The Black Guards

[Phalanx]

I'm trying to find more info on the Black Guards other than Wikipedia, but I haven't found much. Preferably I'd have book suggestions, but internet sources is ok too.

For anyone who doesn't know who they are, check out the wikipedia article:

Wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Guards)

[Fawkes]

I searched a lot of places but all I could find was the Wiki source, sorry.

[Forward Union]

There is a lot of infomation on the Makhnovist Anarchist "Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine" or 'black army' in the Makhno archive (http://www.nestormakhno.info)

That image of the two men golding the Black banner is fairly contraversial. I'm not sure what it translates to ( though there is a reproduced version here (http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/6749/makhnoxv2.png) ) but it is believed that those individuals were mistaken for Makhnovist Anarchists, and may actually have been from a group of anarchists who were mislead into fighting for the capitalists by White army propaganda, claiming that Makhno had alligned with the whites against the Bolsheviks. This is of course, not true. The White army did send delegates to Makhno seeking an alliance against the Bolsheviks, and they were promptly executed.

The maknovists were famous for their use of the Tachanka (http://www.koza.kiev.ua/img/tachanka.jpg) (a machine gun mounted on the back of a tatchanka) and manuverability. Most of their equiptment was stoled from the austro-german forces who the anarchists fought against and defeated, and a temporary alliance with the bolsheviks which saw them 3000 carcano rifles. Though they were a vast proletarian/pesant revolutionary force in the Ukraine, and not mainland Russia. It seems that article is confusing Russian Anarchist groups like "черный флаг" (The black flag) with the Makhnovist black army.

Here is the full Makhnovist declaration.


1. All decrees of the Denikin Army are hereby abolished, those decrees of the Communist authorities which conflict with interestes of the peasants and workers are likewise abolished.

2. The land of the gentry, the church and other enemies of the toilers with all its livestock and equipment must be transferred to the peasants, who will live on it only by their own labour. The transfer will take place in an organized manner, according to the decisions of peasant assemblies, which must take into acount not only their own local interests but also the common interests of the whole oppressed labouring peasantry.

3. The factories, workshops, mines and other means of production are to become the possession of the working class as a whole, which through its trade unions will tkae all enterprises in ints own hands, resume production, and strive to link together the industry of the whole country in a single united organization.

4. It is proposed that all organizations of workers and peasants begin to create free workers' and peasants' soviets. These soviets must consist only of toilers engages in some form of labour that is necessary for the national economy. Representatives of political organizations have no place in workers' and peasants' soviets, for their participation will transform the latter into soviets of party deputies, which can only bring about the demise of the soviet order.

5. The existence of Chekas, party committees or similar ocercive, authoritarian and disciplinarian institutions is impermissible among pesants and workers.

6. Freedom of speech, press, assembly, trade unions, and the like is an inalienable right of every worker, and any limitation of this right represents a counter-revolutionary act.

7. State militias, plice and armies are heeby abolished. In their place the people will organize their own self-defence units of the workers and peasants, and the individual peasant and worker must not allow any counter-revolutionary manifestations by the bourgeoisie or military officers. Nor must they allow the emergence of banditry. Anyone convicted of counter-revolutionary acts or of banditry will be shot on the spot.

8. Soviet and ukrainian money must be accepted along with all other kinds of money. Violators of this rule will be subject to revolutionary punishment.

9. The exchange of goods and products, until taken over by workers' and peasants' organizations, will remain free. But at the same time it is proposed that the exchange of products take place for the most part between toilers.

10. All individuals who attempt to hinder the distribution of this declaration will be regarded as counter-revolutionaries.

MILITARY REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL AND COMMAND STAFF OF THE REVOLUTIONARY INSURGENT ARMY OF THE UKRAINE (MAKHNOVISTS)