Why did you have to bring up Dick Cheney in this thread? Now there goes my lunch.
Hey guys, you are so right about Nestor Makhno kicking Putin’s arse. No contest over there. But I wonder if Makhno and Alexander the Great were alive at the same time and given identical armies, weapons, terrain, etc were to go up against each other…I think he’d kick Alexander’s arse too.
The “crazy coat” one of the members is referring to is part of the stills taken from a movie of Makhno and his commanders (only one small fragment survives about a minute long), and you are right, his character does show. The man to his right is Fidir Shuss, a legend in his own right (he died in a sabre fight later) a warrior-poet and a womaniser with a megawatt personality a Hollywood star would wish for but next to Makhno, you hardly notice him.
Makhno was about 159 cm tall (according to his arrest card) and not the most muscular guy in town, but he really could hold his own, as you said, like a demon.
Later when he was in exile in Paris a nurse who treated him described his body as “covered in scars”, most of them from sabre cuts. He had some serious damage to his intestines from a bullet wound, a shattered leg bone that never healed, a facial scar from a bullet entering the back of his head and exiting through his left cheek, breaking his jaw, a head injury and a badly damaged hand. While in prison he contracted tuberculosis, (one of his lungs was removed) and it was TB, combined with unhealed wounds that killed him at the age of 45. His ashes are at Pere Lachaise columbarium.
As a military strategist Makhno was crazy good, (he had no military training whatsoever), he was able to make radical decisions on the spot and while somewhat fiery and emotionally charged in private life, he was so calm during the fighting, to a point that some people thought he was “psychotic”.
He fought against professional generals, Denikin, Wrangel, Budenny and kicked their arses in a spectacular way. So much so for military colleges.
He was often described as “uneducated” and while Makhno himself regretted his lack of political learning, his writings are simple and honest in their language, his poetry (yes, he wrote poetry) is stirring and almost rap-like in the tight rhyme. He was also very good at describing action.
What I love about Makhno is that he never disintegrates into whining the way just about every other writer of his generation does in the West (yes, T.E. Lawrence, I mean you). While Makhno is devastated by the murder of his brother, or the torture of another Jewish anarchist, he never bothers dwelling on his own misfortunes (and those were aplenty).
And yes, he never fought under the “skull and crossbones” flag. That was a part of later propaganda. Makhno used plain black anarchist flag instead. He never killed Jews either (his close friend Leva Zadov was Jewish) and he was far from the lice-ridden, uncouth, scratching, spitting idiot of the Soviet legend.
Makhno’s second wife, Agafya (Galina) Kuzmenko was every bit as tough as him. She could fire a machine gun like a pro and could swing a sabre just as well. (All of you guys with Xenaesque fantasies take note)
I am not an anarchist, so Makhno thing is a childhood fascination with me. I remember watching all those anti-Makhno movies (“Little Red Devils” and “Wedding at Malinovka”) and secretly rooting for him as a kid. Everybody was so damn scared to open their mouths back then and, there was this dude, a legend, who absolutely didn’t give a shit. This is why I cannot relate to the Western “libertarian” version of Makhno; to me he is a folk hero in the best possible sense.
And you are right in wishing about being “at least one tenth” of him. I wish so too. Just imagine being 159 cm tall and half dead from tuberculosis (OK, I am a female who is 160 cm tall) and having some six foot gorilla bearing down on you with a sabre and not only not running away, but taking the bugger on…wow. Nestor Makhno vs Putin…or Alexander, hell you can guess who I’d put my money on. Da zdravstvuyet Batko!
Hey guys, you are so right about Nestor Makhno kicking Putin’s arse. No contest over there. But I wonder if Makhno and Alexander the Great were alive at the same time and given identical armies, weapons, terrain, etc were to go up against each other…I think he’d kick Alexander’s arse too.
The “crazy coat” one of the members is referring to is part of the stills taken from a movie of Makhno and his commanders (only one small fragment survives about a minute long), and you are right, his character does show. The man to his right is Fidir Shuss, a legend in his own right (he died in a sabre fight later) a warrior-poet and a womaniser with a megawatt personality a Hollywood star would wish for but next to Makhno, you hardly notice him.
Makhno was about 159 cm tall (according to his arrest card) and not the most muscular guy in town, but he really could hold his own, as you said, like a demon.
Later when he was in exile in Paris a nurse who treated him described his body as “covered in scars”, most of them from sabre cuts. He had some serious damage to his intestines from a bullet wound, a shattered leg bone that never healed, a facial scar from a bullet entering the back of his head and exiting through his left cheek, breaking his jaw, a head injury and a badly damaged hand. While in prison he contracted tuberculosis, (one of his lungs was removed) and it was TB, combined with unhealed wounds that killed him at the age of 45. His ashes are at Pere Lachaise columbarium.
As a military strategist Makhno was crazy good, (he had no military training whatsoever), he was able to make radical decisions on the spot and while somewhat fiery and emotionally charged in private life, he was so calm during the fighting, to a point that some people thought he was “psychotic”.
He fought against professional generals, Denikin, Wrangel, Budenny and kicked their arses in a spectacular way. So much so for military colleges.
He was often described as “uneducated” and while Makhno himself regretted his lack of political learning, his writings are simple and honest in their language, his poetry (yes, he wrote poetry) is stirring and almost rap-like in the tight rhyme. He was also very good at describing action.
What I love about Makhno is that he never disintegrates into whining the way just about every other writer of his generation does in the West (yes, T.E. Lawrence, I mean you). While Makhno is devastated by the murder of his brother, or the torture of another Jewish anarchist, he never bothers dwelling on his own misfortunes (and those were aplenty).
