Russian local government during the war and the Union of Zemstvos

Bibliographic data

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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12 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR the zemstvos was not something new that came to life in the sixties of the last century, as a result of the establishment of local govern- ment. Its antecedents may be traced to the very sources of Russian history, where the term “zemstvo” frequently occurs, meaning “the men of the land,” those men who always were a creative element in the life of the state. They were traditionally opposed to the members of the central administration, as men who lived on the land and were its real masters. The Russian people, as a whole, know their own strength and have faith in it. Perhaps they even have too much faith, as happens to those who are sure of their power, and they therefore quietly and even humorously accept the threats and blows of fate. They will endure anything because of their strength, but not because they are slaves. They will never break down, and in the midst of the chaos of destruction will lay the foundation of the temple of their new faith. They are willing to accept limitations and restrictions in the name of order and public good, but they will never be a slave of the Gov- ernment. They have too much moral strength to accept slavery. The gentleness and inertness of the Russian character coupled with an inborn reserve offered frequent temptations to the Govern- ment to abuse its power, but this invariably ended in rebellion when the Russian kindliness gave place to uncontrollable violence, rebel- lions for which Russia had often to pay by years of suffering. But they always emerged from the ordeal regenerated and stronger than before. The zemstvos existed for only thirty-three years. Their history has never been sufficiently studied not only because of the atmos- phere of suspicion created round it by the Government, but also be- cause of the rapidity of their own growth. But a mere outline of their achievements in the field of economic life and their place among the institutions of the country point to the foundations on which they were built and the sources from which were derived their great ac- complishments. They are the moral forces of a nation and its capacity for self-government. In opposition to the traditional view that was accepted as reli- gious dogma, that the Russian State could be built only by auto- cratic methods, that autocracy is an inalienable attribute of the Russian State and has its roots in the conscience of the Russian people, the history of the zemstvos shows that Russia has tremen-

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