Makhnovshchina (1918–1921)

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Ukrainian Free Territory
Махновщина
1918–1921
Flag of Ukrainian Free Territory
Flag
Motto: Власть рождает паразитов. Да здравствует анархия!
Power breeds parasites. Long live anarchy!
Anthem: Розпрягайте, хлопці, коні
Unhitch the horses, boys
CapitalHuliaipole
Dominant mode of productionCommunism (De jure)
Semi-feudalism (De facto)
GovernmentStateless communes (De jure)
Warlordism (De facto)
• Leader
Nestor Makhno
LegislatureRegional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents
History
• Established
1918
• Dissolution
1921
Area
• Total
~75,000 km²
Population
• Estimate
~7,500,000
• Density
~100 km²
CurrencyVarious
Today part ofUkraine, Donetsk


The Ukrainian Free Territory, also know as Makhnovshchina (Ukrainian: Махновщина) was a supposedly stateless society that existed during the Russian Civil War; however, it was effectively a bandit state, headed by Nestor Makhno. Its lack of true statelessness can be attributed to its feudalistic economy.[1]

Conflict with Bolsheviks

Makhno demanded weapons from the Bolsheviks to fight the White Army but refused to allow Soviet grain collectors into the region.[2] On 7 May 1919, Ukrainian guerrilla leader Nikifor Grigoryev formed an alliance with the Whites and mutinied against the Red Army. Makhno was initially neutral but joined the rebellion on 25 May.[3] The rebellion weakened the Red Army and allowed Anton Denikin's White Guards to take control of most of Ukraine.

Anti-Semitism

Makhno himself was not an anti-Semite, but he recruited followers of Grigoryev who had been involved in pogroms. Grigoryev himself had organized pogroms in the summer of 1919 that killed roughly 6,000 Jews.[4]

References

  1. Colin Darch (2020). Nestor Makhno and Rural Anarchism in Ukraine, 1917-1921. Pluto Press. ISBN 9780745338880
  2. Arthur Adams (1963). Bolsheviks in the Ukraine. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  3. Michael Palij. The Anarchism of Nestor Makhno.
  4. Various authors. Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 13.