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Reviewer: UnknownVolin ( talk · contribs) 21:38, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
I will be providing my review comments for good article status of the Nestor Makhno article here.
UnknownVolin (
talk) 21:38, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst @ Czar Thank you again for asking me to review the Nestor Makhno article. I believe it can be raised to GA standards but it will require a fair amount of careful editing and revision. Below are my preliminary statements regarding each of the six GA criteria. This assessment will be followed up with detailed comments and suggestions for each section of the article.
1. Well-written
- The article broadly meets this criteria. There are some grammatical errors and minor stylistic issues that should be fixed.
2. Verifiable with no original research
- The article provides a clear list of all sources used. The article contains no original research and no apparent copyright violations.
- The article mainly uses reliable sources and is on the whole verifiable. However, some sentences that could be challenged are missing citations.
- The biggest issue with sources is the heavy reliance on Alexandre Skirda's Nestor Makhno: Anarchy's Cossack. In my opinion, Skirda's work is highly biased and badly sourced with numerous errors and questionable claims. Some of the latter have slipped into the Wikipedia article due to its reliance on Skirda. Specific examples will be provided later. While Skirda is knowledgeable in the topic, he is neither a professional historian nor are his works peer-reviewed.
3. Broad in its coverage
- The article is sufficiently broad in its scope and stays focused. In some minor instances unnecessary detail is provided.
- The article should address controversies around Makhno's person in more detail (see next point).
4. Neutral
- The article is generally neutral but on specific issues does not fully meet this criteria.
- Specifically commentary related to Makhnovist violence against German/Mennonite colonists and Jews should be reworked in a more neutral way, incorporating sources that are do not have an explicit pro-Makhnovist bias (more commentary will be given later). Given the importance of these topics to both Makhno himself and contemporary scholars, I suggest creating a section that presents the controversy/debate focused on historiographical interpretation. Since this is the Nestor Makhno article, this section could be framed around Makhno's personal views on and history with German colonists and Jews.
5. Stable
- The article is stable and is not currently suffering from any edit wars or disputes.
6. Illustrated
- The article is well-illustrated by relevant and properly tagged media.
UnknownVolin ( talk) 22:48, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
My goal in the following sections is to comment on all possible issues in order to improve the article to the greatest extent possible. All factual errors and any question of bias should be corrected to reach GA standards, other commentary should be considered suggestions for improvement.
1. Olena Makhno
- This is an ahistorical Ukrainian variant. Elena did not speak Ukrainian. Her main language growing up was French, and to a lesser extent Russian. She did not use Makhno as her last name. The full Cyrillic name used in Soviet documents and on her gravestone is Elena Nestorovna Mikhnenko. The name on her German passport and in French documents is Helene Miknienko. She also sometimes signed her name Ellen Miknenko and was informally known as Lucie. I suggest using Elena Nestorovna Mikhnenko.
2. Ataman Makhno
- I do not believe Makhno or his movement used this term. For example, neither Arshinov nor Volin use it in their histories, although they refer to "Ataman Grigoriev." However, outsiders, such as enemies and the media, did refer to "Ataman Makhno." Something to consider but not a necessary change. Also the Ukrainian spelling of ataman is otaman.
3. Nationality
- Ethnicity is the more accurate term here. Ukraine as a nation-state didn’t exist in 1888. Makhno was formally born a subject of the Russian Imperial Empire. He self-identified as ethnically Ukrainian.
4. Makhno's Parents
Father: Ivan Rodionovych Mikhnenko (Makhno), 1846-1889
Mother: Evdokiia Matveevna Mikhnenko (née Perederyi)
- Makhno's father was born Mikhnenko but used Makhno.
- "Makhnovka" is very suspicious even as a nickname. The name Makhno (like Mikhnenko) doesn't change between male and female forms. Peters is the only source for this claim and provides no citation. Peters's commentary on the name "Nestor" is pure conjecture and probably doesn't belong in an encyclopedic entry, even in a footnote.
5. Bat'ko
- The link should not go to the English term for father. While bat’ko means father, it also has connotations not found in English. For example, it was a common title of respect. In his memoirs, Makhno refers to a respected work supervisor as "Bat'ko". Bat’ko was also historically used as an honorific title to refer to Cossack leaders, the Tsar, and local Civil War Ukrainian military leaders. The term could be linked to the wiktionary for батько.
- I am uncomfortable with the translation “little father” as indicated by Skirda in the footnote. Bat'ko means “father” in Ukrainian. A diminutive form would be more like батя, батечко or батенька. I think Skirda (and others) are trying to capture the honorific aspect but it is a bit clumsy. Bat'ko as a term of respect can't really be properly translated to English. But "little father" is used in various sources, so I leave it up to the editors whether to make reference to Skirda's commentary.
6. “commander of the RIAU from 1917-1921"
- The term "Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine" was not adopted until September 1, 1919 (Source: Belash, 300-301)
7. Use of term “Russian Civil War”
- The question of what to call the Civil War is controversial in today’s scholarship. I suggest in the context of Makhno it is best to use the term Ukrainian Civil War.
- When referring to the Civil War as a noun, it should always be capitalized.
8. “Makhno and the movement’s leadership were anarcho-communists …”
- The majority certainly were but the leadership included Left SRs and others at various times. For example, Ivan Chernoknizhny (listed in the info box) was a Left SR.
- To clarify, you can simply write, "Makhno and the majority of the movement's leadership were anarcho-communists ..."
9. “credited as inventor of the tachanka”
- It is true that Makhno is often credited as the inventor but is likely not historically accurate.
The main point is that Makhno perfected the use of the tachanka by creating a separate mobile unit composed of hundreds of tachanka that could mow down opponents en masse.
- Malet writes “Makhno could be described as the inventor of the motorised division” but admits the “origins of the ‘tachanka’ are not clear.” (Malet, 85) Malet’s claim that Makhno was its originator is not backed up by any documentary evidence.
- The Russian wiki for tachanka talks about machine-guns mounted on carriages prior to the Civil War. The article provides a pre-Revolutionary picture and cites a 1909 Russian Army document that discusses mounting machine-guns on light carriages.
- I will leave it up to the editors how to deal with the tachanka question. I suggest either adding a clarifying footnote or changing the text to emphasize Makhno's innovation rather than invention of the tachanka.
