Raised by a peasant family and coming of age amid the fervor around the1905 Revolution, Makhno participated ina local anarchist group and spent seven years imprisoned for his involvement. With his release during the1917 Revolution, Makhno became a local revolutionary leader in his hometown and oversaw theexpropriation andredistribution of large estates to the peasantry. In the Ukrainian Civil War, Makhno sided with theSoviet RussianBolsheviks against theUkrainian nationalists andWhite movement, but his alliances with the Bolsheviks did not last. He rallied Bolshevik support to lead an insurgency, defeating theCentral Powers'occupation forces at theBattle of Dibrivka and establishing the Makhnovshchina. Makhno's troops briefly integrated with the BolshevikRed Army in the1919 Soviet invasion of Ukraine, but split over differences on the movement's autonomy. Makhno rebuilt his army from the remains ofNykyfor Hryhoriv's forces in western Ukraine, routed theWhite Army at theBattle of Perehonivka, and captured most of southern and eastern Ukraine, where they again attempted to establish anarchist communism.
Nestor Makhno was born on 7 November [O.S. 26 October] 1888,[3][c] into a poor peasant family inHuliaipole, a town in theKaterynoslav Governorate of theRussian Empire (nowZaporizhzhia Oblast,Ukraine).[7] He was the youngest of five children born to Ivan and Evdokia Mikhnenko, formerserfs who had beenemancipated in 1861.[8] After Nestor's birth, his father went to work as acoachman for a wealthy industrialist when the Makhnos' small plot of land could not feed the family. His father died when Nestor was only ten months old, leaving behind his impoverished family.[9]
Makhno was brieflyfostered by a more well-off peasant couple, but he was unhappy with them and returned to his family of birth.[10] At only seven years old, he was put to work tending livestock.[11] Makhno started to attend a localsecular school when he turned eight years old. He was a good student at first but grew toskip school to play games andice skate. He worked at a local estate in the summer after his firstschool year. His brothers[d] also worked as farmhands to support the family.[10]
Makhno attended one more year of school before his family's extreme poverty forced the ten-year-old to work the fields full-time, which led Makhno to develop a "sort of rage, resentment, even hatred for the wealthy property-owner".[13] His aversion to the landlords grew, nurtured by his mother's stories of her time in serfdom. In 1902, he observed a farm manager and the landlord's sons physically beating a young farmhand. He quickly alerted an olderstable hand Bat'ko Ivan, who attacked the assailants and led a spontaneous workers' revolt against the landlord. After the affair was settled, Ivan left Makhno with words that would inspire a rebellious spirit within him: "if one of your masters should ever strike you, pick up the first pitchfork you lay hands on and let him have it..."[14] The following year, Makhno quit working in the fields and found a job in afoundry.[15] By this time, most of his older brothers had left home and started their own families. Makhno rapidly moved between jobs, focusing most of his work on his mother's land, while occasionally returning to employment to help provide for his brothers.[16]
When the1905 revolution broke out, the sixteen-year-old Makhno quickly joined the revolutionary movement.[17] He distributed propaganda for theSocial Democratic Labor Party[18] before affiliating with his home town's local anarchist communist group, theUnion of Poor Peasants.[19] Despite increased political repression against revolutionaries,[20] the Union continued to meet weekly and inspired Makhno to devote himself to the revolution.[21] Makhno was initially distrusted by other members of the group due to his apparent penchant for drinking and getting into fights.[22] After six months in the Union of Poor Peasants, Makhno had thoroughly educated himself on the principles oflibertarian communism and became a formal member.[23]
A series ofagrarian reforms disempowered the traditionalpeasant communes by creating awealthier land-owning class[24] and growingprivate estates.[25] In response, the Union of Poor Peasants initiated a campaign of "Black Terror" against thelarge landowners[24] and the localTsarist police.[26] The group carried out a series ofexpropriations against local businessmen,[27] using the money they stole to print propaganda that attacked the recent reforms.[28] Suspected of being involved in these attacks,[29] withNazarii Zuichenko naming him as a participant in an attack on a post office cart,[30] Makhno was arrested in September 1907 but was eventually released without charges due to a lack of evidence.[29] As the rest of the group's members had been declaredoutlaws by the Tsarist authorities, Makhno founded another anarchist study group in a neighboring village, where two dozen members gathered on a weekly basis to discuss anarchist theory.[31] But after the assassination of apolice informant by the Union of Poor Peasants, the police launched a crackdown against the group and arrested many of its members, including Makhno in August 1909.[32]
Butyrka prison, inMoscow, where Makhno was imprisoned from 1911 to 1917 (pictured in 2010)
On 26 March 1910, aKaterynoslav districtcourt-martial sentenced Makhno to be hanged.[33] Although he had refused to appeal,[34] Makhno's sentence wascommuted to alife sentence ofhard labor, due to his young age.[35] While in prison, Makhno contracted a near-fatal bout oftyphoid fever but eventually recovered.[36] He was moved several times: to theLuhansk prison, where family briefly visited him, to the Katerynoslav prison, and in August 1911, toButyrka prison inMoscow, where over 3,000political prisoners were being held.[37] Through the other prisoners he learned Russian history and political theory,[38] taking a particular interest inMutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (1902) by the Russian anarchist communist theoristPeter Kropotkin.[39] Makhno's frequent boasting in prison earned him the nickname "Modest".[40] He sometimes even antagonized the guards, which landed him insolitary confinement.[41] Due to prison conditions, Makhno quickly fell sick again and was diagnosed withtuberculosis. He spent many periods in the prison hospital throughout his sentence.[42]
In Butyrka prison, Makhno met the anarchist communist politicianPeter Arshinov, who took the young anarchist on as a student.[43] Makhno also becamedisillusioned with intellectualism during this time after seeing theprejudice with which guards treated prisoners of differentsocial classes.[44] As the years passed, Makhno began to write his own works and to distribute them among his fellow prisoners,[45] starting off with a poem titled "Summons" that called for a libertarian communist revolution.[46] Prison did not break his desire for revolution, as Makhno swore that he would "contribute to the free re-birth of his country". Although exposed to the ideas ofUkrainian nationalism in prison, Makhno nevertheless remained hostile to all forms of nationalism, adopting aninternationalist position duringWorld War I[47] and even circulating an anti-war petition around the prison.[48] When political prisoners were released during theFebruary Revolution of 1917,[49] Makhno's shackles were removed for the first time in eight years. He found himself physically off-balance without the chains weighing him down[47] and in need ofsunglasses after years in dark prison cells.[50] He remained in Moscow for three weeks,[51] briefly joining an anarchist group in Moscow'sLefortovo District until late March,[52] when his mother and his old anarchist communist comrades convinced him to return to Huliaipole.[53]
