EFFECTS OF THE WAR 301 
Soviet Government at the close of 1918 abolished altogether the last 
vestiges of local and municipal government, thus ending the career 
of the zemstvos. In those areas which were occupied by the anti- 
Bolshevik armies during the civil war, the zemstvos were reéstab- 
lished, but they never regained a solid basis. Although the popula- 
tion resumed the payment of local taxes, the inflation of the currency 
had reached such catastrophic dimensions that the expenditure of 
one or two months proved to be far in excess of the total budget 
for the year. This is why the few zemstvos still surviving at that 
time had to be practically taken over by the Treasury of the 
anti-Bolshevik Government in south Russia. As this Government 
never granted to the zemstvos the necessary funds, however, and as 
it was financially unable to grant such funds even if it had desired 
to do so, the zemstvos very soon found themselves at the end of their 
resources, with all their properties mortgaged, and unable to carry 
on. The zemstvo hospitals were left without linen and medical sup- 
plies, the schools without books and writing materials, and the 
teachers, receiving no salaries, had to seek other employment. The 
schools were deserted and the wealthier peasants had to pool their 
resources to open small private schools for their children. Finally 
there came a time when the zemstvo hospitals had to stop admitting 
patients, and the doctors, left without salaries, were forced to seek 
private practice in order to earn a livelihood. 
Thus the zemstvos, created and built up by the unceasing efforts 
of three generations of public spirited men and women, were gradu- 
ally destroyed.