Anti-alcohol campaign in the USSR. The fight against drunkenness - how they fought against drunkenness in the USSR

On May 7, 1985, a resolution was adopted “On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism, to eradicate moonshine.” The text of this document was published in all newspapers. The slogan “Sobriety is the norm of life” became the motto of the anti-alcohol campaign. At the same time, there was an increase in alcohol prices and a sharp restriction on its sale. Vodka began to be sold using coupons.

Administrative measures led to kilometer-long queues and, worst of all, to an increase in the illegal production of alcoholic beverages. The decision to “sober up” the country, made without proper historical and economic study, without taking into account consumer psychology, put the domestic wine and alcohol industry in a difficult situation, caused moral damage to it, and caused widespread discontent among the people. Absurd orders were issued to uproot vineyards, which led to tragedies: people who connected their lives with winemaking died of heart attacks or committed suicide. Distilleries everywhere were converted into production facilities soft drinks. All this had financial consequences, and serious ones; speculation and theft increased sharply. Soviet trade lost 12 billion rubles to the Soviet state in 1986, and 7 billion in 1987. Due to losses in wine production and grape growing, another 6.8 billion were missing. Then new times came - the abolition of the state monopoly on the sale of alcohol. The anti-alcohol struggle gradually faded away.

An attempt made by M.S. Gorbachev, 2 months after coming to power in 1985, forced the population of the USSR to significantly reduce alcohol consumption.

The first campaign of M.S. Gorbachev's position as leader of the country was a campaign to combat alcoholism. The prices for vodka were raised three times, wine-producing state farms in the south of the USSR were ordered to cut down all the vineyards. Feast scenes were removed from films, and alcohol-free weddings were promoted. The campaign, carried out impudently and incompetently, caused great discontent among the population, who languished for hours in multi-meter wine queues. The use of colognes and denatured alcohols became widespread, which led to poisoning of people; despite the shortage of yeast and sugar, moonshine flourished. During the campaign, the budget suffered significant losses. The anti-alcohol campaign was carried out in a country that had not yet experienced the shock of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. In May 1985, speaking at a party and economic gathering in Leningrad, the General Secretary did not hide the fact that the country’s economic growth rate had decreased and put forward the slogan “accelerate socio-economic development.” The anti-alcohol campaign was quickly curtailed without achieving any results.

All-Russian Center for Study public opinion(VTsIOM) presented data on the attitude of Russians to the fight against alcoholism, launched 20 years ago by the initiator of perestroika, Mikhail Gorbachev, and what they think about the problem of alcoholism in modern life. The majority of Russians (58%) generally have a positive assessment of the anti-alcohol campaign of the second half of the 80s. Including 15% believe that this campaign was necessary and a lot was achieved within its framework; 32% believe that the idea of ​​the campaign was correct, but during its implementation significant excesses and mistakes were made; 11% are inclined to think that the idea was good, but under the pressure of opponents it was not possible to bring the plan to completion. More than a third of respondents (37%) negatively assess that anti-alcohol campaign as an erroneous action from the very beginning.

If an anti-alcohol campaign were announced today, 58% of Russians say that they would support it (including 32% who would certainly support it and 26% who would rather support it), and 36% would not support it. Most supporters of a new anti-alcohol campaign evaluate Gorbachev’s initiative twenty years ago with a “plus” sign (+77 and –17%), most opponents - with a “minus” sign (+28 and –67%). Among women, almost two-thirds have a positive attitude towards both “perestroika” and the hypothetical current anti-alcohol campaign (+65 and –29%), while men’s opinions regarding both campaigns were divided in half (+48 and –47%).

As if suggesting the possibility of a negative view of the fight against alcoholism carried out in 1985-1988, Gorbachev writes in his memoirs: “The anti-alcohol program adopted in May 1985 still remains a subject of bewilderment and guesswork. Why did they decide to start with this measure, risking make it difficult to carry out reforms?

