How peasants refused to drink, or Teetotal Riots in Russia in 1858-1860

Textbooks are silent about this war, although it was a real war, with gun volleys, the dead and prisoners, with the victors and the vanquished, with the trial of the defeated and the celebration of those who won and received indemnity (compensation for losses related to the war). The battles of that unknown war unfolded on the territory of 12 provinces of the Russian Empire (from Kovenskaya in the west to Saratov in the east) in 1858-1860.

Historians often call this war "teetotal riots", because the peasants refused to buy wine and vodka, vowed not to drink the whole village. Why did they do it? Because they did not want the tax collectors to profit at the expense of their health — those 146 people into whose pockets money flowed from the sale of alcohol from all over Russia. The tax collectors literally imposed vodka; if someone did not want to drink, he still had to pay for it: such were the rules then established…

In those years, there was a practice in our country: every man was assigned to a certain tavern, and if he did not drink his "norm" and the amount from the sale of alcohol was insufficient, then the tavern keepers collected the money from the yards of the area subject to the tavern.

Wine merchants, having got into the taste, inflated prices: by 1858, a bucket of sivukha instead of three rubles began to sell for ten. In the end, the peasants got tired of feeding the parasites, and they, without collusion, began to boycott the wine merchants.

The peasants turned away from the tavern not so much because of greed, but because of the principle: hardworking, hardworking owners saw how their fellow villagers one by one joined the ranks of bitter drunkards, who no longer liked anything but booze. Wives and children suffered, and in order to stop the spread of drunkenness among the villagers, at community gatherings the whole world decided: NO ONE DRINKS IN OUR VILLAGE!

What could the wine merchants do? They lowered the price. The working people did not respond to the "kindness". Shinkari, in order to bring down teetotal moods, announced a free distribution of vodka. And people didn't fall for it, answering with a firm: "WE DON'T DRINK!"

For example, in the Balashovsky district of the Saratov province in December 1858, 4752 people refused to drink alcohol. All the pubs in Balashov were guarded by the people to observe that no one bought wine. Those who violated the oath were fined or subjected to corporal punishment by the verdict of the People's court.

The townspeople also joined the grain growers: workers, officials, nobles. Sobriety was also supported by the priests who blessed the parishioners to give up drunkenness. This really scared the winemakers and potion dealers, and they complained to the government. In March 1858, the Ministers of Finance, Internal Affairs and State Property issued orders for their departments. The essence of those decrees was the prohibition of sobriety. The local authorities were instructed not to allow the organization of temperance societies, and to destroy the existing sentences on abstinence from wine and not to allow it in the future.

That's when, in response to the prohibition of sobriety, a wave of pogroms swept across Russia. Having begun in May 1859 in the west of the country, in June the riot reached the banks of the Volga. Peasants smashed drinking establishments in Balashovsky, Atkarsky, Khvalynsky, Saratov and in many other counties.

In Volsk on July 24, 1859, a crowd of three thousand people broke up wine exhibitions at the fair. The district supervisors, police officers, having mobilized disabled teams and soldiers of the 17th Artillery Brigade, tried in vain to calm the rioters. The rebels disarmed the police and soldiers, released prisoners from prison. Only a few days later arrived from Saratov troops brought order, arresting 27 people (and in total 132 people were thrown into prison in Volsky and Khvalynsky counties).

The investigative commission convicted all of them on the testimony of the tavern sitters alone, who accused the defendants of plundering wine (by smashing the taverns, the rioters did not drink wine, but poured it on the ground), without supporting their accusations with evidence. Historians note that not a single case of theft has been recorded, the money was plundered by the employees of drinking establishments themselves, writing off the loss to the rebels.

From July 24 to July 26, 37 drinking houses were broken up in Volsky Uyezd, and for each of them large fines were taken from the peasants for the restoration of pubs. The names of the convicted fighters for sobriety were preserved in the documents of the investigative commission: L. Maslov and S. Khlamov (peasants of the village of Sosnovka), M. Kostyunin (S. Tersa), P. Vertegov, A. Volodin, M. Volodin, V. Sukhov (S. Donguz). The soldiers who took part in the teetotal movement were ordered by the court to "deprive all the rights of the state, and the lower ranks of medals and stripes for immaculate service, who have them, to punish with spitsruten after 100 people, 5 times, and send them to hard labor in factories for 4 years."

In total, 11 thousand people were sent to prison and hard labor in Russia. Many died from bullets: the riot was pacified by troops who received orders to shoot at the rebels. All over the country there was a massacre of those who dared to protest against the soldering of the people.

It was necessary to consolidate success. How? The government, like the heroes of a popular comedy, decided: "Whoever hinders us will help us." The wine-buying system was canceled, an excise tax was introduced instead. Now anyone who wanted to produce and sell wine could, by paying a tax to the treasury, profit from the drinking of their fellow citizens.

This is a chapter from the book of Saratov local historian, member of the Union of Writers of Russia Vladimir Ilyich Vardugin.