title: North India

text: Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers National Park: Located in West Himalaya, in the state of Uttarakhand, these two national parks constitute a biosphere reserve that is in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 2004. The Valley of Flowers is known for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and the variety of flora, this richly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals.


title: North India

text: Dachigam National Park: Dachigam is a higher altitude national reserve in the state of Jammu and Kashmir that ranges from 5,500 to 14,000 feet above sea level. It is home to the hangul (a red deer species, also called the Kashmir stag).


title: North India

text: Great Himalayan National Park: This park is located in Himachal Pradesh and ranges in altitude from 5,000 to 17,500 feet. Wildlife resident here includes the snow leopard, the Himalayan brown bear and the musk deer.


title: North India

text: Desert National Park: Located in Rajasthan, this national reserve features extensive sand dunes and dry salt lakes. Wildlife unique to the region includes the desert fox and the great Indian bustard.


title: North India

text: Kanha National Park: The sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines of Kanha were the setting for Rudyard Kipling's collection of stories, "The Jungle Book". The Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh came into being in 1955 and forms the core of the Kanha Tiger Reserve, created in 1974 under Project Tiger.


title: North India

text: Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary: Located in the state of Bihar, it is the only protected zone for the endangered Ganges and Indus river dolphin.


title: North India

text: Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary: It is one of the finest bird parks in the world, it is a reserve that offers protection to faunal species as well. Nesting indigenous water birds as well as migratory water birds and waterside birds, this sanctuary is also inhabited by sambar, chital, nilgai and boar.


title: North India

text: Dudhwa National Park: It covers an area of 500 km along the Indo-Nepal border in Lakhimpur Kheri District of Uttar Pradesh, is best known for the barasingha or swamp deer. The grasslands and woodlands of this park, consist mainly of sal forests. The barasingha is found in the southwest and southeast regions of the park. Among the big cats, tigers abound at Dudhwa. There are also a few leopards. The other animals found in large numbers, are the Indian rhinoceros, elephant, jungle cats, leopard cats, fishing cats, jackals, civets, sloth bears, sambar, otters, crocodiles and chital.


title: North India

text: Ranthambhore National Park: It spans an area of 400 km with an estimated head count of thirty two tigers is perhaps India's finest example of Project Tiger, a conservation effort started by the government in an attempt to save the dwindling number of tigers in India. Situated near the small town of Sawai Madhopur it boasts of variety of plant and animal species of North India.


title: North India

text: Kalesar National Park: Kalesar is a sal forest in the Shivalik Hills of eastern Haryana state. Primarily known for birds, it also contains a small number of tigers and panthers.


title: North India

text: The Indian Himalayas, the Thar desert and the Indo-Gangetic plain dominate the natural scenery of North India. The region encompasses several of the most highly regarded hill destinations of India such as Srinagar, Shimla, Manali, Nainital, Mussoorie, Kausani and Mount Abu. Several spots in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh provide panoramic views of the snow-clad Himalayan range. The Himalayan region also provides ample opportunity for adventure sports such as mountaineering, trekking, river rafting and skiing. Camel or jeep safaris of the Thar desert are also popular in the state of Rajasthan. North India includes several national parks such as the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Jim Corbett National Park, Keoladeo National Park and Ranthambore National Park.


title: North India

text: North India encompasses several of the holiest pilgrimage centres of Hinduism (Varanasi, Haridwar, Allahabad, Char Dham, Vaishno Devi, Rishikesh, Ayodhya, Mathura/Vrindavan, Pushkar, Prayag and seven of the twelve Jyotirlinga sites), the most sacred destinations of Buddhism (Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar), the most regarded pilgrimage centres of Sikhism (Amritsar and Hemkund) and some of the highly regarded destinations in Sufi Islam (Ajmer and Delhi). The largest Hindu temple, Akshardham Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in India, Mahabodhi, the largest mosque in India, Jama Masjid, and the largest Sikh shrine, Golden Temple, are all in this region.


title: North India

text: North India includes some highly regarded historical, architectural and archaeological treasures of India. The Taj Mahal, an immense mausoleum of white marble in Agra, is one of the universally admired buildings of world heritage. Besides Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Delhi also carry some great exhibits from the Mughal architecture. In Punjab, Patiala is known for being the city of royalty while Amritsar is a city known for its Sikh architecture and the Golden Temple. Lucknow has the famous Awadhi Nawab culture while Kanpur reflects excellent British architecture with monuments like All Souls Cathedral, King Edward Memorial, Police Quarters, Cawnpore Woollen Mills, Cutchery Cemetery etc. Khajuraho temples constitute another famous world heritage site. The state of Rajasthan is known for exquisite palaces and forts of the Rajput clans. Historical sites and architecture from the ancient and medieval Hindu and Buddhist periods of Indian history, such as Jageshwar, Deogarh and Sanchi, as well as sites from the Bronze Age Indus Valley civilisation, such as Manda and Alamgirpur, can be found scattered throughout northern India. Varanasi, on the banks of the River Ganga, is considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the second oldest in India after Nalanda. Bhimbetka is an archaeological site of the Paleolithic era, exhibiting the earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent.


title: North India

text: The Indian Institute of Technology, National Institute of Technology and Indian Institute of Management have campuses in several cities of North India such as Delhi, Amritsar, Kanpur, Jalandhar, Roorkee, Ropar, Rohtak, Varanasi, Lucknow and Kashipur. One of the first great universities in recorded history, the Nalanda University, is in the state of Bihar. There has been plans for revival of this ancient university, including an effort by a multinational consortium led by Singapore, China, India and Japan.


title: North India

text: The economy of North India is predominantly agrarian, but is changing fast with rapid economic growth that has ranged above 8% annually. Several parts of North India have prospered as a consequence of the Green Revolution, including Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, and have experienced both economic and social development. The eastern areas of East Uttar Pradesh, however, have lagged and the resulting disparity has contributed to a demand for separate statehood in West Uttar Pradesh (the Harit Pradesh movement).


title: North India

text: In 2004, the state with the highest GDP per capita in North India was Punjab followed by Haryana. Chandigarh has the highest per-capita State Domestic Product (SDP) of any Indian union territory. The National Capital Region of Delhi has emerged as an economic power house with rapid industrial growth along with adjoining areas of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.


title: North India

text: According to a 2009-10 report, a large number of unskilled and skilled workers have moved to southern India and other nations because of the unavailability of jobs locally. The technology boom that occurred in the past three decades in southern India has helped many Indians from the northern region to find jobs and live prosperous lives in southern cities. An analysis by Multidimensional Poverty Index creators reveals that acute poverty prevails in eight Indian states including the northern states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.


title: Macaron

text: is a sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond meal, and food colouring.


title: Macaron

text: The macaron is traditionally held to have been introduced in France by the Italian chef of queen Catherine de Medici during the Renaissance. Since the 19th century, a typical Parisian-style macaron is presented with a ganache, buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two such cookies, akin to a sandwich cookie. The confection is characterized by a smooth squared top, a ruffled circumference—referred to as the "crown" or "foot" (or "pied")—and a flat base. It is mildly moist and easily melts in the mouth. Macarons can be found in a wide variety of flavours that range from traditional (raspberry, chocolate) to unusual (foie gras, matcha).


title: Macaron

text: There is some variation in whether the term "macaron" or "macaroon" is used, and the related coconut macaroon is often confused with the macaron. In North America, most bakers have adopted the French spelling of "macaron" for the meringue-based item to distinguish the two. Stanford professor of linguistics Daniel Jurafsky describes how the two confections have a shared history with macaroni (Italian , from Greek μακαρία). Jurafsky notes that French words ending with "-on" that were borrowed into English in the 16th and 17th centuries are usually spelled with "-oon" (for example: "balloon", "cartoon", "platoon"). In the UK, many bakeries continue to use the term "macaroon".


title: Macaron

text: According to Dan Jurafsky in Slate magazine, Arab troops from Ifrīqiya (now Tunisia) brought new techniques (papermaking) and foods like lemons, rice and pistachios with them during their occupation of Sicily in 827. These included many nut-based sweets such as Fālūdhaj and Lausinaj - baked goods with sweet almond cream inside. These sweet pastries were handed down by the Sassanid Shahs in Persia, where the almond cake was made to celebrate the Zoroastrian New Year (Nouruz). In Sicily (and in Toledo, Spain, another contact point between Muslim and Christian culture) fālūdhaj and lausinaj developed into various desserts, like the almond-paste tarts called marzapane and caliscioni.


title: Macaron

text: In 1154 Muhammad al-Idrisi reported the production of noodles, which was also carried out in Sicily for the first time. Under the collective term Maccarruni, the Arabs referred to ground grain products as noodles and pastries. The Italians borrowed maccheroni from Maccarruni, from which today's macarons are derived.


title: Macaron

text: The culinary encyclopedia Larousse Gastronomique (1988) traces the origin of the macarons back to a French monastery in Cormery in the 8th century (791). At the same time, the encyclopedia entry spreads the pious legend that the shape of the pastry with a cracked crust was abandoned from the navel of a monk.


title: Macaron

text: A Swiss online encyclopedia on the history of baking says that the almond biscuits were brought from Andalusia (present-day Spain) to Marrakesh (present-day Morocco) in the early 11th century by the sultan and first king of the Almoravid dynasty Yusuf ibn Tashfin, and that it was served mainly during Ramadan.