UnknownVolin (
talk) 08:53, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
1) Ivan Mikhnenko
- Ivan's background could be expanded on. Ivan was from the village Shahariv, just north of Huliaipole. Both Ivan and Evdokiia were serfs of a local estate owner named Shabels'kyi. After emancipation, Ivan continued working for Shabels'skyi as a stablekeeper. At some point, he adopted the last name Makhno, which was passed on to Nestor. By the time Nestor was born, Ivan had left Shabels'kyi and was working as a coachman for a local Jewish industrialist named B. Kerner, who owned a factory in Huliaipole. (Sources: Palij, Chp. 6; Makhno, "My Autobiography" in Young Rebels Against the Empire)
2) Unneccesary detail?
- Is the near drowning incident important enough to include? What is the source that it triggered his breathing problems?
3) "went to work on a kulak estate"
- Makhno specifies in his memoirs this was the Janzen estate, also known as Silberfeld. (Sources: Makhno, "My Autobiography"; Patterson, Makhno and Memory)
4) "gifted student"
- what is the source for this? I doubt his student records have survived. If a primary source suggests he was gifted, I suggest writing "According to X, Makhno was a gifted student."
5) “Nestor's aversion to the landlords only increased over time, nurtured by stories his mother told him of her time in serfdom and tales of the Zaporozhian Cossacks.”
- The link made here is dubious. In his memoirs, Makhno says his mother told him stories about Cossacks but not in the context of his distaste for landlords.
6) “He quickly alerted an older stable boy "Batko Ivan”
- Ivan was not an older boy but a full grown man.
7) “led a wildcat strike action”
- This is an anachronistic use of the term wildcat since all strikes at this time were wildcat strikes. Unions were illegal but in this case there was no union, it was a spontaneous workers’ uprising
8) “Found a job in a foundry.”
- This was the Krieger factory, built by Jakob Krieger (sometimes spelled Kroeger) in 1882 and later operated by his sons Jakob and Wilhelm. It was an agricultural machinery factory. In 1915 its ownership was transferred to a joint-stock company and became the “Bogatyr” factory. (Source: Vladimir Shak, Neizvestnyi Nestor Makhno)
9) Makhno's brothers
The names of Makhno’s brothers should be given somewhere in this section. I don't know whether they themselves used Ukrainian or Russian spellings but if unknown I suggest using Ukrainian variants: Polikarp, Sava, Omelian, and Hryhorii.
10) “which began his life-long distaste for alcohol, according to Alexandre Skirda. ”
- This is highly suspect. Makhno did drink alcohol, sometimes excessively. Both Volin and Halyna Kuzmenko documents some nasty scenes. He probably wasn’t an alcoholic as the Soviets sometimes claimed but neither was he a teetotaler. This is more an opinion of Skirda's than a fact.
UnknownVolin ( talk) 07:22, 31 August 2022 (UTC)
1. 17 year old Makhno in the 1905 Revolution
- A pedantic correction: Makhno turned 17 in November, 1905. The Revolution broke out in January. So he was 16 when it started.
2. “dozen-strong Union”
- The group had 69 identified members and many more sympathizers (Source: Intro to Young Rebels Against the Empire)
3. “campaign of " Black Terror" against the Tsarist autocracy”
- True in a broad sense but more accurately in this context it was aimed against wealthy local landowners and the police.
4. “ expropriated from local businessmen.”
- Grammar: "expropriated local businessmen", no "from". You could add "..., and set fire to local estates."
5. Makhno “Ukrainian Social Democratic Labor Party”
- I suspect this is incorrect. The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party was also active in Ukraine. It is reported Makhno fell in with the Mensheviks, which was exclusively a faction of the RSDLP.
6. "When the Stolypin reform abolished community assemblies ( obshchina), the landowning peasant kulaks grew even wealthier, leading the group to begin setting fire to the property of wealthy landowners."
- This is misleading. The reforms did not abolish the peasant obshchina/mir. They allowed and encouraged peasants to leave the mir and become independent homesteaders. These peasants could claim their communal land allotment as a consolidated piece of land. The reforms had mixed results. By 1916, only 20% of peasants claimed title to their land, and only 10% had actually received their consolidated plots (Source: Encyclopedia Britannica). The remaining peasants and land continued within the traditional obshchina and its regional variants.
- However, in his memoirs Makhno wrote that the reforms “eliminated communal property in land.” He was wrong in this regard. It eliminated the mir’s monopoly over peasant held land but not communal tenure, which continued to be how the majority of peasants held their land.
- I could go on much more about this topic but I think it can be resolved by writing something like, “Stolypin’s 1906 agrarian reforms sought to disempower the traditional peasant commune (obshchina/mir) through the creation of a rural private land-owning class. Peasants were allowed to detach their land allotments from the commune and establish independent khutors (homesteads). In the wake of these reforms, the Union of Poor Peasants initiated their campaign of ‘Black Terror’ against these newly-formed khutors as well as the region's large estates.”
7. “This new group quickly found themselves infiltrated. Two spies were executed and the Okhrana broke up one of the study group's meetings."
- From Makhno’s memoirs it doesn’t seem like he is speaking about the new reading group being infiltrated but the Union of Poor Peasants itself. They held an underground conference which was attended by all the old membership. In this context, Makhno mentions the group suspected two members of being spies. He says they killed one, not two, on June 2, 1908. Skirda says they killed two spies. I don't know where he got this information from as he doesn't offer a source.
8. “The group plotted to execute the provincial governor in retaliation, but their attempts failed and Makhno was arrested following another shootout”
- Makhno discusses an aborted plan to assassinate the governor, however this was not the incident that led to Makhno’s arrest. After they dropped the assassination plan they decided to blow up the local secret police station. He mentions a brief shootout the night of August 24 when he and a couple Union members were stopped by Cossacks, but they escaped. On August 26, several hours before the planned bombing, Makhno was arrested. No shootout during his arrest.
- Skirda’s paraphrase of Makhno’s memoirs make it seem like the above events occurred in immediate succession.
- I suggest rephrasing to something like, "The group plotted to the bomb the local secret police station but the Huliaipole police thwarted their efforts, leading to Makhno's arrest." UnknownVolin ( talk) 06:08, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
1. “Makhno's sentence was commuted to a life sentence of hard labor, due in part to his young age.”
- The latest research (from Ivan Kushnirenko) suggests the commutation was due entirely to his age.
2. “Makhno met the anarcho-communist politician Peter Arshinov, who took the young anarchist under his wing as a student.”
- There is some debate around whether Arshinov and Makhno had a teacher-student type relationship. Not critical but the sentence could be phrased more neutrally: i.e. "Makhno met Arshinov, whom he greatly respected as a thinker and activist and developed a close long-term friendship with."
3. “Makhno vowing that he would "contribute to the free re-birth of his country".”
- Add source of this quote. Is it primary or something somone alleged Makhno said? If so, I suggest writing "according to X, Makhno vowed ..." I could be incorrect but the phrasing sounds a bit nationalistic for Makhno.
