THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF THE ZEMSKY UNION AND THE UNION OF CITIES ON THE SOUTH-WESTERN FRONT IN 1914-1917

The article considers the social and political activities of the All-Russian Zemsky Union and the All-Russian Union of the Cities on the South-Western Front during WWI. These organizations made great progress in the sphere of assistance to the army and war-affected civilian population. Their work was of great importance for the country and its defense strengthening. Politically, the unions moved from cooperation during the first year of the war to conflict and confrontation with the authorities. An important role in these processes was the Progressive Bloc of the State Duma which became the mouthpiece of the political ideas of the unions which required the formation of the "National Trust Ministry" following the reformatting of the government. Using its authority among the population, the unions brought about the political component in its activities and in every way distanced themselves from public authorities, becoming one of the forces which contributed to the fall of the autocracy.