title: Macaron

text: During the Renaissance, French queen Catherine de' Medici's Italian pastry chefs made them when she brought them with her to France in 1533 upon marrying Henry II of France. In the 1790s, macarons began to gain fame when two Carmelite nuns, seeking asylum in Nancy during the French Revolution, baked and sold the macaron cookies in order to pay for their housing. These nuns became known as the "Macaron Sisters". In these early stages, macarons were served without special flavours or fillings.


title: Macaron

text: It was not until the 1930s that macarons began to be served two-by-two with the addition of jams, liqueurs, and spices. The macaron as it is known today, composed of two almond meringue discs filled with a layer of buttercream, jam, or ganache filling, was originally called the "Gerbet" or the "Paris macaron." Pierre Desfontaines, of the French pâtisserie Ladurée, has sometimes been credited with its creation in the early part of the 20th century, but another baker, Claude Gerbet, also claims to have invented it. French macaron bakeries became trendy in North America in the 2010s.


title: Macaron

text: Many Italian cookbooks of the 16th-century mention almond biscuits closely resembling macarons, albeit under different names. The earliest known recipe dates back to the early 17th century and appears to be inspired by a French version of the recipe.


title: Macaron

text: There are two main methods for making a macaron – the "French" method and the "Italian" method. The difference between the two is the way the meringue is made.


title: Macaron

text: In the French method, egg whites are whisked until stiff-peaked meringue forms. From there, sifted, ground almonds and powdered sugar are folded in slowly until the desired consistency is reached. This process of knocking out air and folding is called macaronage.


title: Macaron

text: The Italian method involves whisking the egg whites with a hot sugar syrup to form a meringue. Sifted almonds and icing sugar are also mixed with raw egg whites to form a paste. The meringue and almond paste are mixed together to form the macaron mixture. This method is often deemed more structurally sound yet also sweeter and also requires a candy thermometer for the sugar syrup.


title: Macaron

text: The vegan variation involves the use of aquafaba in place of egg white, and the butter is substituted as well. All other ingredients are essentially the same.


title: Macaron

text: A macaron is made by combining icing sugar and ground almonds into a fine mixture. In a separate bowl, egg whites are beaten to a meringue-like consistency. The two elements are then folded together until they are the consistency of "shaving foam", and then are piped, left to form a skin, and baked. Sometimes, a filling is added.


title: Macaron

text: Several French cities and regions claim long histories and variations, notably Lorraine (Nancy and Boulay), Basque Country (Saint-Jean-de-Luz), Saint-Émilion, Amiens, Montmorillon, Le Dorat, Sault, Chartres, Cormery, Joyeuse and Sainte-Croix in Burgundy.


title: Macaron

text: Macarons d'Amiens, made in Amiens, are small, round-shaped biscuit-type macarons made from almond paste, fruit and honey, which were first recorded in 1855.


title: Macaron

text: The city of Montmorillon is well known for its macarons and has a museum dedicated to them. The Maison Rannou-Métivier is the oldest macaron bakery in Montmorillon, dating back to 1920. The traditional recipe for Montmorillon macarons has remained unchanged for over 150 years.


title: Macaron

text: The town of Nancy in the Lorraine region has a storied history with the macaron. It is said that the abbess of Remiremont founded an order of nuns called the "Dames du Saint-Sacrement" with strict dietary rules prohibiting the consumption of meat. Two nuns, Sisters Marguerite, and Marie-Elisabeth are credited with creating the Nancy macaron to fit their dietary requirements. They became known as the 'Macaron Sisters' (Les Soeurs Macarons). In 1952, the city of Nancy honoured them by giving their name to the Rue de la Hache, where the macaron was invented.


title: Macaron

text: Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu has its own variety of macaroon made with cashews instead of almonds, adapted from macarons introduced in colonial times.


title: Macaron

text: Macarons in Japan are a popular confection known as マカロン ("makaron"). There is also another widely available version of "makaron" which substitutes peanut flour for almond and a wagashi-style flavouring. The "makaron" is featured in Japanese fashion through cell phone accessories, stickers, and cosmetics aimed towards women.


title: Macaron

text: In Switzerland, the Luxemburgerli (also Luxembourger) is a brand name of confectionery made by the Confiserie Sprüngli in Zürich, Switzerland. A Luxemburgerli is a macaron comprising two disks of almond meringue with a buttercream filling, though different flavours are also available. Luxemburgerli are smaller and lighter than macarons from many other vendors.


title: Macaron

text: Pastry chefs in the US have edited the classic cookie to include more traditional American flavours. Flavours of macarons available in the US have been known to include mint chocolate chip, peanut butter and jelly, Snickers, peach champagne, pistachio, strawberry cheesecake, candy corn, salted pretzel, chocolate peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, candy cane, cinnamon, maple bacon, pumpkin, and salted caramel popcorn.


title: Macaron

text: In addition to macarons, fat-carons (뚱까롱, thick macarons), also called ttungcarons, were invented and became popular in South Korea. The bakers intentionally overfill the macaron filings and later decorate them as well. The appearance can resemble more to that of a small ice cream sandwich.


title: Macaron

text: In Portugal, Spain, Australia, France, Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand and the Netherlands, McDonald's sells macarons in their McCafés (sometimes using advertising that likens the shape of a macaron to that of a hamburger). McCafé macarons are produced by Château Blanc, which, like Ladurée, is a subsidiary of Groupe Holder, though they do not use the same macaron recipe.


title: Macaron

text: In Australia, Adriano Zumbo and his TV series "MasterChef" have contributed to the macaron becoming a popular sweet treat, and it is now sold by McDonald's in its Australian McCafe outlets.


title: Rich Brian

text: Brian Imanuel Soewarno (born 3 September 1999), known professionally as Rich Brian, is an Indonesian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his viral debut single "Dat $tick", which was first released in March 2016 on SoundCloud. The single was later certified gold by RIAA. His debut studio album, "Amen", was released in 2018 and peaked at number 18 on the US "Billboard" 200. Brian's second studio album, "The Sailor", was released in 2019. He released an EP titled "1999" in 2020. He released another EP titled "Brightside" in January 2022. Brian has collaborated with many artists from China and South Korea such as CHUNGHA, Keith Ape, Jackson Wang and Jae Park.


title: Rich Brian

text: Brian Imanuel Soewarno was born in Jakarta and is ethnically of Chinese-Indonesian descent. He is the youngest of four siblings. Brian was raised in West Jakarta in a middle-to-low class neighbourhood. Despite his father being a lawyer, he never had a formal education and spent most of his time helping at his parents' café while being homeschooled.


title: Rich Brian

text: In 2010, while growing up in Indonesia, Brian began his career with social media when he was 11 years old. He discovered YouTube after he got a Rubik's Cube and realised he could log onto his parents' computer to find strategies for solving it faster. He also joined Twitter in August 2010. This eventually led him to making video content, including dark-comedy sketches on Twitter. He moved to the platform Vine when he was 15 and began to post daily videos there. Brian, who at the time spoke only Indonesian started to learn and polish his English, had an American friend on Skype that he could talk and converse with to improve his English. He also taught himself to speak English by watching YouTube videos and by listening to rappers like Childish Gambino, 2 Chainz, Macklemore and Tyler, the Creator.


title: Rich Brian

text: Brian began listening to hip hop music in 2012, when an American friend he knew on the internet introduced him to "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Brian began to explore the genre, discovering Drake, 2 Chainz, Kanye West and Logic at first. Brian wrote his first rap song in 2014 and recorded it onto an iPhone microphone over an MF DOOM produced instrumental.


title: Rich Brian

text: Brian originally wanted to become a cinematographer in Los Angeles, however he gave up the aspiration once his music career began taking off.


title: Rich Brian

text: Brian began his career under the name Rich Chigga and released his debut track, titled "Living the Dream" on 17 July 2015, on his YouTube account. The song was produced by DJ Smokey. Brian then went on to release his debut single "Dat $tick" on 11 March 2016. Shortly after, he was signed by 88rising. "Dat $tick" track caught international success after 88rising released a reaction video featuring American rappers Ghostface Killah, 21 Savage, Tory Lanez, MadeinTYO, Desiigner, and many more. Since the official music video for the track was uploaded onto his YouTube account, it has been viewed over 200 million times. "Dat $tick" then went on to peak at number four on the Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles.


title: Rich Brian

text: Brian then went on to release his second single titled "Who That Be" on iTunes on 9 August 2016. The song was produced by Sihk. He then released a remix of his debut single "Dat $tick" which features rappers Ghostface Killah and Pouya. Brian later released his third single "Seventeen" which quickly surpassed the one million hits mark on both YouTube and SoundCloud.


title: Rich Brian

text: Brian released his fourth single "Back At It" on 19 April 2017. He later started his first US tour in April 2017, which concluded in May. In May 2017, Brian released the single "Gospel" with XXXTentacion and Keith Ape. This was XXXTentacion's first collaboration with Brian and the song was released through 88rising and has since received over 38 million views on YouTube since its release.


title: Rich Brian

text: Brian won an award at the 4th Indonesian Choice Awards as Breakthrough Artist of the Year in May 2017. Brian announced his debut album in an interview with XXL, saying "I'm working on a debut project and there are some serious songs and some comedic stuff, but the serious songs are my focus." In an interview, Brian said he was spending most of his stay in Los Angeles, California working on his debut album.


