Prohibition in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union

Prohibition in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union existed during 1914–25. The Russian term is "сухой закон" (sukhoy zakon, literally "dry law").

Advertising poster of the 1st All-Russian book lottery "Book instead of vodka". Unknown artist, USSR, 1929

Russian Empire

The Tsars monopolized the sale of vodka in the 16th century. By the mid-17th century, one-third of the population's working men were indebted to the government's taverns, which generated substantial revenue. Peter I used this debt to compel military service.[1]

Prohibition was introduced under the rule of Tsar Nicholas II in 1914, at the outset of World War I. It banned the sale of hard liquors such as vodka, except in privileged establishments.

This curtailment cost the government an approximated billion rubles annually. However, authorities believed the move was needed to improve wartime economic productivity, social orderliness, and military recruitment.[2][3] Michael Demitrovitch Tchelisheff, credited with leading the prohibition, opposed alcohol because he personally believed that drunkenness benefited autocratic rulers.[2]

Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union
Postage stamp of the USSR in 1985, "Sobriety is the norm of life "

The Tsar abdicated following widespread protests regarding food shortages which took place on Women's Day in March 1917. This precipitated the Russian Revolution of 1917, during which time Vladimir Lenin rose to power.[4]

Lenin retained the prohibition, which remained in place through the Russian Civil War and into the period of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union. However, following Lenin's death, Joseph Stalin repealed the prohibition in 1925, and brought back the state vodka monopoly system to increase government revenue.[5][6]

Following Stalin's death, the Soviet Union held three major anti-alcohol campaigns. The first was held during Nikita Khrushchev's administration in 1958,[7] the second during Leonid Brezhnev's administration in 1972,[8][9] and the third (and biggest) was held during Mikhail Gorbachev's administration from 1985 to 1988.[10]

Prohibition from 1985 to 1988

On May 5, 1985 the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union published in all newspaper in the Soviet Union the decision named "On the measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism". On June 1 the sale of alcohol was restricted to 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. At this time of that prohibition 140,000 hectares of vineyards were destroyed. The mesaurements ended in October 1988. It is believed that, among other things, the negative attitude towards this prohibition contributed to Boris Yeltsin's popularity compared to Mikhail Gorbachev.

After the end of that campaign the Life expectancy dropped, even to pre-campaign levels.

See also

References
  1. Fedun, Stan (2013-09-28). "How Alcohol Conquered Russia - Stan Fedun - The Atlantic". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  2. The New York Times Current History: the European War, February, 1915 by Various. Retrieved 30 March 2018 – via www.gutenberg.org.
  3. Herlihy, Patricia (2017), Savona, Ernesto U.; Kleiman, Mark A.R.; Calderoni, Francesco (eds.), "The Russian Vodka Prohibition of 1914 and Its Consequences", Dual Markets: Comparative Approaches to Regulation, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 193–206, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-65361-7_12, ISBN 978-3-319-65361-7, retrieved 2023-09-28
  4. Herlihy, Patricia (2017), Savona, Ernesto U.; Kleiman, Mark A.R.; Calderoni, Francesco (eds.), "The Russian Vodka Prohibition of 1914 and Its Consequences", Dual Markets: Comparative Approaches to Regulation, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 193–206, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-65361-7_12, ISBN 978-3-319-65361-7, retrieved 2023-09-28
  5. "How Alcohol Conquered Russia - Stan Fedun - The Atlantic". The Atlantic. 2013-09-28. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  6. D. Christian, Prohibition in Russia 1914–1925. Australian Slavonic and East European Studies, vol. 9 (1995), pp. 89–108.
  7. "Г. Г. Заиграев. Государственная политика как фактор алкоголизации населения (PDF)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 29, 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  8. Приказ Минздрава СССР ОТ 24.08.1972 № 694 о мерах по дальнейшему усилению борьбы против пьянства и алкоглизма Archived 2009-02-18 at the Wayback Machine (там же приводится и постановление от 16 мая)
  9. "Радио «Маяк»: Идейный компромисс для нетрезвеющего народа". Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  10. Decree of the USSR Supreme Soviet Presidium "On the Increased Struggle against Hard Drinking and Alcoholism", May 16, 1985 (Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР «Об усилении борьбы с пьянством и алкоголизмом»)
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