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Zemstvo (Russian
Reforms of Russian orthography

The Old Russian language adopted the Cyrillic alphabet, approximately during the tenth century and at about the same time as the introduction of Eastern Christianity into the territories inhabited by the Eastern Slavs....
: ???????) was a form of local government
Local government

Local governments are administrative offices that are smaller than a state. The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government....
 instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II of Russia

Alexander II Nikolaevich , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the List of Russian rulers of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881....
. The idea of zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin
Nikolay Milyutin

Nikolay Alekseyevich Milyutin was a Russian statesman remembered as the chief architect of the great liberal reforms undertaken during Alexander II of Russia's reign, including the emancipation of the serfs and the establishment of zemstvo....
, and the first zemstvo laws were promulgated in 1864. After the October Revolution of 1917, the zemstvo system was shut down.

The system of local self-government the Russian Empire was presented at the lowest level by mir
Mir (social)

File:KorovinS NaMiru.jpgThe Russian language word 'mir' , besides its direct meanings of peace and world P. Smirnovskiy. A Textbook in Russian Grammar....
 and volost
Volost

Volost was a traditional administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe.In earlier Early East Slavs history, volost was a name for the territory ruled by the knyaz; either as an absolute ruler or with varying degree of autonomy from the Velikiy Knyaz ....
s and was continued, so far as the 34 Guberniya
Guberniya

Guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of Imperial Russia, usually translated as government, governorate, or province. A guberniya was ruled by a governor or , a word borrowed from Latin , in turn from Greek ....
s of old Russia are concerned, in the elective district and provincial assemblies (zemstvos).

These bodies, one for each district and another for each province or government, were created by Alexander II in 1864.






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Zemstvo (Russian
Reforms of Russian orthography

The Old Russian language adopted the Cyrillic alphabet, approximately during the tenth century and at about the same time as the introduction of Eastern Christianity into the territories inhabited by the Eastern Slavs....
: ???????) was a form of local government
Local government

Local governments are administrative offices that are smaller than a state. The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government....
 instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II of Russia

Alexander II Nikolaevich , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the List of Russian rulers of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881....
. The idea of zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin
Nikolay Milyutin

Nikolay Alekseyevich Milyutin was a Russian statesman remembered as the chief architect of the great liberal reforms undertaken during Alexander II of Russia's reign, including the emancipation of the serfs and the establishment of zemstvo....
, and the first zemstvo laws were promulgated in 1864. After the October Revolution of 1917, the zemstvo system was shut down.

The system of local self-government the Russian Empire was presented at the lowest level by mir
Mir (social)

File:KorovinS NaMiru.jpgThe Russian language word 'mir' , besides its direct meanings of peace and world P. Smirnovskiy. A Textbook in Russian Grammar....
 and volost
Volost

Volost was a traditional administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe.In earlier Early East Slavs history, volost was a name for the territory ruled by the knyaz; either as an absolute ruler or with varying degree of autonomy from the Velikiy Knyaz ....
s and was continued, so far as the 34 Guberniya
Guberniya

Guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of Imperial Russia, usually translated as government, governorate, or province. A guberniya was ruled by a governor or , a word borrowed from Latin , in turn from Greek ....
s of old Russia are concerned, in the elective district and provincial assemblies (zemstvos).

These bodies, one for each district and another for each province or government, were created by Alexander II in 1864. They consisted of a representative council (zemskoye sobranye) and of an executive board (zemskaya uprava) nominated by the former. The board consists of five classes of members:
  • large landed proprietors (nobles owning and over), who sit in person;
  • delegates of the small landowner
    Landowner

    Landholder or landowner is a holder of the estate in land with considerable rights of ownership or, simply put, an owner of land.In the old Europe a landholder was usually a nobleman, see landed nobility....
    s, 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.
The nobles were given more weight in voting for a zemstvo, as evidenced by the fact that 74% of the zemstvo members were of nobles, even though nobles were 1.3% of the population. Even so, the zemstvo did allow the greater population more say in the ways they wanted a small part of their lives to be run.

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 were met with hostility by radical
Radicalism (historical)

The term Radical was used during the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement. It later become a general term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order....
s, such as the Socialist Revolutionary Party, the intelligentsia
Intelligentsia

The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them ....
, and the nihilists
Nihilist movement

The Nihilist movement was a Russian anarchist movement in the 1860s which rejected all authorities. It is derived from the Latin word "nihil", which means "nothing"....
 who wanted more reform.. These powers were, however, severely restricted by the emperor Alexander III
Alexander III of Russia

Alexander III Alexandrovich , also known as Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Tsar of Russia from 13 March 1881 until his death in 1894....
 (law of 12/25 June 1890), the zemstvos being absolutely subordinated to the governors, whose consent was necessary to the validity of all their decisions, and who received drastic powers of discipline over the members. In spite of these restrictions and of an electoral system which tended to make these assemblies as strait-laced and reactionary as any government bureau, the zemstvos did good work, notably educational, in those provinces where the proprietors were inspired with a more liberal spirit. Many zemstvos also made extensive and valuable inquiries into the condition of agriculture, industry, healthcare and the like. It was not till 1905 that the zemstvos regained, at least de facto
De facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning the fact" or in practice but not necessarily ordained by law. It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique that are found in the common experience as created or developed without or contrary to a regulation....
, some of their independent initiative.

The term Zemstvo is also used in philately
Philately

Philately is the study of revenue stamp and postage stamp stamps. This includes the design, production and uses of stamps after they are authorized for issue, usually by government officials such as Postal Authorities....
 to refer to local-issue Russian postage stamps from this period.