Zemstvo councils are an executive body,which was created as a result of the reform of 1864 during the reign of Alexander II. These institutions were formed as part of a series of reforms that were carried out in the second half of this century.
Immediate push fortransformations in all spheres of Russian society was the abolition of serfdom. This crucial step required immediate changes in the social, administrative, judicial systems, as well as innovations in the spheres of education and culture. Therefore, literally in one decade a series of measures was taken to reform the administration and judicial institutions. In 1864, the emperor signed a decree on the establishment of special zemstvo institutions. According to the same pattern, urban reform was subsequently carried out. A new liberal university statute was introduced, granting these institutions broad autonomy. So, the creation of local self-government was an important step in the transformation activities of Alexander II.
Zemstvo councils were not an innovation:The draft of such reforms was prepared at the beginning of the century. Alexander I instructed Speransky to prepare a reform to expand the rights and powers of local authorities. The plan developed by this statesman envisaged the creation of three levels of power: volost, uyezd and provincial. At each of these levels, the creation of doom was envisaged: the local noblemen-landowners and peasants constituted the volost Duma, which elected the district council, the latter, in turn, formed the provincial, and that-all-Russian State Duma. This draft elective all-Russian government, perhaps, was Speransky's most important project, despite the fact that privately owned peasants were not allowed to vote. However, at the beginning of the century, this plan was not implemented and with very significant changes embodied in the reform of Alexander II.
The zemstvo councils were an important part of the newsystem of self-government. According to the regulations, administrative provincial and district Zemstvo assemblies were created on the local level, which in turn elected executive bodies - administrations. The population participated only in the selection of county assemblies. Voters consisted of landowners, urban population and peasants. Their participation was limited by the property qualification. For the first group - land ownership of at least 200 acres, real estate no less than 15 thousand rubles. or a certain annual income.
City voters had to owncommercial or industrial enterprises or annual income of at least 6 thousand rubles. Peasant elections were two-stage: rural society and rural municipality. Thus, preference was given to large landowners and the bourgeoisie, while the rights of the main part of the population were limited.
Zemstvo councils were elected by provincial and districtzemstvo meetings. Leaders of the nobles led these meetings. Thus, this estate took the main positions in these local government bodies. But these bodies did not have political power, their functions were limited to solving local needs and landscaping. Moreover, their activities were controlled by the central and local authorities. Thus, the chairman of the zemstvo council in the province was confirmed by the Minister of Internal Affairs. There have been many such cases when the activity of this local government was even limited. In addition, they did not have their own punitive and protective bodies and, if necessary, were forced to appeal to the police and the administration, thereby recognizing their dependence on them. Nevertheless, the reform contributed to the activation of the social activity of the intelligentsia on the ground.
The fact of who the chairmen of the zemstvogoverns, proves how much the authorities were interested in establishing control over these bodies. The head of the county government was appointed with the approval of the governor, who monitored the activities of local government. The task of the new bodies included the organization of public amenities: in their charge were the means of communication, hospitals, public education, the improvement of agricultural technology and assistance in the development of agriculture. They formed their own budget, based on taxes on real estate, with the bulk falling on the peasantry. Nevertheless, many representatives of the intelligentsia took the reform with enthusiasm: many talented doctors, teachers, medical assistants, engineers went to work in the countryside and contributed to its economic, social and cultural development.
In this new system, the zemstvo councils werethe main executive cell, because she was directly involved in local needs. She was elected for three years and consisted of a chairman and about three members. But, despite the obvious positive significance of the reform, it had a significant shortcoming in comparison with the Speransky plan, which provided for the creation of an entire electoral system, from the smallest public unit, the volost Duma to the all-Russian body, the State Duma, in which almost all sections of the population participated. According to the reform of 1864, the provincial and district zemstvo councils, along with the meetings, were in fact the only elected bodies without a foundation, volost level and the All-Russian Duma.