In March 1917, the 28-year-old Makhno returned toHuliaipole,[54] where he was reunited with his mother and elder brothers.[55] At the station, he was greeted by many of the town's peasants, who were curious to see the return of the famous political exile, as well as surviving members from the now-defunct Union of Poor Peasants.[56] Clashing with many of the group's former members, who wanted to focus on propaganda, Makhno proposed that anarchists take clear leadership of the masses to ignite peasantmass action. The Huliaipole anarchists did not agree.[57] He instead led the establishment of a local Peasants' Union on 29 March and was elected as its chairman.[58] The union quickly came to represent the majority of Huliaipole's peasantry and even those from the surrounding region.[59] Carpenters and metalworkers also formed their own industrial unions and elected Makhno as their chairman.[60] By April, Huliaipole's Public Committee, the local organ of theProvisional Government, had been brought under the control of the town's peasantry and anarchist communist activists.[61] Makhno met Nastia Vasetskaia, who would become his first wife, during this period but his activism left little time for his marriage.[62]
Makhno quickly became a leading figure in Huliaipole's revolutionary movement, sidelining any political parties that sought to control the workers' organizations.[63] He justified his leadership as only a temporary responsibility.[64] As a union leader, Makhno led workers instrike actions against their employers, demanding doubled wages and vowing continued work stoppages if refused.[65] This resulted in fullworkers' control over all Huliaipole industry.[66] As Huliaipole's delegate to the regional peasant congress inOleksandrivsk, he called for the expropriation of large estates from landowners and their transfer to communal ownership by the peasants that worked them.[64] He quickly became disillusioned with the long debates and party politics that dominated the congress, considering Huliaipole to have "advanced beyond what the congresses were merely talking about, without the constant wrangling and jockeying for position."[67] Makhno and his supporters subsequently disarmed and minimized the powers of local law enforcement, before seizing property from local landlords and equally redistributing the lands to the peasantry,[68] in open defiance of the Russian Provisional Government and its officials in Oleksandrivsk.[69] Local peasants compared him to theCossack rebel leadersStenka Razin andYemelyan Pugachev.[70] Huliaipole rallied around the slogan, "Land and Liberty".[71]
Despite Makhno's success at home, the wider anarchist movement's general disorganization disappointed him. Despite its growing size, the anarchist movement found itself unable to compete with the established political parties, as it had yet to establish a coordinated organization capable of playing a leading role in the revolutionary movement. Makhno criticized the movement for largely dedicating itself to propaganda activities.[72] Following news ofLavr Kornilov'sattempted coup against the Provisional Government, Makhno led the establishment of a "Committee for the Defense of the Revolution", which organized armed peasant detachments against the Huliaipole landlords, bourgeoisie, andkulaks.[73] He called for disarming the local bourgeoisie, expropriating their property, and bringing all private enterprise under workers' control. Peasants withheld rent and took control of the lands they worked; large estates were collectivized and transformed into agrarian communes. Makhno personally organized communes on former Mennonite estates.[74] He and Nastia lived together on a commune and Makhno himself worked two days per week, helping with the farming and occasionally fixing machines.[75]
Following the 1917October Revolution, Makhno witnessed the rising hostilities between theUkrainian nationalists and theBolsheviks.[76] With the outbreak of theSoviet–Ukrainian War, Makhno advised anarchists to take up arms alongside theRed Guards against the forces of the Ukrainian nationalists and theWhite movement.[77] Makhno dispatched his brotherSavelii to Oleksandrivsk at the head of an armed anarchist detachment to assist the Bolsheviks in retaking the city from the Nationalists. The city was taken and Makhno was chosen as the anarchists' representative to the OleksandrivskRevolutionary Committee. He was also elected chairman of a commission, which reviewed the cases of accusedcounter-revolutionary military prisoners,[78] and oversaw the release of still imprisoned workers and peasants. During this period Makhno participated in Oleksandrivsk's successful defence against an assault byDon andKuban Cossacks. Makhno thereafter returned to Huliaipole, where he organized the town bank's expropriation to fund the local anarchist movement's revolutionary activities.[79]
Map of Makhno's journey to and from Moscow in 1918
In February 1918, representatives from theUkrainian People's Republic (UPR) signed apeace treaty with theCentral Powers, inviting the forces of theGerman Empire andAustria-Hungary toinvade and occupy Ukraine.[80] In response, Makhno formed a volunteer detachment to resist the occupation. They joined the Bolshevik Red Guards in Oleksandrivsk. Makhno was personally summoned to the train of Bolshevik CommanderAlexander Yegorov but failed to link up with Yegorov who was in fast retreat.[81] In Makhno's absence, Ukrainian nationalists seized control of Huliaipole and invitedAustro-Hungarian Army forces to occupy the town in April 1918.[82] Unable to return home, Makhno retreated toTaganrog, where he held a conference of Huliaipole's exiled anarchists. Makhno left to rally Russian support for the Ukrainian anarchist cause with plans to retake Huliaipole in July 1918.[83] In early May, Makhno visitedRostov-on-Don,Tikhoretsk, andTsaritsyn,[84] where he was briefly reunited with Nastia and some of his Huliaipole comrades.[85]
On his travels, Makhno witnessed the newly established Bolshevik secret police – theCheka – confront, disarm, and kill revolutionary partisans who disobeyed their decrees,[86] causing Makhno to question whether "institutional revolutionaries" would extinguish the revolution.[87] InAstrakhan, Makhno found himself working for the local soviet's propaganda department and giving speeches to Red soldiers bound for the front.[88] While traveling by rail to Moscow near the end of May,[88] Makhno used thearmored train's artillery to impede theDon Cossacks in pursuit of Makhno and the Red Guards in his company.[89]
After passing through theVolga region, Makhno finally arrived in Moscow.[90] He pejoratively dubbed the city "the capital of the paper revolution" after its local anarchist intellectuals, whom Makhno considered more inclined to slogans and manifestos than action.[91] Here he reunited with Peter Arshinov and others in the Muscovite anarchist movement,[92] many of whom were under surveillance by the Bolshevik authorities.[93] He also met theLeft Socialist-Revolutionaries,[94] who at this time were beginning toturn against the Bolsheviks.[95] Makhno discussed the situation in Ukraine with Peter Kropotkin.[96]