And yes, he never fought under the “skull and crossbones” flag. That was a part of later propaganda. Makhno used plain black anarchist flag instead. He never killed Jews either (his close friend Leva Zadov was Jewish) and he was far from the lice-ridden, uncouth, scratching, spitting idiot of the Soviet legend.
Makhno’s second wife, Agafya (Galina) Kuzmenko was every bit as tough as him. She could fire a machine gun like a pro and could swing a sabre just as well. (All of you guys with Xenaesque fantasies take note)
I am not an anarchist, so Makhno thing is a childhood fascination with me. I remember watching all those anti-Makhno movies (“Little Red Devils” and “Wedding at Malinovka”) and secretly rooting for him as a kid. Everybody was so damn scared to open their mouths back then and, there was this dude, a legend, who absolutely didn’t give a shit. This is why I cannot relate to the Western “libertarian” version of Makhno; to me he is a folk hero in the best possible sense.
And you are right in wishing about being “at least one tenth” of him. I wish so too. Just imagine being 159 cm tall and half dead from tuberculosis (OK, I am a female who is 160 cm tall) and having some six foot gorilla bearing down on you with a sabre and not only not running away, but taking the bugger on…wow. Nestor Makhno vs Putin…or Alexander, hell you can guess who I’d put my money on. Da zdravstvuyet Batko!
Hey guys, you are so right about Nestor Makhno kicking Putin’s arse. No contest over there. But I wonder if Makhno and Alexander the Great were alive at the same time and given identical armies, weapons, terrain, etc were to go up against each other…I think he’d kick Alexander’s arse too.
The “crazy coat” one of the members is referring to is part of the stills taken from a movie of Makhno and his commanders (only one small fragment survives about a minute long), and you are right, his character does show. The man to his right is Fidir Shuss, a legend in his own right (he died in a sabre fight later) a warrior-poet and a womaniser with a megawatt personality a Hollywood star would wish for but next to Makhno, you hardly notice him.
Makhno was about 159 cm tall (according to his arrest card) and not the most muscular guy in town, but he really could hold his own, as you said, like a demon.
Later when he was in exile in Paris a nurse who treated him described his body as “covered in scars”, most of them from sabre cuts. He had some serious damage to his intestines from a bullet wound, a shattered leg bone that never healed, a facial scar from a bullet entering the back of his head and exiting through his left cheek, breaking his jaw, a head injury and a badly damaged hand. While in prison he contracted tuberculosis, (one of his lungs was removed) and it was TB, combined with unhealed wounds that killed him at the age of 45. His ashes are at Pere Lachaise columbarium.
As a military strategist Makhno was crazy good, (he had no military training whatsoever), he was able to make radical decisions on the spot and while somewhat fiery and emotionally charged in private life, he was so calm during the fighting, to a point that some people thought he was “psychotic”.
He fought against professional generals, Denikin, Wrangel, Budenny and kicked their arses in a spectacular way. So much so for military colleges.
He was often described as “uneducated” and while Makhno himself regretted his lack of political learning, his writings are simple and honest in their language, his poetry (yes, he wrote poetry) is stirring and almost rap-like in the tight rhyme. He was also very good at describing action.
What I love about Makhno is that he never disintegrates into whining the way just about every other writer of his generation does in the West (yes, T.E. Lawrence, I mean you). While Makhno is devastated by the murder of his brother, or the torture of another Jewish anarchist, he never bothers dwelling on his own misfortunes (and those were aplenty).
And yes, he never fought under the “skull and crossbones” flag. That was a part of later propaganda. Makhno used plain black anarchist flag instead. He never killed Jews either (his close friend Leva Zadov was Jewish) and he was far from the lice-ridden, uncouth, scratching, spitting idiot of the Soviet legend.
Makhno’s second wife, Agafya (Galina) Kuzmenko was every bit as tough as him. She could fire a machine gun like a pro and could swing a sabre just as well. (All of you guys with Xenaesque fantasies take note)
I am not an anarchist, so Makhno thing is a childhood fascination with me. I remember watching all those anti-Makhno movies (“Little Red Devils” and “Wedding at Malinovka”) and secretly rooting for him as a kid. Everybody was so damn scared to open their mouths back then and, there was this dude, a legend, who absolutely didn’t give a shit. This is why I cannot relate to the Western “libertarian” version of Makhno; to me he is a folk hero in the best possible sense.
And you are right in wishing about being “at least one tenth” of him. I wish so too. Just imagine being 159 cm tall and half dead from tuberculosis (OK, I am a female who is 160 cm tall) and having some six foot gorilla bearing down on you with a sabre and not only not running away, but taking the bugger on…wow. Nestor Makhno vs Putin…or Alexander, hell you can guess who I’d put my money on. Da zdravstvuyet Batko!
Shit, a movie about Makhno would be great. They made miniseries about him back in 2006 in Russia, only they had everything wrong, the “pirate” flag, excessive boozing and they even accused the anarchists (and no I am not an anarchist so please don’t give me crap) of murdering his first wife and…wait for it…a baby son.
Couldn’t be bothered with this crap. But I did bother translating his poems into English. He kinda reminds me ( as a poet) of Avraham Yair Stern. Or rather chronologically Stern reminds me of Makhno. The styles as insanely similar. They fought for different things of course, but boths spoke Russian, so maybe this is it.
Hello Baron Olshevri, welcome to the Straight Dope. Please don’t feel offended if no one replies to your post. You have posted in a thread that is over 4 years old. 
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