Maria Nikiforova - Biography - The Free Combat Druzhina

The Free Combat Druzhina

In December 1917, her Black Guards helped to establish soviet power in eastern Ukraine cities of Kharkiv and Yekaterinoslav, as well as Aleksandrovsk. In thanks, the Bolshevik commander in the region, Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, gave her funds to upgrade her detachment, which became known as the "Free Combat Druzhina". This unit was active in fighting the Whites Guards, the Ukrainian Nationalists, and the Germans-Austro-Hungarians over a large area of southern Ukraine. She was instrumental in establishing Soviet power in the city of Yelizavetgrad (today Kirovohrad) and later was involved in bloody battles in quelling a right-wing revolt in the city. In April 1918, she received a commendation from Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko for her revolutionary activities.

The Free Combat Druzhina was equipped with two large guns and an armoured flatcar. The wagons were loaded with armoured cars, tachankas, and horses as well as troops which meant that the detachment was by no means restricted to railway lines. The trains were festooned with banners reading "The Liberation of the Workers is the Affair of the Workers Themselves", "Long Live Anarchy", "Power Breeds Parasites", and "Anarchy is the Mother of Order."

The soldiers were better fed and equipped than many of the Red Army units. Although there were no official uniforms, the soldiers certainly had a sense of style. Long hair (not common in that era), sheepskin caps, officers' service jackets, red breeches, and ammunition belts were much in evidence. The Druzhina was composed of a core of militants devoted to Marusya and a larger group which came and went on a fairly casual basis. The militants included a fair number of Black Sea sailors, noted for their fighting qualities throughout Ukraine.

With their black flags and cannons, Marusya's echelons resembled pirate ships sailing across the Ukrainian steppe. One observer, the Left-SR I. Z. Steinberg, compared the trains to the Flying Dutchman, liable to appear at any time, anywhere. Travelling in echelons, the Druzhina advanced to meet the enemy, which in January, 1918, meant the White Guards and the Ukrainian Central Rada.

Nikiforova was put on the trial twice by the Bolsheviks on charges of insubordination and pillaging: in Taganrog in April 1918 and in Moscow in January 1919. She was acquitted at the first trial, where witnesses were present to speak in her defense. Antonov-Ovseyenko also telegraphed a letter in support of her, commending her revolutionary activities in aid to the Bolsheviks. At the second, she was unable to launch a legal defense, and was banned from holding a political post for a year. Returning to Ukraine, she traveled to ], now an autonomous area under Nestor Makhno's anarchist control, dubbed the Free Territory. Unwilling to damage his alliance with the Red Army, Makhno refused to disobey the sentence and would not appoint her to a position in his Black Army, the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine. Unable to command a fighting force for, she worked alongside Makhno by making public speeches, and organizing propaganda events.

Antonov-Ovseenko recalled meeting her on April 28, 1919, while reviewing Makhno's troops and the city of Gulyai-Polye. "Makhno introduces the members of the Gulyai-Polye soviet's executive committee and of his staff. Also there is the political commissar of the bridge, my old acquaintance, Marussia Nikiforova." Seeking to clarify rumors of corruption and counter-revolutionary activity among Makhno's ranks and the soviet of the city, Antonov-Ovseenko wrote glowingly of his impression of Gulyai-Polye. His report intrigued prominent Bolsheviks, who decided to visit the city personally. Lev Kamenev and a delegation of Ukrainian politicians, arrived by armored train a week following Antonov-Ovseenko visit, on May 7. Nikiforova met them at the train station, and with other members of Makhno's staff, Boris Veretelnikov and Mikhalev-Pavlenko, offered to escort them into the city. After meeting Makhno and touring the city, Kamenev was impressed with Nikiforova, and upon returning to Ekaterinoslav, he telegraphed Moscow officials. He ordered that her sentence be reduced, from a year, to "six months deprivation of the right to hold responsible posts." However, given the overwhelmingly anti-anarchist propaganda among Bolshevik commanders, politicians, and media, Antonov-Ovseenko's attempts to lobby for military support for the anarchists faltered. His political power declined, and he was replaced within weeks of his visit, on June 15, by Jukums Vācietis.