page_title: Makhnovia
section_title: Anarchism and the ideas of social reorganization
hierarchical_section_title: Makhnovia / History / Anarchism and the ideas of social reorganization
caption_attribution_description: Peter Kropotkin circa 1900
context_page_description: Makhnovia, also known as the Free Territory, resulted from an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917 to 1921. It existed from 1918 to 1921, during which time "free soviets" and libertarian communes operated under the protection of Nestor Makhno's Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army. The area had a population of around seven million.
  Makhnovia was established with the capture of Huliaipole by Makhno's forces on 27 November 1918. An Insurrectionary Staff was set up in the city, which became the territory's de facto capital. Russian forces of the White movement under Anton Denikin occupied part of the region and formed a temporary government of Southern Russia in March 1920, resulting in the de facto capital being momentarily moved to Katerynoslav. In late March 1920, Denikin's forces retreated from the area, being driven out by the Red Army in cooperation with Makhno's forces, whose units conducted guerrilla warfare behind Denikin's lines. Makhnovia was disestablished on 28 August 1921 when a badly-wounded Makhno and 77 of his men escaped through Romania after several high-ranking officials were executed by Bolshevik forces.
context_section_description: Makhno, who called himself "an anarcho-communist of the Bakunin-Kropotkin school", addressing like-minded people in an early July 1918 letter, urged them:
  “Together we will destroy the slave system in order to bring ourselves and our comrades onto the path of the new system. We organize it on the basis of a free society, the content of which will allow the entire population, not exploiting the labor of others, to build their entire social and social life in their own communities, completely freely and independently of the state and its officials, even the Reds... Long live our peasants' and workers' union! Long live our auxiliary forces - an selfless intelligentsia of labor! Long live the Ukrainian social revolution! Yours, Nestor Ivanovich.
  A number of guerrilla unit commanders who arose in the Huliaipole district, in the summer of 1918, were also supporters of anarchism. At the beginning of 1919, the influence of anarchism on the rebel army of Makhno continued to grow due to the constant influx of ideological supporters of anarchy. These people enjoyed special privileges with Makhno, held leading positions in the rebel movement, contributed to the development of the Bat'ko’s views and behavior, and exalted him as a “people's leader”, “a great anarchist”, and “second Bakunin”. Anarchist ideas predetermined the development of Makhnovism, which inevitably led it to conflict with Soviet power. In February - March 1919, Makhno invited the anarchist Pyotr Arshinov, with whom he served prison time in the same cell of the Butyrka prison, to join the Ukrainian rebellion and organize an anarchist newspaper for the rebels and workers and peasants. Arshinov arrived in April in Huliaipole, was elected chairman of the cultural and educational department of the Military Revolutionary Council, and editor of the newspaper “The Way to Freedom”; since the spring of 1919 he became one of the main ideologists of the Makhnovist movement.
caption: Peter Kropotkin, the anarcho-communist theorist who lay the groundwork for the organization of Makhnovia
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