Underground and terrorist activities of anarchists during the establishment of Soviet power in Russia: the emergence and activities of the "anarchist underground".

Zubarev Ivan Yur'evich ORCID: 0000-0001-6733-138X Postgraduate student of the Department of Russian History, Voronezh State Pedagogical University 86 Lenin Street, Voronezh, 394043, Russia, Voronezh Region iwan.zubarew2016@gmail.com Other publications by this author

After the February Revolution of 1917, anarchism, as a political movement, received a new development. During this period, there is an increase in the number of anarchist groups on the territory of Russia and the growth of their influence on the revolutionary masses. According to the calculations of the researcher of Russian anarchism V. V. Krivenky, by the autumn of 1917, anarchist organizations operated in more than 60 cities and towns of the country, and the number of their members reached 3 thousand people ^{[10; p. 253]}.

Anarchists also played an important role in the revolutionary events of the spring and autumn of 1917 and by the time of the October Revolution had become a significant force in the revolutionary movement. It should be mentioned that the attitude of Russian anarchists to the Bolsheviks was not easy. Anarchist propaganda, for the most part, welcomed the dispersal of the Provisional Government, and some Petrograd anarchists even took part in it. At the same time, the anarchists disputed the ideology and some methods of the Bolsheviks' political struggle.

One of the most noticeable and widespread slogans of anarchists dedicated to the Bolsheviks and the Soviets during this period was "Go apart and beat together!". For the first time this thesis was formulated by the anarcho-syndicalist G. P. Maksimov (Gr. Lapot) in the pamphlet "Soviets of Workers', soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies and our attitude to them", published in November 1917 in No. 22 of the newspaper "Voice of Labor". In this text, the negative attitude of anarchists towards the Constituent Assembly is well traced. G. P. Maksimov, like many other anarchist figures, treated the Soviets of the 1917– early 1918 model as a progressive, revolutionary force. In particular, G. P. Maksimov wrote: "The Soviets were at that time the best forms of political organization of all the forms that existed before their emergence" ^{[11; p. 2]}. At the same time, emphasizing that the soviets should be only a transitional form of self-organization between the old form of government and full popular self-government. The same brochure called for the protection of the Soviets from supporters of parliamentary power: "in the coming struggle of the Soviets with the Constituent Assembly, we follow the Soviets, again guided by the principle – to beat together!" [11. p. 8].

A similar slogan was put forward by the well-known anarchist A. Yu. Ge in the December issue of the newspaper "Burevestnik": "Go apart with the Bolsheviks, but beat them together", in the same place the author expressed his attitude towards the Bolsheviks, calling them "the most advanced, the most revolutionary party" ^{[10; p. 268]}.

Despite the political differences with the Bolsheviks, the anarchists saw the main threat of revolutionary gains in the counter-revolutionary actions of the White Movement. Such an opinion can be seen not only in the propaganda of Petrograd or Moscow anarchists, but also in the regions. For example, in the propaganda materials of the Voronezh anarchists of the second half of 1917 – early 1918, the main emphasis is placed on the question of the Constituent Assembly and the danger posed by the forming volunteer detachments on the Don. In their appeals, Voronezh anarchists mainly call for an armed struggle against supporters of the old government and the Constituent Assembly ^{[6; p. 13]}. For example, the appeal of the "Voronezh Group of Anarchist Communists" dated January 25, 1918, contained an appeal to all layers of society to disobey the Constituent Assembly and start fighting against it: "Get ready for the 3rd anarchist revolution, for a true social revolution" ^{[6; p. 20]}.

After the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly and the strengthening of the Bolshevik power in 1918, relations between anarchists and the Soviet government radically changed. The reasons for this, in addition to ideological differences, were the concrete steps of the new government in relation to its former allies. One of the events that served as the transition of Russian anarchists to the underground struggle against the Bolsheviks was the defeat of the "Moscow Federation of Anarchist Groups" and the detachments of the "Black Guard".

Plans to create a separate anarchist military structure to fight counter - revolutionary forces were proclaimed by the anarchists as early as December 1917 . However, another important goal of the creation of the guard was an attempt by anarchists to insulate themselves from accusations of riots and banditry committed by uncontrolled armed groups. In March 1918, a headquarters was established for the formation of anarchist military detachments. According to the statement of the Moscow headquarters of the "Black Guard", those wishing to join the ranks of the formation had to provide recommendations from members of the anarchist group ^{[2; p. 4]}.

On April 12, the anarchists were disarmed in Moscow. Then, in the spring and summer of 1918, measures to disarm and arrest anarchist squads swept through other cities of the country, including Vitebsk, Voronezh, Kursk, N. Novgorod, Petrograd, Samara, Taganrog, Tambov, Tula, Tsaritsyn, Bryansk ^{[12; p. 215]}.

After these actions, the Russian anarchist movement split again. Some of the anarchists, such as A. Karelin, tried to create a legal organization and agitate anarchism, getting along with the Bolsheviks. Another part, among whom, for example, was the ideologist of Russian anarchism-individualism Lev Cherny (P. D. Turchaninov), began the creation of an underground organization or became part of the Makhnovist movement.

