Nestor Makhno

Nestor Ivanovich Makhno (October 27, 1889–July 25, 1934) was an anarchist communist Ukrainian revolutionary who refused to align with the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution.

Related Topics:
October 27 - 1889 - July 25 - 1934 - Anarchist communist - Ukrainian - Bolshevik - October Revolution

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He was born into a poor peasant family in Hulyai Pole, Ukraine and participated in the Russian Revolution of 1905, after which he became an anarchist. As a result of his activism against the Tsar, in 1910 he was sent to prison. After the February Revolution in Russia, political prisoners were granted amnesty and Makhno was released. He joined the revolutionary movement in Ukraine and helped organize expropriation of property formerly owned by landlords and capitalists.

Related Topics:
Ukraine - Russian Revolution of 1905 - Anarchist - 1910 - February Revolution

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In early 1918 the new Bolshevik government in Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk making peace with the Central Powers, but ceding large amounts of territory to them, including Ukraine. The people living in Ukraine did not want to be ruled by the Central Powers, and so rebelled. Partisan units were formed that waged guerilla war against the Germans and Austrians. This rebellion turned into an anarchist revolution. Nestor Makhno was one of the main organizers of these partisan groups, who united into the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine (RIAU), also called the Black Army (because they fought under the Black Flag, black being the color of anarchism), Makhnovists or Makhnovshchina (i.e., Makhnovism). The RIAU also battled against the Whites (counter-revolutionaries) and anti-semitic pogromists. In areas where the RIAU drove out opposing armies, villagers (and workers) sought to abolish capitalism and the state through organizing themselves into village assemblies, communes and free (councils). The land and factories were expropriated and self-management implemented.

Related Topics:
1918 - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk - Central Powers - Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine - Anarchism - Whites - Assemblies - Commune

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In march 1918, The RIAU succeeded in defeating the Germans, Austrians, Ukrainian Nationalists, and multiple regiments of the White Army.

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Makhno finds a kind of terrorist equivalent in the radical figure of Maria Nikiforova.

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