Peasants’ exercise of the rights to alcohol trade in excise Russia (1863-1894)

Abstract

The author considers the peasants’ rights to open or close pubs under the excise system in Russia. Such an analysis is important for understanding the communal legal consciousness, peasant perception of the alcohol trade and consumption, external and internal factors of peasant behavior at communal gatherings, and the government reasons for refusing free alcohol trade in the 1890s. Rural peasant community was considered by the government as a stronghold of national stability, sobriety and order; therefore, it was given the right to authorize or prohibit the sale of alcohol in villages. In fact, moral principles did not prevail in the communal perception of alcohol trade. Most decisions of peasant gatherings had no moral basis, and a permission to open a pub was usually based on the wine merchant’s bribe. Despite legislative prohibitions, peasant gatherings accepted backsheesh in alcohol, money or their combination. In the excise period, the number of pubs remained high, there was a monopolization trend, and drunkenness was a serious social problem. The author argues that all attempts to make peasants guardians of the state interest in alcohol trade were unsuccessful. The ease with which peasant votes were bought, omnipotence of rural authorities, and peasant dependence on the wine merchant forced the government to involve provincial and district authorities in the public control of alcohol trade. However, the result did not meet expectations; thereby, the government banned free alcohol trade and introduced wine monopoly.