ORIGIN OF THE UNION 
53 
More than twenty years passed after the Crimean campaign, and 
the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 broke out. In this interval of 
time numerous changes had taken place in the world. At Geneva, 
the International Red Cross Society had been organized; and in 
Russia, too, a branch of the society had been established, although 
composed chiefly of government officials and therefore rather re- 
mote from the broader public. Local government had then been in 
existence in Russia for more than a decade; but it was not yet suffi- 
ciently strong to make its voice effectively heard. Still, the Russian 
Red Cross understood very well that, if it was to obtain powerful 
financial support from the local government organs and private 
citizens, it would have to widen its constitution sufficiently to admit 
into its ranks such outsiders as might be enjoying the particular 
confidence of the general public. In organizing its field hospitals 
for service at the front, therefore, the Red Cross put at their head 
representatives of the gentry as well as zemstvo leaders known 
throughout Russia. These hospitals were expected to work behind 
the front lines (in Rumania), but some of them advanced neverthe- 
less into the zone of actual hostilities during critical moments in the 
struggle, to bring help to sufferers under the enemy’s direct fire. 
The leaders of these hospitals have produced some excellent reports 
of their activities in the Turkish campaign. 
The Zemstvos in the Russo-Japanese War. 
Twenty-five years later, at the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese 
War, the zemstvos were already fully conscious of their strength and 
influence. At that time the Moscow zemstvo board was presided over 
by M. Shipov, one of the most influential zemstvo leaders of the 
country. Reserved, determined, tactful, remote from revolutionary 
ideas or aspirations, he was at the same time a man of liberal views, 
and he felt confident that the zemstvos working in combination, 
ought to be able to counteract the effects of the War. He therefore 
made good use of every possible opportunity to codrdinate the ac- 
tivities of the zemstvo institutions throughout the country. 
At the beginning of 1904 he succeeded in calling together in Mos- 
cow the representatives of the zemstvos and created an organization 
for the relief of sick and wounded soldiers in which all zemstvos took 
part. He was chosen by the assembly as the leader of the whole move- 
ment. He decided to send zemstvo hospitals and canteens to Korea,