Following the abolition of serfdom, the need arose for urgent changes in the system of local self-government. At the beginning of 1863, a special commission prepared a draft on the emergence of a new form of local government, which later became known as "Zemstvo institutions." They were created on the basis of the "Regulation on Provincial and County Zemstvo Institutions." This document was signed by Tsar Alexander II on January 1, 1864.
Zemstvo functions
The "Regulation on Zemstvo institutions" divided all zemstvos into provincial and district. Their functions are described by the main provisions and can be briefly represented as follows:
- management of property, monetary funds of the zemstvo;
- managing shelters, charity houses and other charitable institutions;
- Creation of schools, hospitals, libraries and care for them;
- lobbying for local trade and industry;
- ensuring the necessary economic needs of the army and the post office;
- collection of local fees and taxes determined by the state;
- organizational and administrative measures aimed at maintaining the normal activity of zemstvos;
- assistance in the preservation of crops, the prevention of deaths of livestock, the fight against small rodents and locusts.
These and other powers of the zemstvos indicate exclusively the economic spectrum of their activities.
Where were the zemstvos created?
According to the "Regulation ...", zemstvo institutions were created in 33 provinces. The exceptions were the Bessarabian region, the lands of the Don army, such provinces as Mogilev, Yuryev, Astrakhan and Arkhangelsk, as well as Polish, Lithuanian and Baltic provinces. Until 1911, special committees for affairs of the zemstvo economy operated in these lands. The difference was that Zemstvo institutions were created by elective means, and the committees contained officials appointed by the Ministry of the Interior. To understand the reason for such a decision, it is necessary to consider the election procedure, as a result of which the Zemstvo government was formed.
How did the elections to the zemstvo
The organizers of the Zemstvo reform could not openly proclaim the class principles for the formation of local power, but they also seemed unacceptable to everyone, without exception, to grant suffrage .
The formation of local authorities can be represented in the form of such a table.
As you can see, the main elected body was the curia. Distinguished curia landowners, peasants and urban residents. A land qualification was established for landowners, which in various provinces ranged from 200 to 800 acres of land. The townsfolk had the right to vote with an annual cash turnover of more than 6,000 rubles. The rural curiae did not have a property qualification - the peasant congress empowered its representatives, who were supposed to lobby for the interests of the third estate in the zemstvo. The largest class had less than 10% of the vote in the Zemstvo assembly.
Many lands on which zemstvo institutions were not created were located in border or recently annexed provinces. The central authorities were afraid of letting the local population governing, the decisions of which could harm the central authorities or encourage dissent in their region.
Counter-Reforms of 1890
In 1890, the "New Regulation on Zemstvo Institutions" was published, according to which a significant part of the population lost their voting rights. The elections held in accordance with the new rules in 1897 showed a sharp increase in the number of nobles and officials on the board and a decrease in the representatives of the peasantry — 1.8% of the total number of members of the zemstvo.
Further conversions
The legislation on local self-government was finalized during the revolution of 1905-1907. Then laws were adopted that equalized the rights of peasants, and in 1912 zemstvo institutions were already created in the western regions of Russia. After the revolution of 1917 , the zemstvo was abolished.