Black Guards

Black Guards
Чёрная гвардия,
Chjornaya gvardiya
LeadersVarious militia leaders, including Maria Nikiforova, Lev Chernyi, Mikhail Uralov, Fedir Shchus and Nestor Makhno
Dates of operationSummer 1917–Spring 1919
(became core units of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine by mid 1919)
Active regions Russia, Russian SFSR and Ukraine
IdeologyAnarchism (primarily anarcho-communism)
Allies Various anarchist organizations
Opponents Russian SFSR
Russian Provisional Government
White Movement
Entente
Pro-independence movements in Russian Civil War
Battles and warsOctober Revolution
Russian Civil War
Preview warning: Using more than one of the following parameters in Template:Infobox militant organization: battles, war.

Black Guards (Russian: Чёрная гвардия, romanizedChjornaya gvardiya) were armed groups of workers formed after the February Revolution and before the final Bolshevik suppression of other left-wing groups. They were the main strike force of the anarchists. They were created in the Summer of 1917 in Ukraine by Maria Nikiforova, and expanded in January 1918 to Moscow, under the control of anarchists at industrial enterprises by Factory and Plant Committees and by Moscow Federation of Anarchist Groups cells.