10 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR
Union were elected by the zemstvo assemblies. They included over
one thousand men prominent in every path of life. Two representa-
tives from these committees appointed by the zemstvo assemblies and
the chairman of the provincial zemstvo board who were ex officio
members of the committee met regularly in Moscow at conferences
which were the supreme organ of the Union. They discussed the pro-
gram of work and made resolutions which were binding on all zem-
stvos. They also elected the Central Committee of the Union which
carried on all the executive work. The rapid growth of the work of
the Union necessitated the creation of an extensive executive ma-
chinery a description of which will be found in the following pages.
Its size alone may serve as an indication of the work done by the
Union.
But even now, in time of war, the old policy of obstruction was
not abandoned by the Government without a struggle. It was driven,
however, to realize that a war cannot be carried on without the sup-
port of the nation, and gradually capitulated to the Union. The
Union was originally organized for the relief of sick and wounded
soldiers, but soon overstepped the narrow limits assigned to its ac-
tivities and undertook the work of supply on a national scale.
The autocratic government, separated from the people by cen-
turies of mutual mistrust and bitterness, proved incapable of a
creative work in the emergency. At the same time that the bureau-
cratic machinery was breaking down, the Union of Zemstvos was
drawing its strength from the enthusiasm and energy of the nation
itself.
The work of the Union of Zemstvos was conducted in close col-
laboration with that of the Union of Towns which also came into
being at the outbreak of the War. The Union of Towns was an en-
tirely new organization, since no associations of municipalities ex-
isted before the War. Soon the two Unions organized a joint com-
mittee known as the “Zemgor,” for the supplying of the army with
munitions and equipment.
Every day, almost every hour, brought new evidence of the weak-
ness of the Government, and of its incompatibility with the aspira-
tions of the country. The Imperial Government was never over-
thrown: it merely failed as result of its own internal weakness. The
abdication of the Emperor occasioned hardly any surprise. The real
revolution, in the hearts and minds of the Russian people, began