4. “Although influenced by the ideas of Ukrainian nationalism …”
- What is the evidence for this?
- Makhno describes how he and fellow inmates discussed Ukrainian issues, read Vynnychenko’s Khachu and Gogol’s Taras Bulba, but stated that “My convictions forced me to distance myself from separatist tendencies and did not allow me to give in to the temptation of contemplating an independent state, despite the sense of kinship I felt towards my Ukrainian prisoner comrades.”
- Makhno was exposed to Ukrainian nationalism but influenced by is a step too far in my opinion, given his lifelong opposition to ideological nationalism.
5. “he was finally convinced to return to Huliaipole by his family”
- A very minor point but Makhno writes he was convinced to return by "my mother and my comrades from the old anarcho-communist group in Huliaipole."
UnknownVolin (
talk) 06:58, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst
1. “Makhno proposed that libertarians take the role of a revolutionary vanguard in order to ignite mass action among the peasantry …”
- I don't think “revolutionary vanguard” the correct term here especially given the link redirects to an article about Leninist vanguardism? Makhno’s entire career was dedicated to rejecting this type of vanguardism.
- I suggest not using the term "revolutionary vanguard" because of its Marxist-Leninist connotations.
2. “disorganization among the wider Ukrainian anarchist movement”
- I suggest clarifying that M.'s critique was aimed at anarchists in general across the entire former Russian Empire.
3. “organized communes on former Mennonite settlements.”
- Change settlements to estates. The settlements or colonies were not seized.
4. “After dispatching his brother Savely to Oleksandrivsk at the head of an armed anarchist detachment, Makhno was brought onto the local revolutionary tribunal, from which he oversaw the prosecution of counterrevolutionary army officers, even placing the man who had prosecuted him in the same cell that he had been imprisoned in a decade earlier. Makhno also oversaw the release of still imprisoned workers and peasants, defended Huliaipole successfully against a Don Cossack raid, and expropriated from a bank to fund the local soviet.”
- I apologize if I get too detailed here but I think this paragraph should be rewritten for more context and accuracy. Specific to Oleksandrivsk, context needs to be given that Savelii Makhno’s detachment was sent to help the Left Bloc (Bolsheviks and Left SRs) retake the city from Ukrainian People's Army forces. January 11, 1918 Makhno’s detachment set off for Oleksandrivsk. Soviet power was restored in three days.
- Makhno was not appointed to a formal “revolutionary tribunal.” The latter were bodies of the Cheka which the wikilink goes to. This should be removed. Makhno was chosen as the anarchists’ representative to the Oleksandrivsk Revolutionary Committee. He was also appointed to a seven-member “Front-Line Military Revolutionary Commission” attached to a Red Guard unit, and elected chairman of this Commission. If you don't want to mention these details you can just write "commission" instead of "tribunal" with no wikilink.
- The Commission’s responsibility was to assess the cases of military prisoners (not just army officers).
- Makhno was part of Oleksandrivsk’s defence (not Huliaipole) against an attack by the Don and Kuban Cossacks. They were en route back to their homelands. After being beaten off by the city’s revolutionaries, the Cossacks agreed to be disarmed and negotiated safe passage through Oleksandrivsk.
- The bank expropriation occurred in Huliaipole after M.’s return from Oleksandrivsk. The funds were confiscated by the Huliaipole District Revolutionary Committee (not the Soviet). UnknownVolin ( talk) 07:51, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
1. “Following the 1918 Central Powers intervention in Ukraine …”
- This is a very convoluted period of time. I think it would help the reader to give some brief context to the Austro-German invasion, especially the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and agreement signed between the Germans and the Ukrainian Central Rada to occupy Ukraine. The latter is especially important in understanding Makhno's hatred for the Nationalists. He felt they had betrayed Ukraine to foreign occupation and never forgave them for it.
2. "formed a volunteer detachment to resist the occupation. They traveled to join the Red Guards in Oleksandrivsk."
- This is true, however Makhno was not physically present with this detachment. This could be clarified. He had been called to Red Commander Alexander Egorov’s train. However, Makhno he failed to link up with Egorov, who was in fast retreat.
- You could also add that Huliaipole was occupied in April 1918
3. "Unable to return home, the Makhno detachment retreated to Taganrog ..."
- Better to say just Makhno, as he wasn't present with the previously mentioned Oleksandrivsk detachment
4. “ local Soviet's propaganda department”
- "local soviet" (no cap)
5. “pejoratively dubbed "the capital of the paper revolution", with local anarchist intellectuals more predisposed to slogans and manifestos than action.”
- For better readability I suggest changing "with" to "where he found"
6. “He also met the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries beginning to turn against the Bolsheviks.”
- Grammar: change to, "... who at this time were beginning to turn against the Bolsheviks."
7. "to cross the Ukraine border"
- Change to either "to cross Ukraine's border" or "the Ukrainian border"
Question: For small typos and grammar, should I make the changes myself as not to clog up this space? UnknownVolin ( talk) 08:21, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst I edited this section today. My main changes revolved around grammar, confused chronology, adding some context, and removing what I considered unnecessary detail. I also removed some anachronistic wikilinks. Here are some highlights:
UnknownVolin ( talk) 06:58, 6 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst I started editing this section. Here are some highlights so far:
UnknownVolin ( talk) 23:21, 6 September 2022 (UTC)
Hi @ Grnrchst. I did some light editing. The biggest edit I made was to clarify some confused chronology around the return of the Bolsheviks in January 1920 and Makhno's bout with typhus. I also added a sentence of context at the start of the section. Below are some further suggestions:
UnknownVolin ( talk) 05:43, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
The only change I made was to take out the reference to Komar, Altai Krai. This is in Siberia. The Komar Makhno was in was a Greek village located in modern-day Donetsk oblast. UnknownVolin ( talk) 12:17, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst Here are some corrections and suggestions for this section:
1. “By August, those wounds forced him to flee abroad for treatment. Leaving Viktor Belash in command of the Insurgent Army, Makhno took his wife Halyna and 100 loyalists to Poland.”
- This is a slight misreading of Skirda's account. The initial intention was to go to Poland but he was dogged by Red units, “whereupon the Makhnovists switched their itinerary and headed for the Romanian frontier.” (Skirda, 260)
2. "Makhno subsequently attempted to secure permission to move on to Czechoslovakia or Germany, but the Polish government refused in their attempt to force the dissolution of the Makhnovists into the Ukrainian nationalist movement."
- The last part's meaning is unclear.
