CHAPTER XVI 
CONCLUSION 
Tue World War found the zemstvos’ work in full swing. It aroused 
immense patriotic enthusiasm in zemstvo circles and the determina- 
tion to serve the nation in the calamities which had come upon it. 
Men of the most diverse political opinions forgot their differences 
and, joining hands, and combining their efforts, succeeded in creat- 
ing a powerful central organization, which rested locally upon the 
provincial and district zemstvos and upon committees of the Zem- 
stvo Union. These local organs succeeded in rallying around them 
local forces. It is difficult to say to what extent the peasants and 
workers really understood the significance of the War, and how far 
they might have been in sympathy with its aim and objects if they 
had done so. At all events it is certain that the desire to contribute to 
the relief of the distress of the victims of the War was shared by all 
classes of the Russian people. They were only too anxious to give 
expression to this feeling in the activities of an organization which 
was accessible to all of them and enjoyed their confidence. 
This task was accomplished by the Unions of Zemstvos and of 
Towns. Amongst the educated classes the work of the unions was 
almost everywhere greeted with understanding, sympathy, and sup- 
port. At the front the activities of the Zemstvo Union gradually 
won the recognition of the army, and most military men looked upon 
the zemstvo workers as messengers from their far-away homes con- 
veying to them in a tangible form the sympathy of the nation and 
its desire to mitigate the sufferings of the army. The very nature of 
the work of the Union could not but win the cordial welcome and 
approval of the army. They carried on their work without stiff for- 
malities. In Moscow, when officers of the Union were being sent to 
the front, they would be simply told to do everything in their power 
for the army, and at the beginning of the War this was the only rule 
and the only law by which they were guided. Frequently, in situa- 
tions where the government officials were either unwilling or unable 
to ignore or exceed their official instructions, the unions were ready 
to take risks without worrying too much about purely formal re- 
sponsibilities. The result was that the troops soon became convinced 
that the Zemstvo Union was capable of accomplishing almost any-