The former secretary general explains the adoption of the anti-alcohol program by the fact that it was impossible to continue to put up with drunkenness - “the people's misfortune” - although he immediately notes that “drunkenness in Rus' has been a scourge since the Middle Ages.” Trying to ease the burden of personal responsibility, Gorbachev claims that the initiative to introduce measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism “belonged to the public.” Therefore, he is here, one might say, as if he had nothing to do with it. In addition, the overly zealous high-ranking controllers who monitored the implementation of the party’s plans (control over implementation was entrusted to Ligachev and Solomentsev), taking up the matter with irrepressible zeal, “brought everything to the point of absurdity.” Again, he seems to have nothing to do with it. However, Gorbachev still does not renounce his “share” of guilt. Only, although it is “big” for him, it is somehow strange: “Well, I must repent: a large share of the blame for this failure lies with me. I should not have completely entrusted the implementation of the adopted resolution. And in any case, I was obliged to intervene when the first distortions began to appear. But I received alarming information that things were going wrong, and many serious people paid attention to this in personal conversations. I was hampered by my desperate preoccupation with the avalanche of affairs that befell me - internal and external, and, to some extent, by excessive delicacy. And I’ll tell myself one more thing to justify myself: our desire to overcome this terrible misfortune was very great. Frightened by the negative results of the campaign, we rushed to the other extreme and curtailed it completely. The floodgates to rampant drunkenness are open, and what a pitiful state we are in now! How much more difficult it will be to get out of it!”

So, he “retrusted”, “did not intervene”, “did not listen”, “was busy”, “wanted the best” - this is what Gorbachev reproaches himself for, while saying that now we are in an even worse situation. All this is a verbal veil that hides the true meaning of the anti-alcohol campaign of 1985-1988, turning it into an unfortunate mistake of a man driven by the noble idea of ​​​​helping his people in trouble. But, alas, it didn’t work out.
And there's nothing you can do about it...

Decrees, articles in newspapers and magazines reflecting the progress of the anti-alcohol campaign of 1985-91:

• On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU May 7, 1985
• On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism, eradicate moonshine Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR May 7, 1985
• On strengthening the fight against drunkenness Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on May 16, 1985
• On measures to strengthen the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism, and the eradication of moonshine Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR on May 16, 1985.
• On the progress of implementation of the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU “On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism” Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU September 18, 1985
• The fate of the grape vine "Pravda" May 31, 1986
• Muscat from Pravda powder June 24, 1986

Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign is often called “prohibition.” This term implies a ban (full or partial) on the sale of substances containing ethanol in large quantities. The exception is substances for medical, industrial and other similar purposes. Also, drugs with low alcohol content, such as cough syrups, are not subject to the ban.

In the USSR, the 1985 campaign was not the first, but it was remembered by everyone due to its duration. How effective the government's actions were can be found in the article.

Anti-alcohol campaigns in the USSR

In the history of the USSR, “prohibition” was established several times. It was accepted in different years:

• 1918-1923;
• 1929;
• 1958;
• 1972;
• 1985-1990.

Why did Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign become a symbol of the stagnation of his era? First of all, this is due to significant widespread consumption, including food. The ban on alcohol further worsened the psychological state of people. However, such a decision on the part of the government was required by the circumstances that had developed by that time.

Background to the 1985 campaign

Before the start of the campaign, studies were carried out that revealed catastrophic figures for the country. By 1984, alcohol consumption exceeded 10 liters per person, whereas even in pre-revolutionary Russia this figure did not exceed 5 liters. Translated into containers, this amounted to 90-100 bottles of alcohol for each adult man per year. Alcohol meant vodka, beer, wine, moonshine.

The initiators of the implementation of the “prohibition law” were M.S. Solomentsev, E.K. Ligachev. They were, as they were, convinced that the cause of economic stagnation was mass alcoholism. It was in him that the members of the Politburo saw a general decline in morals and as well as people’s negligent attitude towards work.

Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign was enormous. In order to combat drunkenness, the state decided to reduce its sales revenues

What did the 1985 law provide for?

The law came into force on May 17, 1985. Popularly, Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign, as mentioned earlier, was called “prohibition.”

This project included the following implementation program:

1. A ban on the sale of vodka in all catering establishments (with the exception of restaurants) located at train stations, stations, and airports. It was also stipulated that it was inadmissible to sell vodka near industrial enterprises, all types of educational institutions, hospitals, and places of public recreation.
2. Liquor products were to be sold only in specialized stores or departments. At the same time, officials determined their number themselves, locally.
3. Prohibition of the sale of alcohol to persons under 21 years of age.
4. The permitted implementation was limited in time. Alcohol could be purchased from 2 to 7 p.m.
5. It was planned to annually reduce the volume of alcoholic beverages production. By 1988, it was planned to completely stop wine production.
6. It was forbidden to promote drinking in theatre, cinema, television, and radio broadcasting.
7. Senior officials and party members were prohibited from abusing alcohol under threat of expulsion from the CPSU.