title: Rich Brian

text: Brian released "Glow Like Dat" on 15 August 2017, through 88rising's YouTube channel. He then announced a nationwide tour starting on 9 September and concluding on 21 November titled "Come to My Party Tour". Brian later released the singles "Chaos" and "Crisis" featuring 21 Savage in October and November 2017 respectively. On 19 December 2017, Brian announced on the social media platform, Twitter, that he was releasing his debut studio album titled, "Amen". On 1 January 2018, Brian officially changed his stage name from "Rich Chigga" to "Brian" with the release of "See Me". Six days later, he changed his stage name again to "Rich Brian". Brian later went on and appeared on a single and music video with Kris Wu, Joji, Trippie Redd and Baauer titled, "18" on 16 January. On 2 February, "Amen" was released and made him the first Asian musician to reach number one on iTunes Hip Hop charts and went on to peak at number 18 on the US "Billboard" 200.


title: Rich Brian

text: Following the release of "Amen", Brian released "Watch Out!" on 4 April 2018. He later appeared on 88rising's compilation album, "Head in the Clouds" and released two singles to promote the album with "Midsummer Madness" featuring Joji, Higher Brothers, Kyle Chan, 8 August, and "History" which were released on 7 June and 18 July respectively. The album was released on 20 July 2018.


title: Rich Brian

text: On 26 June 2019, Brian released a new single, titled "Yellow", featuring the artist and producer Bekon and later announced his second studio album titled "The Sailor". He then released the second single from the album "Kids" on 17 July 2019. "The Sailor" was released on 26 July 2019 with guest appearances from RZA and Joji.


title: Rich Brian

text: On 25 August 2020, Brian released an EP titled "1999". The seven-track EP was preceded with three singles with accompanying music videos: "Don't Care", "Love in my Pocket" and "DOA".


title: Rich Brian

text: On 20 January 2022, Brian released another EP titled "Brightside". The four-track EP was preceded with a single with an accompanying music video: "New Tooth". On the day of the EP's release, a music video for one of its songs, "Getcho Mans", which features fellow Indonesian rapper Warren Hue, was also released.


title: Rich Brian

text: Rich Brian's musical style has been called "ironic" by UrbanDaddy though it "eventually transcends itself to become a legitimate piece of art." Brian's vocals have been described as baritone, and his delivery as "gruff yet agile" and "unique". His song writing ability has been called "skilled" by HotNewHipHop. Brian, originally making comedic music, has since attempted to distance himself and make more serious music with singles such as "Seventeen" and "Glow Like Dat".


title: Rich Brian

text: With the release of "Yellow" on 26 June 2019, Rich Brian's musical style expanded. In an interview with Complex Magazine, he states that his album "The Sailor" is an "important step forward for his art" and he is beginning to "write about things that are deeply personal to him."


title: Rich Brian

text: During his youth, Brian competed in a couple of Rubik's cube competitions. According to his World Cube Association page, he attended the 2010 Jakarta Open Rubik's Cube Competition. He finished 20th out of 106 during the qualification round for the 3×3×3 cube, with a best of 23.65 seconds. Brian was admitted into the first round where he finished 51st out of 105, with a best of 20.44 seconds. During the same competition, he also competed in the 2×2×2 and the 4×4×4 events. Brian finished 24th out of 74 during the 2×2 event and had a best of 7.96 seconds. While during the 4×4 event Brian finished 35th out of 43 with a best of 2:22.81 minutes. Brian also competed in the 2×2 event at the Jakarta Ceria Open in October of 2010, there he finished 28th out of 67 with a best solve of 5.68 seconds.


title: Rich Brian

text: Brian currently lives in Los Angeles after moving there in May 2017. He is not a permanent resident of the United States; though in July 2017, he extended his stay.


title: Rich Brian

text: Brian's original stage name, Rich Chigga, created controversy in the past. Brian and his friend came up with the nickname when he came out with his first song on SoundCloud. "I realized I don't really have a rap name. And then my friend from Wichita was just talking about it. We came up with a couple of names which were cool, and he was just like, 'Rich Chigga.' I was like, 'That is really catchy.' And that's honestly it." Talking about his stage name, Brian said "I do regret it – I didn't really know what I was doing and I definitely did not know people were gonna pop off like this." As a result, he began to be professionally known by Rich Brian from 2018 onwards. In a Twitter post, Brian said "I have been planning to do this forever and I'm so happy to finally do it. I was naïve and I made a mistake."


title: Rich Brian

text: Brian was homeschooled and has stated that he does not wish to seek college education, though if given the chance, he would attend film school.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Snowden is a 2016 biographical thriller film directed by Oliver Stone and written by Stone and Kieran Fitzgerald. Based on the books "The Snowden Files" (2014) by Luke Harding and "Time of the Octopus" (2015) by Anatoly Kucherena, the film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) subcontractor and whistleblower who copied and leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) beginning in 2013. In addition to Gordon-Levitt, the film features an ensemble cast including Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson, Scott Eastwood, Logan Marshall-Green, Timothy Olyphant, Ben Schnetzer, LaKeith Lee Stanfield, Rhys Ifans and Nicolas Cage. An international co-production of Germany, France, and the United States, principal photography began on February 16, 2015 in Munich.


title: Snowden (film)

text: "Snowden" screened at San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, 2016, before premiering at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2016. The film was theatrically released in the United States on September 16, 2016, by Open Road Films and on September 22 in Germany. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Gordon-Levitt's performance but criticized the direction. It was also a box office bomb, grossing $37.3 million worldwide against its $40 million budget.


title: Snowden (film)

text: In 2013, Edward Snowden arranges a clandestine meeting in Hong Kong with documentarian Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald. They discuss releasing the classified information in the former’s possession regarding illegal mass surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA). Poitras later released a documentary about this meeting titled "Citizenfour", this in turn was used in a scene within the film "Snowden".


title: Snowden (film)

text: In 2004, Snowden is undergoing basic training, having enlisted in the U.S. Army with intentions of matriculating to the Special Forces. He eventually fractures his tibia, and is informed that he will be receiving an administrative discharge and that he may serve his country in other ways.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Snowden applies for a position at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and subsequently undergoes the screening process. Initially, his answers to the screening questions are insufficient, but Deputy Director Corbin O'Brian decides to take a chance on him, given the demands of such extraordinary times. Snowden is then brought to "The Hill" where he is educated and tested on cyberwarfare. He learns about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which circumvents the Fourth Amendment rights of U.S. citizens by allowing warrant requests to be approved by a panel of judges that were appointed by the Chief Justice. Snowden and his peers are each tasked with building a covert communications network in their hometown, deleting it, and then rebuilding it in eight hours or less, with five hours being the average time taken. Snowden impresses O'Brian when he completes the exercise in 38 minutes.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Meanwhile, Snowden meets Lindsay Mills via a dating website. The two bond, despite sharply contrasting political ideologies. Snowden acquires his first post abroad working with diplomatic cover in Geneva in 2007, taking Mills with him. He meets Gabriel Sol, who has ample experience in electronic surveillance. Snowden begins questioning the ethical implications of their assignment. After his superior decides to set up their target on a DUI charge in order to coerce information from him, Snowden resigns from the CIA.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Snowden later takes a position with the NSA in Japan, initially under the pretense of building a program that would allow the government to back up all critical data from the Middle East in an emergency, a program which he names "Epic Shelter". Snowden learns of the practices the NSA and other U.S. government agencies are using not just in Japan, but in most countries which the U.S. is currently allied with, which include planting malware in different computers that manage government, infrastructure and financial sectors so that, in the event that any allies turn against the US, that country can effectively be shut down in retaliation. The stress associated with the job results in the end of his relationship with Mills, who moves back with her family in Maryland.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Three months later, Snowden has left his post with the NSA and returned to Maryland where he and Mills resume their relationship and he takes a position consulting for the CIA. During a hunting trip, O'Brian reveals an operation in Oahu that revolves around counterattacking Chinese hackers. After Snowden is diagnosed with epilepsy, Mills agrees that he should join the operation for she believes the environment in Hawaii may be beneficial for his health. Upon beginning his new job in "The Tunnel", an underground World War II bunker that has been re-purposed for massive electronic surveillance and SIGINT operations, Snowden learns that Epic Shelter is actually providing real-time data that assists U.S. drone pilots in launching lethal strikes against terror suspects in Pakistan.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Snowden ultimately becomes disillusioned with what he is a part of. It culminates in Snowden smuggling a microSD card into his office by way of a Rubik's Cube, and loading all relevant data. He then tells his colleagues he is feeling ill and departs. He advises Mills to fly home to Maryland, after which he contacts Poitras and Greenwald to schedule the meeting.


title: Snowden (film)

text: With the help of journalist Ewen MacAskill, the information is disseminated to the press on June 5, 2013, with additional leaks published in the following days. In the aftermath, with the help of MacAskill, Greenwald and Poitras, Snowden is smuggled out of Hong Kong on a flight bound for Latin America by way of Russia. However, the U.S. government revokes his passport, forcing him to remain in Moscow indefinitely. He is eventually granted asylum for three years, with Mills joining him at a later date. Snowden continues his activism.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Anatoly Kucherena, Snowden's Russian attorney and the author of the novel "Time of the Octopus", on which the screenplay is said to be partly based, plays a Russian diplomat in one of the Geneva scenes.


