CHAPTER 1V
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE WORK OF THE
UNION OF ZEMSTVOS
The First Steps.
TuE Union of Zemstvos began its work with very modest prospects.
At the outset, it was given a quite definite scope by the medical au-
thorities of the army, headed by the aged Prince Oldenburg. A
straight line was drawn across the map from Moscow to Kiev, to
separate the two areas in which the Government and the Unions of
Towns and of Zemstvos were to do their work. East of this line, far
behind the war zone, the Union of Zemstvos and Union of Towns
were to operate, while west of it, in the rear of the army and in the
immediate vicinity of the front, only the government organizations,
that is the military hospitals and the semi-official Red Cross, were
permitted.
Such had been the decision of the Emperor, and it had, of course,
to be respected. The sum of 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 rubles had
been collected by the Zemstvo Union, through zemstvo appropria-
tions and voluntary contributions. This might have sufficed to fur-
nish and maintain for a period of about half a year 25,000 to 30,000
oeds and a few hospital trains. The plan was to receive the sick and
wounded soldiers at certain railway junctions and convey them to
the zemstvo hospitals scattered all over the country.
These modest plans had however to be abandoned very early. The
territory from which the two Unions had been excluded comprised
fifteen provinces in which the zemstvos had joined the Union and al-
ready made extensive preparations to take charge of the casualties
of the War. This alone was enough to show that it would be impos-
sible in practice to adhere to the restrictions originally imposed.
Moreover, the experience in previous wars seemed to indicate that a
moment would probably arrive when the authorities would be only
too glad to obtain any assistance that might be offered them in the
war zone, no matter from what source.
These expectations proved to be justified much sooner than could
have been foreseen. The work in the rear was rapidly falling almost
antirely upon the shoulders of the Unions. The medical department