Satisfied with his time in Moscow, Makhno applied to theKremlin for forged identity papers so that he could cross theUkrainian border.[97]Yakov Sverdlov immediately arranged for Makhno to meetVladimir Lenin,[98] who believed that anarchism had "contaminated" the peasantry[99] and questioned Makhno extensively.[100] Makhno staunchly defended the Ukrainian anarchist movement from charges of "counter-revolution", criticizing the Red Guards for sticking to the railways while peasant partisans fought on the front lines.[101] Lenin expressed his admiration for Makhno and admitted he had made mistakes in his analysis of the revolutionary conditions in Ukraine, where anarchists had already become the predominant revolutionary force.[102] Lenin passed Makhno toVolodymyr Zatonsky,[103] who fulfilled his request for a false passport.[104] Makhno finally departed for the border in late June 1918,[105] content that he had taken "the temperature of the revolution".[106]
Carrying a fake passport and disguised as a Ukrainian officer,[108] Makhno crossed the Ukrainian border in July 1918.[109] He learned that the forces occupying Huliaipole had shot, tortured, and arrested many of the town's revolutionaries. His brother Savelii had been arrested, and his brother Omelian, a disabled war veteran, executed. Their mother's house was also destroyed by the occupation forces.[110] Makhno himself was forced to take precautions to evade capture. To avoid recognition while aboard the crowded train carriages, he changed atKharkiv andSynelnykove,[111] and ultimately decided to walk the final 27 kilometers toRozhdestvenka [uk] after his train was searched by police.[112] Through correspondence, Makhno's comrades in Huliaipole discouraged him from returning, fearing he would be caught by the authorities.[113]
After weeks in hiding, Makhno clandestinely returned to Huliaipole. In secret meetings, he began to lay plans for an insurrection and started to organize peasant partisans.[114] He advocated coordinated attacks on the estates of large landowners,[115] advised against individual acts of terrorism,[116] and forbade anti-semiticpogroms.[117] From the outset, Makhno emphasized tactical and theoretical unity, patiently awaiting favorable conditions for a general insurrection.[118]
The authorities discovered Makhno's presence and placed a bounty on his head, forcing him to retreat from Huliaipole. InTernivka, Makhno revealed himself to the local population and established a peasant detachment to lead attacks against the occupation andHetmanate government.[119] In coordination with partisans in Rozhdestvenka, Makhno resolved to reoccupy and establish Huliaipole as the insurgency's permanent headquarters.[120] He raided Austrian positions, seizing weapons and money, which led to the insurrection's intensification in the region.[121] While disguised as a woman, Makhno even briefly returned to Huliaipole, where he planned to blow up the local command center of the occupation forces. According to Makhno's account, he called off the attack to avoid civilian casualties.[122]
Makhno (centre) andFedir Shchus (right), together with other Insurgent command staff inHuliaipole (1919)
In September 1918, Makhno briefly reoccupied Huliaipole.[123] TheGerman occupation forces had spread misinformation about him there, claiming he had robbed the local peasantry and ran away with the money to buy adacha in Moscow.[124] After defeating Austrian units in the nearby village of Marfopil, Makhno produced a letter that was translated into theGerman language, encouraging the conscripted occupation troops tomutiny, return home and launchrevolutions of their own.[125] While his comrades scattered themselves throughout the region to rouse the peasants to revolt, Makhno prepared proclamations to announce the region was under insurgent control.[126] When the occupation forces counterattacked, Makhno was forced to evacuate Huliaipole.[127]
Makhno's detachment withdrew north, where it sought refuge in the Dibrivka forest, neighboring the village ofVelykomykhailivka.[128] There they joined forces with another small insurgent detachment led byFedir Shchus.[129] When Austrian units surrounded the insurgents in their forest encampment,[130] to break the encirclement, Makhno launched a surprise counterattack against the troops in the village.[131] Led by Makhno and Shchus, the insurgents' gamble succeeded in forcing the Austrians into retreat.[132] For his role in their victory, the insurgents bestowed Makhno with the titleBat'ko (English:Father), which remained his moniker throughout the war.[133]
Makhno's victory in thebattle of Dibrivka provoked a retaliation from the occupation forces. Austrian troops attacked Velykomykhailovka, reinforced by National Guard and German colonist units. The village was set on fire, killing many inhabitants and destroying some 600 houses.[134] Makhno, in turn, led a campaign of retributive attacks against the occupation forces and their collaborators, including much of the region'sMennonite population.[135] Makhno also focused much of his energies on agitating among the peasantry, gathering much support in the region through impassioned impromptu village speeches against his enemies.[136]
By November 1918, the insurgents definitively recaptured Huliaipole.[137] At a regional insurgent conference, Makhno proposed that they open up a war on four simultaneous fronts against the Hetmanate, Central Powers, Don Cossacks, and nascentWhite movement.[138] He argued that to prosecute such a conflict, it would be necessary to organize aRevolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine according to a federal model, directly answerable to him ascommander-in-chief.[139]
During a joint Insurgent-Bolshevik attack against the nationalist-held city ofKaterynoslav, Makhno was appointed as commander-in-chief of the combined Soviet forces inthe province. After capturing the city, Makhno oversaw the establishment of arevolutionary committee equally representing Bolsheviks,Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs), and anarchists.[145] When a nationalist counteroffensive forced Makhno to retreat to Huliaipole, he undertook a complete reorganization of insurgent forces on every front, culminating in the January 1919 integration of Makhnovist units into theUkrainian Soviet Army. In this3rd Trans-Dnieper Brigade, Makhno was subordinate toPavel Dybenko's command.[146] The next month, Makhno extricated himself from the front to attend the movement'ssecond regional congress in Huliaipole.[147] He was elected honorary chairman, but rejected official chairmanship as the front required his attention.[148] At the congress, he declared his support for "non-party soviets" in open defiance of his Bolshevik commanders.[149]
Makhno justified the integration of the insurgent forces into the Red Army as a matter of placing the "revolution's interests above ideological differences".[150] He was, nevertheless, open about his contempt for the new order ofpolitical commissars.[151] Bolshevik interference in front-line operations even led to Makhno arresting aCheka detachment, which had directly obstructed his command.[152] Despite his hostility towards the Bolsheviks, Makhno authorized Bolshevik newspapers to be distributed in Huliaipole,Berdiansk, andMariupol, even as their pages denounced the Makhnovists.[153]
By April 1919, the newspaperPravda was publishing glowing reports of Makhno's activities,[154] praising his opposition toUkrainian nationalism, his successful assault against Katerynoslav, and his continued successes against the White movement. These reports also detailed Makhno's widespread support among the Ukrainian peasantry.[155] This did not stop Dybenko from declaring the insurgents' subsequent regional congresses to be "counter-revolutionary",outlawing their participants, and ordering Makhno to prevent future congresses.[156] The MakhnovistMilitary Revolutionary Council issued an excoriating reply to Dybenko rejecting his demands.[157]
