96 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR 
summer campaign. As a large number of beds stood idle at this time, 
however, a conference between the Unions and Prince Oldenburg 
decided that there was no need to increase the number of beds. 
Nevertheless the Zemstvo Union informed its provincial committees 
that in view of the magnitude of the contemplated military opera- 
tions it had resolved to take prompt measures for enlarging the 
hospital capacity so as to be prepared for any emergency. 
On May 22, 1916, General Brusilov launched his offensive at 
Lutsk, and the result was that not only were the southern areas soon 
overflowing with wounded, but a considerable number of these had 
to be sent even as far as Moscow. After June 20, when the Russians 
advanced in the Baranovichy sector, it became evident that the en- 
tire hospital organization would soon be swamped. Then, at the end 
of June, more conferences were held with the evacuation authorities, 
and the result was that the unions were asked to increase their hos- 
pital facilities by 50,000 beds, and to be ready to provide an addi- 
tional 50,000, if necessary. Of course, it was impossible to carry out 
such an enormous task within so short a time, since there were 
neither sufficient accommodation nor sufficient supplies and equip- 
ment available. 
Meanwhile, from about August 20, 1916, Tiflis was also receiving 
a steady stream of casualties (2,000 to 8,000 a day). About the 
same time, the entry of Rumania on the side of the Allies made it 
necessary also to provide the new front with adequate hospital fa- 
cilities. On the whole, it may be said that the strain imposed upon 
the evacuation machinery in the summer of 1916, was higher than 
at any other period of the War. From May to September the Zem- 
stvo Union was able to increase the number of hospital beds in the 
interior by 20,000 and was preparing for further increases. In addi- 
tion to this, with the appearance of casualties from the Rumanian 
front, the number of beds attached to the clearing hospitals in the 
south also had to be increased by 10,000, at the urgent request of 
the general staff. 
It would have been scarcely possible to make timely provision for 
these various needs on the vast scale that was required had it not 
been for two circumstances which helped matters in 1916. The first 
was that a portion of the huts built by the zemstvos in the interior 
had never been utilized by the military authorities, and the Zemstvo