Makhnovism

Makhnovism refers to various related political and economic theories elaborated by anarchist revolutionary leader Nestor Makhno, and by other theorists (Peter Arshinov etc.) who claim to be carrying on Makhno's work. Makhnovism builds upon and elaborates the ideas of Peter Kropotkin, and serves as the philosophical basis for anarchist communism. It is also the philosophical basis for Makhno's contribution to platformism. 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 (RPAU), also called the Black Army (because they fought under the anarchist black flag) and "Makhnovists" or "Makhnovshchina". The RIAU also battled against the Whites 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 councils. Land and factories were expropriated and workers' self-management implemented. The economy the Makhnovists in Ukraine implemented was based on free exchange between rural and urban communities.

Related topics

• The Free Territory
• Ukrainian Revolution
• Platformism

Sources

• Peter Arshinov, History of the Makhnovist movement, (1918-1921), London : Freedom Press, 1987, ISBN 0-900384-40-9
• Volin, The unknown revolution, 1917-1921, Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1975, ISBN 0-919618-25-1
• Alexandre Skirda, Nestor Makhno – anarchy’s cossack: the struggle for free Soviets in the Ukraine 1917-1921, Oakland, CA: AK Press, 2004, ISBN 1-902593-68-5
• Nestor Makhno, The struggle against the state & other essays, San Francisco, CA: AK Press, 1996, ISBN 1-873176-78-3
• (Russian) Nestor Makhno, Vospominaniya (Memoirs), Moscow: "Respublika", 1992, ISBN 5-250-01754-1