title: Snowden (film)

text: When Oliver Stone was first approached to helm the film, he was hesitant. At the time, he was working on another controversial subject, about the last few years in the life of Martin Luther King Jr., with Jamie Foxx attached to star, and did not immediately wish to tackle a project as incendiary again. He had been previously criticized for being too apathetic towards George W. Bush – despite calling him the second worst President in U.S. history only after Richard Nixon – in his film, "W." (2008). Nonetheless, a series of events and persuasion prompted him to finally agree to direct it. Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who worked with Laura Poitras to break the Snowden story, asked him for some advice; a couple of months later, Snowden's Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, contacted Stone via his producer asking to meet him. Wanting to sell his book about Snowden, Kucherena arranged a meeting in Moscow, in a secure place that Stone would not reveal. It was a fictional book, but Stone developed an interest towards it and called it "very Fyodor Dostoyevsky", in the sense that none of it is realistic. Stone, who did not know if Snowden would cooperate, was undecided whether to make a fictional film with an unnamed character or a story as realistic as possible.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Stone began meeting with Snowden in January 2014. At first, Snowden was wary about the idea of turning his life into a film. Stone went to meet Snowden twice more in late May of that year, and Snowden finally agreed to the idea and even decided to take part. Although he became involved in the project, he was given no script approval, nor did he receive any payment for the film. Payment was instead given to "The Guardian". Snowden had seen a piece of "Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States" and was fascinated by it. Columbia Pictures already had the rights to Greenwald's book on the case.


title: Snowden (film)

text: On June 2, 2014, it was announced that Stone and Moritz Borman had acquired the rights to the nonfiction book "The Snowden Files" by Luke Harding, and that Stone would write and direct a film based on it. The film on Martin Luther King Jr. was scrapped since Stone was committed to direct "Snowden" instead. Eight days later, on June 10, 2014, Stone acquired the rights to another book, "Time of the Octopus", by Kucherena. In April 2015, WikiLeaks revealed that Sony paid $700,000 for the rights to Harding's book and $1 million for the rights to Kucherena's novel. Stone used both books as the sources for his screenplay. On November 6, 2014, Open Road Films acquired the U.S. rights to the film, while Wild Bunch was set to handle foreign sales. "Deadline Hollywood" confirmed on November 10, 2014, that Endgame Entertainment had come on board to produce the film.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Before production began, Stone and Gordon-Levitt met Snowden in 2015 in Moscow, where he had been living in exile with his girlfriend, Lindsay Mills, since evading the U.S. government's attempts to arrest him for espionage. The U.S. government had revoked his passport while Snowden was trying to reach South America. Gordon-Levitt described Snowden as a person who is akin to Philippe Petit, whom Gordon-Levitt played in the 2015 film "The Walk". Problems arose in Russia, however, as companies that were affiliated with the U.S. refused to become involved in the project, and no studio was ready to support it. It became extremely difficult for Stone, who had to finance everything along with the producer. Eventually, financing came through from France and Germany, and the film ended up being shot in Germany as a German production, with contracts being signed eight days before production began. Since the budget was too tight, Stone had to miss the funeral of his mother, who had died in America while filming was occurring in Germany. Going back to America would have meant that Stone would have had to cut four days of work, which he said he could not afford to do.


title: Snowden (film)

text: On September 21, 2014, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was in talks to play Edward Snowden, the American computer professional who leaked classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) to the mainstream media starting in June 2013. On November 10, 2014, news confirmed that Gordon-Levitt would be starring in the lead role. On November 14, 2014, Shailene Woodley was in final talks to join the film, to play Snowden's girlfriend, Lindsay Mills. On February 2, 2015, Scott Eastwood joined the cast to play an NSA agent. On February 4, 2015, three more actors joined the cast; Melissa Leo played documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, who filmed the most famous recording of Snowden, Zachary Quinto played Glenn Greenwald, the journalist chosen by Snowden to leak sensitive information, and Tom Wilkinson played Ewen MacAskill, defense and intelligence correspondent for "The Guardian", who helped report the Snowden story. On February 13, 2015, "Variety" reported that Ben Schnetzer had also joined the film. On February 19, 2015, Timothy Olyphant joined the film to star as a CIA agent who befriended Snowden before he left for Russia, and Rhys Ifans and Joely Richardson were added to the cast of the film on February 20, 2015. On February 23, 2015, Nicolas Cage also signed on to play the role of a former US Intelligence official. Lakeith Stanfield was added to the cast on February 25, 2015, to play an NSA co-worker and a close friend to Snowden.


title: Snowden (film)

text: For his role as Snowden, Joseph Gordon-Levitt pledged to donate his entire salary from the film to "help facilitate the conversation" about the relationship between technology and democracy.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Principal photography began on February 16, 2015 in Munich, Germany. Shooting was underway in Washington, D.C. in early April, and shooting in Hawaii began on April 15 and lasted until April 18. The house used to film is on the same street Snowden lived on. At the end of April, Hong Kong press reported that crews started filming in The Mira Hong Kong, followed by outdoor filming in some old buildings in To Kwa Wan. Shooting lasted until mid-May. Some exterior footage was also filmed in Tokyo.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Due to fear of interference by the National Security Agency, Stone decided to shoot the film mostly outside of the United States. "We felt like we were at risk here. We didn't know what the NSA might do, so we ended up in Munich, which was a beautiful experience," Stone said. Due to fears of the film leaking, Stone employed self-described ethical hacker Ralph Echemendia as a technical supervisor, and made sure all cast and crew used a secure chat-and-file-sharing program.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Peter Gabriel wrote the song "The Veil" exclusively for the film. The track's video features photos and a cameo of Snowden as well as news coverage scenes and footage from the movie.


title: Snowden (film)

text: On February 20, 2015, Open Road Films set the film for a December 25, 2015 domestic release date. Pathé would release the film in France on December 30, 2015, and Universum Film would release it in Germany on January 7, 2016. However, in September 2015, Open Road moved the film from its December release date to 2016. The studio did not give reasons for the delay; however, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that maybe it was because the film was not finished yet. On October 7, 2015, the film was set for a May 13, 2016 release. On February 19, 2016, the release date was again pushed back to September 16, at the forefront of awards season. The official trailer was published on April 27, 2016.


title: Snowden (film)

text: The film was invited to compete at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, as the festival's director, Thierry Frémaux, saw the film, and praised it, calling it a "really good film. It complements "Citizenfour" marvelously. It helps understand a lot of things". Frémaux said he wanted the film to screen at Cannes, but explained that the film's producers "want to aim for the Oscars, so for them a Cannes premiere was a little too early". It was shown at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, and had its European premiere at the 64th San Sebastián Film Festival.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Stone held a private screening of "Snowden" at the former home of Ernest Hemingway in Sun Valley, for an invited audience of around two dozen, including actress Melissa Leo, who portrayed documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras. Guests were required to sign non-disclosure agreements. The film received critical praise from the attendees, and one audience member was quoted saying, "What he did that's so brilliant is, he gave this kid's whole back story, so you really like him."


title: Snowden (film)

text: The film had an invitation-only screening at San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, 2016. A second trailer for the film was released at the event.


title: Snowden (film)

text: "Snowden" grossed $21.6 million in the United States and Canada and $15.7 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $37.3 million, against a production budget of $40 million.


title: Snowden (film)

text: The film was released on September 16, 2016, alongside "Blair Witch", "Bridget Jones's Baby" and "", and was projected to gross around $10 million from 2,443 theaters in its opening weekend. It went on to open to $8 million, finishing 4th at the box office. It marked the lowest opening of Oliver Stone's career for a film playing in over 2,000 theaters.


title: Snowden (film)

text: "Snowden" received mixed reviews from critics, although Gordon-Levitt's performance garnered critical praise. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 61%, based on 257 reviews, with an average score of 6.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""Snowden" boasts a thrilling fact-based tale and a solid lead performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, even if director Oliver Stone saps the story of some of its impact by playing it safe." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 58 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Snowden (film)

text: Richard Roeper gave the film three out of four stars, saying, ""Snowden" works best when it's just Edward and the three journalists in that hotel room, sweating it out, or when we see the pattern of events that led him to commit acts that exposed the shocking practices of our own government that also quite possibly created serious security breaches."


