When the two Ukrainian comrades learned of our arrival in Russia they repeatedly tried to reach us, but owing to the political conditions and the practical impossibility of travelling, they could not come north. Subsequently they had been arrested and imprisoned7 by the Bolsheviki. Immediately upon their release they started for Petrograd, travelling illegally. They knew the dangers confronting them—arrest and possible shooting for the possession and use of false documents—but they were willing to risk anything because they were determined9 that we should learn the facts about the povstantsi [revolutionary peasants] movements led by that extraordinary figure, Nestor Makhno. They wanted to acquaint us with the history of the Anarchist activities in Russia and relate how the iron hand of the Bolsheviki had crushed them.
During two weeks, in the stillness of the Petrograd nights, the two Ukrainian Anarchists unrolled before us the panorama10 of the struggle in the Ukraina. Dispassionately, quietly, and with almost uncanny detachment the young men told their story.
[Pg 96]
Thirteen different governments had "ruled" Ukraina. Each of them had robbed and murdered the peasantry, made ghastly pogroms, and left death and ruin in its way. The Ukrainian peasants, a more independent and spirited race than their northern brothers, had come to hate all governments and every measure which threatened their land and freedom. They banded together and fought back their oppressors all through the long years of the revolutionary period. The peasants had no theories; they could not be classed in any political party. Theirs was an instinctive11 hatred12 of tyranny, and practically the whole of Ukraina soon became a rebel camp. Into this seething13 cauldron there came, in 1917, Nestor Makhno.
Makhno was a Ukrainian born. A natural rebel, he became interested in Anarchism at an early age. At seventeen he attempted the life of a Tsarist spy and was sentenced to death, but owing to his extreme youth the sentence was commuted14 to katorga for life [severe imprisonment15, one third of the term in chains]. The February Revolution opened the prison doors for all political prisoners, Makhno among them. He had then spent ten years in the Butirky prison, in Moscow. He had but a limited[Pg 97] schooling16 when first arrested, but in prison he had used his leisure to good advantage. By the time of his release he had acquired considerable knowledge of history, political economy, and literature. Shortly after his liberation Makhno returned to his native village, Gulyai-Poleh, where he organized a trade union and the local soviet17. Then he threw himself in the revolutionary movement and during all of 1917 he was the spiritual teacher and leader of the rebel peasants, who had risen against the landed proprietors18.
In 1918, when the Brest Peace opened Ukraina to German and Austrian occupation, Makhno organized the rebel peasant bands in defence against the foreign armies. He fought against Skoropadski, the Ukrainian Hetman, who was supported by German bayonets. He waged successful guerilla warfare19 against Petlura, Kaledin, Grigoriev, and Denikin. A conscious Anarchist, he laboured to give the instinctive rebellion of the peasantry definite aim and purpose. It was the Makhno idea that the social revolution was to be defended against all enemies, against every counter-revolutionary or reactionary20 attempt from right and left. At the same time educational and cultural work was carried on[Pg 98] among the peasants to develop them along anarchist-communist lines with the aim of establishing free peasant communes.
In February, 1919, Makhno entered into an agreement with the Red Army. He was to continue to hold the southern front against Denikin and to receive from the Bolsheviki the necessary arms and ammunition21. Makhno was to remain in charge of the povstantsi, now grown into an army, the latter to have autonomy in its local organizations, the revolutionary soviets22 of the district, which covered several provinces. It was agreed that the povstantsi should have the right to hold conferences, freely discuss their affairs, and take action upon them. Three such conferences were held in February, March, and April. But the Bolsheviki failed to live up to the agreement. The supplies which had been promised Makhno, and which he needed desperately23, would arrive after long delays or failed to come altogether. It was charged that this situation was due to the orders of Trotsky who did not look favourably24 upon the independent rebel army. However it be, Makhno was hampered25 at every step, while Denikin was gaining ground constantly. Presently the Bolsheviki began to object to the free peasant Soviets, and in[Pg 99] May, 1919, the Commander-in-Chief of the southern armies, Kamenev, accompanied by members of the Kharkov Government, arrived at the Makhno headquarters to settle the disputed matters. In the end the Bolshevik military representatives demanded that the povstantsi dissolve. The latter refused, charging the Bolsheviki with a breach26 of their revolutionary agreement.
