Destroying Tradition: The Soviet Anti-Alcohol Campaigns

How the Soviet Union tried to break the drinking culture of the east

The text on the poster translates to “Much evil and wrongdoing to the family”

It’s well known that the Russian people like their alcohol. For centuries the Tsars of Russia held a monopoly over vodka production, taxing it heavily to feed their continuous expansion. Although very profitable alcohol brings many downsides to society and many would say that profiteering of such a trade is unethical, even so, this went on until the Soviet take over.

After the Soviet takeover of the Russian Empire, the problem created by alcohol consumption became apparent. Not only did drunk workers not work as efficiently but they also created problems in their households thus the Soviets sought to change the Russian attitude to alcohol. During the 20th century, 3 anti-alcohol campaigns were started by the Soviets with the goal of lowering the overall consumption of alcohol across the union. Of the most prominent one was the 1985–87 campaign headed by Михаил Горбачёв (Anglicised: Mikhail Gorbachev).

“Dry Law”

The text on the poster translates to “For health?” which is the Russian version of what you say before a toast.

In the 80s alcohol consumption became a real problem in the Soviet Union. In…