Statistical data

Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign had its positive and negative sides. The year it began was 1985, and by 1988 the following was assembled

Opponents of the campaign and their arguments

Representatives of one of the research centers present their own arguments that cast doubt on the positive thoughts about the anti-alcohol company. Under Gorbachev, an artificial deficit was created. The people made up for it completely with alcohol homemade. Therefore, the statistics did not reflect real indicators.

As for the increase in the birth rate, this is more associated with a general emotional upsurge against the background of perestroika, which promised the population for the better.

Drug addiction and substance abuse became a serious problem during these years. Some people have switched from scarce alcohol to more dangerous drugs. Deaths from cardiovascular disease have indeed decreased, but deaths from drug use have increased.

Among the opponents there are many who believe that the actions of the “prohibition law” did not save the country from drunkenness, but weaned it off the use of good, high-quality drinks.

Prohibition supporters

The reader already knows in what year Gorbachev carried out the anti-alcohol campaign. It was since the introduction of Prohibition that many doctors began to note a decrease in the number of injuries and fractures, which most often happened to people who were drunk.

Even before the adoption of the law, societies to combat drunkenness were created. The people who organized them really promoted their ideas. They did this voluntarily, understanding the danger of total drunkenness for the country. The ambiguous position among members of the Politburo slowed down the campaign; actions were taken that embittered people and caused negativity towards the campaign as a whole.

The myth about cutting down vineyards

After a while, Mikhail Gorbachev admitted his mistakes. Regarding the anti-alcohol campaign and the main aspects of its implementation, not everything was smooth, but many points remained only speculation of the people. The real “duck” was the information about the total cutting down of vineyards. People close to these issues claim that it was indeed produced, but only old and wild vines were disposed of.

In many ways, the reputation of the anti-alcohol campaign was also spoiled by officials who took unpopular measures on the ground. For example, in many cities they closed immediately a large number of liquor outlets. In addition to everything, coupons for vodka were invented and permission was introduced for the sale of only one bottle per person. Gorbachev did not sign documents providing for the adoption of such measures.

Winding down a campaign

Mass discontent with the “prohibition law” began two years after its introduction. Although all decrees were repealed only in 1990, already in 1987, sales of alcohol began to increase, and active promotion of a sober lifestyle ceased.

In modern Russia, Gorbachev admitted mistakes in the anti-alcohol campaign. He once said that because of mistakes made, a good deed ended ingloriously.

Such government actions should have been carried out in stages. For their successful completion, a new generation with ideas had to grow up. Too fast and aggressive actions of the authorities both from above and locally led to a negative attitude towards the campaign as a whole, aroused a feeling of disgust among the people and, as a result, did not lead to positive results.

Plan
Introduction
1 Before 1985
2 1985 Campaign
2.1 Impact on viticulture and winemaking
2.2 Results

Bibliography

Introduction

The anti-alcohol campaign in the USSR is a set of government measures to reduce alcohol consumption among the population.

1. Before 1985

Currently, the most famous anti-alcohol campaign took place in the period 1985-1987, before and at the very beginning of Perestroika (the so-called “acceleration”). However, the fight against drunkenness was also carried out under Gorbachev’s predecessors (nevertheless, alcohol consumption in the USSR grew steadily).

In 1958, the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Soviet Government “On strengthening the fight against drunkenness and establishing order in the trade in strong alcoholic beverages” was adopted. The sale of vodka in all commercial establishments was prohibited Catering(except for restaurants) located at train stations, airports, station areas. The sale of vodka was not allowed in the immediate vicinity of industrial enterprises, educational institutions, children's institutions, hospitals, sanatoriums, or in places of public celebrations and recreation.

The next anti-alcohol campaign began in 1972. On May 16, Resolution No. 361 “On measures to strengthen the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism” was published. It was planned to reduce production strong drinks, but in return expand production grape wine, beer and soft drinks. Liquor prices were also increased; production of vodka with strength 50 and 56° has been discontinued; trading time alcoholic drinks strength 30° and above was limited to the period from 11 to 19 hours; medical and labor dispensaries (LTP) were created, where people were forcibly sent; Scenes with drinking alcohol were cut from films. Campaign slogan: “Fight drunkenness!”

