Dmitry Ivanovich Popov (; 1892–1921) was a Russian sailor and Left Socialist-Revolutionary that led the

Left SR uprising The Left SR uprising, or Left SR revolt, was a rebellion against the Bolsheviks by the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party in Moscow, Soviet Russia, on 6–7 July 1918. It was one of a number of left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks that ...

against the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

in July 1918. Following the suppression of the uprising, he joined the

Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (; RIAU), also known as ''Makhnovtsi'' (), named after their founder Nestor Makhno, was an Anarchism, anarchist army formed largely of Ukrainians, Ukrainian peasants and workers during the Russian C ...

and became a leading member, spearheading the negotiations between the Makhnovists and the Bolsheviks until his arrest and execution by the

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə, links=yes), ...

Biography

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Popov had been a sailor in the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

, going on to join the

Left Socialist-Revolutionaries The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries-Internationalists () was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revolution. In 1917, the Socialist Revolutionary Party split between those who supported the Russian Pro ...

after the outbreak of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. In July 1918, Popov became a leading figure in the

, during which he attempted to oust the Bolsheviks from power. The uprising failed, largely due to the hesitancy with which they carried it out: treating captured Bolsheviks with mercy and refusing to march on the headquarters of the Central Committee. By the autumn of 1918, the left SRs had gained an influence in the

Makhnovshchina The Makhnovshchina (, ) was a Political movement#Mass movements, mass movement to establish anarchist communism in southern Ukraine, southern and eastern Ukraine during the Ukrainian War of Independence of 1917–1921. Named after Nestor Makhno, ...

, working closely together with the Makhnovists in their mutual fight against the

White movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...

and desire for the establishment

free soviets Free soviets were the basic form of organization in the Makhnovshchina. These soviets acted independently from any central authority, excluding all political parties from participation, and met to self-manage the activities of workers and peasan ...

. Following the suppression of the left SR uprising in Moscow, Popov had led a left SR detachment to fight against the

in Ukraine and, according to the Soviet historian Mikhail Kubanin, pledged himself to kill 300 Bolsheviks (of which he managed to kill 200). By April 1919, Popov had joined the Makhnovists. Although Left SR influence had mostly waned by the time of the White movement's advance on Moscow, Popov quickly became a leading member of the insurgent staff and Makhno's

personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task. It is a subspecialty of secretarial duties ...

. By the turn of 1920, Popov had revived the Makhnovist counterintelligence agency ('' kontrrazvedka''), but after complaints against it by Aaron Baron,

Viktor Bilash Viktor Fedorovych Bilash (; 1893 – 24 January 1938) was a Ukrainian military commander who was the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (RIAU) under Nestor Makhno during the Russian Civil War. A gifted military comman ...

and Yakiv Sukhovolski, the

Military Revolutionary Council The Military Revolutionary Council (, VRS) was the ''de facto'' executive of the Makhnovshchina, empowered to act during the interim between sittings of the Regional Congresses. Function Its powers covered both military and civil matters in ...

(VRS) ordered its restriction to military activities, with

Halyna Kuzmenko Agafya "Halyna" Andriivna Kuzmenko (; 1897–1978) was a Ukrainian teacher and anarchist revolutionary. After moving to southern Ukraine, she became a prominent figure within the ranks of the Makhnovshchina, a mass movement to establish a li ...

establishing a new counter-intelligence body to replace it. Following the fall of Nikopol in January 1920, the VRS dissolved and was replaced by a seven-member Soviet of Revolutionary Insurgents, with Dmitri Popov being elected as its first secretary. Throughout 1920, Popov got into frequent arguments with Aron Baron and Isaac Teper, two Russian anarchists of the

Nabat The Nabat Confederation of Anarchist Organizations, better known simply as the Nabat (; ), was a Ukrainian anarchist organization that came to prominence during the Ukrainian War of Independence. The organization, based in Kharkiv, had branche ...

that Popov resented for reducing his own influence, at one pointing even threatening the pair. On 23 June 1920, the insurgent staff held a meeting, during which a member of the

Socialist Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR; ,, ) was a major socialist political party in the late Russian Empire, during both phases of the Russian Revolution, and in early Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia. The party memb ...

