Zemstva

Zemstvo

Zemstvo

Institution of local government in the Russian Empire

A zemstvo (Russian: земство, IPA: [ˈzʲɛmstvə], pl. земства, zemstva)[lower-alpha 1] was an institution of local government set up during the great emancipation reform of 1861 carried out in Imperial Russia by Emperor Alexander II of Russia. Nikolay Milyutin elaborated the idea of the zemstva, and the first zemstvo laws went into effect in 1864. After the October Revolution the zemstvo system was shut down by the Bolsheviks and replaced with a multilevel system of workers' and peasants' councils ("soviets").

Zemstvo having a dinner by Grigoriy Myasoyedov. 1872.

Structure

Goals

The system of elected bodies of local self-government in the Russian Empire was represented at the lowest level by the mir and the volost and was continued, so far as the 34 Guberniyas (governorates) of old Russia were concerned, in the elective district and provincial assemblies (zemstvo). The goal of the zemstvo reform was the creation of local organs of self-government on an elected basis, possessing sufficient authority and independence to resolve local economic problems.[1] Assemblies could appoint deputies to carry out orders and objectives in response to issues the Zempstvo considered. [2]

Alexander II instituted these bodies, one for each district and another for each province or government, in 1864. The law creating the Zemstvo outlined 14 objectives for each Zemstvo to accomplish. [3]

  1. Self management of Zemstvo property and revenue
  2. Self maintenance of Zenstvo property
  3. Public food security
  4. Management of philanthropy, public welfare, and church building maintenance
  5. Mutual property insurance
  6. Oversee development of trade and industry
  7. Economic participation of public education, public health, and prison systems
  8. Cooperation on the prevention of bovine disease and crop plagues
  9. Fulfillment of civil, military, and postal demands
  10. Distribution of state tax funds assigned to the Zemstvo
  11. Setting, collecting, and allocating local taxes
  12. Notify the public of local welfare opportunities and civil rights
  13. Hold elections
  14. Special charters

Elections

They consisted of a representative council (zemskoye sobranye) and of an executive board (zemskaya uprava) nominated by the former. The board consisted of five classes of members:

  • large landed proprietors (nobles owning 590 acres (2.4 km2) and over), who sat in person
  • delegates of the small landowners, including the clergy in their capacity of landed proprietors
  • delegates of the wealthier townsmen
  • delegates of the less wealthy urban classes
  • delegates of the peasants, elected by the volosts[lower-alpha 2]

The nobles received more weight in voting for a zemstvo even though nobles were a tiny minority of the population.[4] District zemstvos were required to have 40% of their assembly elected by the peasants, but provincial assemblies were elected from the district without such a quota. This resulted in much lower peasant representation at the provincial level.[5]

Persons under 25 years of age, under criminal investigation, convicted criminals, and foreigners were not permitted to be in the zemstvos.[6] Women who owned sufficient property to gain a seat on a zemstvo could appoint a male proxy to vote for them.[7] By 1913, 20-40% of the eligible voters in Tula Oblast were women depending on the election. Women were de facto denied the right to serve as deputies with this confirmed de jure in 1903.[8]

Prior to each election, lists of eligible voters for a given zemstvo were published for public comment. Voters could be stricken by the zemstvo or added to the roster based on public comment. Voters had to be present to vote in person on candidates who were self nominated. The electoral bodies were not allowed to give instructions for how candidates should perform once elected. The governor could object to the proceedings and suspend electoral decisions. Election reform in 1890 resulted in separate electoral bodies for the noble and ignoble voters. At this time, the clergy, jews, and non-landowning peasants were deprived of the right to vote in Zemstvo elections. Part of the motivation for the election reform was a decline in land ownership of the nobles which resulted in too few nobles to fill the deputy and assembly roles. These election reforms decreased the size of assemblies and number of deputies 20-30%.

Procedure

Zemstvo assemblies met at least once a year for not more than twenty days. Extraordinary meetings of a zemstvo required permission from the Minister of the Interior and could only consider the specific issues on which the Minister permitted them. Provincial meetings were opened and closed by the local governor while the district meetings were opened and closed by the Marshal of the Nobility. These zemstvo typcially created a small number of delegations for handling decisions the assembly came to. One such typical delegation was an executive board which worked year around. It was not uncommon for one individual to serve as the Marshal of the Nobility and chairman of the executive for a number of years.[9]

Enactments from the zemstvos generally needed approval from the governor or Minister of the Interior. These approvals could be withheld on the grounds that an enactment was either illegal or against state interests. In the case that enactments were not approved, governors were expected to notify the assembly and deliberate on adjustments to the enactment that would allow it to pass. If compromise could not be found, the Senate would hear the case. The governor was expected to act as a plaintiff and prove that the zemstvo's enactment was unjust. The governor could also revoke their approval and begin this process after a enactment had taken effect. [10][11]