2. 1985 campaign

On May 7, 1985, the Resolution of the CPSU Central Committee (“On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism”) and Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers No. 410 (“On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism, the eradication of moonshine”) were adopted, which ordered all party, administrative and law enforcement agencies to resolutely and to strengthen the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism everywhere, and provided for a significant reduction in the production of alcoholic beverages, the number of places where they are sold and the time of sale. On May 16, 1985, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On strengthening the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism, eradicating moonshine” was issued, which supported this fight with administrative and criminal penalties. The corresponding Decrees were adopted simultaneously in all Union republics. In carrying out this task, we were also involved in mandatory trade unions, the entire education and health care system, all public organizations and even creative unions (unions of writers, composers, etc.). The execution was unprecedented in scale. For the first time, the state decided to reduce income from alcohol, which was a significant item in the state budget, and began to sharply reduce its production.

The initiators of the campaign were members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee M. S. Solomentsev and E. K. Ligachev, who, following Yu. V. Andropov, believed that one of the reasons for the stagnation of the Soviet economy was the general decline in the moral values ​​of the “builders of communism” and the negligent attitude to work, for which mass alcoholism was to blame.

After the start of the fight against drunkenness in the country, a large number of stores selling liquor and vodka products were closed. Often this was the end of the complex of anti-alcohol measures in a number of regions. Thus, the First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU, Viktor Grishin, closed many alcohol stores and reported to the Central Committee that the work on sobering up in Moscow was completed.

Stores that sold alcohol could do so only from 14.00 to 19.00. In this regard, there was a saying:

At six in the morning the rooster crows, at eight - Pugachev's, the store is closed until two, Gorbachev has the key

“For a week, until the second,” we’ll bury Gorbachev. If we dig up Brezhnev, we will drink as before.

Strict measures were taken against drinking alcohol in parks and public gardens, as well as on long-distance trains. Those caught drunk had serious troubles at work. For drinking alcohol at work, they were fired from work and expelled from the party. Banquets related to the defense of dissertations were prohibited, and alcohol-free weddings began to be promoted. The so-called “Sobriety zones” in which alcohol was not sold.

The campaign was accompanied by intense promotion of sobriety. Articles by Academician of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences F.G. Uglov began to spread everywhere about the dangers and unacceptability of alcohol consumption under any circumstances and that drunkenness is not typical of the Russian people. Alcohol scenes were cut out of the films, and the action movie “Lemonade Joe” was released on the screen (as a result, the nicknames “Lemonade Joe” and “mineral secretary” were firmly assigned to M.S. Gorbachev).

Strict demands to abstain from alcohol began to be imposed on Party members. Party members were also required to “voluntarily” join the Temperance Society.

2.1. Impact on viticulture and winemaking

The campaign had an extremely negative impact on the wine industry and its raw material base - viticulture. In particular, allocations for planting vineyards and caring for plantings were sharply reduced, and taxation of farms was increased. The main directive document defining the ways for the further development of viticulture was the Main Directions of Social and Economic Development of the USSR for 1986-1990 and for the period until 2000, approved by the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, which stated: “To carry out a fundamental restructuring of the structure of viticulture in the union republics, focusing it is primarily for the production of table grape varieties.”

Many publications criticizing the anti-alcohol campaign say that many vineyards were cut down at this time. Vineyards were cut down in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and other republics of the USSR.

In Moldova, 80 thousand hectares of vineyards out of 210 thousand were destroyed. The current director (and then chief engineer) of the famous Moldavian winery Cricova, Valentin Bodyul, claims that in those years people “were forced to go out with an ax and chop grapes on weekends,” and those who tried to protect the vineyards, received 14-15 years in prison.

From 1985 to 1990, the area of ​​vineyards in Russia decreased from 200 to 168 thousand hectares, the restoration of uprooted vineyards was halved, and the planting of new ones was not carried out at all. The average annual grape harvest fell compared to the period 1981-1985 from 850 thousand to 430 thousand tons.

Ex-Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine Ya. Pogrebnyak, who oversaw control over the implementation of the resolution of the CPSU Central Committee on strengthening the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism through the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, says:

The trouble is that during the struggle for sobriety, Ukraine lost about a fifth of its budget, 60 thousand hectares of vineyards were uprooted in the republic, the famous Massandra winery was saved from destruction only by the intervention of Vladimir Shcherbitsky and the first secretary of the Crimean regional party committee Makarenko. Active promoters of the anti-alcohol campaign were the secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee Yegor Ligachev and Mikhail Solomentsev, who insisted on the destruction of the vineyards. While on vacation in Crimea, Yegor Kuzmich was taken to Massandra. There, samples of produced wines are stored there for all 150 years of the famous plant's existence - a vinotheque. All famous wineries in the world have similar storage facilities. But Ligachev said: “This wine library must be destroyed, and Massandra must be closed!” Vladimir Shcherbitsky could not stand it and called Gorbachev directly, saying that this was already an excess, and not a fight against drunkenness. Mikhail Sergeevich said: “Okay, save it.”

