Prohibition in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union

Prohibition in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union existed during 1914–1925. The Russian term is сухой закон (sukhoy zakon, lit. 'dry law').

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 estimated 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]

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.^[3]

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 However, following Lenin's death, Joseph Stalin repealed the prohibition in 1925 and brought back the state vodka monopoly system to increase government revenue.^[4][5]

Following Stalin's death, the Soviet Union held three major anti-alcohol campaigns. The first was held during Nikita Khrushchev's rule in 1958,^[6] the second during Leonid Brezhnev's tenure in 1972,^[7][8] and the third (and biggest) was held during Mikhail Gorbachev's years from 1985 to 1988.^[9]

On May 5, 1985, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union published in all newspapers in the Soviet Union the ruling 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 the time of that prohibition, 140,000 hectares of vineyards were destroyed. The measures ended in October 1988. It is believed that,^{[weasel words]} 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 with respect to pre-campaign levels.

• Alcohol consumption in Russia
• Drug policy of the Soviet Union

• The Museum of Anti-Alcohol Posters
• Anti-alcohol campaign during the Perestroika era in the USSR