Editing Peter Arshinov (section)

===With the Makhnovshchina===
In prison, Arshinov was acquainted with the young Ukrainian anarchist [[Nestor Makhno]],{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1p=8|2a1=Malet|2y=1982|2p=xxiv|3a1=Patterson|3y=2020|3pp=26-28|4a1=Peters|4y=1970|4pp=27-28|5a1=Skirda|5y=2004|5pp=30-31}} who he took under his wing as a pupil,{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1p=8|2a1=Malet|2y=1982|2p=xxiv|3a1=Peters|3y=1970|3pp=27-28}} teaching him [[Russian language]] and [[Russian literature|literature]], [[mathematics]], [[geography]], [[history]], [[economics]] and [[politics]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1p=8|2a1=Malet|2y=1982|2p=xxiv|3a1=Peters|3y=1970|3p=26}} Following the [[February Revolution]], they were released from prison as part of a general amnesty.{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1p=9|2a1=Malet|2y=1982|2p=xxiv|3a1=Patterson|3y=2020|3pp=26-28|4a1=Peters|4y=1970|4p=28|5a1=Skirda|5y=2004|5pp=32-33}} While Makhno returned home to Ukraine, Arshinov remained behind in Moscow and began organising with the [[Moscow Federation of Anarchist Groups|local Anarchist Federation]],{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1pp=9-10|2a1=Patterson|2y=2020|2pp=26-28|3a1=Peters|3y=1970|3p=28}} spending most of his time in Moscow publishing the works of [[Mikhail Bakunin]] and [[Peter Kropotkin]].{{Sfn|Skirda|2004|p=48}}

Following the [[October Revolution]], he quickly became demoralised by the direction of events and lost interest in himself returning to Ukraine.{{Sfn|Darch|2020|p=28}} As a consequence of the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], Ukraine was invaded and occupied by the [[Central Powers]], with support from the Ukrainian nobility.{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1p=21|2a1=Peters|2y=1970|2pp=38-39}} The peasants reacted by carrying out a campaign of [[guerrilla warfare]] against the occupation forces and their Ukrainian collaborators, as part of a [[Ukrainian War of Independence|war of independence]] that spread throughout the country.{{Sfn|Peters|1970|pp=39-40}} One of these peasant insurgent bands was led by Nestor Makhno, who defeated the occupation forces at the [[battle of Dibrivka]] and captured much of his home region,{{Sfn|Peters|1970|pp=40-43}} becoming the leader of a [[Makhnovshchina|mass movement]] of the Ukrainian peasantry which declared him their ''Bat'ko'' ({{langx|en|Father}}).{{Sfn|Peters|1970|pp=98-99}}

In the wake of the anarchist victory, Arshinov joined a number of other Russian anarchist intellectuals in emigrating to Ukraine,{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1p=31|2a1=Malet|2y=1982|2p=175|3a1=Skirda|3y=2004|3pp=82, 86, 323}} where they established the [[Nabat]], a confederation of anarchist organisations.{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1p=31|2a1=Patterson|2y=2020|2pp=26-28|3a1=Skirda|3y=2004|3p=82}} In April 1919, Arshinov arrived in [[Huliaipole]], where he was reunited with Makhno and joined his movement, becoming a leading ideologue within the Cultural-Educational Department.{{Sfnm|1a1=Malet|1y=1982|1pp=158, 175|2a1=Patterson|2y=2020|2pp=26-28}} The following month, Arshinov began editing the movement's newspaper ''[[The Road to Freedom (newspaper)|The Road to Freedom]]'',{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1pp=87-88|2a1=Malet|2y=1982|2p=158|3a1=Patterson|3y=2020|3pp=26-28|4a1=Skirda|4y=2004|4pp=86, 323}}  which published 50 issues in the [[Yekaterinoslav Governorate|Katerynoslav region]] until November 1920.{{Sfn|Darch|2020|pp=87-88}} During this period, Arshinov observed the nascent Makhnovist movement establishing [[agricultural commune]]s, organised according to the communist principle of "[[From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs|from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs]]".{{Sfn|Darch|2020|p=37}} 

