(1) One of the few Russian words to have entered the vocabulary of other languages, dacha originally meant a parcel of land given by the tsar to his aristocratic servitors .(2) He has no illusions about the atmosphere of terror and suspicion that pervaded even the elite and rendered all of its servitors vulnerable to unjustified and sudden persecution.(3) They saw themselves as the first servitors of the king, expected to manage local affairs in his name and share his prestige.