First Secretary of the Crimean Regional Committee of the CPSU Viktor Makarenko confirms Pogrebnyak’s words. According to him, “Ligachev demanded the destruction of vineyards as the fundamental basis of production alcoholic products. He even insisted on the liquidation of the famous Massandra wine library. Only Shcherbitsky’s personal intervention saved her.”

According to some reports, 30% of the vineyards were destroyed, compared to 22% during the Great Patriotic War. According to the materials of the XXVIII Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine, 2 billion rubles and 5 years were needed to restore the losses of the destroyed 265 thousand vineyards. The dissertation on wine industry management states that viticulture in Russia was in danger of extinction three times and one of these periods was “1985-1990.” “The fight against drunkenness and alcoholism.”

However, the initiator of the campaign, Yegor Ligachev, claims that in 1985 (at the beginning of the campaign) the area of ​​vineyards amounted to 1 million 260 thousand hectares, in 1988 (after its completion) - 1 million 210 thousand hectares, respectively, grape harvest - 5.8 and 5.9 million tons.

Mikhail Gorbachev claims that he did not insist on the destruction of the vineyards: “The fact that the vines were cut down were steps against me.” In an interview in 1991, he stated: “They tried to make me into an inveterate teetotaler during the anti-alcohol campaign.”)

The biggest loss was that unique collection grape varieties were destroyed. For example, the Ekim-Kara grape variety, a component of the famous Black Doctor wine in Soviet times, was completely destroyed. Selection work was subjected to especially severe persecution. As a result of persecution and a number of unsuccessful attempts to convince Mikhail Gorbachev to cancel the destruction of vineyards, one of the leading scientist-breeders, director of the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Winemaking and Viticulture "Magarach", Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Pavel Golodriga, committed suicide. Relations with the CMEA countries - Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, where most of the wine was produced for export to the USSR, became sharply complicated. Vneshtorg refused to purchase wine from these countries, offering to compensate for lost profits with other goods.

On March 11, 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev took the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and became the last head of what was then a large and powerful power. He began his activities with a global restructuring of the system, one of the first stages of which was the anti-alcohol campaign.

The purpose of Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign

Gorbachev immediately set a course for actively accelerating the socio-economic development of the state and began to implement the anti-alcohol program, which they began to jointly prepare in the Central Committee under Brezhnev. However, Leonid Ilyich himself did not consider it a priority and did not support it.

It must be admitted that Gorbachev had the best intentions. In an interview, he said that the situation with mass drunkenness had reached a critical point by that time. Almost half of the adult male population has crossed the line of alcoholism, and women have also become addicted to the drink. Drunkenness at work, a large number of road accidents, children abandoned by alcoholic parents to the mercy of fate - all these problems required an immediate solution. And then Mikhail Sergeevich decided to deal with the situation radically, as they say, he cut from the shoulder.

Global plans and their implementation

On May 16, 1985, the Presidium under the leadership of Gorbachev issued a decree “On strengthening the fight against drunkenness.” The global anti-alcohol campaign has begun to gain momentum.

The main ways of implementation, tangible for the population:

● increase in alcohol prices by 2 or more times;
● a widespread reduction in the number of liquor outlets;
● limitation of sales time (exclusively from 14.00 to 19.00);
● tougher penalties for drinking alcohol in public places (including city parks, railway trains).

The campaign was launched on a grand scale. A healthy lifestyle, alcohol-free weddings, anniversaries and other festive events were promoted everywhere. Non-alcoholic champagne appeared on sale, which was offered to replace the real thing. But the excesses did not end there either; this was just the harmless tip of the “non-alcoholic” iceberg.

Consequences of the anti-alcohol campaign of 1985-1990

According to the decree of the Central Committee, the people were not ready to give up their addiction and stop drinking. Simultaneously with the start of Gorbachev's alcohol-free campaign, the development of the Soviet era of moonshine, underground trade in alcohol, and profiteering in alcoholic beverages began. Enterprising citizens and taxi drivers sold moonshine and vodka under the counter. The main “raw material” for home brewing, sugar, disappeared from the stores, which soon began to be sold using coupons, and long lines lined up at the liquor departments.

