The 2nd Congress of the CP(b)U (Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)) was held in Moscow, between October 17 and 22, 1918.
There were 125 party delegates who represented around 9,000 Communists of underground organizations of Ukraine and Crimea. The congress also attended representatives of Bulgarian, German, Hungarian, Czech groups of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) as well as the Romanian Communist Party and the Communists of Poland.
Preceding events and preparation
The decision of the 1st congress of the CP(b)U on the creation of the Communist Party of Ukraine was met with approval in the vast majority of party branches, it corresponded to their aspiration to unity on an all-Ukrainian scale as part of a single party, with its Central Committee, significantly intensified their work, which delegates of the 2nd congress of the CP(b)U, which took place three months later, emphasized with particular elation in their speeches.
However, the issue of the basic law of the internal life of the Communist Party of Ukraine - the statute, which fixes its name and purpose, regulates activities, defines the rights and obligations of party members and its bodies - was not considered at the 1st Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine. As recorded in the minutes of the congress, when considering the organizational and practical tasks of the party, the speaker (N. Skripnik) did not dwell on the question of the statute, since it automatically fell away due to the fact of the adoption of the resolution on the entry of the Communist Party of Ukraine into the single Russian Communist Party, which had its own statute. The absence of its own statute, apparently, did not suit all party members, because already at the 2nd Congress of the CP(b)U, held in October 1918, the question of the statute arose again. Moreover, at the evening meeting on October 21, a statutory commission was even elected (S. Kosior, P. Rovner, I. Kreisberg, I. Schwartz, N. Beschetvertnoi), which was tasked with preparing a draft of the statute for the next meeting together with the presidium of the congress.
Agenda
Information from localities
Report of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine (CC KP(b)U) Report of the All-Ukrainian Central Military Revolutionary Committee (AUCMRC) Information about international situation Information about current moment About celebration of the First anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution About relationships inter-partisan organizations and revolutionary committees About the attitude towards the Party of Left Socialist Revolutionaries, Left Bund members and other parties that announced recognition of the Soviet power platform About the CP(b)U statute About the convocation time of the 3rd Congress of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine Elections of governing bodies of the CP(b)U
Statutory Commission
Stanisław Kosior
Pinkhus Rovner
Isaak Kreisberg
Isaac Schwartz
Nikolay Bestchetvertnoi
Central Committee
The Congress elected the following members to the Central Committee on October 22, 1918:
Elected Members
Sergeyev Fyodor Andreyevich (Comrade Artyom) Beschetvertnoi Nikolay Ilyich Gruzman Shulim Aizikovich Drobnis Yakov Naumovich Zaks (Gladnev) Samuil Markovich Zatonskiy Vladimir Petrovich Zimak Alexander Iosifovich Kwiring Emmanuil Ionovich Pyatakov Yuriy Leonidovich Reut Mikhail Venediktovich Slinko Petr Fedorovich Stalin (Dzhugashvili) Iosif Vissarionovich Tarskiy (Sokolovskiy) Leonid Lvovich Schwartz Isaac Izrailevich Yakovlev (Epstein) Yakov Arkadievich
Candidates
Amosov Ivan Karpovich
Bliznichenko Andrei Yemelyanovich
Vinokurov Naum Mikhailovich
Gamarnik Jan Borisovich
Zharko Afanasiy Mikhailovich
Zolotov Fyodor Mikhailovich
Klochko Vladimir Yuryevich
Kosior Stanislav Vikentievich
Lugovoy (Levinstein) Alexander Vasilyevich
Morshin I. D. (Rusin Alexey Ivanovich) Rovner Pinkhus Lazarevich Skripnik Nikolay Alekseevich Smolyakov Lazar Abramovich Kharchenko Taras Ivanovich Chernysh (Borisov) B. V.
The next day on October 23, 1918, took place a plenum (plenary session) of the Central Committee that elected Emanuel Kwiring as the Secretary of the Central Committee (see First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine).