Nestor Makhno and Rural Anarchism in Ukraine, 1917-1921

by Colin Darch

Histories of the Russian Revolution often present the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917 as the central event, neglecting the diverse struggles of urban and rural revolutionaries across the heartlands of the Russian Empire. This book takes as its subject one such struggle, the anarcho-communist peasant revolt led by Nestor Makhno in left-bank Ukraine, locating it in the context of the final collapse of the Empire that began in 1914.

Between 1917 and 1921, the Makhnovists fought German and Austrian invaders, reactionary monarchist forces, Ukrainian nationalists and sometimes the Bolsheviks themselves. Drawing upon anarchist ideology, the Makhnovists gathered widespread support amongst the Ukrainian peasantry, taking up arms when under attack and playing a significant role - in temporary alliance with the Red Army - in the defeats of the White Generals Denikin and Wrangel. Often dismissed as a kulak revolt, or a manifestation of Ukrainian nationalism, Colin Darch analyzes the successes and failures of the Makhnovist movement, emphasizing its revolutionary character.

Over 100 years after the revolutions, this book reveals a lesser known side of 1917, contributing both to histories of the period and broadening the narrative of 1917, whilst enriching the lineage of anarchist history.

Genres: History, Ukraine, Politics, Russian Revolution

256 pages, Paperback

Published September 20, 2020

About the author

I was born and educated in England. Over the past four decades I've worked as a librarian and researcher in seven different countries in Europe, Africa and Latin America. Most of the time, I've been employed in universities and research centres - in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (1971-1974), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (1975-1978), Maputo, Mozambique (1979-1987), Harare, Zimbabwe (1987-1991) and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1991-1992). During much of this period I was also intermittently active as a radio and print journalist. I sometimes used the pseudonyms 'José Manuel das Fontes' or simply 'José Manuel' when writing about Lusophone Africa.

In 1992 I settled permanently in Cape Town, South Africa with my family and I'm now a South African citizen. I hold a postgraduate library qualification, and a doctorate in social and economic studies from the University of Bradford.

Reviews

[Dimitrii Ivanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is quite good as far as books on the Makhno movement go, but a bit of a disappointment considering that it took a half-century to complete. The book is a synthesis of existing research, but the historiography (mostly Russian- and Ukrainian-language), unconventionally, is in one of the last chapters. This is just one of the factors that limit my understanding of what is the author's new contribution to the research on the subject. Generally, this is a balanced and fairly thorough description of the movement, with extra chapters on Makhno's biography before and after his glory days. The blunders are not many, but a citation of Gerasimenko (described as a Soviet source, and discussed - on that occasion - rather seriously) in the very first footnote, a mention of Nikiforova as a victim of the Bolsheviks (she was executed by the Whites), and a translation of priamaia liniia as a phone conversation (at the time it meant some form of a telegraph communication) were avoidable.

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid and sympathetic account of Nestor Makhno and the Makhnovist movement, keen on giving the movement, its aspirations, and military exploits their due, without endorsing it wholesale. While a few anarchist reviews have been unsympathetic - rightly pointing out a few errors in the text alongside their disagreements with some of the analysis and interpretation offered - the level of negativity is mostly not justified.

One gets the sense some of the more negative criticism is born of disappointment in what they feel the book could have been, rather than what it turned out to be; a reasonable, easy read, detailed enough to tell the main narrative and provide nuance, but without always getting into the finer details of certain events, debates, and historical interpretations.

[Evan Þ. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the midst of the Russian Revolution and Civil War, a Ukrainian industrial worker and committed anarchist named Nestor Makhno gathered and led his own anarchist army, in the name of the "free soviets" of local Ukrainians he helped organize against the demands of any higher state. He refused to ally with any of the White armies, saying that the Bolsheviks must be resisted only from the left; the Revolution must not be turned backwards. In part because of this, he failed - after the Whites were suppressed, the Reds instantly turned on him and mopped up all his support and forced him into ignominious exile.

This book tells his military story, and attempts to discern the political story which's been buried under decades of Soviet and now Ukrainian propaganda. It argues he must be understood primarily as an ideological anarchist. I agree - no one but a committed leftist would have refused to fight the Red Army until no other option presented itself. He kept trying to ally with them, but they kept refusing to give anarchism any status. Perhaps some other option would have failed, but I believe this one predictably failed.

[Andrew Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-researched and develops a broadly sympathetic account of Makhno'a anarchist project. Provides a useful corrective to some of the hyperbolic propaganda about him and his supporters in the White and Red Army press. More interesting when it deals with the political and social issues than in the retelling of the guerilla campaigns fought in a myriad of (for me) unfamiliar places. (To be fair there are some maps supplied, and neither geography nor military history are really my thing.)

[Jon Xavier · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent, readable history of the life and struggles of Nestor Mahkno, which unfortunately suffers a little bit from over reliance on Soviet sources and framing. I realize that this is somewhat unavoidable, and the author does try to be evenhanded, but it’s still a bias that you need to be aware of when reading.