Everyone knows that a Russian person is not averse to having a glass or two. An excessive love of alcohol is considered our national trait. But there were times when people voluntarily refused to drink. Moreover, in the years 1858-1860. people even rioted and smashed taverns.
In the middle of the 19th century, peasants in Russia had to drink alcohol only in the taverns assigned to them. | Photo: colors.life
In the middle of the 19th century, there was a rather harsh practice according to which every state (free) male peasant was assigned to a certain tavern and had to spend a designated amount per year on drinking. If it happened that he did not drink the necessary measure and, accordingly, did not pay the entire amount, then the owners of the drinking establishments, in an orderly manner, collected the missing money from the yards where those men lived.
The innkeepers with the rights given to them felt very at ease, and in 1858 they raised the prices for alcohol unreasonably high. A bucket of sivukha instead of three rubles cost ten. The peasants were so outraged by the willfulness of the wine merchants that they began to boycott taverns and did not buy alcohol at all.
The problem of drunkenness. | Photo: history-ru.livejournal.com
Realizing that they were suffering colossal losses, traders lowered their prices, but this did not help. The peasants formed sobriety societies. They put up guards at the entrance to the taverns, which did not allow anyone who wanted to drink inside. If someone violated the ban, the fellow villagers themselves were flogged mercilessly. They even began to offer vodka free of charge, but teetotalers demanded the closure of pubs. It is known that in December 1858 in the Balashov district of the Saratov province, 4,752 people refused alcohol.
Over time, workers, soldiers, minor officials and even some members of the nobility joined the villagers. When refusal to buy alcohol became widespread, wine merchants began to write complaints to the government. The Treasury Department issued an order banning sobriety. Peasants and workers were prohibited from taking part in meetings at which issues of refusal to drink alcohol were discussed.
Drunkenness is the root of all evil. | Photo: history-ru.livejournal.com
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Then something happened that no one expected - the peasants rebelled and began to arrange pogroms. In May 1859, a wave of discontent swept through the Khvalynsky, Atkarsky, Balashovsky districts. The mutineers smashed taverns and other drinking establishments.
On June 24, 1859, in Volsk (Saratov province) at a fair, a crowd of 3,000 smashed a wine exhibition. The police intervened, but the peasants disarmed them and, in addition, released the prisoners from their prisons. A couple of days later, reinforcements arrived from Saratov, 27 people were arrested. They were convicted of stealing the property of drinking establishments, although they did not take anything, and the wine was poured onto the ground. In fact, the money was stolen by the innkeepers themselves, attributing it to the rebels.
Anti-alcohol poster. | Photo: history-ru.livejournal.com
In the Volsky district, they counted 37 broken taverns. The convicted peasants were ordered to pay heavy fines for the restoration of drinking establishments. Officials and soldiers, who also took part in the pogroms, were stripped of any rank, punished with rods (long, thick whip) and exiled to heavy factory plants for a period of four years.
In total, sober riots swept through 32 provinces of the Russian Empire. In total, 11 thousand people were sent to hard labor. As a result of the pogroms, more than 3 thousand innkeepers were ruined, and the ransom system for selling wine was soon canceled.
Woe … | Photo: img1.liveinternet.ru