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 representatives
 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 program
 of work and made resolutions which were binding on all zemstvos.
 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 machinery
 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 support
 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 activities
 and undertook the work of supply on a national scale.
The autocratic government, separated from the people by centuries
 of mutual mistrust and bitterness, proved incapable of a
creative work in the emergency. At the same time that the bureaucratic
 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 collaboration
 with that of the Union of Towns which also came into
being at the outbreak of the War. The Union of Towns was an entirely
 new organization, since no associations of municipalities existed
 before the War. Soon the two Unions organized a joint committee
 known as the “Zemgor,” for the supplying of the army with
munitions and equipment.
Every day, almost every hour, brought new evidence of the weakness
 of the Government, and of its incompatibility with the aspirations
 of the country. The Imperial Government was never overthrown:
 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