title: Snowden (film)

text: On November 19, 2016, during the Camerimage festival, cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle received the Bronze Frog award for his work on this film.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Nestor Ivanovych Makhno ( 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ("Father Makhno"), was a Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary and the commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine during the Ukrainian Civil War.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Makhno was the namesake of the Makhnovshchina (loosely translated as "Makhno movement"), a predominantly peasant phenomenon that grew into a mass social movement. It was initially centered around Makhno's hometown Huliaipole but over the course of the Ukrainian Civil War came to exert a strong influence over large areas of southern Ukraine. Makhno and the majority of the movement's leadership were anarcho-communists and attempted to guide the movement along these ideological lines. Makhno was aggressively opposed to all factions that sought to impose their authority over southern Ukraine, battling in succession the forces of the Ukrainian People's Republic, Central Powers, White Army, Red Army, and other smaller forces led by various Ukrainian otamans. Makhno and his supporters attempted to reorganize social and economic life along anarchist lines, including the establishment of communes on former landed estates, the requisition and egalitarian redistribution of land to the peasants, and the organization of free elections to local soviets (councils) and regional congresses. However, the disruption of the civil war precluded a stable territorial base for any long-term social experiments.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Although Makhno considered the Bolsheviks a threat to the development of anarchism in Ukraine, he entered into formal military alliances twice with the Red Army to defeat the White Army. In the aftermath of the White Army's defeat in Crimea in November 1920, the Bolsheviks initiated a military campaign against Makhno. After an extended period of open resistance against the Red Army, Makhno fled across the Romanian border in August 1921. In exile, Makhno settled in Paris with his wife Halyna and daughter Elena. During this period, Makhno wrote numerous memoirs and articles for radical newspapers. Makhno also played an important role in the development of platformism and the debates around the 1926 "Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft)". Makhno died in 1934 in Paris at the age of 45 from tuberculosis-related causes.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: On , Nestor Makhno was born into a poor peasant family in Huliaipole, a town in the Katerynoslav Governorate of the Russian Empire (now Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine). He was the youngest of five children born to Ivan and Evdokia Mikhnenko, former serfs who had been emancipated in 1861.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Unable to feed his family on their small plot of land, following Nestor's birth, Ivan Mikhnenko went to work as a coachman for a wealthy industrialist. When Nestor was only ten months old, his father died, leaving behind an impoverished family. Nestor was briefly fostered by a more well-off peasant couple, but he was unhappy with them and returned to his family of birth. At only seven years old, the young Nestor was put to work tending livestock. When he turned eight years old, he began his education in a local secular school as a model student before becoming increasingly truant, often ditching school to play games and go ice skating. After the end of his first school year, he went to work on a Mennonite-owned estate near Huliaipole, bringing home 20 rubles over the course of the summer. His brothers also worked as farmhands to support the family.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: After the summer, Nestor returned to school, but his second school year proved to be his last. His family's extreme poverty forced the ten-year-old Nestor to begin working in the fields full-time, which led him to develop a "sort of rage, resentment, even hatred for the wealthy property-owner". Nestor's aversion to the landlords only increased over time, nurtured by stories his mother told him of her time in serfdom. In the summer of 1902, when Nestor was twelve, he observed a farm manager and the landlord's sons physically beating a young farmhand. He quickly alerted an older stable hand "Batko Ivan", who attacked the assailants and led a spontaneous workers' revolt against the landlord. After the affair was settled, Ivan told Nestor: "if one of your masters should ever strike you, pick up the first pitchfork you lay hands on and let him have it..." The following year, Nestor quit working in the fields and found a job in a foundry. At this time, his older brothers had left home and started their own families, leaving only the young Nestor and Hryhorii with their mother. Nestor 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.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: When the 1905 revolution broke out, the sixteen-year-old Makhno quickly joined the revolutionary fervor. He initially distributed propaganda for the Social Democratic Labor Party, before affiliating with his home town's local anarcho-communist group: the Union of Poor Peasants. Despite the political climate of increased political repression against revolutionaries, the Union continued to meet weekly and inspired Makhno to devote himself to the revolution. Makhno was initially distrusted by other members of the group, due to his apparent penchant for drinking and getting into fights. But after six months in the Union of Poor Peasants, Makhno had thoroughly educated himself on the principles of libertarian communism and became a formal member.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Following a series of agrarian reforms, which disempowered the traditional peasant communes through the creation of a wealthier land-owning class and resulted in the growth of private estates, the Union of Poor Peasants initiated a campaign of "Black Terror" against the large landowners and the local Tsarist police. The group carried out a series of expropriations against local businessmen, using the money they stole to print propaganda that attacked the recent reforms. Suspected of being involved in these attacks, Makhno was arrested in September 1907 but was eventually released without charges due to a lack of evidence. As the rest of the group's members had been outlawed, Makhno founded another anarchist study group in a neighboring village, where two dozen members gathered on a weekly basis to discuss anarchist theory. But after the assassination of a police informant by the Union of Poor Peasants, the police launched a crackdown against the anarchist group and arrested many of its members, including Makhno himself in August 1909.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: On 26 March 1910, Makhno was sentenced to be hanged by a district court martial convened in Katerynoslav. Although he had refused to seek appeal, Makhno's sentence was commuted to a life sentence of hard labor, due to his young age. While in prison, Makhno contracted a near-fatal bout of typhoid fever, but he eventually recovered and returned to work in chains. He was then moved to the prison in Luhansk, where family briefly visited him before being moved again to the prison in Katerynoslav. In August 1911, he was transferred one final time to Butyrka prison in Moscow, where over 3,000 political prisoners were being held. Through the other prisoners he learned Russian history and political theory, taking a particular interest in "" by Peter Kropotkin. Makhno's frequent boasting in prison earned him the nickname "Modest". He sometimes even antagonized the guards, which landed him in solitary confinement. Due to punishment cell conditions, Makhno quickly fell sick again and was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. The disease kept him returning to the prison hospital throughout his sentence.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: In Butyrka prison, Makhno met the anarcho-communist politician Peter Arshinov, who took the young anarchist under his wing as a student. But during this time, Makhno also became disillusioned with intellectualism after seeing the differences between how the prison guards treated the intellectual prisoners and those inmates from the lower classes. As the years passed, Makhno began to write his own works and distributed them among his fellow prisoners, starting off with a poem titled "Summons" that called for a libertarian communist revolution. Prison did not break his revolutionary zeal, with Makhno vowing that he would "contribute to the free re-birth of his country". Although exposed to the ideas of Ukrainian nationalism in prison, Makhno nevertheless remained hostile to all forms of nationalism, adopting an internationalist position during World War I and even circulating an anti-war petition around the prison. When the prison doors were flung open during the February Revolution of 1917, Makhno was released from bondage for the first time in eight years, even finding himself off-balance without the chains weighing him down and in need of sunglasses after years in dark prison cells. He remained in Moscow for three weeks, briefly getting involved with an anarchist group in Moscow's Lefortovo District until 23 March, when he was finally convinced to return to Huliaipole by his mother and old comrades from the anarcho-communist group.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Following years of imprisonment, in March 1917, the 27-year-old Makhno finally returned to Huliaipole, where he was reunited with his mother and elder brothers. 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. Clashing with many of the group's former members, who wanted to focus on propaganda, Makhno proposed that libertarians take clear leadership of the masses in order to ignite mass action among the peasantry, but found his position a minority among the anarchists of Huliaipole. He instead led the establishment of a local Peasants' Union on 29 March and was elected as its chairman. The union quickly came to represent the majority of Huliaipole's peasantry and even those from the surrounding region. Carpenters and metalworkers also formed their own industrial unions and elected Makhno as their chairman. By April, Huliaipole's Public Committee, the local organ of the Provisional Government, had been brought under the control of the town's peasantry and anarcho-communist activists. It was during this period of rising anarchist activity in Huliaipole that Makhno met Nastia Vasetskaia, who would become his first wife, but his activism kept him too busy to focus on his marriage.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Makhno quickly became a leading figure in Huliaipole's revolutionary movement, aiming to sideline any political parties that sought to seize control of the workers' organizations. He justified his leadership as only a temporary responsibility. As a union leader, Makhno led workers in strike actions against their employers, demanding wages be doubled and vowing the continuation of work stoppages in case of their refusal, eventually resulting in the establishment of workers' control over all industry in Huliaipole. As Huliaipole's delegate to the regional peasant congress in Oleksandrivsk, he called for the expropriation of large estates from landowners and their transfer to communal ownership by the peasants that worked them, becoming infamous throughout the region. However, 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." Makhno subsequently disarmed and minimized the powers of local law enforcement prior to seizing property from local landlords and equally redistributing the lands to the peasantry, in open defiance of the Russian Provisional Government and its officials in Oleksandrivsk. All this gave him an image of social banditry, as local peasants compared him to the Cossack rebel leaders Stenka Razin and Yemelyan Pugachev, and rallied around the slogan of "Land and Liberty".


