Zemstvo is a step towards the formation of civil society

The abolition of serfdom and the receipt of personal freedom of a large part of the village population required changes in the local government system. Zemstvo is the state's response to new trends in the development of society.

What were the zemstvos founded for?

During the entire period of serfdom in Russia over a large part of the population, the state did not have direct custody due to the fact that responsibility for all dependent peasants lay on the shoulders of the landlords. The owner of the estate had full authority over the peasants, had to take measures to eliminate riots, discontent, think about the improvement of the village. Intervention of the state in these relationships was seen as an exception. But after the peasant reform, the situation changed radically. Millions of peasants have received personal freedom and civil rights. They were essentially limited, but nevertheless from these former serfs it was necessary to educate the citizens of Russia. The state faced important tasks of reorganizing society and management. Zemstvo is not something new for the history of Russia. The tsar followed the path of reviving the past experience of creating local self-government bodies of the times of Ivan the Terrible and its pernicious reform. The creation of zemstvos solved two problems at once. On the one hand, it compensated, albeit in part, for the loss of power to the nobility. On the other hand, it shifted the solution of local problems and tasks of improvement to the shoulders of representatives of all classes.

What is zemstvo?

Zemstvo is a representative unconscious local government, created since 1864 at the level of counties and provinces of the Russian Empire, where there was a land of noblemen. Representatives of the nobility and citizens, the owners of real estate, were elected by direct vote. In the peasant curia, three-stage elections were held, which significantly reduced the number of their representatives compared, for example, with the nobility. Activities zemstvos held at two levels: administrative (annual zemstvo meetings) and the executive (councils working on an ongoing basis for a fee).

Zemstvo functions

From the very beginning, zemstvos entrenched economic tasks of local improvement: the creation and maintenance of hospitals, schools, veterinary posts, charity houses, as well as construction, repair of roads and the like. Funds for these purposes were extracted in the form of mandatory fees established by the zemstvo assembly. That is, on the ground themselves decide how much money to collect and what they will go to. In addition, the zemstvo is the beginning of the formation in Russia of the so-called third estate, or the third element. These are doctors, teachers, agronomists who played a significant role in the development of the Russian village, workers who made a direct contribution to the formation of civil society.

Zemstvo Liberal Movement

The state, creating elected bodies of self-government, immediately made it clear that the zemstvo is not a political authority. To avoid its transformation into such, connections between the zemstvos of different provinces were forbidden, not to mention activities at the national level. Also from time to time, all new censorship bans on the reports of local self-government bodies were introduced. Finally, with the beginning of the reactionary policy of Alexander the Third and the suppression of revolutionary Narodism, liberal representatives of the nobility through zemstvos began to legally and not very much raise political issues. The main requirement was to adopt a constitution that would guarantee the political and civil rights of Russian citizens. Among other issues raised by the liberals, one can single out the requirements for reducing redemption payments, abolishing the poll tax, creating zemstvos at the level of volosts and at the state level. Legal forms of struggle were petitions and addresses to the emperor. Illegally, all-Russian congresses were held, semi-legal circles were organized.

"The Zemstvo Dines"

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Russian artists were increasingly moving away from the formerly dominant academism, trying to really portray life. One of these masters was the founder of the Association of the Wanderers Grigory Grigorievich Myasoedov. His paintings primarily depicted the life of the peasants. In his work Grigory Grigorievich responded vividly to the reforms in Russia. The picture "Zemstvo dines" is a direct confirmation of this. It depicts the zemstvo representatives of the peasantry, who, on the ground, take rather simple and meager food. Representatives from the nobility and merchants are not visible, but there is a hint of their special position. The window depicts a footman, wiping dishes for a meal of representatives of the upper classes. The picture is simple, but very thoughtful. How do the peasants feel at joint meetings with the "gentlemen"? Can they raise their voice in defense of their own interests? Is it easy for them to spare time for zemsky affairs, when housekeeping is? Honestly answering these questions, we will understand that local governments were completely under the influence of the nobility.