3. “The Bolshevik government sent an agent provocateur to entrap Makhno and force his extradition by fabricating a Makhnovist plan to launch an insurgency in Galicia.”
- This events around this are very murky. There is evidence to suggest it was not entirely fabricated but that the Makhnovists were somewhat successfully courted by the Bolsheviks. Galina allegedly discussed the Galician insurgency plan with the Soviet embassy in Warsaw. (See Darch, 134) Maybe, a better way to phrase is "by embroiling/entangling Makhno in a plan to launch ..."
4. "given residence permits for Poznań."
- According to Darch Makhno and Galina were given permits for Torun. It was an accomplice of Makhno that was given one for Poznan.
5. "leaving Halyna behind in Poland."
- The opposite occurred. Halyna travelled with Makhno to Danzig. After his arrest, she and their daughter left for Berlin then Paris. This is confirmed by Halyna's memoir published in Sergei Semanov, "Pod chernym znamenem," Roman Gazeta 4 (1993): 32. I suggest removing or indicating Halyna left before Makhno.
6. “After a botched attempt to kidnap Makhno, Soviet agents reported him to Prussian police. Makhno was again imprisoned and falling sick. German anarchists managed to help Makhno escape from prison and clandestinely leave Germany.”
- This is a confused chronology. The text reads as though these events occurred in Berlin but they happened in Danzig. The Soviet involvement in his Danzig arrest is suspected but not confirmed, although Makhno did confirm the botched kidnapping. For the Danzig incident see Patterson, Makhno and Memory, 33.
7. strong language barrier from his inability to learn the French language
- Makhno may have struggled to learn but he did learn it to some extent. I’ve personally worked with letters in French written in his handwriting. I suggest removing this sentence because it is more alleged than proven.
8. “documentary evidence that confirmed Petliura's role in the pogroms”
- This is highly controversial and more an interpretation of Skirda. UPA forces committed many pogroms but Petliura condemned them and even arrested pogromists. See Christopher Gilley, https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/the-centenary-of-the-proskuriv-pogrom/. I suggest rephrasing in a way that is less categorical.
9. To the Jews of all Countries, published in Le Libertaire,
- It was definitely published in Delo Truda. I haven’t seen a Le Libertaire copy. Skirda’s footnote itself doesn’t provide a date for Le Libertaire and instead provides one for Delo Truda. I suggest changing to Delo Truda, only because it is verifiable.
10. “Further investigations by Jewish historians, such as Elias Tcherikower”
- This is a sticky issue. The alleged views of Tcherikower come from Volin’s unsubstantiated account. Volin claimed Tcherikower found no evidence of Makhnovist pogroms. However, Tcherikower’s archive in New York contains a file detailing alleged Makhnovist pogroms. We also have a letter from Tcherikower that reads, “there cannot be the slightest doubt that he [Makhno] is implicated in a series of pogroms. I have enough substantiated evidence in my archive to show that his men were exactly the same sort of bandits as all the others. Whether they perpetrated the pogroms with his permission or on their own initiative is difficult to say; either way – he is responsible”. Cited in Brenden McGeever, The Bolshevik Response to Antisemitism in the Russian Revolution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019), 135. Either Tcherikower changed his views at some point or Volin misrepresented Tcherikower.
- How do you think this should be resolved?
11. “had used a pirate flag.”
- I suggest saying “skull-and-crossbones flag”. Many movements and armies, including those in Ukraine, have used the skull and bones insignia without reference to pirates.
12. “Neglected by the Russian and French anarchists in Paris, Makhno turned his attention towards Spain.”
- The extent of this is questionable. He certainly alienated himself from specific people but as the wiki article notes a paragraph later French anarchists organized a Solidarity Committee to assist him. I suggest rephrasing.
13. kept to writing about libertarian communist political theory
- I wouldn’t describe what he wrote as political theory per se. He engaged in polemics and wrote memoirs. UnknownVolin ( talk) 23:02, 10 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst A few notes for this section:
1. “the two met and by November 1917 were married, at the insistence of Makhno's mother.”
- Based on unclear sources. No solid proof Makhno was ever officially married to Nastia.
2. “After Huliaipole's anarchists were also forced into exile”
- Better to say “forced underground”, some anarchists remained in Huliaipole
3. “Makhno married a local schoolteacher called Halyna Kuzmenko,”
- Both Makhno and Halyna denied this. They referred to each other as husband and wife but say they never had a formal ceremony despite the rumours. There is a letter from Halyna in Peters’ book (appendix), where she writes this.
4. “Ida Mett later asserted that during Makhno's final years, Kuzmenko had begun an affair with his associate Volin, a relationship which came out into the open following Makhno's death.”
- This was a rumour later denied by Kuzmenko. Volin never mentions such a relationship either in any of his writings. Mett also claims they got married but Volin himself was married at the time. Ida Mett was notorious for repeating rumour as fact, such as Makhno’s facial scar being result of Kumenko attempting to kill Makhno.
5. “deported to Nazi Germany for forced labor during World War II.”
- Elena was recruited for factory work in Berlin. Halyna later followed her voluntarily. Darch says it was forced but in Kuzmenko’s memoir, published by Semanov, she simply says “I moved to Berlin in 1943, where my daughter lived and worked at the time.” They shared an apartment in the city, where they were arrested by the Soviets.
UnknownVolin ( talk) 03:41, 11 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst
UnknownVolin ( talk) 23:26, 11 September 2022 (UTC)
1. As mentioned previously, I suggest the names of Makhno's brothers use Ukrainian transliterations: Hryhorii, Savelii, and Omelian. Also add Polikarp. You can find some basic info on Polikarp here.
2. In the further reading section you have a couple Polish language works but none of the major works in Russian or Ukrainian. I suggest either restricting your list to English only sources, or adding the most important works in other languages as well. This would include Ukrainian, Russian, French, and German. — Preceding unsigned comment added by UnknownVolin ( talk • contribs) 00:02, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
That brings an end to my GA review. Thank you @ Grnrchst and @ Czar for bringing me on board. It has been a really positive experience and enjoyable on my end. Thank you especially @ Grnrchst for all your hard work.
After resolving any remaining points above, I have one last condition that we've previously discussed in order to give out the GA designation. To meet the neutrality criteria, the controversies around Makhno's involvement in extreme violence need to be addressed. Here are the main points I think should be in the article.
UnknownVolin ( talk) 00:40, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst Alright! Looks like everything has been resolved. The article is greatly improved and now meets all GA criteria. It was really great working with you on this. I'm going to now figure out how to close this thing up. UnknownVolin ( talk) 06:10, 14 September 2022 (UTC)
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
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Reviewer: UnknownVolin ( talk · contribs) 21:38, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
I will be providing my review comments for good article status of the Nestor Makhno article here.