Taxation

The 10th objective, distribution of state funds assigned to zemstvos was one of the main objectives. About 20% of Russia's annual state revenue was assigned to the zemstvos in the early years. Zemstvos were able to draw taxes from a variety of other sources and for a variety of purposes. It is difficult to summarize what a typical zemstvo's taxation looks like. For example, land tax accounted for between 3 and 90 percent of a zemstvo's revenue depending on the zemstvo and year. In many districts, police were supposed to collect harvest taxes on behalf of the zemstvo. However, there was significant difficultly in actually collecting because the zemstvo had no control over the police, and the assemblies were forbidden from awarding police including even thanking them.[12]

In the beginning of the zemstvo system, natural obligations such as road work and like kind taxes such as wheat, were of greater concern to the peasants than monetary taxation. These taxes were unpopular and formed large part of the zemstvo's resources. Overtime, these were mostly converted into monetary taxes. [13]This policy was also not popular as the zemstvos were often seen by contemporary peasants as worthless institutions that raised a lot of taxes. [14]

The Third Element

The zemstvo executive boards were highly involved in the administration of the staff working for the zemstvo. These staff were professional experts from the Intelligentsia known as 'the third element'. These professionals profited from the employment, but they also donated their time as civic service.[4][15][16]

History

Zemstvos were created as part of the larger Great Reforms. In 1864, the first law on Zemstvos was enacted by the Emperor which outlined the powers of the Zemstvo. These powers were administrative and focused on local issues which were mostly not addressed by existing institutions.[17] In 1865 zemstvos were opened in nineteen provinces, and between 1866 and 1876 another sixteen were established.[1] Twelve provinces had no zemstvos, the three Baltic provinces and the nine western governments annexed from Poland by Catherine II.[18] Created in 1875 after much consultation with Cossack officials, the Zemstvos of the Don Host Oblast collapsed and were abolished after six years of operation.[1]

Zemstvos were originally restricted from making binding rules on every citizen within their jurisdiction. In 1873, Zemstvos were permitted to make binding regulation on every citizen strictly for the purpose of preventing fires. These powers were expanded in 1879 to allow regulation to prevent the spread of epidemics and zoological diseases. [19]

From 1864 to 1889, Zemstvos elected the justices of the peace. [20]

From 1866 to 1905 zemstvo officials were largely prevented from contracting each other on the ground that these were local organizations. Occasional exemptions were made for fire reinsurance contracts or large agricultural machinery sales. [21] In 1902, zemstvo leaders petitioned Nicholas II for the voice of the zemstvo to reach the throne. The Emperor considered this a senseless dream.[22]

As time went on additional gubernatorial oversight was placed on zemstvos. In 1867, the zemstvos were prevented from publishing minutes or debates unless given specific permission by the governor. In 1879, the governors were given the power to dismiss any zemstvo employee at their discretion. The largest single change in the zemstvos powers came from Alexander III (law of 25 June [O.S. 12 June] 1890). [23] In addition to election reform, governors gained increased powers of discipline over the members.[citation needed] The 1890 law instituted the Bureau of Zemstvo Affairs as additional oversight of the Zemstvo. Bureau officials were appointed by the emperor and from local governments officials such as Marshall of the Nobility, district prosecutor, and district courts. Procedures were still led by the governor. The bureau overturned 116 zemstvo enactments during the 1891 to 1892 year with 51 of these enactments from the Vladimir Provincial Assembly alone.[11][24] This reform also gave Zemstvos the power to issue binding regulation on the conduct of all citizens outside of townships in a wide variety of issues. Zemstvo officials could enforce these regulation by bringing violators before criminal courts. Prior to 1890, zemstvo sessions were often cut short due to assemblies not meeting the quorum. This was in part because officials were not allowed to receive a salary or other compensation for their position. [25]

The 1890 reforms also expanded the nobility's representation in the zemstvos from 55% in 1886 to 72% by 1903.[26] Some historians represent the equality in terms of the amount of land one member of the Zemstvo represented. In 1877, each peasant assembly member represented 1.76 times the land a noble member represented. By 1905, each peasant assembly member represented 6.47 times the land a noble member represented.[27]

Zemstvo expenditure grew from 89.1 million rubles in 1900 to 290.5 million rubles in 1913. Of the latter sum, 90.1 million rubles were spent on education, 71.4 million on medical assistance, 22.2 million on improvements in agriculture, and 8 million on veterinary measures. The chief sources of zemstvo revenue were rates on lands, forests, country dwellings, factories, mines and other real-estate.[28]

From 1902-1905, there are widespread reports of a total loss of independence of the peasant members of the zemstvos. Authority was ceded to the land captains. [29]

The participants of Russian Revolution of 1905 largely overlapped with Zemstvo participants.[30] In the 1905-6 year 66 districts boycotted taxes in protest of the taxes being too high. Discontent was most severe where the zemtsvo's tax on land allotted to the peasants was taxed much higher than privately owned land.[31]

The rules governing elections to the zemstvos were taken as a model for the electoral law of 1906 and are sufficiently indicated by the account of this given below. The zemstvos were originally given large powers in relation to the incidence of taxation and such questions as education, medical relief, public welfare, food supply, and road maintenance in their localities, but radicals, such as the Socialist Revolutionary Party and the nihilists, met them with hostility, believing that the reforms were too minor. Still, in his 1901 article "What is to be done", Lenin advocated a short-term alliance with the Zemstvos again Tsarist oppression.

