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How drunk in the Great Patriotic War

http://ttolk.ru/?p=7550

10/20/2011

In the 1930s in the USSR, they could not achieve the level of alcohol consumption during tsarism. In general, the country then sober. The cross on this trend set the Second World War when Stalin made in the army the consumption of vodka everyday practice. The archives of that time also show how the bureaucrats and punishers in the rear were fenced and based.

In the book “The Fun of Rus'. The twentieth century ”(M., Publishing House of the Probel-2000, 2007, 500 copies) is given as an economic and statistical analysis, and many archival data is given on the problem of alcoholism in the Russian Empire and the USSR. A significant part of the book is given to the “turning point” in the alcohol industry, when the country was planted on vodka-1939-1945.

To begin with, in the 1930s, the country was relatively sober in comparison with the tsarist time. So, in 1936, the shower consumption of vodka was 3.6 liters against 8.1 liters in 1913. In 1935, the release of vodka in the USSR amounted to 320 million liters a year against 432 million in 1913. Moreover, in 1936, Stalin raised the question of increasing the release of grape wines and gradual reduction of the release of vodka. In fact, it was planned for 1941 to increase the release of wine compared to 1913 by 4 times, and reduce the release of vodka by 1.5 times. As a result, in 1940, 300 thousand tons of grapes were processed in the USSR and 135 million liters of wines were produced. The plan was fulfilled.

The situation changed in the Finnish war of 1939-40. The famous "People's Commissars of 100 grams" appeared precisely then, and not in the Second World War (then they were already widespread practice). The poorly prepared, demoralized army drove forward not only political instructions or detachments (since 1942), but also vodka, blurring the brains.

In December 1939, the economic meeting at the Council of People's Commissars “due to low temperature in Karelia and the Arctic and in order to prevent frostbite in units of the Red Army” from January 1, 1940, established an additional ration for fighters and commanders participating in battles - 100 grams of vodka per day and 100 grams of fat every other day. The pilots instead of vodka relied on cognac.

It is easy to calculate that during the year of hostilities the soldiers drank 36.5 liters of vodka (or 73 bottles).

In July 1941, Anastas Mikoyan petitioned Stalin to resume the soldiers of Ka fighters. Since September 1, 1941, the Red Army again began to give out 100 grams of vodka daily. And on holidays - 200 grams. Moreover, in addition to the generally accepted “red days of the calendar” (like May 1, November 7), even the following included the following: the All -Union Day of the Physical Culture (July 19), the All -Union Day of Aviation (August 16), the formation of the corresponding military unit, etc. Mikoyan demanded to include even an international youth day (September 6) in this list, but here Stalin already imposed a veto on such a “festive date”.

50 grams of vodka were laid daily to the rear parts, as well as the wounded (if doctors agreed). But even this small, at first glance, dose meant the consumption of 18 liters per year per person.

Since October 23, 1943, 100 grams began to consume the NKVD troops daily.

In 1942, the Red Army monthly consumed 45 railway tanks of vodka. According to the fronts, for example, the situation was as follows: from November 25 to December 31, 1942, the Karelian front drank 364 thousand liters of vodka, Stalingradsky - 407 thousand, 1 million 200 thousand liters of wine (there was replaced by wine) drank the Transcaucasian Front.

Vodka, indeed, gave the troops to be removed. The book describes the case that occurred on the eve of 1943 in the part of the fines. The fighters there pretty much drank in the dugouts, but it seemed little to them. Then one of them managed to crawl to reach the trenches of the Germans, drive a peg there and stretch the rope. Then the fines tied the sign “We are for you felt boots, you have a shnaps”, and sent it to the Germans. The Germans sent vodka to exchange. Soon, the whole company took off his vodka.

On New Year's Eve, they came to congratulate the officer. And he saw the drunken bodies lying on the floor in the dugouts. Yes, and even. He raised his company and ordered to return the felt boots until morning. The penalants had no choice but to go to German trenches without screaming “Hurray” at night. Without a single shot, only knives, fines occupied the trenches, they cut someone, someone was simply beaten. And they returned to themselves with boots and a new portion of vodka.

The general drunkenness in the units caused a new trouble for the authorities - anarchy and anti -Soviet. Each month, dozens took place, if not hundreds of cases of disobedience of power soldiers. So, on July 27, 1944, the People's Commissar of the NKVD Beria in the official note to Stalin, Molotov, Shcherbakov (Central Committee) and Antonov (General Staff) noted only one case (but typical). “At the Znamenka station of the Odessa region, 15 drunken Red Flotsev made a brawl in the market. One of them - Shelokhvost - was detained by the police and delivered to the CPZ. After some time, a group of Red Flot people burst into the police premises, beat and disarmed the policemen and released 13 arrested from the KPZ, including Prokhorov, who received items 1, 15 years old. ”

Such cases occurred throughout the country. Here are a few more reports of Beria:

“On July 7, 1944, the military echelon No. 42759 arrived at the Darnitsa station of the southwestern railway. A crowd of drunken officers from the train attacked police officers who accompanied the bags removed from the train, and dismissed the detainees. After some time, a drunken crowd of officers beat and disarmed the guard policeman, burst into the premises of the police officer, beaten, disarmed and tried to shoot the head of Migunov. The intervention of the head of the train lieutenant colonel Kolesnichenko did not give a result. The brawl was liquidated with the help of fighters of the NKVD troops. ”

