“White Makhnovists”: Peasant rebels in Northern Taurida and Russian Army in 1920

Abstract

The article considers the interaction of the Russian Army of General P. N. Wrangel with Makhnovist detachments in Northern Tavria in the summer and autumn of 1920. Although Wrangel’s contacts with various insurgent groups (gangs) (mentioned in the movie “Wedding in the village of Malinovka”) are known to wider circles of the population, information about the “White Makhnovists” has not been systematized. The author revealed the names of about 15 atamans who went over to the Whites, and provides information about the most important of them (Volodin, Prochan, Grishin, Savchenko, Kravchaty, Ishchenko, Chaly) and Makhnovites who had contacts with the Russian Army (Chernyak), focusing on the number of the “White Makhnovists”, their appearance and symbols; examining the propaganda campaign of the Whites, who printed huge copies of proclamations on behalf of the Makhnovist atamans. The article mentions the betrayal of the majority of the detachments, their defection to the side of the Reds, the Makhnovists’s alliance with them, and the fate of the “White Makhnovists” atamans. The author concludes that, on the one hand, the “White Makhnovists” ensured the Russian Army relative peace in the rear and loyalty of the peasants in Northern Tavria; on the other hand, the very fact of the alliance between the Whites and the “bandits” demonstrated the weakness of the Wrangelists.