In 1906, each zemstvo was able to elect one deputy to represent them in the State Council.[32] Absenteeism increased dramatically during this period many zemstvos were considered to be in good attendance if half their members showed up to the meetings.[33]

Philately uses the term zemstvo stamp to refer to local-issue Russian postage stamps from this period[citation needed].

The All-Russian Zemstvo Union was set up in August 1914 to provide a common voice for all the Zemstvos. It was a liberal organisation which after 1915 operated in conjunction with the Union of Cities.[34]

In 1917 rural societies in Stavropol refused to pay taxes and boycotted schools, medical centers, and all other services after the zemstvo first was first introduced there. Rising tensions resulted in three protesters killed by the police and the zemstvo remained. Their governor reported:

The dissatisfaction of the rural population with the introduction of the zemstvo was evident almost everywhere in the province shortly after the distribution of the tax lists. The peasants, being insufficiently informed about the taxes and the sphere of activity of zemtsvo institutions which were only in their first year of existence, noticed the exceptional increase in local taxes.

[35]

Notes

  1. The word derives from земля (zemlyá), lit. 'land, country, state'.
  2. By the law of 12 (25) June 1890 the peasant members of the zemstvos were to be nominated by the governor of the government or province from a list elected by the volosts.

References

  1. [1]
    Volvenko, Aleksei (2007). "The Zemstvo Reform, the Cossacks, and Administrative Policy on the Don, 1864–1882". In Burbank, Jane; Von Hagen, Mark; Remnev, A.V. (eds.). Russian Empire: Space, People, Power, 1700-1930. Indiana University Press. p. 348. ISBN 9780253219114.
  2. [2]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 44)
  3. [3]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 45)
  4. [4]
    Ascher, Abraham (2014). The Russian Revolution: A Beginner's Guide. Oneworld Publications. p. 3.
  5. [5]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 84-85)
  6. [6]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 38)
  7. [7]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 83)
  8. [8]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 94-95)
  9. [9]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 40-56)
  10. [10]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 57-58)
  11. [11]
    Kulikov, Vladimir V. (3 July 2014). "Local Self-Government and Administrative Oversight: The Historical Experience of the Zemstvo". Russian Studies in History. 53 (3): 56–69. doi:10.1080/10611983.2014.1020228.
  12. [12]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 97-104)
  13. [13]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 98)
  14. [14]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 111)
  15. [15]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 53)
  16. [16]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 120)
  17. [17]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 35)
  18. [18]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 34)
  19. [19]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 47)
  20. [20]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 48)
  21. [21]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 48)
  22. [22]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 140)
  23. [23]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 58)
  24. [24]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 58)
  25. [25]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 47-50)
  26. [26]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 54)
  27. [27]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 85-89)
  28. [28]
    RUSSIA, U.S.S.R. A Complete Handbook. 1933. Edited by P. Malevsky-Malevich. p. 500.
  29. [29]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 118)
  30. [30]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 440)
  31. [31]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 108)
  32. [32]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 48)
  33. [33]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 118-119)
  34. [34]
    "Unions of zemstvos and cities". Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  35. [35]
    Vucinich (1982, p. 109)
  • Vucinich, Wayne; Emmons, Terence (1982). The Zemstvo in Russia: an experiment in local self-government. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521234166.

Further reading

  • Darrow, David W. "The Politics of Numbers: Zemstvo Land Assessment and the Conceptualization of Russia's Rural Economy." The Russian Review 59.1 (2000): 52-75.
  • Emmons, Terence, and Wayne S. Vucinich, eds. The Zemstvo in Russia: An Experiment in Local Self-Government (Cambridge University Press, 1982) essays by scholars.
  • Fallows, Thomas S. "The Russian Fronde and the Zemstvo Movement: Economic Agitation and Gentry Politics in the Mid-1890s." The Russian Review 44.2 (1985): 119-138. online
  • Porter, Thomas, and William Gleason. "The 'Zemstvo' and Public Initiative in Late Imperial Russia." Russian History 21.4 (1994): 419-437. online
  • Porter, Thomas Earl. The Zemstvo and the emergence of civil society in late imperial Russia 1864-1917 (Edwin Mellen Press, 1991).
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