Still working to recover. Please don't edit quite yet.

Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine

From Anarchopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

The Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine (RIAU), sometimes translated as the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, and also known as the Black Army, was an anarchist army led by Nestor Makhno during the Russian Civil War. It was formed after the Bolshevik government signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ceding Ukraine to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which then occupied Ukraine under General Anton Denikin.

In mid-1919 the RIAU had a strength of approximately 15,000 men organized into 1 cavalry and 4 infantry Brigades, a machine gun regiment with 5000 guns, and an artillery detachment. At its peak in December 1919 it had nearly 83,000 infantry, 20,135 cavalry, 1,435 machine guns, 118 guns, 7 armored trains and some armored cars.[1] It was organized into 4 Corps and the strategic reserve. Each Corps had 1 infantry and 1 cavalry Brigade; each Brigade had 3-4 Regiments of the appropriate type.[2] It won numerous victories against Denikin's forces against considerable odds, employing guerrilla tactics to take advantage of its members' superior knowledge of the Ukrainian country-side. Here Makhno played a key role, for which he has been described as "master of tactics" who "displayed great skill in the techniques of guerrilla warfare: the ability to work without a fixed base, the ability to retreat as well as advance, and strategems of various kinds".[3]

When the RIAU liberated a town or village, they posted notices to the local population stating: "This army does not serve any political party, any power, any dictatorship. On the contrary, it seeks to free the region of all political power, of all dictatorship. It strives to protect the freedom of action, the free life of the workers against all exploitation and domination. The Makhno Army does not therefore represent any authority. It will not subject anyone to any obligations whatsoever. Its role is confined to defending the freedom of the workers. The freedom of the peasants and the workers belongs to themselves, and should not suffer any restriction".[4] It took an active stand against the anti-Semitic pogroms then common in Ukraine.[5]

Commanders[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Belash, Victor & Belash, Aleksandr, Dorogi Nestora Makhno, p. 340
  2. ↑ Belash, Victor & Belash, Aleksandr, Dorogi Nestora Makhno, pp. 333 & 340
  3. ↑ Malet, quoted in Joe Licentia, Russia: Revolution, Counter-Revolution - An Anarcho-Communist Analysis (Johannesburg: Zabalaza Books), p. 37.
  4. ↑ Quoted in Licentia, Russia: Revolution, Counter-Revolution, p. 39.
  5. ↑ Licentia, Russia: Revolution, Counter-Revolution, pp. 38.
Retrieved from "http://eng.anarchopedia.org/index.php?title=Revolutionary_Insurrectionary_Army_of_Ukraine&oldid=55807"