Makhnovia was established when Huliaipole was captured by Makhno's forces on 27 November 1918. Huliapole became the territory's de facto capital. The Ukrainian peasants refused to pay rent to the landowners and "...seized the estates and livestock of the pomeshchiks, kulaks, monasteries and State holdings: in so doing, they always set up local committees to manage these assets, with an eye to sharing them out among the various villages and communes."