“On June 29, at the Slavyansk station of the Yuzhno-Donetsk railway to the police who removed the bags from the train, 13 drunken Red Flotsev approached, beat the police and, threatening with weapons, began to return the seized products seized. One of the Red Navy - Milnik - with shots from a revolver heavily wounded the policeman and wounded the sergeant of the NKVD troops. The miller during the detention was resisted and was killed. The rest of the Red Navy are detained. ”

“On July 29, a train arrived at the Krasnoarmeyskaya Yuzhno-Donetsk railway station, which had up to 200 bags and Red Flotsy. Upon arrival, the train was cordoned off by the employees of the operational group. The bags and the Red Navy resisted, beat two operappa officers. Fighters of the NKVD troops were forced to use weapons, as a result of which 3 bags were killed, 1 was wounded. The instigators of atrocities were arrested by the Red Navy Kosinov, Korshunov and others. The investigation established that the Red Navy were engaged in robberies on the way, took food and moonshine from the bags, promising to protect them on the way from the police. "

In contrast to the front, in the rear during the war there was a shortage of vodka. The hot drink was laid only by the regime activists, as well as the effect of the cell estate. So, the vodka was given out only to the Stakhanovites, once a month they received such a set: several meters of canvas, a piece of laundry soap, 1 kg of salt, 1 liter of kerosene, 2 bottles of vodka.

However, bureaucracy that was dug up in the rear during the hungry years of the war did not deny itself anything. Thus, the provision of alcohol and delicacies of the youngest Stalinist People's Commissar, 34-year-old Dmitry Ustinov was as follows: “Delivered on June 6, 1942 to the dacha of the People’s Commissar of Vodka 3 bottles, selected wine and champagne 8 bottles, caviar, caviar, sausage, dry melon, lemons, and chocolate in the sets.”

The book provides a letter from a resident of Chelyabinsk Rogovskaya R.A. In the name of a member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the R.S. Zemlyachka, dated September 1942: “For 2 months I worked in the central dining room of the city and was a witness to banquets arranged by the People's Commissariat of Sciences, the regional committee of the CPSU (b) and the regional executive committee. Now, when each gram of food is regarding the weight of gold, the leading organizations of Chelyabinsk, being in a deep rear, do not want to endure the difficulties of war. Blood is pouring on the fronts, and here is vodka. ”

The party check from the center revealed how much they devoured and drank the bureaucrats of Chelyabinsk. So, on 4 banquets from July 1 to October 7, 1942, they ate 680 kg of bread, meat 616 kg, cheese 122 kg, sour cream 102 kg, butter of 84 kg, caviar 77 kg. Vodka has been drunk 535 liters, portion of 133 liters. 135 kg of cake, 108 kg of ice cream and 1514 pieces of cakes were eaten for the dessert.

How do you think the guilty bureaucrats of Chelyabinsk were punished? Organizer of banquets acting Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Chelyabinsk city committee Pavlov V.D. A strict reprimand was declared and a fine of 3 thousand rubles was imposed on him “for the loss of party vigilance” (apparently, it was assumed that the next time Pavlov V.D. would not leave witnesses of his gluttony). No one else was punished.

In the approach of the victory, the authorities began to generously produce the rear, but - mainly the highest and middle composition of bureaucracy and specialists. Here are the standards for the vacation of vodka for 2 months, January-February 1945 for People's Commissariats: N. Railways-2.5 million liters of vodka, N. Aviaprom-1.3 million, N. Corring-1.8 million, N. Chermeta 1.4 million, etc.

In 1942-1944, 26 (!) New alcohol factories were built in the USSR, so much was not built for the combined 1920-30s. In the same pace, the production of tobacco also grew -in 1945 +22% by 1940 (for comparison: sugar -79% for the same period, flour -49%, soap -67%).

In the commodity structure of retail turnover, vodka in 1940 was 11.8%, in 1943 it was already 25.1%, and in 1945 35.1%.

“The social influence of vodka on the military and post -war society was diverse. Here we can talk about a set of negative consequences and, first of all, about introducing a huge mass of previously not drinking people to alcohol, including millions of women and adolescents. And the Puritanism of senior persons in the 1920-30s was replaced by a hierarchical privileges system for a new nobility, ”the researchers concluded.

In addition, after the Second World War, the prices for vodka in absolute values ​​(from average salaries) increased significantly, the authorities began to pump money from the pockets of people who sat down on alcohol at this time. So, in 1939, the average salary was 331 rubles, and a bottle of vodka cost 6 rubles 15 kopecks. And in 1947, as the researchers indicate, salaries amounted to 500-1000 rubles, and a bottle of vodka cost 60 rubles. Those. In 1939, it was possible to buy 50 bottles of vodka for a salary, and in 1947, even on the upper bar of 1000 rubles, a total of 16-17 bottles.

A drunken carrier, which became the norm during the Great Patriotic War, was no longer stopped after the war. Russia is still reaping its consequences.