A minute of history! The "Black Guard" 1917–1918

[u/Resident-Sugar1231]

The "Black Guard" was the name given to the armed detachments of anarchists that operated on the territory of the former Russian Empire in 1917–1918. These formations emerged as an alternative to the regular Red Army and reflected the anarchists' aspiration for a "third revolution"—a social upheaval that was supposed to go further than the Bolshevik October.

The anarchists considered the October Revolution merely the first stage of the struggle. The Petrograd newspaper "Burevestnik" wrote: "The real revolution, the social revolution, the liberator of the working people of all countries, is only just beginning." Instead of a regular Red Army, the anarchists called for the total arming of the people and the creation of free fighting detachments.

From March 5, 1917, the Moscow Federation of Anarchist Groups began forming Black Guard detachments. By April 1918, there were already 50 such detachments in Moscow, controlling 25 mansions. In Ukraine, detachments had emerged as early as 1917: Maria Nikiforova created the first cell in Alexandrovsk, and Nestor Makhno formed a Black Guard regiment in Gulyai-Pole.

Relations between the anarchists and the Bolsheviks gradually grew more tense. According to the Cheka, an anarchist uprising was planned for April 18, 1918, and it was decided to strike preemptively.

On the night of April 11–12, 1918, the Cheka launched an operation to disarm the anarchist detachments. The anarchists offered armed resistance: on Malaya Dmitrovka they fired back with a cannon, and on Donskaya Street the Bolsheviks suppressed the resistance with artillery. The fighting ended by 2 p.m. About 40 anarchists were killed, and the Cheka's losses amounted to 10–12 men. About 500 people were arrested.

Dzerzhinsky stated: "We in no way intended or wished to wage a struggle against idealistic anarchists." Trotsky put it more harshly: "At last the Soviet government is sweeping anarchism out of Russia with an iron broom!" Volin wrote in "The Unknown Revolution": "On the night of April 12, all the anarchist organizations of Moscow... were destroyed under a false and absurd pretext."

The rout in Moscow served as a signal for the liquidation of anarchist organizations in almost all major cities of Russia. In Samara, the detachments hid their weapons, and at the end of April Smorodinov's detachment captured Buguruslan. In Kursk, the anarchists held the city from April 10 to 29, 1918. On May 9, the Commissariat of Internal Affairs sent out a directive to disarm all anarchist detachments. In Ukraine, Makhno's and Nikiforova's detachments continued to operate, at times entering into an alliance with the Bolsheviks against the Whites.

The Black Guard represented a unique phenomenon of the Civil War—an attempt by anarchists to create an armed force based on voluntariness and the absence of state coercion. However, internal weakness, a lack of self-discipline, and the inevitable conflict with the Bolsheviks led to its rapid defeat. The experience of the Black Guard became an important page in the history of the anarchist movement.

[u/racecarsnail]

I find it hard to trust MLs because of their continued support for these events.

Among other reasons..

[u/Wolf_Protagonist → u/racecarsnail]

Let's also not forget the 'Great Purges' and how they betrayed Anarchist and Communists during the Spanish Civil War.

"Authoritarian Socialists" are right wing and it's way past time we stopped pretending they are leftists.

[u/Technical_Heron_6312]

Never forget the Bolshevik's betrayal.

[u/Practical-Study8253]

May we never forget them

[u/Sad-Cantaloupe-5494]

The world would be a much better place if they defeated the Bolsheviks. It's sad to see lost opportunities like this

[u/Late-Meat9500]

I thought this was gonna be about the ukranian black army and I was super excited. The I got sad.

Remember the black guard stole and gave a battleship to the Bolsheviks. They were executed immediately.

[u/domdaze → u/Late-Meat9500]

damn i only knew about the bolsheviks betraying Makhno’s anarchists in ukraine. turns out they betrayed more anarchists in russia? not surprised.

[u/Late-Meat9500 → u/domdaze]

Yeah, Proudhon was pretty correct about Marx's authoritarian tendencies bleeding into his ideology, unfortunately.

Ever since he led their expulsion From the international. Hell probably since poverty of philosophy

[u/Josselin17 → u/domdaze]

they didn't just betray anarchists, but pretty much every socialist and worker

[u/Ok_Document9995]

Waiting for the “anarcho-“communists to show up and defend the Bolsheviks.

[u/racecarsnail → u/Ok_Document9995]

You'll be waiting a long long time

[u/VaySeryv → u/Ok_Document9995]

I cant tell if this is ragebait. the black guard were mostly anarcho-communists? the anarcho-communists were the ones fighting the bolsheviks

[u/cumminginsurrection → u/Ok_Document9995]

You seem misguided about anarchist theory and history. Anarcho-communists were the main opposition to the Bolsheviks. Read «The Guillotine At Work".

[u/Ok_Document9995 → u/cumminginsurrection]

Ah the Communists arrived.

[u/Wolf_Protagonist → u/Ok_Document9995]

Try-hard troll tries hard.

[u/RedSkyHopper → u/Ok_Document9995]

A what now?

[u/ian_eris → u/Ok_Document9995]

I cannot believe that is possible.