Russian local government during the war and the Union of Zemstvos

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1794855874

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-179223

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Polner, Tichon I. http://d-nb.info/gnd/172311195

Title:: Russian local government during the war and the Union of Zemstvos

Place of publication:: New Haven

Publisher:: Yale Univ. Press

Year of publication:: 1930

Scope:: XXV, 317 S.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XIII. The Joint Committee of the unions of Zemstvos and of towns for the supply of military equipment and munitions

Collection:: Economics Books

282 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR Zemstvos and of Towns. At the beginning of September, the pre- liminary agreements having been successfully negotiated, the Zem- gor obtained from the military authorities an official request to form eighty gangs of one thousand men each. Urgent orders were there- upon issued to the local committees of the Unions of Zemstvos and of Towns to assemble the necessary forces of diggers and carpenters. Feverish preparations were begun at Moscow to supply tools, warm clothing, and warm portable shelters. Engineers and skilled work- men familiar with the building industry were registered by the com- mittees. On September 5 the Emperor gave his approval to the nec- essary legislation sanctioning the volunteer labor battalions. To facilitate the formation of these battalions, the military authorities at the front after some preliminary negotiations, agreed to allow considerable privileges in respect of liability for military service to the men registering for work in this force. The news that this unprecedented duty had been entrusted to the Zemgor, however, produced in government circles in Petrograd the effect of a bombshell. Was it possible? they asked. Were these public bodies to be permitted to have an army of their own, equipped and organized under the command of zemstvo engineers? Those in favor of the new enterprise endeavored to allay these fears, to convince these nervous bureaucrats that, even if the unions did cherish evil designs, their “army” of 80,000 men, equipped with nothing more dangerous than axes and shovels, would be unable to do any harm with millions of troops in front of them. They failed, however, com- pletely and the higher officials of the Government were seized with a truly comical panic. The result was that the Zemgor, on September 11, was suddenly ordered by Petrograd to cease at once the further recruiting of labor and to confine itself to one battalion of a thou- sand men, by way of experiment. Thus a vast measure, taken in hand with great enthusiasm over the whole of Russia had to be abandoned. These facts, which today seem almost incredible, clearly illustrate the fear and distrust with which the higher circles of the Govern- ment regarded the Unions of Zemstvos and of Towns. They also re- veal the conflicting views regarding those bodies held by the au- thorities at the front and at Petrograd—a conflict that made itself felt at every step in their activities. In the meantime the first labor battalion organized by the Zemgor

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