UnknownVolin (
talk) 21:38, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst @ Czar Thank you again for asking me to review the Nestor Makhno article. I believe it can be raised to GA standards but it will require a fair amount of careful editing and revision. Below are my preliminary statements regarding each of the six GA criteria. This assessment will be followed up with detailed comments and suggestions for each section of the article.
1. Well-written
- The article broadly meets this criteria. There are some grammatical errors and minor stylistic issues that should be fixed.
2. Verifiable with no original research
- The article provides a clear list of all sources used. The article contains no original research and no apparent copyright violations.
- The article mainly uses reliable sources and is on the whole verifiable. However, some sentences that could be challenged are missing citations.
- The biggest issue with sources is the heavy reliance on Alexandre Skirda's Nestor Makhno: Anarchy's Cossack. In my opinion, Skirda's work is highly biased and badly sourced with numerous errors and questionable claims. Some of the latter have slipped into the Wikipedia article due to its reliance on Skirda. Specific examples will be provided later. While Skirda is knowledgeable in the topic, he is neither a professional historian nor are his works peer-reviewed.
3. Broad in its coverage
- The article is sufficiently broad in its scope and stays focused. In some minor instances unnecessary detail is provided.
- The article should address controversies around Makhno's person in more detail (see next point).
4. Neutral
- The article is generally neutral but on specific issues does not fully meet this criteria.
- Specifically commentary related to Makhnovist violence against German/Mennonite colonists and Jews should be reworked in a more neutral way, incorporating sources that are do not have an explicit pro-Makhnovist bias (more commentary will be given later). Given the importance of these topics to both Makhno himself and contemporary scholars, I suggest creating a section that presents the controversy/debate focused on historiographical interpretation. Since this is the Nestor Makhno article, this section could be framed around Makhno's personal views on and history with German colonists and Jews.
5. Stable
- The article is stable and is not currently suffering from any edit wars or disputes.
6. Illustrated
- The article is well-illustrated by relevant and properly tagged media.
UnknownVolin ( talk) 22:48, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
My goal in the following sections is to comment on all possible issues in order to improve the article to the greatest extent possible. All factual errors and any question of bias should be corrected to reach GA standards, other commentary should be considered suggestions for improvement.
1. Olena Makhno
- This is an ahistorical Ukrainian variant. Elena did not speak Ukrainian. Her main language growing up was French, and to a lesser extent Russian. She did not use Makhno as her last name. The full Cyrillic name used in Soviet documents and on her gravestone is Elena Nestorovna Mikhnenko. The name on her German passport and in French documents is Helene Miknienko. She also sometimes signed her name Ellen Miknenko and was informally known as Lucie. I suggest using Elena Nestorovna Mikhnenko.
2. Ataman Makhno
- I do not believe Makhno or his movement used this term. For example, neither Arshinov nor Volin use it in their histories, although they refer to "Ataman Grigoriev." However, outsiders, such as enemies and the media, did refer to "Ataman Makhno." Something to consider but not a necessary change. Also the Ukrainian spelling of ataman is otaman.
3. Nationality
- Ethnicity is the more accurate term here. Ukraine as a nation-state didn’t exist in 1888. Makhno was formally born a subject of the Russian Imperial Empire. He self-identified as ethnically Ukrainian.
4. Makhno's Parents
Father: Ivan Rodionovych Mikhnenko (Makhno), 1846-1889
Mother: Evdokiia Matveevna Mikhnenko (née Perederyi)
- Makhno's father was born Mikhnenko but used Makhno.
- "Makhnovka" is very suspicious even as a nickname. The name Makhno (like Mikhnenko) doesn't change between male and female forms. Peters is the only source for this claim and provides no citation. Peters's commentary on the name "Nestor" is pure conjecture and probably doesn't belong in an encyclopedic entry, even in a footnote.
5. Bat'ko
- The link should not go to the English term for father. While bat’ko means father, it also has connotations not found in English. For example, it was a common title of respect. In his memoirs, Makhno refers to a respected work supervisor as "Bat'ko". Bat’ko was also historically used as an honorific title to refer to Cossack leaders, the Tsar, and local Civil War Ukrainian military leaders. The term could be linked to the wiktionary for батько.
- I am uncomfortable with the translation “little father” as indicated by Skirda in the footnote. Bat'ko means “father” in Ukrainian. A diminutive form would be more like батя, батечко or батенька. I think Skirda (and others) are trying to capture the honorific aspect but it is a bit clumsy. Bat'ko as a term of respect can't really be properly translated to English. But "little father" is used in various sources, so I leave it up to the editors whether to make reference to Skirda's commentary.
6. “commander of the RIAU from 1917-1921"
- The term "Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine" was not adopted until September 1, 1919 (Source: Belash, 300-301)
7. Use of term “Russian Civil War”
- The question of what to call the Civil War is controversial in today’s scholarship. I suggest in the context of Makhno it is best to use the term Ukrainian Civil War.
- When referring to the Civil War as a noun, it should always be capitalized.
8. “Makhno and the movement’s leadership were anarcho-communists …”
- The majority certainly were but the leadership included Left SRs and others at various times. For example, Ivan Chernoknizhny (listed in the info box) was a Left SR.
- To clarify, you can simply write, "Makhno and the majority of the movement's leadership were anarcho-communists ..."
9. “credited as inventor of the tachanka”
- It is true that Makhno is often credited as the inventor but is likely not historically accurate.
The main point is that Makhno perfected the use of the tachanka by creating a separate mobile unit composed of hundreds of tachanka that could mow down opponents en masse.
- Malet writes “Makhno could be described as the inventor of the motorised division” but admits the “origins of the ‘tachanka’ are not clear.” (Malet, 85) Malet’s claim that Makhno was its originator is not backed up by any documentary evidence.
- The Russian wiki for tachanka talks about machine-guns mounted on carriages prior to the Civil War. The article provides a pre-Revolutionary picture and cites a 1909 Russian Army document that discusses mounting machine-guns on light carriages.
- I will leave it up to the editors how to deal with the tachanka question. I suggest either adding a clarifying footnote or changing the text to emphasize Makhno's innovation rather than invention of the tachanka.