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Although he had achieved success at home, Makhno was disappointed to discover general disorganization among the wider anarchist movement, which he criticized for largely dedicating itself to propaganda activities. 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. Following news of Lavr Kornilov's attempted coup against the Provisional Government, Makhno led the establishment of a "Committee for the Defense of the Revolution" in Huliaipole, which organized armed peasant detachments against the local landlords, bourgeoisie, and kulaks. Makhno called for the local bourgeoisie to be disarmed and their property expropriated, with all private enterprise to be brought under workers' control. Peasants withheld rent and took control of the lands they worked. Large estates collectivized and transformed into agrarian communes. Makhno personally organized communes on former Mennonite estates. Makhno and Nastia lived together on a commune and Makhno himself worked two days per week, helping with the farming and occasionally fixing machines.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Following the 1917 October Revolution, Makhno bore witness to the rising hostilities between the Ukrainian nationalists and the Bolsheviks. With the outbreak of the Soviet–Ukrainian War, Makhno advised anarchists to take up arms alongside the Red Guards against the forces of the Ukrainian nationalists and the White movement. Makhno dispatched his brother Savelii 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 Oleksandrivsk Revolutionary Committee. He was also elected chairman of a commission, which reviewed the cases of accused counter-revolutionary military prisoners, and oversaw the release of still imprisoned workers and peasants. During this period Makhno, participated in Oleksandrivsk's successful defence against an assault by Don and Kuban Cossacks. Makhno thereafter returned to Huliaipole, where he organized the town bank's expropriation to fund their revolutionary activities.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: On 9 February 1918, representatives from the Ukrainian People's Republic signed a peace treaty with the Central Powers, inviting the forces of the German Empire and Austria-Hungary to invade and occupy Ukraine. In response, Makhno formed a volunteer detachment to resist the occupation, which was dispatched to join the Red Guards in Oleksandrivsk. Makhno was personally summoned to the train of Bolshevik Commander Alexander Yegorov, but failed to link up with Yegorov who was in fast retreat. In Makhno's absence, Ukrainian nationalists seized control of Huliaipole and invited forces from the Austro-Hungarian Army to occupy the town in April 1918. Unable to return home, Makhno retreated to Taganrog, where a conference of Huliaipole's exiled anarchists was held. Makhno left to rally Russian support for the Ukrainian anarchist cause with plans to retake Huliaipole in July 1918. In early May, Makhno visited Rostov-on-Don, Tikhoretsk, and Tsaritsyn, where he was briefly reunited with Nastia and a number of his Huliaipole comrades.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: On his travels, Makhno witnessed the newly established Cheka confront, disarm, and kill revolutionary partisans who disobeyed their decrees, causing Makhno to question whether "institutional revolutionaries" would extinguish the revolution. In Astrakhan, Makhno found himself working for the local soviet's propaganda department and giving speeches to Red soldiers bound for the front. While travelling by rail to Moscow near the end of May, Makhno made use of the armored train's artillery to disentangle it from the advance of the Don Cossacks, who had been pursuing Red Guards in Makhno's company.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: After spending a few days in the Volga region, Makhno finally arrived in Moscow, which he pejoratively dubbed "the capital of the paper revolution", where he found local anarchist intellectuals more predisposed to slogans and manifestos than action. Here he again made contact with Peter Arshinov and others in the Muscovite anarchist movement, many of whom were under surveillance by the Bolshevik authorities. He also met the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, who at this time were beginning to turn against the Bolsheviks. Makhno discussed Ukraine with the anarcho-communist theorist Peter Kropotkin, who wished Makhno well.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Satisfied with his time in Moscow and in need of forged identity papers to cross the Ukrainian border, Makhno applied to the Kremlin. Yakov Sverdlov immediately arranged for Makhno to meet Vladimir Lenin. Lenin showered Makhno with questions about Ukraine, which Makhno answered, even as Lenin bemoaned that the country's peasantry had been "contaminated by anarchism". 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. Lenin expressed his admiration for Makhno and admitted his mistakes regarding the revolutionary conditions in Ukraine, where anarchists had already become the predominant revolutionary force. After a long conversation, Lenin passed Makhno on to Volodymyr Zatonsky, who fulfilled his request for a false passport. The young Ukrainian finally departed for the border in late June, content that he had "take[n] the temperature of the revolution".


title: Nestor Makhno

text: During Makhno's absence from Ukraine, the Austro-German occupation forces orchestrated a coup in late April 1918 against their former allies within the Ukrainian People's Republic, removing the UPR's Central Council and installing Pavlo Skoropadskyi as Hetman of a new conservative client state.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Armed with a fake passport and disguised as a Ukrainian officer, Makhno crossed the Ukrainian border in July 1918. 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. Nestor himself was forced to take a number of precautions to evade capture. To avoid recognition while aboard the crowded train carriages, he changed at Kharkiv and Synelnykove, and ultimately decided to walk the final 27 kilometers to Rozhdestvenskoye after his train was searched by police. Through correspondence, Makhno's comrades in Huliaipole discouraged him from returning, fearing he would be caught by the authorities.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: After weeks in hiding, Makhno clandestinely returned to Huliaipole. In a number of secret meetings, he began to lay plans for an insurrection and started to organize peasant partisans. He advocated for coordinated attacks on the estates of large landowners, advised against individual acts of terrorism, and forbade anti-semitic pogroms. From the outset, Makhno emphasized tactical and theoretical unity, patiently awaiting favorable conditions for a general insurrection.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: The authorities discovered Makhno's presence and placed a bounty on his head. Makhno retreated from Huliaipole, narrowly escaping capture. In Ternivka, Makhno revealed himself to the local population and established a peasant detachment to lead attacks against the occupation and Hetmanate government. In coordination with partisans in Rozhdestvenskoye Makhno resolved to reoccupy Huliaipole and establish it as a permanent headquarters for the insurgent movement. He raided multiple Austrian positions, seizing weapons and money, which led to the insurrection's intensification in the region. . 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 due to the risks of killing innocent civilians.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: In September 1918, Makhno briefly reoccupied Huliaipole. There he discovered that the German occupation forces had been spreading misinformation about him, claiming he had robbed the local peasantry and ran away with the money to buy a "dacha" in Moscow. After defeating Austrian units in nearby Marfopil, Makhno produced a letter that was translated into the German language, encouraging the conscripted occupation troops to mutiny, return home and launch revolutions of their own. 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. However, when the occupation forces counterattacked, Makhno was forced evacuate Huliaipole.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Makhno's detachment withdrew north, where it sought refuge in the Dibrivka forest, neighbouring the village of Velykomykhailivka. There they joined forces with another small insurgent detachment led by Fedir Shchus. Austrian units encircled the insurgents in their forest encampment. To break the encirclement, Makhno launched a surprise counterattack against the troops in the village. Led by Makhno and Shchus, the insurgents' gamble succeeded in forcing the Austrians into retreat. For his role in their victory, the insurgents bestowed Makhno with the title "Bat'ko" (), which remained his moniker throughout the remainder of the war.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Makhno's victory in the battle of Dibrivka provoked a vicious retaliation from the occupation forces. Velykomykhailovka was subsequently attacked by Austrian troops reinforced by National Guard and German colonist units. The village was set on fire, killing many inhabitants and destroying some 600 houses. Makhno, in turn, led a campaign of retributive attacks against the occupation forces and their collaborators, including much of the region's Mennonite population. Makhno also focused much of his energies on agitating amongst the peasantry, gathering much support in the region through impassioned improptu village speeches against his enemies.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: By November 1918, the insurgents definitively recaptured Huliaipole. 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 nascent White movement. He argued that in order to prosecute such a conflict, it would be necessary to reorganize an insurgent army along a federal model, directly answerable to him as commander-in-chief.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: The Central Powers' defeat in World War I saw their withdrawal from Ukraine, resulting in the overthrow of the Hetmanate government by the Directorate, which established a new nationalist government in Kyiv under the leadership of Symon Petliura. At the same time, the Bolsheviks invaded Ukraine from the north, while the Makhnovshchina faced pressure from a growing White Army in the south. Caught between these forces, Makhno proposed an alliance with the Red Army.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: During a joint Insurgent-Bolshevik attack against the nationalist-held city of Katerynoslav, Makhno was appointed as commander-in-chief of the combined Soviet forces in the Katerynoslav province. After capturing the city, Makhno oversaw the establishment of a revolutionary committee equally representing Bolsheviks, SRs, and anarchists. When a nationalist counteroffensive forced Makhno to retreat to Huliaipole, he undertook a complete reorganization of insurgent forces on every front. On 26 January 1919, this process culminated in the integration of Makhnovist units into the Ukrainian Soviet Army as the 3rd Trans-Dnieper Brigade, with Makhno subordinate himself to the command of Pavel Dybenko. On 12 February 1919, Makhno extricated himself from the front to attend the movement's second regional congress in Huliaipole, where he was elected honorary chairman, having rejected official chairmanship due to the front requiring his attention. At the congress, he declared his support for "non-party soviets", in open defiance of his Bolshevik commanders.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Makhno justified the integration of the insurgent forces into the Red Army as a matter of placing the "revolution's interests above ideological differences." He was, nevertheless, open about his contempt for the new order of political commissars. The Bolshevik interference in front-line operations even led to Makhno arresting a Cheka detachment, which had directly obstructed his command. Despite his hostility towards the Bolsheviks, Makhno still respected freedom of the press, authorizing Bolshevik newspapers to be distributed in Huliaipole, Berdiansk, and Mariupol, even as the papers published denunciations of the Makhnovists.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: By April 1919, the newspaper "Pravda" was publishing glowing reports of Makhno's activities, praising him for his opposition to Ukrainian nationalism, his successful assault against Katerynoslav, and his continued successes against the White movement. These reports also detailed Makhno's widespread support amongst the Ukrainian peasantry. However, this did not stop Pavel Dybenko from declaring the insurgents' subsequent regional congresses to be "counter-revolutionary." Its participants were outlawed and Makhno was ordered to prevent future congresses from taking place. The Makhnovist Military Revolutionary Council issued an excoriating reply to Dybenko rejecting his demands out of hand.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: To resolve the dispute, Makhno invited Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko to visit Huliaipole, which impressed the Ukrainian commander-in-chief and allayed his concerns about Makhno's command. 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. His reports quickly attracted Lev Kamenev to himself visit Huliaipole the very next week. Kamenev too was greeted by Makhno and his new wife Halyna Kuzmenko, who gave the Bolshevik functionary a tour of the town, making sure to show off a tree where Makhno had personally lynched a White army officer. Despite disagreements between the two over the autonomy of the insurgent movement, Kamenev bade farewell to Makhno with an embrace and warm words. Kamenev immediately published an open letter to Makhno, praising him as an "honest and courageous fighter" in the war against the White movement.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: In May 1919, the powerful otaman Nykyfor Hryhoriv revolted against the Bolsheviks, seizing part of Kherson province. Kamenev sent a telegram to Makhno, asking him to condemn Hryhoriv or else face a declaration of war. Hryhoriv had previously attempted to form an alliance with Makhno against the Bolsheviks, but this proposal went unanswered. Makhno responded to Kamenev's request by reaffirming his commitment to the struggle against the White movement, which he worried would be endangered by opening conflict with Hryhoriv. In a direct telegram to Kamenev, Makhno declared his loyalty to the revolution, while also stating that he would continue to oppose the actions of the Cheka and any other "organs of oppression and violence". In an insurgent military congress on 12 May, Makhno expanded on this anti-authoritarian position with a denunciation of the Bolsheviks, their implementation of bureaucratic collectivism, and their political repression, which he compared to the Tsarist autocracy. After Makhnovist emissaries uncovered evidence of Hryhoriv's participation in pogroms, Makhno openly denounced him for his displays of antisemitism 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.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: The Red Army high command responded by attempting to rein in Makhno's influence over his detachment. Makhno's Red Army superior Commander even declared that "he is to be liquidated". By the end of May 1919, the Bolshevik Revolutionary Military Council pronounced Makhno to be an outlaw, issuing a warrant for his arrest and for him to be tried before a revolutionary tribunal. On 2 June, Leon Trotsky published a diatribe against Makhno, attacking him for his anarchist ideology and even labeling him a ""kulak"".


