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

THE ZEMGOR 283 had gone to work in the province of Mogilev. On September 29 the Chief Engineer, accompanied by a general specially assigned for this purpose by the Emperor, made a very careful examination of the work already accomplished by the battalion, and their report apon it was so enthusiastic that when the Emperor had read it, it was decided to revert to the original plan. The Zemgor received a proposal to organize at once six battalions of trench workers. A last attempt was now made by the higher authorities to eliminate the Zemgor’s obnoxious “army,” and orders were given that the Zemgor should send to the front only engineers with complete equipment and supplies for six battalions, but without the laborers. The work was to be organized only after the forcible conscription of local la- bor for the purpose. It was found, however, that these unwilling laborers, even though receiving wages, took exactly five times as long over their work as the diggers and carpenters who had been hired by the zemstvos on a voluntary agreement. We need not go further into the details of the tragi-comical strug- gle in which the unions had to engage for the right to give the army the most effective assistance. We shall merely observe that, as time went on, it was found possible gradually to get the scheme working under normal conditions and, although the Government still per- sisted in placing obstacles in the way of the recruiting of labor by the zemstvos, the Zemgor was nevertheless able to dispatch to the front a total of over 100,000 workers, recruited and organized under its direction. On January 4, 1916, a conference was held at the headquarters of the supreme Commander-in-Chief to consider the problems of provisioning the army. Among those present were the high commis- sioners of the two unions. At this meeting “the representatives of the army expressed to Prince Lvov their satisfaction with the achievements of the Zemgor’s labor battalions, declaring that not only had they been able to meet the requirements of the army au- thorities, but they had even introduced some exceedingly valuable improvements in the work of building and fortifying the entrenched positions.” The task of the labor battalions of the Zemgor con- sisted 1n securing for the army defensive entrenchments in the rear, construct- ing artificial obstacles in the path of the enemy, removing trees which 5 Izvestia (Bulletin) of the Zemgor, No. 12, p. 50.

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