Meanwhile, the Denikin advance was becoming more threatening, and Makhno still received no support from the Bolsheviki. The peasant army then decided27 to call a special session of the Soviet for June 15th. Definite plans and methods were to be decided upon to check the growing menace of Denikin. But on June 4th Trotsky issued an order prohibiting the holding of the Conference and declaring Makhno an outlaw28. In a public meeting in Kharkov Trotsky announced that it were better to permit the Whites to remain in the Ukraina than to suffer Makhno. The presence of the Whites, he said, would influence the Ukrainian peasantry in favour of the Soviet Government, whereas Makhno and his povstantsi would never make peace with the Bolsheviki; they would attempt to possess themselves of some territory and to[Pg 100] practice their ideas, which would be a constant menace to the Communist Government. It was practically a declaration of war against Makhno and his army. Soon the latter found itself attacked on two sides at once—by the Bolsheviki and Denikin. The povstantsi were poorly equipped and lacked the most necessary supplies for warfare, yet the peasant army for a considerable time succeeded in holding its own by the sheer military genius of its leader and the reckless courage of his devoted29 rebels.
At the same time the Bolsheviki began a campaign of denunciation against Makhno and his povstantsi. The Communist press accused him of having treacherously30 opened the southern front to Denikin, and branded Makhno's army a bandit gang and its leader a counter-revolutionist who must be destroyed at all cost. But this "counter-revolutionist" fully31 realized the Denikin menace to the Revolution. He gathered new forces and support among the peasants and in the months of September and October, 1919, his campaign against Denikin gave the latter its death blow on the Ukraina. Makhno captured Denikin's artillery32 base at Mariopol, annihilated33 the rear of the enemy's army, and succeeded in separating the main[Pg 101] body from its base of supply. This brilliant man?uvre of Makhno and the heroic fighting of the rebel army again brought about friendly contact with the Bolsheviki. The ban was lifted from the povstantsi and the Communist press now began to eulogize Makhno as a great military genius and brave defender34 of the Revolution in the Ukraina. But the differences between Makhno and the Bolsheviki were deep-rooted: he strove to establish free peasant communes in the Ukraina, while the Communists were bent35 on imposing36 the Moscow rule. Ultimately a clash was inevitable37, and it came early in January, 1920.
At that period a new enemy was threatening the Revolution. Grigoriev, formerly38 of the Tsarist army, later friend of the Bolsheviki, now turned against them. Having gained considerable support in the south because of his slogans of freedom and free Soviets, Grigoriev proposed to Makhno that they join forces against the Communist régime. Makhno called a meeting of the two armies and there publicly accused Grigoriev of counter-revolution and produced evidence of numerous pogroms organized by him against the Jews. Declaring Grigoriev an enemy of the people and of the Revolution,[Pg 102] Makhno and his staff condemned39 him and his aides to death, executing them on the spot. Part of Grigoriev's army joined Makhno.
Meanwhile, Denikin kept pressing Makhno, finally forcing him to withdraw from his position. Not of course without bitter fighting all along the line of nine hundred versts, the retreat lasting40 four months, Makhno marching toward Galicia. Denikin advanced upon Kharkov, then farther north, capturing Orel and Kursk, and finally reached the gates of Tula, in the immediate8 neighbourhood of Moscow.
The Red Army seemed powerless to check the advance of Denikin, but meanwhile Makhno had gathered new forces and attacked Denikin in the rear. The unexpectedness of this new turn and the extraordinary military exploits of Makhno's men in this campaign disorganized the plans of Denikin, demoralized his army, and gave the Red Army the opportunity of taking the offensive against the counter-revolutionary enemy in the neighbourhood of Tula.
When the Red Army reached Alexandrovsk, after having finally beaten the Denikin forces, Trotsky again demanded of Makhno that he disarm41 his men and place himself under the discipline of the Red Army. The povstantsi[Pg 103] refused, whereupon an organized military campaign against the rebels was inaugurated, the Bolsheviki taking many prisoners and killing42 scores of others. Makhno, who managed to escape the Bolshevik net, was again declared an outlaw and bandit. Since then Makhno had been uninterruptedly waging guerilla warfare against the Bolshevik régime.
