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RussianA narchistasn d theC ivilW ar 299
robberya nd terrorismw ere grotesquec aricatureso f anarchist
doctrinesw, hichs ervedo nlyt o demoralizet he movement'st rue
adherentsa nd to discredita narchismi n the eyes of the public.
Renouncingv iolenta ction,t he mildera narchistsa rmed them-
selves withn othingm orel ethalt hanp en and ink and mounted
a verbal attack on the Soviet dictatorship.A major theme of
theirc riticismw as that the BolshevikR evolutionh ad merely
substituted"s tatec apitalism"f orp rivatec apitalismt, hato ne big
ownerh ad takent he place of manys finaloln es,s o thatt he peas-
ants and workersn ow found themselvesu nder the heel of a
"new class of administrators-na ew class born largelyf romt he
wombo ft hei ntelligentsia."I5n theirv iew,w hath ad takenp lace
in Russia closely resembledt he earlierr evolutionsi n Western
Europe: no soonerh ad the oppressedf armersa nd craftsmenof
England and France removedt he landed aristocracyf romp ow-
er than the ambitiousm iddle class stepped into the breach and
erecteda new class structurew ith itselfa t the top; in a similar
manner,t he privilegesa nd authorityo nce shared by the Rus-
sian nobilitya nd bourgeoisieh ad passed into the hands of a
new rulingc lass composedo fp artyo fficialsg,o vernmenbtu reau-
crats,a nd technicals pecialists.
As the Civil War deepened,t he governmengtr ewl ess and less
toleranto f such criticismasn d startedc lampingd own on anar-
chist groupsi n Moscow and Petrograd. As a result,t hereb e-
gan an exodus of anarchistst o the Ukraine,t he perennialh aven
of fugitivesf romt he persecutionso f the centralg overnment.
In the cityo f Kharkova new anarchisto rganizationt, he Nabat
Confederation,s prang up in 1918 and soon could boast of
flourishingb ranches in all the major cities of the south. As
mightb e expected,N abat's adherentsw ere extremelyc ritical
of the Sovietd ictatorshipy, ett heyb elieved thatt he mostp ress-
WVol'nyGi olos Trudac,S eptember 16, 1918.
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300 The Russian Review
ing task of the anarchistm ovementw as to defend the revolu-
tion against the White onslaught,e ven if this should mean a
temporarya lliance with the Communists.T o save the revolu-
tion they pinned theirh opes on a "partisana rmy"o rganized
spontaneouslyb y the revolutionarym asses themselves.
As the mostl ikelyn ucleus of such an armyt he Nabat leaders
looked to the guerillab and led by NestorM akhno,w hose fol-
lowersr egardedh im as a new StenkaR azin or Pugachev sent to
realize their ancient dream of land and liberty.T ravelingo n
horsebacka nd in lightp easant carts (tachanki) on which ma-
chine guns were mounted,M akhno and his men moved swiftly
back and fortha crosst he open steppe betweent he Dnieper and
the Sea of Azov, swellingi ntoa smalla rmya s theyw enta nd in-
spiringt errorin the heartso f theira dversaries. Hithertoi nde-
pendentg uerillab ands accepted Makhno'sc ommanda nd rallied
to his black banner. Villagersw illinglyp rovidedf ood and fresh
horses,e nabling the Makhnovtsyt o travell ong distancesw ith
littled ifficultyS.u ddenly they would turn up where least ex-
pected, attackt he gentrya nd militaryg arrisonst, henv anish as
quicklya s theyh ad come. In capturedu niformtsh eyi nfiltrated
the enemy'sr anks to learn theirp lans or to fire on them at
point-blankr ange. When cornered,t he Makhnovtsyw ould
bury theirw eapons, make theirw ay singlyb ack to theirv il-
lages, and take up worki n the fields,a waitingt he nexts ignalt o
uneartha new cache of arms and springu p again in an unex-
pected quarter. Makhno's insurgentsi,n the words of Victor
Serge, revealed "a truly epic capacity for organizationa nd
combat."8 Yet they owed much of theirs uccess to the excep-
tionalq ualitieso ft heirl eader. Makhnow as a bold and resource-
fulc ommanderw ho combineda n ironw ill witha quick sense of
8Serge, Mimoires d'un revolationnaire, p. 135.
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RussianA n-archi.asntsd theC ivilW ar 301
humoarn dw ont hel ovea ndd evotioonf h isp easantf ollowers.
