Vodka Politics: Alcohol, Autocracy, and the Secret History of the Russian State

1891 Pages·2014·8.28 MB·English

by  Mark Lawrence Schrad

Vodka Politics
VODKA POLITICS
Alcohol, Autocracy, and the Secret History of the
Russian State
MARK LAWRENCE SCHRAD
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and
education by publishing worldwide.
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a
registered trademark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other
countries.
Published in the United States of America by
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
© Oxford University Press 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior
permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by
law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights
organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above
should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address
above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this
same condition on any acquirer.
CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 978–0–199–75559–2
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For my wife, Jennifer.
I have so many words to express so many things, but none could hope to
describe my love and appreciation for who you are and all you do.
CONTENTS
Note on Proper Names
Preface
1. Introduction
2. Vodka Politics
3. Cruel Liquor: Ivan the Terrible and Alcohol in the Muscovite Court
4. Peter the Great: Modernization and Intoxication
5. Russia’s Empresses: Power, Conspiracy, and Vodka
6. Murder, Intrigue, and the Mysterious Origins of Vodka
7. Why Vodka? Russian Statecraft and the Origins of Addiction
8. Vodka and the Origins of Corruption in Russia
9. Vodka Domination, Vodka Resistance … Vodka Emancipation?
10. The Pen, the Sword, and the Bottle
11. Drunk at the Front: Alcohol and the Imperial Russian Army
12. Nicholas the Drunk, Nicholas the Sober
13. Did Prohibition Cause the Russian Revolution?
14. Vodka Communism
15. Industrialization, Collectivization, Alcoholization
16. Vodka and Dissent in the Soviet Union
17. Gorbachev and the (Vodka) Politics of Reform
18. Did Alcohol Make the Soviets Collapse?
19. The Bottle and Boris Yeltsin
20. Alcohol and the Demodernization of Russia
21. The Russian Cross
22. The Rise and Fall of Putin’s Champion
23. Medvedev against History
24. An End to Vodka Politics?
Notes
Index
NOTE ON PROPER NAMES
In this book, Russian names generally follow the British standard (BGN/PCGN)
transliteration, with some alterations to accommodate the widely accepted
English equivalents of familiar historical figures (for example, Tsar Nicholas
and Tsarina Catherine, rather than Tsar Nikolai and Tsaritsa Ekaterina). To aid
pronunciation, I have opted to change the Russian “ii” ending to a “y,” and
eliminate the Russian soft sign from personal and place names (so Maksim
Gor’kii becomes Maxim Gorky). These alterations do not apply to the
bibliographic references in the notes, which maintain the standard transliteration
for those who wish to consult the original sources.
PREFACE
A book about Russia based on vodka? How’s that going to sit with Russian
readers? Well, when a New York Times article I wrote related to the subject
found its way onto the Russian-language blogosphere, it certainly didn’t take me
long to find out: “Vodka? Hey, while you’re at it, don’t forget the bears and
balalaikas” came one understandable rejoinder, drenched in the requisite sarcasm
about gullible foreigners and their misguided perceptions about Russia. Dozens
more jibes and sneers quickly followed.1
To be sure, confronting well-worn clichés is an uncomfortable business.
Especially when unflattering broadsides are made against an entire nation, they
prompt a response from both those outside and inside the group such stereotypes
purport to describe. For insiders, the usual response to a hurtful platitude is to
downplay or deny it. Sympathetic outsiders normally try to politely ignore it.
Rarely do offended parties embrace a perceived insult, and rarer still does
anyone stop to investigate and explore it.
Obviously, in studying Russia—its people, culture, politics, and history—we
encounter just such a widely held and uncomfortable stereotype in the form of
the hopelessly drunken Russian. People who can barely locate Russia on a map
readily associate it with insobriety, while foreigners studying the Russian
language surely know how to say “vodka” well before they even learn to say
“hello.”
Yet that image is not exclusive to foreigners: as the new millennium dawned,
the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) asked actual
Russian citizens what they considered the main symbol of twentieth-century
Russia: vodka beat out not just bears and balalaikas, but also nesting dolls and
even AK-47s for the top spot.2 When it comes to perceived challenges for
Russia’s future, such concerns as “national security,” “economic crisis,” and