To resolve the dispute, Makhno invited Ukrainian Soviet Army Commander-in-ChiefVladimir Antonov-Ovseenko to visit Huliaipole, which impressed him and allayed his doubts about Makhno's command.[158] Upon his return, Antonov-Ovseenko openly praised Makhno and the insurgents, criticizing the Bolshevik press for publishing misinformation about Makhno and requesting the Makhnovists be supplied with the necessary equipment.[159] His reports quickly attractedPolitburo memberLev Kamenev to himself visit Huliaipole the very next week.[160] Kamenev too was greeted by Makhno and his new wifeHalyna Kuzmenko, who gave the Bolshevik functionary a tour of the town, making sure to show off a tree where Makhno had personallylynched a White army officer.[161] Despite disagreements between the two over the autonomy of the insurgent movement, Kamenev bade farewell to Makhno with an embrace and warm words.[162] Kamenev immediately published an open letter to Makhno, praising him as an "honest and courageous fighter" in the war against the White movement.[163]
In May 1919, the powerfulotamanNykyfor Hryhoriv led anuprising against the Bolsheviks, seizing part ofKherson province. Kamenev of the Politburo telegrammed Makhno to condemn Hryhoriv or else face a declaration of war.[164] (Hryhoriv had previously attempted to ally with Makhno against the Bolsheviks, unsuccessfully.[165]) In reply to Kamenev, Makhno reaffirmed his commitment to fight the White movement, worried that open conflict with Hryhoriv would endanger that commitment,[166] declared his loyalty to the revolution, but also stated that he would continue to oppose the Cheka and any other "organs of oppression and violence".[167] In an insurgent military congress in May, Makhno expanded on this anti-authoritarian position with a denunciation of the Bolsheviks, their implementation ofbureaucratic collectivism, andtheir political repression, which he compared to theTsarist autocracy.[168] After Makhnovist emissaries uncovered evidence of Hryhoriv's participation inpogroms, Makhno openly denounced him for his displays ofantisemitism and Ukrainian nationalism, going on to blame the Bolsheviks for the rise of Hryhoriv, claiming it was their political repression that had caused the uprising.[169]
As theDonbas front collapsed, the Red Army high command began to blame Makhno for their defeat and attempted to rein in his influence over his detachment.[170] Makhno's Red Army superior CommanderAnatoly Skachko [ru] even declared that "he is to be liquidated".[171] By the end of May 1919, the BolshevikRevolutionary Military Council pronounced Makhno to be anoutlaw,[172] issuing a warrant for his arrest and for him to be tried before arevolutionary tribunal.[173] On 2 June,Leon Trotsky published a diatribe attacking Makhno for his anarchist ideology and labeling him akulak.[174]
A few days later, while preoccupied at the front, Makhno learned that theKuban Cossacks had captured Huliaipole. This forced him to retreat from his positions.[175] In an attempt to appease Trotsky, Makhno resigned his command of the insurgent army so that the insurgents would not be caught in apincer between the Red and White armies.[176] Despite a rebuff from Trotsky, he again attempted to offer the Bolsheviks his resignation on 9 June,[177] reaffirming his commitment to the Revolution and his belief in the "inalienable right of workers and peasants".[178] Makhno relinquished command of the7th Ukrainian Soviet Division and declared his intention to wage aguerrilla war against the Whites from the rear.[179] Trotsky then orderedKliment Voroshilov to arrest Makhno, but sympathetic officers reported the order to him, preventing his capture by the Cheka.[180] Despite having broken with the Red Army, Makhno still considered the White movement to be the Makhnovists' "main enemy" and insisted that they could settle their scores with Bolsheviks after the Whites were defeated.[181]
Makhno's smallsotnia then linked up with other insurgent detachments that had mutinied against the Red Army. In early July 1919, Makhno fell back intoKherson province, where he met with Hryhoriv'sgreen army.[182] Initially Makhno sought to form a strategic alliance with the latter due to Hryhoriv's popularity among the local peasantry. But revelations of Hryhoriv's antisemitism, extensive pogroms, and connections with the White movement led the Makhnovists to openly denounce the otaman at a public meeting. When Hryhoriv reached for his revolver, he was gunned down byOleksiy Chubenko.[183]
In the assassination's aftermath, Makhno quickly rebuilt his army. A portion of Hryhoriv's army was integrated into the Makhnovist forces, which numbered as high as 20,000 insurgents at this time. By August, Makhno was also attracting many Red Army deserters who joined him as the Bolsheviks once again retreated from Ukrainian territory in the face ofAnton Denikin's White Army.[184] Red Army mutinies became so bad that the Ukrainian Bolshevik leaderNikolai Golubenko [ru] even telephoned Makhno, begging him to subordinate himself again to Bolshevik command, which Makhno refused.[185]
By September 1919, the Bolsheviks had largely retreated from Ukraine, leaving the Makhnovists to face the White Army alone.[186] Reports by the White commanderYakov Slashchov depicted Makhno as a formidable adversary with tactical ability and disciplinary command over his troops.[187] The insurgents launched several effective attacks behind White lines, Makhno himself commanding a cavalry assault againstMykolaivka that resulted in the capture of sorely needed munitions.[188] His brotherHryhorii died during one of these attacks.[189]
The White offensive eventually pushed the insurgents back as far asUman, the last stronghold of theUkrainian People's Republic. There Makhno negotiated a temporary truce with Petliura, the commander-in-chief of theUkrainian People's Army (UPA), to allow wounded insurgents to recuperate on neutral ground before launching a counteroffensive.[190] During theBattle of Perehonivka, the tide of the battle turned in the insurgents' favor when Makhno led hissotnia in aflank against the White positions, charging the much larger enemy force and engaging inclose-quarters combat that forced the Whites to retreat.[191] Makhno led the pursuit of the retreating Whites, decisively routing the enemy forces.[192]
The Makhnovists split up to capitalize on their victory and capture as much territory as possible.[193] Makhno himself led hissotnia in the capture ofKaterynoslav from the Whites on 20 October.[194] Withsouthern Ukraine brought almost entirely under insurgent control, the Whitesupply lines were broken and theadvance on Moscow was halted.[195] The insurgent advance also attacked the region'sMennonites, including theEichenfeld massacre.[196] Mennonite historiography has held Makhno himself directly responsible for the massacres, as commander-in-chief of the perpetrating forces,[197] and Makhnovist historiography has attributed the violence toclass conflict,[198] the result of deep-seated resentments between the native Ukrainians and Mennonite colonists.[199]
