displayed a national consciousness, all of which were small towns in Northern Ukraine. Following the ratification of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Ukrainian peasantry began to revolt against the conservative Hetmanate and the occupying forces of the Central Powers. The Directorate of Ukraine assumed leadership of the rebellion in the north-west, while Nestor Makhno prosecuted a guerrilla war in the southern steppe. Despite attempts to form an alliance between the two forces, Makhno ardently rejected cooperation with the "counterrevolutionaries" that sought to establish a Ukrainian nation state. Throughout the Ukrainian War of Independence, the Ukrainian anarchists took a stance of internationalism and condemned Ukrainian nationalism in their Russian language newspapers. When the Ukrainian nationalist Nykyfor Hryhoriv launched an anti-Bolshevik uprising, the Makhnovists immediately condemned him for his antisemitism and his divisive politics. According to the historian Frank Sysyn, "the [anarchist] movement as a whole [was] opposed to Ukrainian nationalism." There was only one short-lived case of cooperation between the Ukrainian nationalists and the anarchists, in September 1919, when the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen accepted a wounded Makhnovist contingent that had been forced into retreat by Denikin's offensive. Only four days later, the Makhnovists denounced Petliura as an agent of the White movement and the Petliurists began to fear Makhno intended to "deal with Petliura as he had with Hryhoriv." Despite their hostility to Ukrainian nationalism, the Ukrainian anarchists were not "anti-Ukrainian", as they recognized the Ukrainian nation and culture. In October 1919, when the use of the Ukrainian language in schools was forbidden in South Russia, the Makhnovschina's "Cultural Enlightenment Section" declared that people were to be educated in whichever language was used by the local population, to be decided on voluntarily by the people themselves. It was this that finally brought the Makhnovists to establish a newspaper in the Ukrainian language, dealing with issues specific to Ukraine. Driven by a small number of Ukrainian intellectuals, led by Halyna Kouzmenko, the Makhnovschina increasingly used the Ukrainian language in both its propaganda and educational activities, leading to a notable Ukrainization of the Makhnovist movement. Kouzmenko even attempted to convert the Makhnovists to Ukrainian nationalism, but this campaign was aborted after a nationalist plot to assassinate Makhno was uncovered. Nevertheless, Ukrainian cultural activities and the Ukrainization of the Makhnovschina continued unabated. Despite the movement's increased Ukrainization, the bulk of the movement's cadre was still made up of Russian and Jewish anarchists, who espoused