The organization of underground anarchists was formed in the spring and summer of 1919. The main backbone of the organization was made up of Moscow anarchists, some of whom were temporarily stationed at the headquarters of N. I. Makhno. At the same time, around the Makhnovist insurgent army, a rather large anarchist movement "Nabat" was forming in opposition to the Soviet government. It was here that the underground could find support and assistance in the implementation of their plans.

Finally, the "All-Russian Organization of Underground Anarchists" (VOAP) was formed only in June 1919. During this period, the organization included, according to various sources, up to 30-40 people ^{[7; p. 35]}. According to the theory of the researcher of Russian anarchism V. Azarov, the VOAP was completely the brainchild of Makhnovist counterintelligence ^{[1; p. 7]}. As arguments, the author cites the chronology of the activities of underground workers, the movement of one of the leaders of the organization K. Kovalevich in Ukraine, as well as the fact that the main persons of the organization were in the counterintelligence headquarters in Mariupol.

Also, according to the author's version, Moscow was not the initial target of the militants. Presumably, a group of terrorists was formed from 60 militants from the detachment of atamansha M. Nikiforova (Marusia), who were divided into several targets. The first group of militants was formed to launch terrorist attacks on the headquarters of Denikin's army. The next goal of another group of terrorists, which included the leaders of the "underground" K. Kovalevich and Sobolev, was to liberate the Makhnovist headquarters in Kharkov, and in case of failure, to carry out a terrorist attack against members of the Extraordinary Tribunal. Having failed to achieve their goals, the militants went to Moscow. In this interpretation of events, the underground anarchists are only the second persons, the performers, and not the founders and leaders. The main emphasis here is on the personality of M. Nikiforova and members of her squad, who were very radical and determined to fight not only the White Guards, but also the Bolsheviks, especially after the execution of members of the Kharkov headquarters. This version is mainly based on Belash's memoirs and the confused testimony of some underground workers arrested by the authorities in the autumn of 1919.

However, there is another version based on the memoirs of the head of counterintelligence L. N. Zinkovsky. According to her, it was K. Kovalevich who proposed to carry out terrorist activities in Moscow and wanted to return there as soon as possible. In addition, K. Kovalevich came to Kharkov after his friend and husband Nikiforova Brzostek to find himself an "audience" for expropriations, and one of them, for 40 million rubles, was already planned by him. It was in the village of Tomak, where, according to some recollections, Nikiforova demanded money from N. Makhno for underground struggle, that Kovalevich recruited people to carry out his plans ^{[8; p. 24]}. Also, if we turn to the memoirs of A. F. Belash, we can see that the initiator of the strike on Moscow came from K. Kovalevich ^{[5; p. 290]}.

In this version, although it is fair and reasonable to see the connection of the underground leaders with the Makhnovists, however, the main initiators of the creation of a terrorist organization are not them, namely Moscow anarchists.

Thus, the organizers of the group of "underground workers" carried out their activities quite separately, in their own interests and for their own reasons, and not on the orders of Makhnovist counterintelligence.

For a more detailed explanation of the ideology of the VAAP, it is necessary to turn to their propaganda. Part of the propaganda material of the "underground workers" was written by K. Kovalevich, who had extensive experience in writing such material. If we analyze this material, it can be argued that the main goal of the anarchists was to raise a nationwide anti-Bolshevik uprising. The reasons for the radically negative attitude towards the new government, in addition to ideological disagreement, was revenge for the repression against anarchists. I. as can be seen from the publications of the group, they considered the spring events of 1918 to be the beginning of this. For example, in the appeal "To the underground", the author, probably Kovalevich, refers to the memories of the disarmament of anarchists in in April 1918 in Moscow, perceiving these events as the defeat of the revolutionary movement and the beginning of the usurpation of power by the Bolsheviks ^{[4; p. 1]}.

In their propaganda, the anarchists included not only the Makhnovist insurgent army in the rank of fighters for liberation, but also any anti-Bolshevik armed movement, except, of course, the White Guards. They considered peasant rebel detachments and neutral armed formations of the "Green Army" as their allies^{[2; p. 278]}.

The main propaganda and program document describing the goals and objectives of the "underground" was the "Declaration of the Anarchists of the underground". In addition to accusing the Bolsheviks of usurpation of power, in this document, the anarchists prescribed their vision of the establishment of a "new powerless society", the creation of which they proclaimed their main task ^{[8; p. 273]}. The free society, according to the ideas of the "underground workers", was a union of various self-organizing "from below" professional federations (transport workers, postal and telegraph workers, agriculture, etc.) ^{[8; p. 274]}. All means of production should be transferred to the hands of these federations, and all ministries and commissariats abolished. This vision of anarchist society is very closely intertwined with a certain "pan–anarchist" picture of the future - a certain mixture of anarcho-communism and anarcho-syndicalism.

In the summer of 1919, the VOAP was finally formed and began to conduct quite active activities. Their main goal was to carry out a terrorist attack against members of the Soviet government. But funds were needed for this. In addition to help from sympathizers, funds were also obtained through expropriations. For example, the treasury of the Cartridge Factory in Tula was robbed by the "underground workers", together with the left SRS. The revolutionaries extracted almost 3.5 million rubles for this expropriation alone ^{[10; p. 311]}.

