Basic Principles of the Organization of the Union of Anarchists of Gulyai-Polye (1919)

_{“Makhnovtsi” (1927, paper, linocut), by Maria Kotlyarevska (1902-1984)}

Originally translated from Russian into French by Alexandre Skirda and published in the book, “Mémoires et écrits 1917-1932“, by Nestor Makhno, sourced by Skirda from “Texte paru le 17 mai 1919 dans Pouts k svobodié (La Voie de la liberté), organe du mouvement makhnoviste,” reproduced in the book, “Les routes de Nestor Makhno” (in Russian), by A. V. and V. F. Bélach, Kiev, 1993, then translated from the French into English by M.Gouldhawke

Basic Principles of the Organization of the Union of Anarchists of Gulyai-Polye (1919)

1. Aim and tasks of the organization

The sole purpose of the organization is libertarian work among the working masses, through written and oral anarchist propaganda, through newspapers, pamphlets, tracts and conferences; for the founding of free peasant communes, familiarizing the working rural masses with true communist life; by setting up economic workers’ unions with the aim of training the workers for an independent economic and political life; by the establishment of revolutionary links between town and country, with a view to a direct exchange of products, the first step towards the working anti-authoritarian Commune of workers and peasants.

Note. The organization of anarchists will in no case assume the role of the political parties, which promise the emancipation of the labourers by means of the conquest of power, for the anarchists hold strictly to the principle that this emancipation can only be the work of labourers themselves.

2. The methods of organization

Where the bourgeoisie dominates, the organization labours for its overthrow by all means, legal or clandestine. Where the soviet system dominates, the organization propagates the anarchist ideal and exercises its critical capacity for the development of the revolution. It refrains from participating in actions aimed at the seizure of power and the overthrow of the current (sovietist) government, but by drawing attention to its fundamental flaws and shortcomings, it seeks to infuse the masses with the idea of the libertarian construction of life. The anarchist method consists first of all in relying on the strength of its ideas. It totally rejects the hollow phraseology of the parties.

3. Discipline

Only convinced anarchists can be members of the organization, conscious of the difference between anarchism and other political currents, and actively engaging in libertarian work as conceived by the organization. By entering the organization, comrades accept the moral responsibility to put into practice its principles and tasks. The responsibilities taken on by the members of the organization must be fully assumed. Any position taken on behalf of the organization must be adopted at general meetings of its members. Those who intervene on its behalf must be authorized to do so and recommended by the organization. They must be accountable for the tasks assumed. The entire organization must periodically provide a report on its activity.

Admission to the organization is made by the decision of the whole, on the recommendation of its members.

Exclusion from the organization is pronounced by decision of its general assembly, on the grounds of a violation of its fundamental principles or behavior deemed unworthy of the organization, on the proposal of one of its members.

The organization is called Union of Anarchists of Gulyai-Polye [Гуляйпо́ле]

Basic Principles of the Organization of the Union of Anarchists of Gulyai-Polye (1919)

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