The use of dubious alcohol substitutes led to massive outbreaks of poisoning. They drank technical alcohol, cologne, denatured alcohol and other dangerous substances containing degrees. Drug dealers tried to partially fill the “vacuum niche” - it was then that the growth of drug addiction began, which became a global problem.

But the greatest damage was caused to the vineyards. According to available data, about 30% were destroyed - this is a third more than the losses during the Second World War. In Moldova, Crimea, Kuban, and the North Caucasus, some unique collection grape varieties were completely exterminated, and breeding work was prohibited. The persecution of talented breeders who devoted their entire lives to this began.

Anti-alcohol shock therapy also caused serious damage to the country’s economy, which was not in the best position from the very beginning of perestroika.

Positive results or embellished facts?

After the start of the anti-alcohol campaign, local people happily reported an increase in the birth rate, a decrease in crime and an increase in life expectancy. However, in reality it didn’t look quite like that. It was in those years that the real rampant crime began, so it would be more correct to call the data on a reduction in crime wishful thinking. And historians and political scientists are more inclined to associate the increase in the birth rate and increase in life expectancy with the fact that people were promised a beautiful life and they believed the slogans and perked up.

Let's sum it up

The anti-alcohol campaign in no country in the world has produced the expected results. It is necessary to combat drunkenness not with prohibitions, but with raising the standard of living.

They issued a decree on the resumption of production and trade of alcoholic beverages in the USSR.

1929 campaign

1958 campaign

1972 campaign

The next anti-alcohol campaign began in 1972. On May 16, Resolution No. 361 “On measures to strengthen the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism” was published. It was supposed to reduce the production of strong alcoholic drinks, but in return to expand the production of grape wine, beer and soft drinks. Liquor prices were also increased; production of vodka with strength 50 and 56° has been discontinued; the trading hours for alcoholic beverages with a strength of 30° and above were limited to the period from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; labor treatment centers (LTP) were created, where people were forcibly sent; Scenes with drinking alcohol were cut from films. Campaign slogan: “Fight drunkenness!”

1985-1990 campaign

Currently, the most famous is the anti-alcohol campaign of the period that took place at the very beginning of Perestroika (the period of the so-called “acceleration”), when, despite the previous stages of the struggle, alcohol consumption in the USSR was steadily growing. It began two months after M. S. Gorbachev came to power and therefore received the name “Gorbachev’s”.

By the end of the 1970s, alcohol consumption in the USSR reached a record level in the country's history. Alcohol consumption, which did not exceed 5 liters per person per year either in the Russian Empire or during the Stalin era, reached 10.5 liters of registered alcohol by 1984, and taking into account underground moonshine, it could exceed 14 liters. It is estimated that this level of consumption was equivalent to approximately 90-110 bottles of vodka per year for each adult male, excluding a small amount of teetotalers (vodka itself accounted for about ⅓ of this volume. The rest of the alcohol was consumed in the form of moonshine, wine and beer).

The initiators of the campaign were members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU M. S. Solomentsev and E. K. Ligachev, who, following Yu. V. Andropov, believed that one of the reasons for the stagnation of the Soviet economy was the general decline in the moral values ​​of the “builders of communism” and the negligent attitude to work, for which mass alcoholism was to blame.

The execution was unprecedented in scale. For the first time, the state decided to reduce income from alcohol, which was a significant item in the state budget (about 30%), and began to sharply reduce its production. After the start of the fight against drunkenness in the country, a large number of stores selling liquor and vodka products were closed. Often this was the end of the complex of anti-alcohol measures in a number of regions. Thus, the first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU, Viktor Grishin, closed many alcohol stores and reported to the Central Committee that the work on sobering up in Moscow was completed. The prices for vodka were raised several times: the popular vodka, popularly nicknamed “Andropovka,” which cost 4 rubles before the start of the campaign. 70 k., disappeared from the shelves, and since August 1986 the cheapest vodka cost 9 rubles. 10 k.

Stores that sold alcohol could only do so from 14:00 to 19:00. In this regard, popular folklore has spread:

Strict measures were taken against drinking alcohol in parks and public gardens, as well as on long-distance trains. Those caught drunk had serious troubles at work. For drinking alcohol at work, they were fired from work and expelled from the party. Banquets related to the defense of dissertations were banned, and alcohol-free weddings began to be promoted. So-called “sobriety zones” appeared, in which alcohol was not sold.