Bolsheviks in Katerynoslav attempted to establish a revolutionary committee to control the city, proposing to Makhno that he confine himself exclusively to military activity. But Makhno no longer held any sympathy for the Bolsheviks, who he described as "parasites upon the workers' lives". He quickly ordered the revolutionary committee be shut down and forbade their activities under penalty of death, telling the Bolshevik officials to "take up a more honest trade".[200] Ata regional congress in Oleksandrivsk, Makhno presented theDraft Declaration of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, which called for the establishment of "free soviets" outside of political party control.Mensheviks andSocialist Revolutionary Party delegates objected, believing instead in the legitimacy of the dissolvedConstituent Assembly. Makhno denounced them as "counter-revolutionaries", causing them to walk out in protest.[201]
When he returned to Katerynoslav in November 1919, the local railway workers looked to Makhno to pay their wages, which they had gone without for two months.[202] He responded by proposing the workersself-manage the railways and levy payment for their services directly from the customers.[203] By December, Makhnovist control of Katerynoslav began to slip under increasing attacks from the White Cossacks.[204] On 5 December, Makhno survivedan assassination attempt by the Bolsheviks, who had planned to poison him and seize control of the city. After the plot was uncovered, the conspirators were shot.[205]
Renewed White attacks forced the Makhnovists to abandon Katerynoslav and retreat towards Oleksandrivsk andNikopol. During this period, many of the insurgents were beset byepidemic typhus. Makhno himself contracted the disease.[206] In January 1920, the Red Army returned to Ukraine, filling apower vacuum that had been left in the wake of the White retreat.[207] Makhnovist and Red forces greeted each other in Oleksandrivsk,[208] but negotiations between the two sides collapsed when the Red command ordered Makhno to the Polish front.[209] Makhno refused and theAll-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee declared him to be an outlaw.[210]
In response, the Makhnovists fled to Huliaipole, initiating anine-month period of hostilities with the Bolsheviks. At this time, Makhno's typhus worsened, and he slipped into prolonged coma,[211] during which local peasants provided him refuge and hid him from the Cheka.[212] Once Makhno recovered, he immediately began to lead a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Cheka andrequisitioning units.[213] Makhno also implemented a discriminatory policy for dealing with captured Red Army units: commanding officers and political commissars would be immediately shot, and the rank-and-file soldiers would be given the choice to either join the insurgent army or be stripped of their uniforms and sent home.[214] With increased Makhnovist attacks Bolshevik positions and Red Army defections to the insurgents,[215] the two factions considered alliance proposals.[216]
Though initially sceptical of a proposed Bolshevik alliance in June,[217] Makhno grew amenable and left the decision to his army, which narrowly voted in favor in August.[218] TheirStarobilsk agreement extended freedoms to Ukrainian anarchists while again integrating the insurgents into the Red Army command structure.[219] Despite these outcomes, Makhno reaffirmed his distrust for his "irreconcilable enemies" in the Bolshevik Party, stating that the necessity of a military alliance with them should not be confused with a recognition of theirpolitical authority.[220] Makhno still hoped that victory over the Whites would oblige the Bolsheviks to honor his desire forsoviet democracy andcivil liberties in Ukraine. He would later consider this to be a "grave error" on his part.[221]
Under the terms of the pact, Makhno was able to seek treatment from the medical corps of the Red Army, physicians and surgeons seeing to a wound in his ankle, where he had been hit by anexpanding bullet.[221] He was also visited by the Hungarian communist leaderBéla Kun, who gave him gifts, including over 100 photographs and postcards depicting theExecutive Committee of the Communist International.[222] In October, the insurgents successfully reoccupied Huliaipole, driving the Whites out of the city for the last time.[223]
Back in his hometown, Makhno's request for three days ofrest and recuperation was rejected by the Bolshevik command, which ordered the insurgents to continue their offensive, under penalty of nullifying their alliance. The still-wounded Makhno stayed behind in Huliaipole anyway, along with his black guard, while dispatchingSemen Karetnyk to lead theMakhnovist offensive against theArmy of Wrangel.[224] Makhno once again turned his attention towards reconstructing his vision ofanarchist communism, overseeing the reestablishment of the localsoviet and other anarchist projects.[225]
After the combined Bolshevik-Makhnovist forces defeatedPyotr Wrangel in Crimea and ended the Russian Civil War'sSouthern Front, the Bolsheviks once again turned on their anarchist allies.[226] In late November 1920, the Red Army launched asurprise attack against the insurgent forces, putting the Makhnovist capital of Huliaipole under siege.[227] Caught unprepared, Makhno rallied together 150Black Guards to defend the town. After spotting a gap in the Red lines, he escaped with his detachment[228] and led a counterattack that pushed the Red forces back toNovouspenivka. His own forces regrouped[229] and gained some defecting Red soldiers before recapturing Huliaipole a week later.[230] The Red Army command justified the attacks against the Makhnovists on grounds that Makhno had refused orders and intended to betray them,[231] though the Red Army had planned to break the alliance with the Makhnovists even before the beginning of the offensive against Wrangel's White Army.[232]
The following week inKermenchyk, Makhno was finally reunited with Karetnyk's detachment,[233] which had been reduced to a fifth of its original size after its commander was assassinated by the Bolsheviks in Crimea.[234] Lenin gave direct orders for the Red Army to "liquidate Makhno", the insurgents leading a guerrilla campaign in the face of their encirclement. On 3 December, Makhno led a detachment of 4,000 insurgents in an assault routing aRed Kirghiz brigade atKomar.[235] In the following weeks, he recapturedBerdiansk andAndriivka from the Bolsheviks, defeating several Red divisions before a stalemate with the remaining divisions atFedorivka.[236]
Makhno had hoped that simply defeating a few Red divisions would halt the offensive but found himself having to change tactics in the face of his encirclement by overwhelming numbers. He consequently split up his contingent into smaller detachments and sent them in different directions, to carry out their guerrilla sabotage efforts more effectively.[237] Taking his own 2,000-strong detachment north on horseback at a pace of 80 kilometers each day, he derailed a Bolshevik armored train atOleksandrivsk, before pushing deep into the provinces ofKherson andKyiv, all the while pursued by Red divisions.[238]
Surrounded and under constant pursuit by theRed Cossacks, Makhno's detachment could only advance slowly under heavy machine gun fire and artillery bombardment.[239] Makhno led his detachment to theGalician border before suddenly swinging around and heading back across theDnieper. Heading north fromPoltava toBelgorod, they finally managed to shake off the pursuing Cossacks at the end of January 1921. By this point he had travelled more than 1,500 kilometers, lost most of his equipment and half of his detachment, but he also found himself in a position to once again lead an offensive against the Red Army.[240] Following the outbreak of theKronstadt rebellion, Makhno dispatched detachments to various regions ofSouthern andCentral Russia to foment insurrection, while he himself stuck to the banks of the Dnieper River. At this time, Makhno was wounded in the foot and had to be carried by atachanka, but still managed to personally lead the detachment from the front. After crossing back over toleft-bank Ukraine, he split his detachment again, sending one to stir up revolt against the Cheka near theSea of Azov while Makhno's own contingent of 1,500 cavalry and two infantry regiments continued along its path, seizing the equipment of the Red units it routed.[241] During one engagement, Makhno was wounded in the stomach and fell unconscious, having to be evacuated on atachanka.[242] Upon his resuscitation, he again divided his forces and sent them out in all directions, leaving himself behind with only his blacksotnia remaining.[241]
