into the revolutionary movement. Armenians were persecuted and their church
lands and church funds confiscated; so they, too, were forced into the
revolutionary current.

Worse than all else was the cruel persecution of the Jews. Not only were
they compelled to live within the Pale of Settlement, but this was so
reduced that abominable congestion and poverty resulted. Intolerable
restrictions were placed upon the facilities for education in the secondary
schools, the gymnasia, and in the universities. It was hoped in this way to
destroy the intellectual leadership of the Jews. Pogroms were instigated,
stirring the civilized world to protest at the horrible outrages. The
Minister of the Interior, Von Plehve, proclaimed his intention to "drown
the Revolution in Jewish blood," while Pobiedonostzev's ambition was "to
force one-third of the Jews to conversion, another third to emigrate"--to
escape persecution. The other third he expected to die of hunger and
misery. When Leo Tolstoy challenged these infamies, and called upon the
civilized world on behalf of the victims, the Holy Synod denounced Tolstoy
and his followers as a sect "especially dangerous for the Orthodox Church
and the state." Later, in 1900, the Holy Synod excommunicated Tolstoy from
the Orthodox Church.

The fatal logic of fanatical fury led to attacks upon the zemstvos. These
local organizations had been instituted in 1864, by Alexander II, in the
liberal years of his reign. Elected mainly by the landlords and the
peasants, they were a vital part of the life of the nation. Possessing no
political powers or functions, having nothing to do with legislation, they
were important agencies of local government. The representatives of each
county constituted a county-zemstvo and the representatives elected by all
the county-zemstvos in a province constituted a province-zemstvo. Both
types concerned themselves with much the same range of activities. They