Trade unions, the entire education and health care system, all public organizations and even creative unions (unions of writers, composers, etc.) were also necessarily involved in carrying out this task.

The campaign was accompanied by intense promotion of sobriety. Articles by Academician of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences F.G. Uglov began to spread everywhere about the dangers and inadmissibility of alcohol consumption under any circumstances and that drunkenness is not characteristic of the Russian people. The texts of literary works and songs were removed and paraphrased by censorship, alcoholic scenes were cut out from theatrical productions and films, and the “non-alcoholic” action movie “Lemonade Joe” was released on the screen (as a result, the nicknames “Lemonade Joe” and “mineral secretary” were firmly assigned to Mikhail Gorbachev).

Impact on viticulture and winemaking

The campaign had an extremely negative impact on the wine industry and its raw material base - viticulture. In particular, allocations for planting vineyards and caring for plantings were sharply reduced, and farm taxation was increased. The main directive document defining the ways for the further development of viticulture was the Main Directions of Social and Economic Development of the USSR for 1986-1990 and for the period until 2000, approved by the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, which stated: “To carry out a fundamental restructuring of the structure of viticulture in the union republics, focusing it is primarily for the production of table grape varieties."

Many publications criticizing the anti-alcohol campaign say that many vineyards were cut down during this time. Vineyards were cut down in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and other republics of the USSR.

From 1985 to 1990, the area of ​​vineyards in Russia decreased from 200 to 168 thousand hectares, the restoration of uprooted vineyards was halved, and the planting of new ones was not carried out at all. The average annual grape harvest fell compared to the period 1981-1985 from 850 thousand to 430 thousand tons.

Ex-Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine Yakov Pogrebnyak, who oversaw control over the implementation of the resolution of the CPSU Central Committee on strengthening the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism through the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, says:

The trouble is that during the struggle for sobriety, Ukraine lost about a fifth of its budget, 60 thousand hectares of vineyards were uprooted in the republic, the famous Massandra winery was saved from destruction only by the intervention of Vladimir Shcherbitsky and the first secretary of the Crimean regional party committee Makarenko. Active promoters of the anti-alcohol campaign were the secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee Egor Ligachev and Mikhail Solomentsev, who insisted on the destruction of the vineyards. While on vacation in Crimea, Yegor Kuzmich was taken to Massandra. There, samples of produced wines are stored there for all 150 years of the famous plant's existence - a vinotheque. All famous wineries in the world have similar storage facilities. But Ligachev said: “This wine library must be destroyed, and Massandra must be closed!” Vladimir Shcherbitsky could not stand it and called Gorbachev directly, saying that this was already an excess, and not a fight against drunkenness. Mikhail Sergeevich said: “Okay, save it.”

First Secretary of the Crimean Regional Committee of the CPSU Viktor Makarenko confirms Pogrebnyak’s words. According to him, " Ligachev demanded the destruction of vineyards as the basis for the production of alcoholic beverages. He even insisted on the liquidation of the famous Massandra wine library. Only Shcherbitsky’s personal intervention saved her» .

Ligachev himself, in his 2010 interview, refuted the cutting down of vineyards according to instructions “from above”, stated that the campaign itself and he were slandered in connection with it, including that “Ligachev, while vacationing in Crimea, came to Massandra and personally closed the winery. One of the leaders died of grief. I want to declare: Ligachev has never been to Massandra.”

According to some estimates, 30% of the vineyards were destroyed, compared to 22% during the Great Patriotic War. According to the materials of the XXVIII Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine, 2 billion rubles and 5 years were needed to restore the losses of the destroyed 265 thousand vineyards. The dissertation on the management of the wine industry states that viticulture in Russia was in danger of extinction three times and one of these periods was “1985-1990 gg. - “fight” against drunkenness and alcoholism.”

However, the initiator of the campaign, Yegor Ligachev, claims that in 1985 (at the beginning of the campaign) the area of ​​vineyards was 1 million 260 thousand hectares, in 1988 (after its completion) - 1 million 210 thousand hectares, respectively, the grape harvest was 5.8 and 5. 9 million tons. Mikhail Solomentsev in an interview in 2003, in response to the question “Why were many vineyards cut down in the south of Russia, Crimea and Moldova?” answered: “We grew 92% of technical grapes and only 2% of table grapes. It was recommended to increase the production of table grapes. And the cleaning and cutting down of vines is ongoing. If before the decree 75 thousand hectares of vineyards were cut down, then after - 73 thousand.”