Makhno was unable to withdraw from the front and tend to his injuries, as hissotnia repeatedly came under attack by the Red Army. During one engagement, several Makhnovists sacrificed themselves to ensure Makhno's escape.[243] Towards the end of May 1921, Makhno attempted to organize a large-scale offensive to take the Ukrainian Bolshevik capital ofKharkiv, pulling together thousands of partisans before he was forced to call it off due to substantial Red defenses.[244] The Red Army command resolved to focus its efforts on Makhno's small 200-strongsotnia, deploying a motorized detachment to pursue them. Upon its arrival, Makhno led the ambush of one armored car, taking it for himself and driving it until it ran out of fuel. The subsequent pursuit of Makhno lasted five days and covered 520 kilometers, causing hissotnia heavy losses and almost running them out of ammunition, before they were finally able to shake the armored detachment off their trail.[245]
Red Army commanderMikhail Frunze demanded the "definitive liquidation" of the Makhnovist movement in July 1921. Makhno continued to execute raids in theDon river basin despite having suffered several wounds. By August, the severity of his wounds convinced him to seek treatment abroad. LeavingViktor Bilash in command of the Insurgent Army, Makhno, his wife Halyna, and around 100 loyalists set out for thePolish border.[246] The Red Army followed them with sustained attacks; Makhno took a bullet in the neck[247] and several of his old friends died in battle in late August.[248] When a scout was captured by the Reds, Makhno diverted his forces south towardsRomania. After crossing theDniester, Romanian border guards disarmed and interned Makhno's group.[249] Makhno and his wife were eventually released from theBrașovinternment camp and granted permission to stay inBucharest under police surveillance while Makhno recovered from his wounds.[250]
Bolshevik politiciansGeorgy Chicherin andChristian Rakovsky demanded Makhno'sextradition,[251] which the Romanian government ofTake Ionescu refused. The two states had no extradition treaty and Romania had abolishedcapital punishment, so the Romanian government requested a formal assurance that the Ukrainian Soviet government would not sentence Makhno to death.[252] Makhno came into contact with the exiledUkrainian nationalists associated with Petliura, themselves allies of both Romania and Poland.[253] Makhno's calls for an alliance between the Makhnovists and the Petliurists to reignite an insurgency in Ukraine were unsuccessful.[254]
With Romania still caught up in the extradition demands, Makhno fled to Poland. He was caught at the border and sent to the PolishStrzałkowo internment camp in April 1922.[255] The Polish government refused Makhno's requests to move toCzechoslovakia orGermany.[256] The Russian Bolshevik government sent anagent provocateur to entrap Makhno and force his extradition by embroiling him in a plan to launch an insurgency inGalicia. Makhno and his wife were formally charged by the Polish authorities and for over a year held inpre-trial detention, where Halyna gave birth to their daughter in October.[257] In prison, Makhno drafted his first memoir, whichPeter Arshinov published in 1923 in hisBerlin-based newspaperAnarkhicheskii vestnik (Russian: Анархический вестник; English:Anarchist Messenger). Makhno also sentopen letters to exiled Don Cossacks and theUkrainian Communist Party, and began to learnGerman andEsperanto. Histuberculosisrelapsed under the prison's conditions.[258]
Makhno received support from the European anarchist movement.Polish andBulgarian anarchists even threatened violence in the event of Makhno's extradition.[259] At their five-day trial in November 1923, Makhno and Halyna were acquitted on all charges and given residence permits forPoznań.[260] The following month he and his family moved toToruń, where he was under close police surveillance. He was also arrested and interrogated several times in the wake ofLenin's death.[261] Unable to secure a visa to travel to Germany and facing a severe strain on his marriage with Halyna, Makhno attempted suicide in April 1924 and was hospitalized by his injuries.[262]
In July 1924, Polish authorities let Makhno and his family move to theFree City of Danzig.[263] Here, Makhno was swiftly arrested by the Danzig authorities for visa violations. While interned he was struck again by tuberculosis and transferred to a prison hospital. Makhno's anarchist allies helped him escape the hospital and, after a time in hiding, leave for Berlin.[264] With Russian anarchistVolin acting as his interpreter, Makhno met with prominent anarchists that were also living in the city such asRudolf Rocker andUgo Fedeli [it].[265] He finally moved toParis in April 1925.[266]
Upon his arrival in Paris in April 1925, Makhno wrote that he had found himself "amongst a foreign people and political enemies whom I have so often declaimed against".[267] He was reunited with his wife and daughter in the city, whereFrench anarchists likeMay Picqueray provided the family with lodging and healthcare.[268] Makhno found work at a local foundry and aRenault factory but was forced to leave both jobs due to his health problems. His right foot was considered for amputation because of an old bullet wound in his ankle.[269] His health care was overseen by thelibertarian feminist Lucile Pelletier, who described his body as being "literally encased in scar tissue". She advised his family to move out to prevent them from contracting tuberculosis.[270] Between his debilitating illness, homesickness and a stronglanguage barrier, Makhno fell into a deep depression.[271] According toAlexander Berkman, Makhno particularly despised living in a big city and dreamed of returning to the Ukrainian countryside, where he could "tak[e] up again the struggle for liberty and social justice".[272]
Makhno undertook to write hisMemoirs, which sold poorly.[269] He also collaborated with exiled Russian anarchists to establish the bimonthly libertarian communist journalDelo Truda (Russian:Дело Труда, English:The Cause of Labor), in which Makhno published an article in each issue over three years. Arshinov, the journal's editor, criticized Makhno's articles as poorly written, which upset Makhno greatly and exacerbated his resentment of those anarchists whom he considered to be "armchair theoreticians".[273] The theoretical developments of the journal eventually culminated in the publication of theOrganizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists, which called for the reorganization of the anarchist movement into a more cohesive structure, based on the experiences of revolutionary Ukraine and the defeat by the Bolsheviks. ThePlatform attracted criticism from thesynthesists, such as Volin, who regarded it as aBolshevization of anarchism.[274] A March 1927 meeting to discuss thePlatform inL'Haÿ-les-Roses attracted anarchists fromRussia,Poland,Bulgaria,Italy, andChina. When the meeting was raided by police, Makhno was arrested and threatened with deportation, but he was defended byLouis Lecoin andHenri Sellier, who secured his continued stay in France.[275]
