48 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
48 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
**Nestor Ivanovich Makhno** or '''Bat'ko '''(1889 - 1934) was an
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[anarcho-communist](Anarcho-Communism "wikilink") revolutionary,
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commander of the [Black
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Army](Revolutionary_Insurrectionary_Army_of_Ukraine "wikilink") (and
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considered a military genius) during the [Russian Civil
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War](Russian_Civil_War "wikilink") (which defended the [Free Territory
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of Ukraine](Free_Territory_of_Ukraine "wikilink")) and one of the
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ideological founders of [Platformism](Platformism "wikilink").
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## Born
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### Childhood
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Born to a poor [peasant](Peasants "wikilink") family in Gulyai-Polye to
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a family of six boys, his father died before he turned a year old. He
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began working [tending cows and sheep](Agriculture "wikilink") for the
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local peasantry, later working as a farm laborer and in a
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[factory](factory "wikilink").
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### Imprisonment
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In 1906, a year after the failed [Russian
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Revolution](Russian_Revolution_\(1905\) "wikilink"), he joined an
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anarchist group in Gulyai-Polye at age 17, and was arrested and
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imprisoned to years later for involvement around the murder of a police
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officer. He was originally sentenced to death, but was instead changed
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to life in [prison](prison "wikilink") in Butyrki prison in Moscow
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because of his youth. He hated life in prison and was unable to accept
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the strict discipline, leading to him frequently being placed in
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solidarity confinement and tortured. But he shared a prison cell with
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the older anarchist [Peter Arshinov](Peter_Arshinov "wikilink") who
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taught him about [Bakunin](Mikhail_Bakunin "wikilink") and
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[Kropotkin](Peter_Kropotkin "wikilink"). He was released from prison in
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1917, as the [February
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Revolution](February_Revolution_\(Russia\) "wikilink") gave amnesty to
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political prisoners.
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### Return
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He returned to his native village and helped organize a [trade
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union](Trade_Union "wikilink") for farm laborers. He was also elected
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chairman of the local union of carpenters and metalworkers and the
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Gulyai-Polye [Soviet of Workers' and Peasants'
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Deputies](Soviets "wikilink"). He recruited several armed peasants and
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began forcefully expropriating land from the wealthy in the area and
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redistributing it to the peasantry, making him a hero, compared to
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[Stenka Razin](Stenka_Razin "wikilink") and [Yemelyan
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Pugachev](Yemelyan_Pugachev "wikilink"). |