CONCLUSION 
ing pressure on the organs of the Zemstvo Union, as well as on its 
individual officers. The measures of repression of the Government 
were met by the employees of the Union and by the workers in its 
factories with a prolonged strike. By this time, however, the material 
resources of the Union had become exhausted and the time had ar- 
rived to consider final liquidation. In November, 1919, the organiza- 
tion had ceased to exist and many of its leaders and employees had 
to seek refuge in the south, whilst others found themselves in Bolshe- 
vik prisons. 
The end of the zemstvo institutions was brought about in the same 
manner as the end of the Union, that is, by coercion. We must re- 
member, however, that the work of the zemstvos was in any case de- 
clining, owing to the destructive effect of the War upon the whole 
economic and financial situation. During the first years of the War 
the activities of the zemstvos, like those of the Zemstvo Union, ex- 
panded rapidly, thanks to the increased credits that were placed at 
their disposal and the enthusiasm of their officers. But this expansion 
lacked a solid basis, and, as the general resources of the country 
dwindled, the stringency necessarily affected the zemstvos also. As 
early as 1915, the zemstvos in the north of Russia were struggling 
with financial difficulties, and by the end of 1916 they were through- 
out the country in the throes of what appeared to be a desperate 
financial crisis. The Revolution further aggravated this situation 
and in 1917 the organization of the zemstvos, but recently powerful 
and wealthy, had greatly declined. 
It is difficult to say how this process of the disintegration of the 
zemstvos might have ended had there been no Bolshevik Revolution. 
But it may be assumed that the wounds which the War and the 
Revolution had inflicted upon local government must have been seri- 
ous and difficult to heal, if not fatal. 
307