UnknownVolin (
talk) 08:53, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
1) Ivan Mikhnenko
- Ivan's background could be expanded on. Ivan was from the village Shahariv, just north of Huliaipole. Both Ivan and Evdokiia were serfs of a local estate owner named Shabels'kyi. After emancipation, Ivan continued working for Shabels'skyi as a stablekeeper. At some point, he adopted the last name Makhno, which was passed on to Nestor. By the time Nestor was born, Ivan had left Shabels'kyi and was working as a coachman for a local Jewish industrialist named B. Kerner, who owned a factory in Huliaipole. (Sources: Palij, Chp. 6; Makhno, "My Autobiography" in Young Rebels Against the Empire)
2) Unneccesary detail?
- Is the near drowning incident important enough to include? What is the source that it triggered his breathing problems?
3) "went to work on a kulak estate"
- Makhno specifies in his memoirs this was the Janzen estate, also known as Silberfeld. (Sources: Makhno, "My Autobiography"; Patterson, Makhno and Memory)
4) "gifted student"
- what is the source for this? I doubt his student records have survived. If a primary source suggests he was gifted, I suggest writing "According to X, Makhno was a gifted student."
5) “Nestor's aversion to the landlords only increased over time, nurtured by stories his mother told him of her time in serfdom and tales of the Zaporozhian Cossacks.”
- The link made here is dubious. In his memoirs, Makhno says his mother told him stories about Cossacks but not in the context of his distaste for landlords.
6) “He quickly alerted an older stable boy "Batko Ivan”
- Ivan was not an older boy but a full grown man.
7) “led a wildcat strike action”
- This is an anachronistic use of the term wildcat since all strikes at this time were wildcat strikes. Unions were illegal but in this case there was no union, it was a spontaneous workers’ uprising
8) “Found a job in a foundry.”
- This was the Krieger factory, built by Jakob Krieger (sometimes spelled Kroeger) in 1882 and later operated by his sons Jakob and Wilhelm. It was an agricultural machinery factory. In 1915 its ownership was transferred to a joint-stock company and became the “Bogatyr” factory. (Source: Vladimir Shak, Neizvestnyi Nestor Makhno)
9) Makhno's brothers
The names of Makhno’s brothers should be given somewhere in this section. I don't know whether they themselves used Ukrainian or Russian spellings but if unknown I suggest using Ukrainian variants: Polikarp, Sava, Omelian, and Hryhorii.
10) “which began his life-long distaste for alcohol, according to Alexandre Skirda. ”
- This is highly suspect. Makhno did drink alcohol, sometimes excessively. Both Volin and Halyna Kuzmenko documents some nasty scenes. He probably wasn’t an alcoholic as the Soviets sometimes claimed but neither was he a teetotaler. This is more an opinion of Skirda's than a fact.
UnknownVolin ( talk) 07:22, 31 August 2022 (UTC)
1. 17 year old Makhno in the 1905 Revolution
- A pedantic correction: Makhno turned 17 in November, 1905. The Revolution broke out in January. So he was 16 when it started.
2. “dozen-strong Union”
- The group had 69 identified members and many more sympathizers (Source: Intro to Young Rebels Against the Empire)
3. “campaign of " Black Terror" against the Tsarist autocracy”
- True in a broad sense but more accurately in this context it was aimed against wealthy local landowners and the police.
4. “ expropriated from local businessmen.”
- Grammar: "expropriated local businessmen", no "from". You could add "..., and set fire to local estates."
5. Makhno “Ukrainian Social Democratic Labor Party”
- I suspect this is incorrect. The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party was also active in Ukraine. It is reported Makhno fell in with the Mensheviks, which was exclusively a faction of the RSDLP.
6. "When the Stolypin reform abolished community assemblies ( obshchina), the landowning peasant kulaks grew even wealthier, leading the group to begin setting fire to the property of wealthy landowners."
- This is misleading. The reforms did not abolish the peasant obshchina/mir. They allowed and encouraged peasants to leave the mir and become independent homesteaders. These peasants could claim their communal land allotment as a consolidated piece of land. The reforms had mixed results. By 1916, only 20% of peasants claimed title to their land, and only 10% had actually received their consolidated plots (Source: Encyclopedia Britannica). The remaining peasants and land continued within the traditional obshchina and its regional variants.
- However, in his memoirs Makhno wrote that the reforms “eliminated communal property in land.” He was wrong in this regard. It eliminated the mir’s monopoly over peasant held land but not communal tenure, which continued to be how the majority of peasants held their land.
- I could go on much more about this topic but I think it can be resolved by writing something like, “Stolypin’s 1906 agrarian reforms sought to disempower the traditional peasant commune (obshchina/mir) through the creation of a rural private land-owning class. Peasants were allowed to detach their land allotments from the commune and establish independent khutors (homesteads). In the wake of these reforms, the Union of Poor Peasants initiated their campaign of ‘Black Terror’ against these newly-formed khutors as well as the region's large estates.”
7. “This new group quickly found themselves infiltrated. Two spies were executed and the Okhrana broke up one of the study group's meetings."
- From Makhno’s memoirs it doesn’t seem like he is speaking about the new reading group being infiltrated but the Union of Poor Peasants itself. They held an underground conference which was attended by all the old membership. In this context, Makhno mentions the group suspected two members of being spies. He says they killed one, not two, on June 2, 1908. Skirda says they killed two spies. I don't know where he got this information from as he doesn't offer a source.
8. “The group plotted to execute the provincial governor in retaliation, but their attempts failed and Makhno was arrested following another shootout”
- Makhno discusses an aborted plan to assassinate the governor, however this was not the incident that led to Makhno’s arrest. After they dropped the assassination plan they decided to blow up the local secret police station. He mentions a brief shootout the night of August 24 when he and a couple Union members were stopped by Cossacks, but they escaped. On August 26, several hours before the planned bombing, Makhno was arrested. No shootout during his arrest.
- Skirda’s paraphrase of Makhno’s memoirs make it seem like the above events occurred in immediate succession.
- I suggest rephrasing to something like, "The group plotted to the bomb the local secret police station but the Huliaipole police thwarted their efforts, leading to Makhno's arrest." UnknownVolin ( talk) 06:08, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
1. “Makhno's sentence was commuted to a life sentence of hard labor, due in part to his young age.”
- The latest research (from Ivan Kushnirenko) suggests the commutation was due entirely to his age.
2. “Makhno met the anarcho-communist politician Peter Arshinov, who took the young anarchist under his wing as a student.”
- There is some debate around whether Arshinov and Makhno had a teacher-student type relationship. Not critical but the sentence could be phrased more neutrally: i.e. "Makhno met Arshinov, whom he greatly respected as a thinker and activist and developed a close long-term friendship with."
3. “Makhno vowing that he would "contribute to the free re-birth of his country".”
- Add source of this quote. Is it primary or something somone alleged Makhno said? If so, I suggest writing "according to X, Makhno vowed ..." I could be incorrect but the phrasing sounds a bit nationalistic for Makhno.
