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-