Regional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents

The Regional Congresses of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents were the representative assemblies that the Makhnovshchina regarded as its "highest form of democratic authority." They brought together delegates from the region's peasantry, industrial workers and insurgent soldiers, who discussed the issues at hand and carried their decisions back to local popular assemblies. The congresses were not a commercial enterprise but a political institution of the Ukrainian anarchist movement during the Russian Civil War, and they are recorded in the historical record rather than in any corporate register. The first congress was held on 23 January 1919 at Dibrivka, with 100 delegates representing districts and insurgent units, most of them from the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Maximalists. Chaired by the local peasant Holovko, it concentrated on strengthening the frontlines against the Ukrainian nationalists and the White movement, called for a voluntary mobilization of World War I veterans, and appointed a delegation to secure the release of conscripted peasants from the Ukrainian People's Army and the Volunteer Army. It closed by naming a five-member commission to convene the next session. The second congress met on 12 February 1919 at Huliaipole with 245 delegates representing 350 districts. Nestor Makhno was elected honorary chairman. A delegation from Kharkiv reported on negotiations with the Ukrainian Soviet government, and the congress debated whether "free soviets" were compatible with a one-party state, with delegates from Nabat and the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries condemning Bolshevik moves to monopolize control over the soviets. The delegate Ivan Chernoknizhny denounced single-party rule, and the congress passed a resolution in defiance of the Bolshevik government. The congresses emerged from a longer series of provincial peasant congresses held across Ukraine after the February Revolution. In May and July 1917 Nestor Makhno was himself a delegate to peasant congresses in Oleksandrivsk, and in August 1917 he attended the First Provincial Congress of Soviets and Peasant Unions in Katerynoslav. On 8 October [O.S. 25 September] 1917 a regional congress at Huliaipole pursued land reform, confiscating all privately held land and transferring it to public ownership. In December 1917 Makhno mediated a dispute at another Provincial Congress of Soviets in Katerynoslav. After the October Revolution, civil war between nationalists and socialists intensified; on 22 December 1918 a Provincial Congress of Soviets due to meet in Kharkiv was banned by Petro Bolbochan, and the advancing Ukrainian People's Army pushed Makhno's insurgents back toward Huliaipole, where they regrouped and resolved to organize a pair of congresses. On 3 January 1919 Viktor Bilash convoked an insurgent congress at Polohy, where forty delegates reorganized their detachments and elected an operational command with Bilash as chief of staff. The congresses belong to the history of the Makhnovshchina, the anarchist territory of southern Ukraine, and they ceased to function with the defeat of that movement. They are remembered as an experiment in bottom-up, delegate-based authority in tension with the top-down Bolshevik system that eventually prevailed in the region.