4. “Although influenced by the ideas of Ukrainian nationalism …”
- What is the evidence for this?
- Makhno describes how he and fellow inmates discussed Ukrainian issues, read Vynnychenko’s Khachu and Gogol’s Taras Bulba, but stated that “My convictions forced me to distance myself from separatist tendencies and did not allow me to give in to the temptation of contemplating an independent state, despite the sense of kinship I felt towards my Ukrainian prisoner comrades.”
- Makhno was exposed to Ukrainian nationalism but influenced by is a step too far in my opinion, given his lifelong opposition to ideological nationalism.
5. “he was finally convinced to return to Huliaipole by his family”
- A very minor point but Makhno writes he was convinced to return by "my mother and my comrades from the old anarcho-communist group in Huliaipole."
UnknownVolin (
talk) 06:58, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst
1. “Makhno proposed that libertarians take the role of a revolutionary vanguard in order to ignite mass action among the peasantry …”
- I don't think “revolutionary vanguard” the correct term here especially given the link redirects to an article about Leninist vanguardism? Makhno’s entire career was dedicated to rejecting this type of vanguardism.
- I suggest not using the term "revolutionary vanguard" because of its Marxist-Leninist connotations.
2. “disorganization among the wider Ukrainian anarchist movement”
- I suggest clarifying that M.'s critique was aimed at anarchists in general across the entire former Russian Empire.
3. “organized communes on former Mennonite settlements.”
- Change settlements to estates. The settlements or colonies were not seized.
4. “After dispatching his brother Savely to Oleksandrivsk at the head of an armed anarchist detachment, Makhno was brought onto the local revolutionary tribunal, from which he oversaw the prosecution of counterrevolutionary army officers, even placing the man who had prosecuted him in the same cell that he had been imprisoned in a decade earlier. Makhno also oversaw the release of still imprisoned workers and peasants, defended Huliaipole successfully against a Don Cossack raid, and expropriated from a bank to fund the local soviet.”
- I apologize if I get too detailed here but I think this paragraph should be rewritten for more context and accuracy. Specific to Oleksandrivsk, context needs to be given that Savelii Makhno’s detachment was sent to help the Left Bloc (Bolsheviks and Left SRs) retake the city from Ukrainian People's Army forces. January 11, 1918 Makhno’s detachment set off for Oleksandrivsk. Soviet power was restored in three days.
- Makhno was not appointed to a formal “revolutionary tribunal.” The latter were bodies of the Cheka which the wikilink goes to. This should be removed. Makhno was chosen as the anarchists’ representative to the Oleksandrivsk Revolutionary Committee. He was also appointed to a seven-member “Front-Line Military Revolutionary Commission” attached to a Red Guard unit, and elected chairman of this Commission. If you don't want to mention these details you can just write "commission" instead of "tribunal" with no wikilink.
- The Commission’s responsibility was to assess the cases of military prisoners (not just army officers).
- Makhno was part of Oleksandrivsk’s defence (not Huliaipole) against an attack by the Don and Kuban Cossacks. They were en route back to their homelands. After being beaten off by the city’s revolutionaries, the Cossacks agreed to be disarmed and negotiated safe passage through Oleksandrivsk.
- The bank expropriation occurred in Huliaipole after M.’s return from Oleksandrivsk. The funds were confiscated by the Huliaipole District Revolutionary Committee (not the Soviet). UnknownVolin ( talk) 07:51, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
1. “Following the 1918 Central Powers intervention in Ukraine …”
- This is a very convoluted period of time. I think it would help the reader to give some brief context to the Austro-German invasion, especially the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and agreement signed between the Germans and the Ukrainian Central Rada to occupy Ukraine. The latter is especially important in understanding Makhno's hatred for the Nationalists. He felt they had betrayed Ukraine to foreign occupation and never forgave them for it.
2. "formed a volunteer detachment to resist the occupation. They traveled to join the Red Guards in Oleksandrivsk."
- This is true, however Makhno was not physically present with this detachment. This could be clarified. He had been called to Red Commander Alexander Egorov’s train. However, Makhno he failed to link up with Egorov, who was in fast retreat.
- You could also add that Huliaipole was occupied in April 1918
3. "Unable to return home, the Makhno detachment retreated to Taganrog ..."
- Better to say just Makhno, as he wasn't present with the previously mentioned Oleksandrivsk detachment
4. “ local Soviet's propaganda department”
- "local soviet" (no cap)
5. “pejoratively dubbed "the capital of the paper revolution", with local anarchist intellectuals more predisposed to slogans and manifestos than action.”
- For better readability I suggest changing "with" to "where he found"
6. “He also met the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries beginning to turn against the Bolsheviks.”
- Grammar: change to, "... who at this time were beginning to turn against the Bolsheviks."
7. "to cross the Ukraine border"
- Change to either "to cross Ukraine's border" or "the Ukrainian border"
Question: For small typos and grammar, should I make the changes myself as not to clog up this space? UnknownVolin ( talk) 08:21, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst I edited this section today. My main changes revolved around grammar, confused chronology, adding some context, and removing what I considered unnecessary detail. I also removed some anachronistic wikilinks. Here are some highlights:
UnknownVolin ( talk) 06:58, 6 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst I started editing this section. Here are some highlights so far:
UnknownVolin ( talk) 23:21, 6 September 2022 (UTC)
Hi @ Grnrchst. I did some light editing. The biggest edit I made was to clarify some confused chronology around the return of the Bolsheviks in January 1920 and Makhno's bout with typhus. I also added a sentence of context at the start of the section. Below are some further suggestions:
UnknownVolin ( talk) 05:43, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
The only change I made was to take out the reference to Komar, Altai Krai. This is in Siberia. The Komar Makhno was in was a Greek village located in modern-day Donetsk oblast. UnknownVolin ( talk) 12:17, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst Here are some corrections and suggestions for this section:
1. “By August, those wounds forced him to flee abroad for treatment. Leaving Viktor Belash in command of the Insurgent Army, Makhno took his wife Halyna and 100 loyalists to Poland.”
- This is a slight misreading of Skirda's account. The initial intention was to go to Poland but he was dogged by Red units, “whereupon the Makhnovists switched their itinerary and headed for the Romanian frontier.” (Skirda, 260)
2. "Makhno subsequently attempted to secure permission to move on to Czechoslovakia or Germany, but the Polish government refused in their attempt to force the dissolution of the Makhnovists into the Ukrainian nationalist movement."
- The last part's meaning is unclear.