title: Nestor Makhno

text: A few days later, while preoccupied at the front, Makhno learned that the Kuban Cossacks had captured Huliaipole. This forced him to retreat from his positions. In an attempt to appease Trotsky, Makhno resigned his command of the insurgent army so that the insurgents would not be caught in a pincer between the Red and White armies. Despite a rebuff from Trotsky, he again attempted to offer the Bolsheviks his resignation on 9 June, reaffirming his commitment to the Revolution and his belief in the "inalienable right of workers and peasants". Makhno thus relinquished command of the 7th Ukrainian Soviet Division and declared his intention to wage a guerrilla war against the Whites from the rear. Trotsky then ordered Kliment Voroshilov to arrest Makhno, but sympathetic officers reported the order to him, thus preventing his capture by the Cheka. 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.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Makhno's small "sotnia" then linked up with other insurgent detachments that had mutinied against the Red Army. In early July 1919, Makhno fell back into Kherson province, where he met with Hryhoriv's green army. Initially Makhno sought to form a strategic alliance with the latter due to Hryhoriv's popularity among the local peasantry. However, 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 in his place by Oleksiy Chubenko. 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 a large number of Red Army deserters who joined him as the Bolsheviks once again retreated from Ukrainian territory in the face of Anton Denikin's White Army. Red Army mutinies became so bad that the Ukrainian Bolshevik leader even telephoned Makhno, begging him to subordinate himself again to Bolshevik command, to which Makhno refused.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: By September 1919 the Bolsheviks had largely retreated from Ukraine, leaving the Makhnovists to face the White Army alone. Reports by the White commander Yakov Slashchov depicted Makhno as a formidable adversary with tactical ability and disciplinary command over his troops. The insurgents launched a number of effective attacks behind White lines, with Makhno himself commanding a cavalry assault against that resulted in the capture of sorely needed munitions. Nestor's brother Hryhorii died during one of these attacks.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: The White offensive eventually pushed the insurgents back as far as Uman, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian People's Republic, where Makhno negotiated a temporary truce with Symon Petliura, in order for wounded insurgents to recuperate on neutral ground before launching a counteroffensive. During the Battle of Perehonivka, the tide of the battle turned in the insurgents' favor when Makhno led his "sotnia" in a flanking maneuver against the White positions, charging the much larger enemy force with sabres and fighting them in close quarters combat, which forced the Whites into a retreat. Makhno then led the pursuit of the retreating Whites, decisively routing the enemy forces, leaving only a few hundred survivors. The Makhnovists subsequently split up in order to capitalize on their victory and capture as much territory as possible, with Makhno himself leading his "sotnia" in the capture of Katerynoslav from the Whites on 20 October. With southern Ukraine being brought almost entirely under insurgent control, the White supply lines were broken and the advance on Moscow was halted. The insurgent advance also brought with it attacks against region's Mennonites, notably including the Eichenfeld massacre. While Mennonite historiography has held Makhno himself directly responsible for the massacres, as commander-in-chief of the perpetrating forces, and Makhnovist historiography has attributed the violence to class conflict, research by Sean Patterson has indicated that the attacks were the result of deeply-held resentments between the native Ukrainians and Mennonite colonists.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: 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". At a regional congress in Oleksandrivsk, Makhno presented the "Draft Declaration of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine", which called for the establishment of "free soviets" outside of political party control. Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionary Party delegates objected, believing instead in the legitimacy of the dissolved Constituent Assembly. Makhno denounced them as "counter-revolutionaries", causing them to walk out in protest. When he returned to Katerynoslav on 9 November, the local railway workers looked to Makhno to pay their wages, which they had gone without for two months. He responded by proposing the workers self-manage the railways and levy payment for their services directly from the customers. By December 1919, Makhnovist control of Katerynoslav began to slip under increasing attacks from the White Cossacks. On 5 December, Makhno survived an 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.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Renewed White attacks forced the Makhnovists to abandon Katerynoslav and retreat towards Oleksandrivsk and Nikopol. During this period, many of the insurgents were beset by epidemic typhus, with even Makhno himself contracting the disease. In January 1920, the Red Army returned to Ukraine, filling a power vacuum that had been left in the wake of the White retreat. Makhnovist and Red forces greeted each other in Oleksandrivsk. However, negotiations between the two sides collapsed when the Red command ordered Makhno to the Polish front. Makhno refused and the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee declared Makhno to be an outlaw. In response the Makhnovists fled to Huliaipole, initiating a nine-month period of hostilities with the Bolshevik. At this time, Makhno's typhus worsened and he slipped into prolonged coma, during which local peasants provided him refuge and hid him from the Cheka. Once recovered, Makhno immediately began to lead a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Cheka and requisitioning units.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Makhno also implemented a discriminatory policy for dealing with captured Red Army units: commanding officers and political commissars would be immediately shot, while 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. With the Makhnovists once again wreaking havoc on Bolshevik positions and with Red Army soldiers increasingly defecting to the insurgents, proposals for an alliance between the two factions began to be made.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: While initially skeptical of a proposed Bolshevik alliance in June, Makhno grew amenable and left the decision to his army, which narrowly voted in favor in August. The political agreement extended a number of freedoms to Ukrainian anarchists, while the military agreement again integrated the insurgents into the Red Army command structure. Despite the pact, 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 their political authority. Nevertheless, Makhno hoped that victory over the Whites would oblige the Bolsheviks to honor his desire for soviet democracy and civil liberties in Ukraine. He would later consider this to be a "grave error" on his part.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Under the terms of the pact, Makhno was finally able to seek treatment from the medical corps of the Red Army, with physicians and surgeons seeing to a wound in his ankle, where he had been hit by an expanding bullet. He was also visited by the Hungarian communist leader Béla Kun, who greeted him as "fighter of the worker and peasant revolution, comrade Batko Makhno" and gave him gifts, including over 100 photographs and postcards depicting the Executive Committee of the Communist International. On 22 October, the insurgents successfully reoccupied Huliaipole, driving the Whites out of the city for the final time. Back in his hometown, Makhno requested three days of rest and recuperation but this was rejected by the Bolshevik command, which ordered the insurgents to continue their offensive, under penalty of their alliance being nullified. The still-wounded Makhno stayed behind in Huliaipole anyway, along with his black guard, while dispatching Semen Karetnyk to lead the Makhnovist offensive against the Army of Wrangel. Makhno once again turned his attention towards reconstructing his vision of anarcho-communism, overseeing the reestablishment of the local soviet and a number of other anarchist projects.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Wrangel's defeat in Crimea by the combined Bolshevik-Makhnovist forces brought the Southern Front of the war to an end, allowing the Bolsheviks to once again turn on their anarchist allies. In late November 1920, the Red Army launched a surprise attack against the insurgent forces, putting the Makhnovist capital of Huliaipole under siege. Caught unprepared, Makhno rallied together 150 Black Guards to defend the town. After spotting a gap in the Red lines, he escaped with his detachment and led a counterattack that pushed the Red forces back to . His own forces regrouped and gained some defecting Red soldiers before recapturing Huliaipole a week later. The Red Army command justified the attacks against the Makhnovists on grounds that Makhno had refused orders and intended to betray them, though the Red Army had planned to break the alliance with the Makhnovists even prior to the beginning of the offensive against Wrangel's White Army.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: The following week in Kermenchyk, Makhno was finally reunited with Karetnyk's detachment, which had been reduced to a fifth of its original size and absent its commander, who had been assassinated by the Bolsheviks in Crimea. Despite direct orders from Vladimir Lenin for the Red Army to "liquidate Makhno", the insurgents led a guerrilla campaign in the face of their encirclement. On 3 December, Makhno led a detachment of 4,000 insurgents in an assault routing a Red Kirghiz brigade at . In the following weeks, he recaptured Berdiansk and Andriivka from the Bolsheviks, defeating a number of Red divisions before a stalemate with the remaining divisions at Fedorivka.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: 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, consequently splitting up his contingent into a number of smaller detachments and sending them in different directions. Taking his own 2,000-strong detachment north at a pace of 80 kilometers each day, he derailed a Bolshevik armored train at Oleksandrivsk, before pushing deep into the provinces of Kherson and Kyiv, all the while pursued by Red divisions.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Surrounded and under constant pursuit by the Red Cossacks, Makhno's detachment could only advance slowly under heavy machine gun fire and artillery bombardment. Makhno led his detachment to the Galician border, before suddenly swinging around and heading back across the Dnieper. Heading north from Poltava to Belgorod, 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. Following the outbreak of the Kronstadt rebellion, Makhno dispatched a number of his detachments to various regions of Southern and Central 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 a "tachanka", but still managed to personally lead the detachment from the front. After crossing back over to left-bank Ukraine, he split his detachment again, sending one to stir up revolt against the Cheka near the Sea 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. During one engagement, Makhno was wounded in the stomach and fell unconscious, having to be evacuated on a "tachanka". Upon his resuscitation, he again divided his forces and sent them out in all directions, leaving himself behind with only his black "sotnia" remaining.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Makhno was unable to withdraw from the front and tend to his injuries, as his "sotnia" repeatedly came under attack by the Red Army. During one engagement, a number of Makhnovists sacrificed themselves to ensure Makhno's escape. Towards the end of May, Makhno attempted to organize a large-scale offensive to take the Ukrainian Bolshevik capital of Kharkiv, pulling together thousands of partisans before he was forced to call it off due to comprehensive Red defenses. The Red Army command resolved to focus its efforts on Makhno's small 200-strong "sotnia", 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 his "sotnia" heavy losses and almost running them out of ammo, before they were finally able to shake the armored detachment off their trail.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Red Army commander Mikhail Frunze demanded the "definitive liquidation" of the Makhnovist movement in July 1921. Makhno continued to execute raids in the Don river basin despite having suffered several wounds. By August, those wounds convinced him to seek treatment abroad. Leaving Viktor Bilash in command of the Insurgent Army, Makhno, his wife Halyna Kuzmenko, and around 100 loyalists set out for the Polish border. Red Army attacks followed them; Makhno took a bullet in the neck and a number of his old friends died in battle in late August. When a scout was captured by the Reds, Makhno diverted his forces south towards Romania, however, after crossing the Dniester, Romanian border guards disarmed and interned Makhno's group. Makhno and his wife were eventually released from the Brașov internment camp and granted permission to stay in Bucharest under police surveillance while Makhno recovered from his wounds.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Bolshevik politicians Georgy Chicherin and Christian Rakovsky demanded Makhno's extradition, which the Romanian government of Take Ionescu refused. The two states had no extradition treaty and Romania had abolished capital punishment, so the Romanian government requested a formal assurance that the Ukrainian Soviet government would not sentence Makhno to death. Makhno came into contact with the exiled Ukrainian nationalists around Symon Petliura, themselves allies of both Romania and Poland. Makhno called for an alliance between the Makhnovists and the Petliurists, which he believed could together reignite an insurgency in Ukraine, but nothing resulted from the talks between the two factions.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: With Romania still caught up in the extradition demands, Makhno decided to make a break for Poland. He was caught at the border and shipped to a Polish Strzałkowo internment camp in April 1922. Makhno subsequently attempted to secure permission to move on to Czechoslovakia or Germany, but the Polish government refused. The Bolshevik government sent an agent provocateur to entrap Makhno and force his extradition by embroiling him in a plan to launch an insurgency in Galicia. Makhno and his wife were formally charged by the Polish authorities and for over a year held in pre-trial detention, where Halyna gave birth to their daughter in October. In prison, Makhno drafted his first memoir, which Peter Arshinov published in 1923 in his Berlin-based newspaper "Anarkhicheskii vestnik" (Russian: Анархический вестник; English: "Anarchist Messenger") . Makhno also sent open letters to exiled Don Cossacks and the Ukrainian Communist Party, and began to learn German and Esperanto. His tuberculosis relapsed under the prison's conditions.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Makhno received support from the European anarchist movement. Polish and Bulgarian anarchists even threatened violence in the event of Makhno's extradition. At their five-day trial in November 1923, Makhno and Halyna were acquitted on all charges and given residence permits for Poznań. The following month he and his family moved to Toruń, where he was under close police surveillance and arrested and interrogated a number of times in the wake of Vladimir Lenin's death. 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.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: In July 1924, Makhno and his family were allowed to move to the Free City of Danzig. 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 comrades helped him escape the hospital and, after a time in hiding, clandestinely leave for Berlin. With Volin acting as his interpreter, Makhno met with a number of prominent anarchists that were also living in the city such as Rudolf Rocker and . He finally moved to Paris in April 1925.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: 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." He was reunited with his wife and daughter in the city, where French anarchists like May Picqueray provided the family with lodging and healthcare. Makhno found work at a local foundry and a Renault factory, but was forced to leave both jobs due to his health problems. A bullet wound in his right ankle threatened amputation. His health care was overseen by the anarcha-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. Between his debilitating illness, homesickness and a strong language barrier, Makhno fell into a deep depression. According to Alexander 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."


