Abstract
About 200 miles northwest of Moscow lies the city and province of Tver, one of Russia’s most ancient cities and by 1900 an area of textile factories and a “notoriously liberal” aristocracy.1 The liberals grouped themselves around the provincial zemstvo, an organ of local self-government created in 1864 by Emperor Alexander II as part of his package of “Great Reforms,” the most important of which abolished serfdom in 1861. The zemstvos were very important in promoting literacy, better health care, and agricultural improvement, but they received no funds from the central government and were always subject to be overruled by St. Petersburg or even the local governor who was appointed by the emperor. At best the zemstvos were a first step toward the creation of a new political order in Russia.
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