We Carry a Free Territory in Our Hearts: How Wikipedia Fabricated an Anarchist State

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We Carry a Free Territory in Our Hearts: How Wikipedia Fabricated an Anarchist State

https://www.thecommoner.org.uk/we-carry-a-free-territory-in-our-hearts/

Was the name “Free Territory” something used by contemporaries of anarchist leader Nestor Makhno, or a modern fabrication? In the spirit of debunking widespread myths and misconceptions in anarchist history, a Wikipedian uncovers the secret history of the making of the “Free Territory.”

We Carry a Free Territory in Our Hearts: How Wikipedia Fabricated an Anarchist State

...other users had questioned whether the term 'Free Territory' had any basis in reliable sources. I was a little surprised. This was the term that I had used for years, one that was inextricably linked in my mind with the Makhnovists. This could not just be some random neologism coined by Wikipedia… right?

At first I could not let myself believe it. I looked through Makhno’s memoirs, as well as Volin’s and Arshinov’s histories, but I could not find the term anywhere. I even checked the Russian language originals, and peered through Viktor Bilash’s memoirs, which tragically remains untranslated. Again, I found no sign of a 'Free Territory'. I could not even find it in the memoirs of Victor Serge, the Bolshevik politician who coined the term 'Black Army' to refer to the Makhnovist insurgents.