In Septembe1r9 18,w henh e defeatead muchs uperiofro rcoe f
Austrianats thev illageo fD ibrivkhi,i sm enb estowedon him
thea ffectionattiet leo f batkot,h eir" littlef ather."7
Fora timeM, akhnod'se alingws itht heB olshevikrse mained
reasonablfyr iendlyan, d the Sovietp resse xtolledh ima s a
"courageoupsa rtisana"n d a greatr evolutionalreyad er.R ela-
tionsw erea t theirb esti n March1 919,w henM akhnoa nd the
Communisctosn cludead pactf orj ointm ilitarayc tiona gainst
theW hiteA rmyof G eneraDl enikinS.u chg estureosf h armony,
howeverc,o uldn otc onceatl heb asich ostilitbye tweenth et wo
groups.T he Communishtas d littlet astef ort hea utonomous
statuso fM akhno'Isn surgenAtr myor f ort hep owerfuatl trac-
tionw hichit exerteodn theiro wnp easantr ecruittsh; eM akh-
novtsyo,n theirsi de,f earedt hats oonero rl atert heR edA rmy
woulda ttemptto bringth eirm ovementot heel.A sf rictioinn -
creasedt,h eS ovietn ewspaperabs andonetdh eireu logieosf t he
Makhnovtasnyd b egant o attackt hema s "kulaksa"n d" Anar-
cho-BanditsI.n" May,t woC hekaa gentss entt o assassinate
Malkhnwoe rec aughatn de xecutedT. hef ollowinmgo nthT rot-
sky,C ommander-in-Cohfie tfh e Bolshevikfo rceso, utlawed
Makhnoa,n dC ommunitsrto opcsa rriedou ta lightninrgai do n
hish eadquartearts G ulyai-Polye.
Thats ummerh,o wevert,h e shakya lliancew as hastilyr e-
sumedw henD enikinm's assivde rivet owardM oscows entb oth
theC ommunisatns d theM akhnovtrsyee lingO. n September
26, 1919,M akhnosu ddenlyla uncheda successfuclo unter-at-
tacka t thev illageo fP eregonovknae,a rt het owno fU manc, ut-
tingt heW hiteG eneral'ssu pplyli nesa nd creatinpga nica nd
disordeirn hisr ear.T hisw as Denikinf'si rsste riourse versien
his dramatiacd vancei ntot heR ussianh eartlanadn d a major
7P. ArshinovI,s torfiam akhnovskogdov izheniia (1918-1921 gg.), Berlin,
1923, pp. 57-58.
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302 The RussianiR eview
factori n haltingh is drivet owardt he Bolshevikc apital. By the
end of the yeara counter-offensibvye the Red Armyh ad forced
Denikint o beat a swiftr etreatt o the shoreso f the Black Sea.
The Makhnovshchinra eached its cresti n the monthsf ollow-
ing thev ictorya t Peregonovka.D uringO ctobera nd November,
Makhno occupied Ekaterinoslava nd Aleksandrovskf ors everal
weeks and thus obtained his firstc hance to apply the concepts
ofa narchismt o cityl ife. Makhno'sa im was to throwo ffd omina-
tion of everyt ype and to encourage economic and social self-
determination.T hus, when the railroad workerso f Aleksan-
drovskc omplainedt hatt heyh ad not been paid form anyw eeks,
he advised themt o take controlo f the railwayl ines and charge
thep assengersa nd freightsh ippersw hat seemed a fairp rice for
theirs ervices. Such utopian projects,h owever,f ailed to win
over moret han a small minorityo f workingmenf,o r,u nliket he
farmeras nd artisanso f the village,w ho were independentp ro-
ducersa ccustomedt o managingt heiro wn affairsf,a ctoryw ork-
ers and minerso perated as interdependenpt arts of a compli-
cated industriaml achinea nd were lost withoutt he guidance of
supervisorasn d technicals pecialists. Furthermoret,h e peasants
and artisansc ould bartert he productso f theirl abor, whereas
the urbanw orkersd epended on regularw ages fort heirs urvival.
Makhno,m oreoverc, ompoundedt he confusionw hen he recog-
nized all paper moneyi ssued by his predecessors-Ukrainiann a-
tionalists,W hites,a nd Bolsheviksa like. He never understood
the complexitieso f an urban economy,n or did he care to un-
derstandt hem.H e detestedt he "poison"o f the citiesa nd cher-
ished the natural simplicityo f the peasant environmentin to
whichh e had been born. In any event,M akhnof oundv eryl ittle
time to implementh is ill-definede conomicp rograms.H e was
forevero n the move, rarelyp ausing even to catch his breath.
