The Black Army was an anarchist army of Ukrainian peasants and workers that existed from 1918 to 1921. The army, led by Nestor Makhno, and the Black Army protected the operation of "free soviets" and libertarian communes in the stateless "Free Territory" of Ukraine during the Russian Civil War. 103,000 people were serving in the Black Army by December 1919, and the Black Army fought against the Central Powers occupation forces of the German Empire and Austria-Hungary in addition to both the conservative White Army and the communist Bolshevik Red Army. In 1921, the Black Army was brutally crushed by the Reds.