The Regional Congresses of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents represented the "highest form of democratic authority" within the political system of the Makhnovshchina. They brought together delegates from the region's peasantry, industrial workers and insurgent soldiers, which would discuss the issues at hand and take their decisions back with them to local popular assemblies. In the wake of the February Revolution, a series of provincial peasant congresses began to be held throughout Ukraine. In May and July 1917, Nestor Makhno was himself a delegate to peasant congresses in Oleksandrivsk, where he became disillusioned with party politics, due to the dominance of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party and a tendency to discussion and debate, without taking action. In August 1917, Makhno attended the First Provincial Congress of Soviets and Peasant Unions, which was being held in Katerynoslav, but encountered similar problems, despite noting the peasantry's general shift towards left-wing politics. On 8 October [O.S. 25 September] 1917, a regional congress was held in Huliaipole to pursue land reform, resulting in the confiscation of all privately held land and its transferral to public ownership. In December 1917, Makhno attended another Provincial Congress of Soviets in Katerynoslav, during which he successfully mediated a dispute between the majority of Ukrainian nationalists and the minority of revolutionary socialists at the Congress. Following the October Revolution, increasing hostilities between the nationalists and the socialists ignited a civil war in Ukraine. On 22 December 1918, a Provincial Congress of Soviets was due to meet in Kharkiv, but was banned by the Ukrainian nationalist Petro Bolbochan. Other Soviet elections resulted in street fighting between nationalists and socialists. The advancing Ukrainian People's Army eventually pushed Nestor Makhno's insurgents back to the region around Huliaipole, where they regrouped and resolved to organise a pair of congresses. On 3 January 1919, Viktor Bilash convoked an insurgent congress at Polohy, during which forty delegates from the insurgent units resolved to reorganize their detachments and elected an operational command, with Bilash heading it as chief of staff. Meanwhile, the Makhnovists also began to organize another congress, one which would bring together delegates from the region's peasantry, industrial workers and insurgents. With the Makhnovshchina caught between the advancing fronts of the Ukrainian nationalists in the north and the White movement in the south, it was decided to convene a General Congress to discuss and take action on the situation. On 23 January 1919, the First Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents was held at Dibrivka. It brought together 100 delegates, each representing their own districts or insurgent units, most of whom came from the ranks of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Maximalists. Chaired by the local peasant Holovko, the discussion was solely concerned with strengthening the frontlines against the Ukrainian nationalists and White movement. As a result, the Congress called up a voluntary mobilization of World War I veterans and appointed a delegation with the task of securing the release of conscripted peasants from service in the Ukrainian People's Army (UPA) and Volunteer Army. The delegation's propaganda efforts led to mass desertions from the UPA, which allowed the insurgents to capture a number of nationalist-held areas, including the cities of Kharkiv, Katerynoslav and Luhansk. Many of these cities were subsequently occupied by the Red Army, which established the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic as the dominant power in the region. Holovko discovered soon after the Congress that Viktor Bilash, without first communicating the decision to the First Regional Congress, had sent Oleksiy Chubenko to form an alliance with the Red Army. The First Congress concluded by appointing a five-member commission to convene the next Congressional session. The establishment of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic brought with it a top-down bureaucracy, sidelining the power of local Soviets and bringing the top-down authoritarian communism of the Bolsheviks into conflict with bottom-up libertarian communism of the Makhnovists. Despite the political conflict, the military situation was beginning to improve, which led Holovko to summon a Second Congress. On 12 February 1919, the Second Regional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents was held at Huliaipole. It brought together 245 delegates, representing 350 districts between them. With Nestor Makhno elected as the honorary chairman of the Congress, a delegation from the Soviet capital of Kharkiv gave its report on the negotiations with the Ukrainian Soviet government, declaring that the Bolsheviks "had no intention of opening hostilities against the Makhnovist movement." The Congress then debated the issue of "free soviets" and whether or not they were compatible with a one-party state, with representatives from the Nabat and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries condemning Bolshevik moves to monopolize control over the Soviets. The delegate for Novopavlovsk, Ivan Chernoknizhny, gave a speech denouncing the Ukrainian Soviet government and single-party rule: "The Ukrainian provisional government stood by, first in Moscow and then in Kursk, until the workers and peasants of Ukraine had liberated the territory of enemies. [...] Now that the enemy is beaten [...] some government appears in our midst describing itself as Bolshevik and aiming to impose its party dictatorship upon us. Is that to be countenanced? [...] We are non-party insurgents, and we have revolted against all our oppressors; we will not countenance a new enslavement, no matter the quarter whence it may come!" The Congress thus passed a resolution, in defiance of the Bolshevik government, which declared...

• A regional congress is held in Huliaipole to pursue land reform, resulting in the confiscation of all privately held land and its transferral to public ownership.

• Viktor Bilash convokes an insurgent congress at Polohy, where forty delegates reorganize their detachments and elect an operational command with Bilash as chief of staff.

• The First Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents is held at Dibrivka with 100 delegates, chaired by the local peasant Holovko.

• The Second Regional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents is held at Huliaipole with 245 delegates representing 350 districts; Nestor Makhno is elected honorary chairman.

1. 1Regional Congress of Peasantswikidata.org
2. 2Regional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgentsen.wikipedia.org