Mikhail Gorbachev claims that he did not insist on the destruction of the vineyards: “The fact that the vines were cut down were steps against me.” In an interview in 1991, he stated: “They tried to make me into an inveterate teetotaler during the anti-alcohol campaign.”

The biggest loss was that unique collection grape varieties were destroyed. For example, the Ekim-Kara grape variety, a component of the famous Black Doctor wine in Soviet times, was completely destroyed. Selection work was subjected to especially severe persecution. As a result of persecution and a number of unsuccessful attempts to convince Mikhail Gorbachev to cancel the destruction of vineyards, one of the leading scientist-breeders, director, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Pavel Golodriga, committed suicide.

Relations with the CMEA countries - Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, where most of the wine was produced for export to the USSR, became sharply complicated. Vneshtorg refused to purchase wine from these countries, offering to compensate for lost profits with other goods.

results

The increase in the consumption of “illegal” alcohol did not compensate for the decrease in the consumption of “legal” alcohol, as a result of which a real reduction in overall alcohol consumption was still observed, which explains the beneficial effects (decrease in mortality and crime, increase in the birth rate and life expectancy) that were observed during the anti-alcohol campaign.

Aimed at the “moral improvement” of Soviet society, the anti-alcohol campaign in reality achieved completely different results. In the mass consciousness, it was perceived as an absurd initiative of the authorities, directed against the “common people”. For people widely involved in the shadow economy and the party and economic elite (where drinking alcohol was a nomenklatura tradition), alcohol was still available, and ordinary consumers were forced to “get” it.

The decline in alcohol sales caused serious damage to the Soviet budgetary system, as annual retail turnover fell by an average of 16 billion rubles. The damage to the budget turned out to be unexpectedly great: instead of the previous 60 billion rubles in income food industry brought in 38 billion in 1986 and 35 billion in 1987. Until 1985, alcohol provided about 25% of budget revenues from retail, due to high prices for it, it was possible to subsidize the prices of bread, milk, sugar and other products. Losses from the reduction in alcohol sales were not compensated; by the end of 1986, the budget actually collapsed.

At the same time, it powerfully stimulated the growth of the shadow economy. V. F. Grushko (former first deputy chairman of the KGB of the USSR) in his memoirs “The Fate of an Intelligence Officer” commented on the results of the anti-alcohol campaign as follows:

Massive dissatisfaction with the campaign and the economic crisis that began in the USSR in 1987 forced the Soviet leadership to curtail the fight against the production and consumption of alcohol. Although the decrees restricting the sale and consumption of alcohol were not repealed (for example, the formal ban on the sale of alcohol before 2 p.m. was repealed only on July 24, 1990, by Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers No. 724), active promotion of sobriety was stopped, and alcohol sales went up. It is estimated that the average consumption of alcohol per capita significantly exceeded the initial level by 1994, which resulted in a completely catastrophic increase in mortality in Russia.

In culture

The last Soviet anti-alcohol campaign was reflected in culture. Thus, Andrei Makarevich for the film “Start Over” was forced to replace the words “Conversation on the Train” (1987) [ ] :

When there's nothing left to drink.
But the train is moving, the bottle is empty,
And he wants to talk.

But, in connection with the campaign, Andrei Makarevich had to write another version:

Carriage disputes are the last thing,
And you can’t cook porridge from them.
But the train is coming, it’s dark out the window,
And he wants to talk.

During the anti-alcohol campaign, methods of secretly storing alcohol in teapots, canisters and other unusual things were common. In the song of the Lyube group “Guys from our yard” there were the words: “ Remember, they carried beer in a can, Oh, the whole yard was cursing about this... »

The rock group “Zoo,” in turn, created and recorded a satirical song “Sobriety is the norm of life,” in which it cynically ridiculed the propaganda clichés of that time (non-alcoholic bars, weddings, etc.).

Also, the song of the Leningrad group “Situation” “Prohibition” is dedicated to the Soviet anti-alcohol campaign and its consequences.

A hidden hint at the anti-alcohol campaign and its typical phenomena (use of alcohol-containing surrogates, moonshine brewing and selling moonshine under the counter) is present in the song “Cucumber Lotion” by the group “Automatic Satisfiers”.

see also

Notes

1. G. G. Zaigraev.