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During the Mexican Revolution, from roughly around 1913 to 1917, the peasants from the Mexican region of
Morelos Morelos (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cu ...
established a territory with an alternative political, and economic system. They were heavily influenced by
Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the in ...
and his ideology of zapatism. The political and economic structure of the territory was militarily supported by the
Liberation Army of the South The Liberation Army of the South ( es, Ejército Libertador del Sur, ELS) was a guerrilla force led for most of its existence by Emiliano Zapata that took part in the Mexican Revolution from 1911 to 1920. During that time, the Zapatistas foug ...
, which was where the army was formed. The commune is also at times compared to the
Makhnovshchina The Makhnovshchina () was an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society in parts of Ukraine during the Russian Revolution of 1917–1923. It existed from 1918 to 1921, during which time free soviets and libertarian communes operated und ...
in
eastern Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khark ...
, due to their shared structures and ideals.


History


Manuel Palafox's agrarian reform

The temporary peace during 1914 provided time for the farmers of southern Mexico to lay the foundations for the socio-economic reconstruction of the country. The most important political tool in the revolutionary struggle was the
Liberation Army of the South The Liberation Army of the South ( es, Ejército Libertador del Sur, ELS) was a guerrilla force led for most of its existence by Emiliano Zapata that took part in the Mexican Revolution from 1911 to 1920. During that time, the Zapatistas foug ...
, which not only fought but expropriated and distributed the lands as soon as it could. In 1914, Manuel Palafox was appointed Minister of Agriculture by the Aguascalientes Convention, becoming the Zapatista with the highest office in the nascent democratic government of the convention, which brought together almost all the then existing Mexican revolutionary forces on 1 October 1914. From January 1915 Palafox began to draw up plans to implement agrarian reform: firstly he founded the National Bank of Rural Credit and then a whole series of structures (Regional Agriculture Schools and the National Factory of Agricultural Tools) necessary for agrarian development in the egalitarian sense.


The Morelos Commune

Palafox radicalized the
Plan of Ayala The Plan of Ayala (Spanish: ''Plan de Ayala'') was a document drafted by revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata during the Mexican Revolution. In it, Zapata denounced President Francisco Madero for his perceived betrayal of the revolutionary idea ...
, expropriating lands from landowners without compensation, issuing a very revolutionary agrarian law which could only be applied in the Zapatista state of Morelos. The main problem was that the convention was not able to influence national politics, due to internal divisions and external threats. Starting from 1915, in any case, egalitarian policies were implemented, aimed at creating self-managed peasant communities in which the government, governors and governed proceeded together and without seeking power for their own sake. As a result, every form of hierarchical power was substantially overthrown. The police, state officials and the army were stripped of the power exercised in the past, the same Southern Liberation Army when not engaged in battle was, in fact, a structure without power. The Zapatistas also gave great importance to education, young students and intellectuals came to Morelos to create public schools and adult education. At the end of 1917 the Zapatista communities were basically able to manage themselves, thanks to the effective popular assemblies that held the administrative power of the municipalities. Government existed, but it went from bottom to top and not vice versa. Zapata himself set the example by refusing any power, whether local or national:


Downfall

The Morelos Commune would begin its decline when
Venustiano Carranza José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was a Mexican wealthy land owner and politician who was Governor of Coahuila when the constitutionally elected president Francisco I. Madero was overthrown in a Februa ...
assumed power in 1917, being recognized as
President of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the C ...
by the imperialist powers of
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. Carranza, at this point now fighting his once fellow revolutionaries, ordered general Pablo Gonzalez to pacify Morelos. Using overwhelming firepower, he successfully pushed Zapata's guerrilla forces out of the cities of Morelos. A year later, Zapata was able to push Gonzalez's army out of Morelos. The commune now was only a shell of its former self. As his forces were always under military pressure in Morelos by his opponents, Zapata's civil administration was unable to carry out any major reforms in the region. Unable to hold together their alliance with the
Villistas Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...
, and increasingly reliant on the liberal Felicistas, Palafox was removed from his post and the Aguascalientes Convention was dissolved. Being pressured by Gonzalez's forces, Zapata attempted to convince a desertion with one of Gonzalez's cavalry officers. At the meeting where Zapata discussed this, he was assassinated. The Morelos Commune ceased to exist at this point, as the now demoralized guerrillas were pushed back into the mountains. The population of Morelos, especially the peasants would suffer repercussions by the occupying forces, including the burning of villages, and slave labor.


Ideology

The Morelos Commune shared many similarities in political structure with its contemporary
Makhnovshchina The Makhnovshchina () was an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society in parts of Ukraine during the Russian Revolution of 1917–1923. It existed from 1918 to 1921, during which time free soviets and libertarian communes operated und ...
in Ukraine, it also inspired the creation of the Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities in 1994, militarily protected by the
EZLN The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (, EZLN), often referred to as the Zapatistas (Mexican ), is a far-left political and militant group that controls a substantial amount of territory in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico. Since ...
, in the state of
Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...
,
Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
.


References

{{reflist Anarchist communities History of Morelos Mexican Revolution