During this period, Makhno often met with anarchist friends in cafes and restaurants, reminiscing over a bottle of wine about their time in Ukraine.[276] In June 1926, during a meal with May Picqueray and the exiled Russian-American Jewish anarchist Alexander Berkman in a Russian restaurant, Makhno met with the Ukrainian Jewish anarchistSholem Schwarzbard, who went pale upon seeing the Ukrainian nationalist leader Symon Petliura walk into the room.[277] Schwarzbard immediately informed Makhno of his intention to assassinate Petliura in revenge for the anti-Jewish pogroms carried out in the Ukrainian People's Republic, during which some 15 of his family members had been killed. Makhno attempted to dissuade him but the deed was carried out anyway.Schwarzbard's subsequent trial revealed a trove of documentary evidence regarding the pogroms in Ukraine, which helped exonerate the assassin.[278]
Around this time, rumors began to circulate about Makhno's own relationship toantisemitism, resulting in public debates on the matter.[279] Citing stories of Makhno told byWhite émigrés,Joseph Kessel published a novel that portrayed a fictionalized version of Makhno as anOrthodox Christian and antisemite, an accusation which Makhno categorically denied.[280] Makhno defended himself by speaking up about the pogroms in Ukraine: inTo the Jews of all Countries, published inDelo Truda, he asked for evidence of antisemitism in the Makhnovist ranks; at an open debate in June 1927, Makhno claimed that he had defended Ukrainian Jews from persecution,[281] an assertion that was backed up by Russian and Ukrainian Jews in attendance.[282]
During his time in Ukraine, Makhno had condemned and severely punished cases of antisemitism within the Makhnovist ranks,[283] even having ordered the execution of Makhnovists that had participated in a pogrom against the Jewish settlement at Gorkaya and redistributed weapons to the Jewish community for their own protection.[284] According to Volin, investigations by the Jewish historianElias Tcherikower had found no evidence of Makhno himself having perpetrated antisemitic violence.[285] Allegations of antisemitism were later also disputed by historians and some of Makhno's biographers, includingPaul Avrich,[286]Peter Kenez,[287] Michael Malet[288] andAlexandre Skirda.[289]
By the late 1920s, Makhno was succumbing to physical and mental illness. His relationships with fellow Ukrainian exiles deteriorated.[290] His wife grew to resent him, causing the couple to separate several times; Halyna unsuccessfully applied for permission to return to Soviet Ukraine.[291] Over the editing of his memoirs, Makhno quarreled withIda Mett, who quit out of frustration with Makhno's "indecipherable and meandering manuscripts".[292] He also came into a serious personal and political conflict with Volin, which would last until their deaths,[293] resulting in the later volumes of Makhno's memoirs only being published posthumously.[294] As gossip spread about Makhno, he became increasingly defensive against any criticisms of himself, no matter how minor.[295] In the pages ofDelo Truda, he published categorical denials of anything from allegations of antisemitism to whether the Makhnovists had useda flag that carried askull and crossbones.[296]
Due to the threats of deportation, he mostly kept to his writing, as he was no longer able to attend meetings or engage in active organizing.[297] In great pain, increasingly isolated and financially precarious, Makhno got odd jobs as aninterior decorator andshoemaker.[298] He was also supported by the income of his wife, who worked as acleaner.[299] In April 1929, May Picqueray and other French anarchists established a "Makhno Solidarity Committee" to raise funds.[300] Much of the money was contributed by the Spanish anarchists of theConfederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), who greatly admired Makhno; the fundraiser inLe Libertaire eventually secured Makhno's family a weekly allowance of 250francs, barely one-third of theliving wage.[301] Makhno spent most of this money on his daughter, neglecting his own self-care, which contributed further to his declining health.[302] His ideological conflict with the synthesis anarchists escalated and, in July 1930,Le Libertaire suspended his allowance. Individual fundraising attempts were unsuccessful.[303]
Alienated from many of the Russian and French anarchists in Paris, Makhno turned his attention towardsSpain.[304] Following the release ofSpanish anarchists from prison, Makhno met withFrancisco Ascaso andBuenaventura Durruti. The Spaniards expressed their admiration for Makhno, who himself displayed a sense of optimism about the Spanish anarchist movement and foretold of a cominganarchist revolution in Spain. Makhno was particularly impressed by the revolutionary traditions of the Spanish working classes and the tight organization of the Spanish anarchists, declaring that if a revolution broke out in Spain before he died, then he would join the fight.[305]
Around this time, Makhno learned that Peter Arshinov had defected to theSoviet Union, which left him even more isolated from the Ukrainian exiles.[306] Makhno spent his last years writing criticisms of the Bolsheviks and encouraging other anarchists to learn from the mistakes of the Ukrainian experience. His final article, an obituary for his old friendNikolai Rogdaev, went unsent as Makhno could not afford the postage.[307] As he suffered from malnutrition, Makhno's tuberculosis worsened to the point that he was hospitalized on 16 March 1934. After several operations failed to help, Makhno died in the early hours of 25 July 1934. He was cremated three days after his death; five hundred people attended his funeral at thePère Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.[308]
While imprisoned in the 1910s, Makhno received "warm letters" from one Nastia Vasetskaia, a young peasant woman from Huliaipole. After his return home in 1917, the two met and married,[309] living together on acommune where Makhno contributed.[75] But his activism during this time left him "little time for personal affairs".[69] Vasetskaia was eventually forced to flee Huliaipole after being threatened byBlack Guards, taking their child with her.[309] After Makhno himself was forced into exile by the invasion of the Central Powers in early 1918, he managed to reunite with Vasetskaia inTsaritsyn, finding her lodging at a nearby farm.[310] Makhno soon left her to continue his travels. They never saw each other again. Their baby died young and, after hearing a rumor that Makhno had also died, Vasetskaia found another partner.[311]
Following the Makhnovist capture of Huliaipole from the Central Powers in late 1918, Makhno met a local schoolteacher calledHalyna Kuzmenko, who became his wife and a leading figure in the Makhnovshchina.[312] With the defeat of the Makhnovist movement, the couple fled to Romania[313] and then on to Poland, where Kuzmenko gave birth to their daughterElena while she and Makhno were both in prison.[314] The family finally settled inParis but were forced to live separately for some time due to Makhno's worsening tuberculosis.[269]
