Temperance movement in the Middle Urals during peaceful development in 1907-1914

The aim of the article is to reveal the trends of temperance movement in 1907-1914 in such an important geopolitical region as the Middle Urals. To achieve the stated aim we suppose to solve the following tasks. To find out: 1) in what periods and why the movement's rises and falls took place; 2) the number and size, and the social structure of temperance societies, their political orientation; 3) the kinds of their activities; 4) the significance of the movement. The methodology of the research included: a) analysis and synthesis - different aspects of the movement were studied, with the following generalization of results; b) objectivity - all available facts about the movement were studied; c) historism - historical conditions and the process of movement development were considered; d) interdisciplinarity - achievements in history, geography, statistics and synergetics were used. Problematic area of the research is the following: the alcohol policy of tsarist regime along with the alcohol sale and consumption practices carried a threat of Russian community impoverishment and degradation; how could temperance movement affect these processes? The sources for the research were: the journal “Yekaterinburgskie eparkhial'nie vedomosti” (Yekaterinburg Eparchial Bulletin), the records of Holy Sinod Attorney-general office (the Russian State Historical Museum, Saint-Petersburg); the reports of temperance societies; the materials of anti-alcoholism congresses; prerevolutionary reference works. In the end of the research, the author came to the following conclusions. The Russian temperance movement was growing in the period of peaceful development and economic recovery in the region (the end of 1909 - middle 1914), while in the years of economic recession, wars and revolutions (1904-1909, middle 1914-1917) it was waning or even vanished. The movement was quite visible in social life. The region with the population of 1,759,000 people, in October 1910, counted 37 temperance societies with 3588 members (0,2% of the whole population). In spring 1914, there were already more than 62 societies, the number of their members probably being about 6,000 people. The majority of temperance societies (97,3%) were Orthodox, ecclesiastic. Most leaders were papas (73%); most ordinary members were peasants (68%). The members also included a lot of workers (22,9%). The movement success was facilitated by the fact that in 1910-1914 the energetic ruling Orthodox bishop of Yekaterinburg Mitrophan Aphonsky supported it. The main activities of the movement were talks, sermons; accepting vow of temperance in churches; distributing antialcoholism brochures, mutual help and charity, public censors against secret alcohol sale and for the shutdown of government-owned wineries and beerhouses. The movement having reform nature yielded good fruit: many people stopped alcohol abuse, and restored their households, the families got peace and wealth; local criminality decreased; ecclesiastic communities got stronger. All these together revitalized, strengthened society at the local level, which, in our opinion, increased the opportunities for Russian society to develop peacefully.

Keywords

Authors

References