3. “The Bolshevik government sent an agent provocateur to entrap Makhno and force his extradition by fabricating a Makhnovist plan to launch an insurgency in Galicia.”
- This events around this are very murky. There is evidence to suggest it was not entirely fabricated but that the Makhnovists were somewhat successfully courted by the Bolsheviks. Galina allegedly discussed the Galician insurgency plan with the Soviet embassy in Warsaw. (See Darch, 134) Maybe, a better way to phrase is "by embroiling/entangling Makhno in a plan to launch ..."
4. "given residence permits for Poznań."
- According to Darch Makhno and Galina were given permits for Torun. It was an accomplice of Makhno that was given one for Poznan.
5. "leaving Halyna behind in Poland."
- The opposite occurred. Halyna travelled with Makhno to Danzig. After his arrest, she and their daughter left for Berlin then Paris. This is confirmed by Halyna's memoir published in Sergei Semanov, "Pod chernym znamenem," Roman Gazeta 4 (1993): 32. I suggest removing or indicating Halyna left before Makhno.
6. “After a botched attempt to kidnap Makhno, Soviet agents reported him to Prussian police. Makhno was again imprisoned and falling sick. German anarchists managed to help Makhno escape from prison and clandestinely leave Germany.”
- This is a confused chronology. The text reads as though these events occurred in Berlin but they happened in Danzig. The Soviet involvement in his Danzig arrest is suspected but not confirmed, although Makhno did confirm the botched kidnapping. For the Danzig incident see Patterson, Makhno and Memory, 33.
7. strong language barrier from his inability to learn the French language
- Makhno may have struggled to learn but he did learn it to some extent. I’ve personally worked with letters in French written in his handwriting. I suggest removing this sentence because it is more alleged than proven.
8. “documentary evidence that confirmed Petliura's role in the pogroms”
- This is highly controversial and more an interpretation of Skirda. UPA forces committed many pogroms but Petliura condemned them and even arrested pogromists. See Christopher Gilley, https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/the-centenary-of-the-proskuriv-pogrom/. I suggest rephrasing in a way that is less categorical.
9. To the Jews of all Countries, published in Le Libertaire,
- It was definitely published in Delo Truda. I haven’t seen a Le Libertaire copy. Skirda’s footnote itself doesn’t provide a date for Le Libertaire and instead provides one for Delo Truda. I suggest changing to Delo Truda, only because it is verifiable.
10. “Further investigations by Jewish historians, such as Elias Tcherikower”
- This is a sticky issue. The alleged views of Tcherikower come from Volin’s unsubstantiated account. Volin claimed Tcherikower found no evidence of Makhnovist pogroms. However, Tcherikower’s archive in New York contains a file detailing alleged Makhnovist pogroms. We also have a letter from Tcherikower that reads, “there cannot be the slightest doubt that he [Makhno] is implicated in a series of pogroms. I have enough substantiated evidence in my archive to show that his men were exactly the same sort of bandits as all the others. Whether they perpetrated the pogroms with his permission or on their own initiative is difficult to say; either way – he is responsible”. Cited in Brenden McGeever, The Bolshevik Response to Antisemitism in the Russian Revolution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019), 135. Either Tcherikower changed his views at some point or Volin misrepresented Tcherikower.
- How do you think this should be resolved?
11. “had used a pirate flag.”
- I suggest saying “skull-and-crossbones flag”. Many movements and armies, including those in Ukraine, have used the skull and bones insignia without reference to pirates.
12. “Neglected by the Russian and French anarchists in Paris, Makhno turned his attention towards Spain.”
- The extent of this is questionable. He certainly alienated himself from specific people but as the wiki article notes a paragraph later French anarchists organized a Solidarity Committee to assist him. I suggest rephrasing.
13. kept to writing about libertarian communist political theory
- I wouldn’t describe what he wrote as political theory per se. He engaged in polemics and wrote memoirs. UnknownVolin ( talk) 23:02, 10 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst A few notes for this section:
1. “the two met and by November 1917 were married, at the insistence of Makhno's mother.”
- Based on unclear sources. No solid proof Makhno was ever officially married to Nastia.
2. “After Huliaipole's anarchists were also forced into exile”
- Better to say “forced underground”, some anarchists remained in Huliaipole
3. “Makhno married a local schoolteacher called Halyna Kuzmenko,”
- Both Makhno and Halyna denied this. They referred to each other as husband and wife but say they never had a formal ceremony despite the rumours. There is a letter from Halyna in Peters’ book (appendix), where she writes this.
4. “Ida Mett later asserted that during Makhno's final years, Kuzmenko had begun an affair with his associate Volin, a relationship which came out into the open following Makhno's death.”
- This was a rumour later denied by Kuzmenko. Volin never mentions such a relationship either in any of his writings. Mett also claims they got married but Volin himself was married at the time. Ida Mett was notorious for repeating rumour as fact, such as Makhno’s facial scar being result of Kumenko attempting to kill Makhno.
5. “deported to Nazi Germany for forced labor during World War II.”
- Elena was recruited for factory work in Berlin. Halyna later followed her voluntarily. Darch says it was forced but in Kuzmenko’s memoir, published by Semanov, she simply says “I moved to Berlin in 1943, where my daughter lived and worked at the time.” They shared an apartment in the city, where they were arrested by the Soviets.
UnknownVolin ( talk) 03:41, 11 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst
UnknownVolin ( talk) 23:26, 11 September 2022 (UTC)
1. As mentioned previously, I suggest the names of Makhno's brothers use Ukrainian transliterations: Hryhorii, Savelii, and Omelian. Also add Polikarp. You can find some basic info on Polikarp here.
2. In the further reading section you have a couple Polish language works but none of the major works in Russian or Ukrainian. I suggest either restricting your list to English only sources, or adding the most important works in other languages as well. This would include Ukrainian, Russian, French, and German. — Preceding unsigned comment added by UnknownVolin ( talk • contribs) 00:02, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
That brings an end to my GA review. Thank you @ Grnrchst and @ Czar for bringing me on board. It has been a really positive experience and enjoyable on my end. Thank you especially @ Grnrchst for all your hard work.
After resolving any remaining points above, I have one last condition that we've previously discussed in order to give out the GA designation. To meet the neutrality criteria, the controversies around Makhno's involvement in extreme violence need to be addressed. Here are the main points I think should be in the article.
UnknownVolin ( talk) 00:40, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
@ Grnrchst Alright! Looks like everything has been resolved. The article is greatly improved and now meets all GA criteria. It was really great working with you on this. I'm going to now figure out how to close this thing up. UnknownVolin ( talk) 06:10, 14 September 2022 (UTC)