Years after Makhno's death, Volin described Makhno's "greatest failing" as beingalcohol abuse, claiming that "under the influence of alcohol, he became perverse, over-excitable, unfair, intractable and violent".[315] These claims of alcoholism were disputed by Ida Mett and Makhno's biographerAlexandre Skirda, who respectively noted Makhno's lowalcohol tolerance and his enforcement ofprohibition during the war.[316] Other biographers, such as Michael Malet and Victor Peters, wrote that Makhno began to drink heavily during the final years of his life, "when he knew that the tuberculosis was killing him anyway".[317]
Makhno's widow and his daughter Elena were deported toNazi Germany for forced labor duringWorld War II.[318] After the end of the war they were arrested by the SovietNKVD and taken toKyiv for trial in 1946. For the crime of "anti-Soviet agitation", Halyna was sentenced to eight years of hard labor inMordovia and Elena was sentenced to five years inKazakhstan. Following thedeath of Stalin, the two were reunited inTaraz, where they spent the rest of their lives: Halyna would die in 1978, followed by Elena in 1993. Makhno's relatives inHuliaipole faced harassment by Ukrainian authorities up until thedissolution of the Soviet Union.[319]
The Ukrainian anarchist insurgency continued after Makhno's 1921 flight to Romania. Makhnovist militant groups operated clandestinely throughout the 1920s. Some continued to fight as partisans during World War II.[320] Although the Soviets eventually extinguished the Ukrainian anarchist movement, it experienced a resurgence following theRevolutions of 1989. Various anarchist groups draw on the name of Makhno for inspiration, such as theRevolutionary Confederation of Anarcho-Syndicalists (RKAS), established inDonetsk in 1994.[321]
The band Ot Vinta! playing at Makhnofest-2006 in Huliaipole
Makhno is a local hero in his hometown of Huliaipole, where a statue of him stands in its main town square.[322] The Huliaipole Local History Museum hosts a permanent exhibition dedicated to Makhno.[323] In the late 2010s, the Huliaipole City Council prepared documentation requesting the return of Makhno's ashes from France, as part of a campaign to attract tourists to the city, declaring Makhno to be part of the city'sbrand.[324] Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, sections of theUkrainian far right have also attempted to reclaim Makhno as a Ukrainian nationalist and to downplay his anarchist politics.[321][325]
Several Soviet and Russian films depicted Makhno, often in a negative light. Makhno was the antagonist in the 1923Red Devils, portrayed by the Odesa gangster and part-time actor Vladimir Kucherenko. He reprised his role in the 1926 sequelSavur-Mohyla and returned to crime under thepseudonym "Makhno".[326]Boris Chirkov portrayed Makhno in the 1942 epic filmAlexander Parkhomenko in which he famously sang the traditional Cossack song "Lovely, brothers, lovely" while drinking vodka. In 1970,Valeri Zolotukhin played Makhno in the drama filmHail, Mary!.[326]Aleksey Tolstoy's novel trilogyThe Road to Calvary portrays Makhno as a dangerous deformation of the revolution with a corrupting influence on the morally unstable.[327] Television miniseries adaptations of the novel have also presented Makhno in a negative light.[326] In 2005, a Russian biographical miniseries –Nine Lives of Nestor Makhno – was made about Nestor Makhno's life. The series was noted for its positive portrayal of Makhno, although some reviewers also criticized the series for lacking narrative coherence.[328]Hélène Châtelain directed a 1995 French documentary about Makhno.[329]
Following theRussian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the legacy of Nestor Makhno and the Makhnovshchina was again taken up by Ukrainian anti-authoritarians that joined theTerritorial Defense Forces (TDF).[333] TheUkrainian Armed Forces also adopted the name "Makhno's bow" (Ukrainian:Махновський лук) for their defense forces engaged in thebattle of Huliaipole, which has occupied a key place in theline of contact between Ukrainian andRussian-occupied Zaporizhzhia.[334][335][336] A museum exhibition on Makhno was damaged during the Russian shelling of Huliaipole; his statue in the town center was protected by sandbags.[337] On 23 May 2024,Ivan Fedorov, the UkrainianGovernor ofZaporizhzhia Oblast, reported that the statue was destroyed by Russian artillery;[338] and on 23 August the museum was reported to have been destroyed after catching fire as a result of Russian strikes on the town.[339] Local authorities spent a month restoring the statue, which was unveiled on 11 September 2024.[340] InLondon, a group of squatters inspired by Makhno occupied the mansion of Russian oligarchOleg Deripaska, in protest against the invasion.[341][342]
^The surname "Makhno" was itself a corruption of his father's surname "Mikhnenko" (Міхненко).[1]
^According toAlexandre Skirda, the termBat'ko had been used by theZaporozhian Cossacks as an honorific for elected military leaders. As Makhno was still quite young when he was given the nameBat'ko by his detachment, the literal translation of "father" may not be entirely accurate, as the term is not exclusively used in a paternal sense. Makhno was also not the only person with the title ofBat'ko in Ukraine, there were even some otherBat'kos within the ranks of the Makhnovshchina.[2]
^Other sources have listed his birth year as being in 1889,[4] with theGreat Soviet Encyclopedia listing it 1884,[5] but Church records indicate 1888 as Makhno's true birth year. It is possible that even Makhno himself did not know his correct birth date.[6]
^Poupard, Dennis, ed. (1985). "Tolstoy, Alexey Nikolayevich (1883–1945), An Introduction to".Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Vol. 18. Gale Research Company. p. 381.ISBN9780810324008.OCLC644684385.GaleEOKKRV761201241.
Footman, David (1961). "Makhno".Civil War in Russia. Praeger Publications in Russian History and World Communism. Vol. 114. New York:Praeger. pp. 245–302.OCLC254495418.
Peters, Victor (1970).Nestor Makhno: The Life of an Anarchist. Winnipeg: Echo Books.OCLC7925080.
Shubin, Aleksandr (2010). "The Makhnovist Movement and the National Question in the Ukraine, 1917–1921". In Hirsch, Steven J.;van der Walt, Lucien (eds.).Anarchism and Syndicalism in the Colonial and Postcolonial World, 1870–1940. Studies in Global Social History. Vol. 6. Leiden:Brill. pp. 147–191.ISBN978-9004188495.OCLC868808983.
Gora, Dirk (1930) [1921].A Russian Dance of Death. Claremont, California: Key Books Publishers.OCLC2002299.Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved4 December 2021.
Menzies, Malcolm (1972).Makhno, une épopée: le soulèvement anarchiste en Ukraine, 1918–1921 [Makhno, an epic: the anarchist uprising in Ukraine, 1918–1921] (in French). Translated by Chrestien, Michel. Paris: P. Belfond.OCLC370883941.
Przyborowski, Michal; Wierzchoś, Dariusz (2012).Machno w Polsce [Makhno in Poland] (in Polish). Poznan: Oficyna Wydawnicza Bractwa 'Trojka'.ISBN978-83-933082-1-7.OCLC814303677.
Nomad, Max (1939). "The Warrior: Nestor Makhno, the Bandit Who Saved Moscow".Apostles of Revolution. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. pp. 302–342.OCLC717604079.
Semanov, Sergeĭ Nikolaevich (2001).Махно: подлинная история [Makhno: An Authentic History] (in Russian). Moscow: AST-PRESS.ISBN5780508305.OCLC50990634.
Wierzchoś, D. (2011). "Nestor Machno i jego kontakty z Polakami i Polską" [Nestor Makhno and his contacts with Poles and Poland]. In Krasucki, Eryk; Przyborowski, Michał; Skrycki, Radosław (eds.).Studia z dziejów polskiego anarchizmu [Studies in the history of Polish anarchism] (in Polish). Szczecin:Szczecin Scientific Society.ISBN978-8393394210.OCLC804017743.
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