Abstract: The article examines the confrontation of the armed anarchist detachments of the "Black Guard" with the Bolsheviks in the spring of 1918. The causes and features of the emergence of anarchist detachments, the position of anarchists in the political arena of the country in 1917 - early 1918 are illustrated. The author gives an assessment of some early Soviet studies on "anarchist uprisings" in the provinces of the Central Chernozem region. After the February and October revolutions of 1917, anarchism in Russia embarked on a new path of development, which was characterized by attempts to unite and create a single combat force to protect the "revolutionary gains" from the interventionists and White Guard forces. The object of the study is the history of the anarchist movement in the Central Chernozem region during the establishment of Soviet power. The subject of the study is the armed actions of anarchists against the authorities in Orel and Voronezh in March-April 1918. The methodological basis is the consideration of historical phenomena and their interrelations in the context of the studied time (the principle of historicism). A comparative historical method was used to establish the similarities and distinctive features of the armed actions of anarchists in Orel and Voronezh. The article attempts to comprehensively study the history of the anarchist movement in the Central Black Earth region. The author analyzes only a small fragment of this topic. The spring of 1918 was a period of the defeat of anarchist detachments and organizations throughout Russia, these processes took place on the territory of the Central Chernozem region. Based on the works of his predecessors and memoir sources, the features of the defeat of the anarchist detachments in Orel and Voronezh are analyzed. During the analysis, it was possible to demonstrate that the anarchists were only part of the rebel forces, consisting of detachments arriving from the Ukrainian front, dissatisfied with the supply. Some Soviet authors often saw in these speeches a "Socialist-Revolutionary" conspiracy" or assigned the anarchists a leading role, making them the main instigators of uprisings. Which, according to the author, is an erroneous position.