The story of the Ukrainian friends, which I have related here in very condensed form, sounded as romantic as the exploits of Stenka Rasin, the famous Cossack rebel immortalized by Gogol. Romantic and picturesque43, but what bearing did the activities of Makhno and his men have upon Anarchism, I questioned the two comrades. Makhno, my informants explained, was himself an Anarchist seeking to free Ukraina from all oppression and striving to develop and organize the peasants' latent anarchistic44 tendencies. To this end Makhno had repeatedly called upon the Anarchists of the Ukraina and of Russia to aid him. He offered them the widest opportunity for propagandistic and educational work, supplied them with printing outfits45 and meeting places, and gave them the fullest liberty of action. Whenever Makhno captured a city, freedom of speech and press for [Pg 104]Anarchists and Left Social Revolutionists was established. Makhno often said: "I am a military man and I have no time for educational work. But you who are writers and speakers, you can do that work. Join me and together we shall be able to prepare the field for a real Anarchist experiment." But the chief value of the Makhno movement lay in the peasants themselves, my comrades thought. It was a spontaneous, elemental movement, the peasants' opposition46 to all governments being the result not of theories but of bitter experience and of instinctive love of liberty. They were fertile ground for Anarchist ideas. For this reason a number of Anarchists joined Makhno. They were with him in most of his military campaigns and energetically carried on Anarchist propaganda during that time.
I have been told by Zorin and other Communists that Makhno was a Jew-baiter and that his povstantsi were responsible for numerous brutal47 pogroms. My visitors emphatically denied the charges. Makhno bitterly fought pogroms, they stated; he had often issued proclamations against such outrages48, and he had even with his own hand punished some of those guilty of assault on Jews. Hatred of the Hebrew was of course[Pg 105] common in the Ukraina; it was not eradicated49 even among the Red soldiers. They, too, have assaulted, robbed, and outraged50 Jews; yet no one holds the Bolsheviki responsible for such isolated51 instances. The Ukraina is infested52 with armed bands who are often mistaken for Makhnovtsi and who have made pogroms. The Bolsheviki, aware of this, have exploited the confusion to discredit53 Makhno and his followers54. However, the Anarchist of the Ukraina—I was informed—did not idealize the Makhno movement. They knew that the povstantsi were not conscious Anarchists. Their paper Nabat had repeatedly emphasized this fact. On the other hand, the Anarchists could not overlook the importance of popular movement which was instinctively55 rebellious56, anarchistically inclined, and successful in driving back the enemies of the Revolution, which the better organized and equipped Bolshevik army could not accomplish. For this reason many Anarchists considered it their duty to work with Makhno. But the bulk remained away; they had their larger cultural, educational, and organizing work to do.
The invading counter-revolutionary forces, though differing in character and purpose, all agreed in their relentless57 persecution58 of the[Pg 106] Anarchists. The latter were made to suffer, whatever the new régime. The Bolsheviki were no better in this regard than Denikin or any other White element. Anarchists filled Bolshevik prisons; many had been shot and all legal Anarchist activities were suppressed. The Tcheka especially was doing ghastly work, having resurrected the old Tsarist methods, including even torture.
My young visitors spoke59 from experience: they had repeatedly been in Bolshevik prisons themselves.
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1
anarchist
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| n.无政府主义者 | |
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emigrants
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| n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
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impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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federation
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| n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会 | |
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variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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anarchists
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| 无政府主义者( anarchist的名词复数 ) | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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commuted
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| 通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿 | |
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imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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schooling
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| n.教育；正规学校教育 | |
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Soviet
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| adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃 | |
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proprietors
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| n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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19
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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reactionary
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| n.反动者，反动主义者；adj.反动的，反动主义的，反对改革的 | |
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21
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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soviets
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| 苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式） | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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favourably
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| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
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25
hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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outlaw
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| n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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treacherously
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| 背信弃义地； 背叛地； 靠不住地； 危险地 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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33
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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defender
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| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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disarm
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| v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和 | |
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42
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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anarchistic
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| 无政府主义的 | |
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45
outfits
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| n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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48
outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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eradicated
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| 画着根的 | |
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50
outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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51
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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52
infested
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| adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于 | |
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53
discredit
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| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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54
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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56
rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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58
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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59
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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