The Makhnovshchinai,n the wordso f one of the batko'sa ssoci-
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Russian Anarchistsa nd the Civil War 303
ates, was a "republico n tachanki. . . . As always, the insta-
bilityo f the situationp reventedp ositivew ork".8
At the end of 1919, Makhno received instructionfsr omt he
Red Commandt o transfehr is armyf orthwittho the Polishf ront.
The orderw as plainlyd esigned to draw the Makhnovtsya way
fromt heirh ome territorayn d thusl eave it open to the establish-
ment of Bolshevikr ule. Makhno refusedt o budge. Trotsky's
responsew as firma nd unhesitatingh: e outlawedt he Makhnov-
tsya nd senth is troopsa gainstt hem. There ensued eightm onths
of bitters trugglew ith losses high on both sides. A severe ty-
phus epidemic augmentedt he toll of victims.B adly outnum-
bered,M akhno'sp artisansa voided pitchedb attlesa nd reliedo n
theg uerrillat acticst heyh ad perfectedin moret hant woy earso f
Civil War.
Hostilitiesw ere broken off in October 1920, when Baron
Wrangel, Denikin's successor in the south, launched a major
offensives,t rikingn orthwardf romt he Crimeanp eninsula.O nce
moret he Red Armye nlistedM akhno'sa id, in returnf orw hich
the Communistsa greed to amnestyf ora ll anarchistsin Russian
prisonsa nd guaranteedt he anarchistsf reedomo f propaganda
on conditiont hatt heyr efrainf romc allingf ort he violento ver-
throwo f the Sovietg overnmentB. arelya monthl ater,h owever,
the Red Armyh ad made sufficiengta ins to assurev ictoryin the
Civil War, and the Soviet leaders toreu p theira greementw ith
Makhno. Not only had the Makhnovtsyo utlivedt heiru seful-
ness as a militaryp artner,b ut as long as the batko was lefta t
large the spirito f primitivea narchisma nd the danger of a
peasant jacquerie would remaint o haunt the unsteadyB olshe-
vik regime. Thus, on November2 5, 1920, Makhno'sc ommand-
ers in the Crimea,f reshf romt heirv ictorieso ver Wrangel'sa r-
my,w ere seized by the Red Armya nd immediatelys hot. The
WVolinLe,a revolutionin connue( 1917-1921), Paris, 1943, pp. 578, 603.
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304 The Russian Review
next day Trotskyo rdereda n attacko n Makhno'sh eadquarters
in Gulyai-Polye,w hile the Cheka simultaneouslya rrestedt he
memberso f the Nabat Confederationi n Kharkova nd carried
out raids on anarchistc lubs and organizationst hroughoutt he
country.D uring the attacko n Gulyai-Polyem, ost of Makhno's
staffw ere captureda nd imprisonedo r simplys hot on the spot.
The batko himselfh, owever,t ogetherw ith a batteredr emnant
of an armyw hichh ad once numberedi n the tens of thousands,
managed to elude his pursuers. After wandering over the
Ukrainef or the betterp art of a year, the partisanl eader, ex-
hausted and still sufferinfgr omu nhealed wounds, crossed the
DniesterR iver into Rumania and eventuallyf oundh is way to
Paris.
The downfallo f Makhnom arkedt he beginningo f the end of
Russian anarchism. Three monthsl ater,i n February1 921, the
movements uffereda notherm ajor blow when Peter Kropotkin,
nearlye ightyy earso ld, fell ill with pneumoniaa nd died. Kro-
potkin'sf amilyd eclined Lenin's offero f a state burial, and a
committeeo f anarchistsw as set up to arrangea funeral. Lev
Kamenev,C hairmano f the Moscow Soviet,a llowed a handful
of imprisoneda narchistsa day's libertyt o take part in the pro-
cession. Bravingt he bitterc old of the Moscow winter,2 0,000
marched in the cortege to the Novodevichii Monastery,t he
burial place of Kropotkin'sp rincelya ncestors. They carried
placards and black bannersb earingd emands fort he release of
all anarchistsf romp risona nd such mottoesa s "Where therei s
authorityt herei s no freedom"a nd "The liberationo f the work-
ingc lass is thet asko ft hew orkerst hemselves.A" chorusc hanted
Eternal Memory. As the processionp assed the Butyrkpi rison,
the inmatess hookt he bars on theirw indowsa nd sang an anar-
chisth ymnt o the dead. Emma Goldman spoke at Kropotkin's
graveside.a nd studentsa ndsw orkersp laced flowersb y his tomb.
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