The anarchist region soon came under attack by the [[White movement]], which forced them to negotiate an alliance with the [[Red Army]], which had also [[1919 Soviet invasion of Ukraine|invaded Ukraine]].{{Sfn|Darch|2020|pp=39-41}} While on their way to meet the Bolshevik delegate [[Lev Kamenev]] in [[Huliaipole]], Arshinov witnessed Makhno execute one of his own followers for [[antisemitism]].{{Sfn|Peters|1970|pp=103-104}} He then observed Makhno and Kamenev's meeting, which initially seemed amicable, but which Arshinov later came to question the intent of.{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1p=55|2a1=Skirda|2y=2004|2p=101}} By May 1919, relations between the Bolsheviks and anarchists had become strained by political divisions and by the collapse of the [[Battle for the Donbas (1919)|Donbas front]], which Arshinov blamed on Red Army commanders, who he claimed had deliberately deprived the insurgents of weaponry.{{Sfn|Darch|2020|pp=59-60}} Makhno soon resigned his command and, now under attack by both the Reds and the Whites, resolved to retreat into the west.{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1pp=60-67|2a1=Skirda|2y=2004|2pp=118-124}} 

Arshinov joined the Makhnovists in their westward retreat, during which he witnessed large numbers of people joining the newly constituted [[Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine|Insurgent Army]],{{Sfn|Darch|2020|p=67}} was present for the assassination of [[Nykyfor Hryhoriv]],{{Sfn|Peters|1970|pp=69-70}} and at the [[battle of Peregonovka]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Malet|1y=1982|1pp=47-48|2a1=Peters|2y=1970|2p=82|3a1=Skirda|3y=2004|3pp=133-134}} There the Insurgent Army defeated the [[Volunteer Army]] and subsequently captured most of [[southern Ukraine]],{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1pp=78-82|2a1=Peters|2y=1970|2pp=82-83}} to which Arshinov himself attributed the defeat of the entire White movement.{{Sfn|Darch|2020|p=75}} Arshinov then observed what he considered to be a failure to establish either political or military control over [[left-bank Ukraine]],{{Sfnm|1a1=Malet|1y=1982|1p=84|2a1=Skirda|2y=2004|2p=162}} which he blamed on the outbreak of [[epidemic typhus]] within the ranks of the Makhnovshchina.{{Sfn|Skirda|2004|pp=162-163}} The Red Army took the opportunity to attack the Makhnovshchina, which Arshinov estimated to have eventually resulted in the execution of almost 200,000 Ukrainian peasants by the Bolsheviks.{{Sfn|Skirda|2004|p=169}}

After months of fighting between the Makhnovists and Bolsheviks, a [[Northern Taurida Operation|White offensive]] into [[Tavria Okruha|Taurida]] forced them into an [[Starobilsk agreement|agreement]], which brought about the brief cessation of hostilities between the two factions.{{Sfn|Skirda|2004|pp=194-197}} Arshinov himself justified the pact as a way of bringing them closer together with the mass base that the Bolsheviks had in the [[proletariat]].{{Sfn|Skirda|2004|p=199}} But following their combined victory over the Whites in the [[Siege of Perekop (1920)|siege of Perekop]], Arshinov witnessed the subsequent Bolshevik offensive against the Makhnovshchina on 26 November,{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1pp=117-118|2a1=Malet|2y=1982|2p=163|3a1=Skirda|3y=2004|3pp=238-239}} in what Arshinov insisted to have been a premeditated attack.{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1p=118|2a1=Skirda|2y=2004|2pp=244-245}}

He then witnessed the subsequent period of [[guerrilla warfare]] against the Red Army,{{Sfnm|1a1=Malet|1y=1982|1p=163|2a1=Peters|2y=1970|2p=85|3a1=Skirda|3y=2004|3p=251}} documenting their pursuit across the country.{{Sfn|Skirda|2004|p=251}} Despite the danger, Arshinov remained with Makhno until the spring of 1921,{{Sfn|Malet|1982|p=163}} when he and his wife clandestinely crossed the border into [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]] and then went on to [[Weimar Republic|Germany]].{{Sfn|Skirda|2004|p=269}}