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Makhno undertook to write his "Memoirs", which sold poorly. He also collaborated with exiled Russian anarchists to establish the bimonthly libertarian communist journal "Delo Truda" (, ), 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 who he considered to be "armchair theoreticians". The theoretical developments of the journal eventually culminated in the publication of the "Organizational Platform of the Libertarian Communists", 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. The "Platform" attracted criticism from the synthesists, such as Volin, who regarded it as a Bolshevization of anarchism. A March 1927 meeting to discuss the "Platform" in L'Haÿ-les-Roses attracted anarchists from Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, and China. When the meeting was raided by police, Makhno was arrested and threatened with deportation, but he was defended by Louis Lecoin and Henri Sellier, who secured his continued stay in France.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: During this period, he often met with anarchist friends in cafes and restaurants, reminiscing over a bottle of wine about the "good old days" in Ukraine, one time even celebrating the fall from power of his old rival Leon Trotsky and hoping that the fall of Joseph Stalin would soon follow. In June 1926, during a meal with Alexander Berkman and May Picqueray in a Russian restaurant, Makhno met with the Ukrainian Jewish anarchist Sholem Schwarzbard, who went pale upon seeing the Ukrainian nationalist leader Symon Petliura walk into the room. Schwarzbard immediately informed the "Batko" of his intentions to assassinate Petliura, in revenge for the pogroms carried out in the Ukrainian People's Republic, during which some of his family members had been killed. Makhno attempted to dissuade him but the deed was carried out anyway, with Schwarzbard's subsequent trial bringing to light a trove of documentary evidence on the pogroms in Ukraine, exonerating the assassin.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Around this time, rumors began to circulate about Makhno's own relationship to antisemitism, resulting in public debates on the matter. Citing stories of Makhno told by White émigrés, Joseph Kessel published a novel that portrayed a fictionalized version of Makhno as an Orthodox Christian and antisemite, an accusation which Makhno categorically denied. Makhno defended himself by speaking up about the pogroms in Ukraine: in "To the Jews of all Countries", published in "Delo 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, an assertion that was backed up by Russian and Ukrainian Jews in attendance. During his time in Ukraine, Makhno had condemned and severely punished cases of antisemitism within the Makhnovist ranks, 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. According to Volin, investigations by the Jewish historian Elias Tcherikower had found no evidence of Makhno himself having perpetrated antisemitic violence. Allegations of antisemitism were later also disputed by historians and some of Makhno's biographers, including Paul Avrich, Peter Kenez, Michael Malet and Alexandre Skirda.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: By this time, Makhno was succumbing to physical and mental illness. His relationships with fellow Ukrainian exiles deteriorated. His wife grew to resent him, causing the couple to separate on multiple occasions, with Halyna even unsuccessfully attempting to apply for permission to return to Soviet Ukraine. Over the editing of his memoirs, Makhno quarreled with Ida Mett, who quit out of frustration with Makhno's "indecipherable and meandering manuscripts". He also came into a serious personal and political conflict with Volin, which would last until their deaths, resulting in the later volumes of Makhno's memoirs only being published posthumously. As gossip spread about Makhno, he became increasingly defensive against any criticisms of himself, no matter how minor. In the pages of "Delo Truda", he published categorical denials of anything from allegations of antisemitism to whether the Makhnovists had used a flag that carried a skull and crossbones.


title: Nestor Makhno

text: Alienated from many of the Russian and French anarchists in Paris, Makhno turned his attention towards Spain. Following the release of Spanish anarchists from prison, Makhno met with Francisco Ascaso and Buenaventura Durruti in July 1927. The Spaniards expressed their admiration for Makhno, who himself displayed a sense of optimism about the Spanish anarchist movement and foretold of a coming anarchist 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.