attempted to persuade the insurgents to join forces with the Bolsheviks against the White movement. Popov argued against such an alliance, citing the breaking of the Bolshevik-Makhnovist alliance the year before, and claimed that the renewal of an alliance would be of "great prejudice to the cause of revolution". When talks began between the Makhnovists and the Bolsheviks in August 1920, Dmitri Popov and Semen Karetnyk were two of the insurgent command staff that argued against the proposed alliance. However, an insurgent vote on the matter secured a majority for an alliance with the Bolsheviks. By the end of September 1920, the

Communist Party of Ukraine The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU or KPU) is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 and claimed to be the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine, which had been banned in 1991. In 2002 it held a "unifi ...

had agreed to talks with the Makhnovists and sent a delegation to

Starobilsk Starobilsk (; ) is a city in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Starobilsk Raion. The modern settlement was founded in 1686, and it was granted city status in 1938. The city has a population of As a result of the ...

for negotiations. Popov was elected as one of the Makhnovist representatives. On 29 September, he held a phone call with the Chairman of the Ukrainian Cheka Vasiliy Mantsev, during which Popov spoke about the "revolutionary purity" of the Makhnovists and mentioned how they had hanged emissaries from

South Russia South Russia may refer to: * Southern Russia * South Russia (1919–1920), a territory that existed during the Russian Civil War in Ukraine and the north Caucasus See also * South Russian Ovcharka, a breed of sheepdog * Southern Russian dialects ...

. The two managed to reach an agreement, with Mantsev promising that the insurgents would be allowed to maintain their own command structures and that all anarchist political prisoners would be released. The two factions immediately ceased hostilities, but mutual distrust between the Bolsheviks and Makhnovists persisted even after the end of the negotiations. On 6 October, Dmitri Popov, Semen Karetnyk and Viktor Bilash met the Bolshevik negotiator at Starobilsk to sign their provisional agreement. By the following day, they had arranged an armistice and decided that a final draft of the "Political-Military Alliance" would be agreed upon in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

. Popov himself, along with Vasyl Kurylenko and

Abram Budanov Abram Efremovich Budanov (sometimes, Abraham; 1886–1929) was a Ukrainian anarchist military commander, as a member of the Makhnovist movement in Donbas and a permanent member of the RIAU Revolutionary Military Council. Biography Born in 1882 ...

, went to the Ukrainian Soviet capital to work out the final touches, signing the agreement by 15 October. Part of the Makhnovist delegation, including Popov, elected to stay behind in Kharkiv, in order to participate in an upcoming General Congress of Anarchists in November 1920. Speaking to large crowds at a number of meetings and debates in the city, Popov proclaimed the necessity of restoring power to the

and demanded the extension of

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

to the

. In their newspaper ''The Makhnovist Voice'', Popov elaborated his complaints about the Ukrainian Soviet government, publishing three issues up until 21 November. In its last issue, Popov celebrated the Makhnovist victory at

Perekop Perekop ( Ukrainian & Russian: Перекоп; ; ) is a village located on the Perekop Isthmus connecting the Crimean peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland. It is known for the Or Qapi fortress, which served as the gateway to Crimea. The villa ...

and used the opportunity to demand the immediate release of all anarchist political prisoners. On 26 November 1920, the entire Makhnovist delegation (including Popov) was arrested and deported to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, where they were

executed by firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French , rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are usually re ...

, under orders of

Felix Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (; ; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed Iron Felix (), was a Soviet revolutionary and politician of Polish origin. From 1917 until his death in 1926, he led the first two Soviet secret police organizations, the Cheka a ...

.Archive of the Cheka / Resp. Ed. V. Vinogradov, A. Litvin, V. Khristoforov. M .: Kuchkovo field, 2007. S. 698–699.

References

Bibliography

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External links

"Revolt of the Left SRs" by Leon Trotsky
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popov, Dmitry Ivanovich 1892 births 1921 deaths All-Russian Central Executive Committee members Anarchist victims of the Red Terror Executed people from Moscow Oblast Executed Soviet people from Russia People from Klinsky District People from Klinsky Uyezd Left socialist-revolutionaries Russian anarchists Makhnovists Russian military personnel of World War I Russian prisoners of war Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet prisoners of war Russian people executed by the Soviet Union People executed by Russia by firing squad People executed by the Soviet Union by firing squad