In addition, the anarchists established contact with underground groups of left SRS, including the group of D. A. Cherepanov, who helped the Moscow group in organizing and carrying out the terrorist attack. Thanks to this union, the "underground workers" were able to create an entire organizational network operating on the principle of "sevens" - small terrorist and propaganda groups. This activity was also an argument for the researcher that the VOAP was completely the brainchild of Makhnovist counterintelligence.

In the practice of political terrorism, the Moscow group clearly manifested itself by committing its only and most notorious terrorist attack – the explosion of the House of Soviets on Leontiev Lane on September 25, 1919.

It should be clarified that the Moscow VOAPa group was quite well organized. It also had a literary group headed by K. Kovalevich, who had extensive experience in revolutionary propaganda, a combat group led by P. Sobolev and a laboratory for making bombs. The necessary substances for the manufacture of explosives were stolen from the warehouses of the Red Army in Bryansk with the help of local anarchists.

On September 25, a meeting of the Moscow branch of the RKPb was held in Moscow, at House No. 19 on Leontievsky Lane. At 9 o'clock in the evening, when part of the crowd had already left the building, the head of the combat wing P. Sobolev threw a one-and-a-half-pound bomb into the building, according to the investigation ^{[9; p. 314]}. As a result of the explosion, 12 people, members and employees of the party were killed. 55 people, employees of the Cheka, the Central Executive Committee and ordinary listeners suffered and were injured. Among the wounded were such prominent figures of the party as Bukharni N. I., Yaroslavsky E. M. ^{[9; pp. 326-329]}.

According to official data, the meeting discussed such issues as: the disclosure of the White Guard conspiracy of the underground organization "National Center", and the question of the development of party schools. However, anarchists later wrote in their propaganda that the issue of combating anti-Bolshevik popular demonstrations was discussed at the meeting: "the Bolsheviks all spoke with one voice at the meeting about taking extreme measures to combat the rebellious workers, peasants, Red Army soldiers, anarchists and left SRS" ^{[8; p. 267]}. And one of the arrested "underground workers" claimed that the introduction of a state of emergency in Moscow was discussed at the meeting.

The meeting did touch upon the issue of anti-Soviet terrorist organizations, but it was about White Guard groups. In favor of this, it is also said that the government initially blamed the White Guard underground for the terrorist attack.

The motive for the terrorist attack was called revenge by the underground anarchists "to the extraordinary and commissar-holders." In the list of "crimes" of the Soviet government, the events of the spring of 1918 were also mentioned. – the disarmament of the Moscow anarchist Federation [ibid.]. Thus, here one can see, rather than the tactics of propaganda with the help of terror, beloved by anarchists since the First Russian Revolution of 1905-1907, but rather the personal motivation, resentment and personal, deep dislike of the members of the organization to the members of the board.

After the terrorist attack and the recognition of underground members in it, Russian anarchists experienced a new wave of repression. At the same time, legal anarchists and former members of the movement were arrested and investigated.

However, the "underground workers" failed to escape from the massacre. K. Kovalevich and P. Sobolev were killed during detention. Six more anarchists were killed during a shootout at a secret dacha in Kraskovo. According to the CHEKA, the anarchists blew themselves up after a protracted firefight ^{[9; p. 345]}. 8 members of the Moscow group were detained and shot by the verdict of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

One of the arrested anarchists, Afanasy Tyamin, whose testimony formed the basis of N. I. Makhno's accusations of financing a terrorist attack, began to cooperate with the Cheka. For example, he proposed to release 6-8 anarchists, pointing out that the authorities would receive "irreplaceable workers" ^{[9; p. 356]}. He will also issue an appeal "An Open letter to the underground anarchists in all cities of Russia", in which he condemned the terrorist act, calling it a mistake and a delusion and called on the anarchists remaining at large to "come to their senses" ^{[9; p. 360]}.

The arrests and destruction of the Moscow group of "underground workers" did not stop the underground struggle of anarchists against the Soviet government. Individuals and detachments joined various anti-Bolshevik armed detachments and continued to fight until the end of the Civil War. After its end, the anarchists, although in a very curtailed form, continued to agitate and try to raise new uprisings, but without success. Arrests of individual groups of "anarchist mystics" and other underground organizations continued until the 1930s.

The terrorist attack on Leontievskaya Lane, along with the terrorist activities of the left SRS, became part of the anti-Bolshevik struggle of the "general left underground", revolutionaries who were disappointed as a result of the revolution. The terrorist attack itself, in practice, alienated the public from anarchism and had a very bad effect on the very image of an anarchist in society. The reason for this was a large number of victims who were not involved in the power structures. Being an act of motivated, but individual terror, recognized as useless in the revolutionary struggle by many theorists of Russian anarchism, such as P. A. Kropotkin and A. A. Borov, it could not stir up society. The only consequence of the terrorist attack was a new wave of political terror directed against left-wing Socialist-Revolutionary and anarchist elements.

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