Why Russians Drink So Much

Russia and vodka are mentioned together so often that it's not even funny anymore. And there's a reason for that - Russia really has a really deep connection with alcohol. And really serious problems because of it. This video was inspired by @Kraut and his "How vodka ruined Russia". It was pretty good, but still left out some key details, so I'm here to take you on a journey through a thousand years of history. The shared history of Russia and alcohol.

00:00 - Introduction
01:39 - Alcohol in Ancient Rus
05:02 - Vodka in Russian Empire
11:31 - USSR alcohol problems

Alcohol has been known in Russia for more than a thousand years. Old Russian chronicles mention about 7 different kinds of alcoholic beverages. It is believed that Russia even selected a religion only from among those that did not prohibit alcohol. However, upon closer examination it turns out that all these drinks in Russia were low alcohol, and people of Russia did not know about vodka until the 17th century. So how is it that the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and modern Russia began to have such big problems with alcohol? The greed of the rulers of Russia - Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, and then all their descendants - is to blame. They created a state system of drinking establishments, which allowed them to constantly fill the state treasury with gold at the cost of the health of its people. It was only Nicholas II, just before World War I, who decided to abolish this flawed system - and paid for it with his life. The Soviets came to power, but they were not able to do anything about the problem either, no bans or propaganda films helped. Only in recent years the situation with alcohol consumption in Russia is beginning to improve, maybe we can finally get rid of this terrible habit.

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Hey there. Somehow you found my video and decided to watch it. So let me introduce myself. I'm Sergei and I'm from Russia. My channel is about my native country. I want to tell English-speaking viewers about the real Russia, about its past and present. Unfortunately, you can find a lot of propaganda about Russia on the Internet, both from the Russian media and from the Western ones. I want to tell you about Russia, as it really is, the country in which I was born, grew up, and lived all my life.

Some sources and additional articles to read about the topic:
Родионов Б.В.. История русских крепких питей. Книга-справочник по основным вопросам истории винокурения. Олимп-Бизнес, Москва, 2017: 256с. 978-5-9909050-0-9
Романович Н. А. "Алкоголь в России: мифы общественного мнения и реальность" Социологический журнал, no. 3, 2015, pp. 63-87.
Быкова, А. Г. (2009). Образ жизни и потребление алкогольных напитков населением Российской империи во второй половине XIX начале ХХ вв. Омский научный вестник, (5 (81)), 61-63.
Forsyth, Mark. A Short History of Drunkenness. , 2017. Print.
Долгих Елена Валерьевна. "К истории повседневности: очерк потребления спиртных напитков в России (конец XV В. - 1936 г. )" Вестник Московского университета. Серия 8. История, no. 5-6, 2015, pp. 14-63.
Н. Тяпугин. Народные заблуждения и научная правда об алкоголе. Наркомздрав, Москва, 1926
Neufeld, M., & Rehm, J. (2013). Alcohol Consumption and Mortality in Russia since 2000: Are there any Changes Following the Alcohol Policy Changes Starting in 2006? Alcohol and Alcoholism, 48(2), 222–230. doi:10.1093/alcalc/ags134

[dorianphilotheates]

I once saw two Russians crack open a 750 ml bottle of vodka outside a liquor store parking lot; they drank it empty in three minutes flat, immediately got into their pick-up truck, and non-chalantly drove away in the snow.

[benjibader]

In a Dostoyevsky novel one character says “what if the government is pumping us full of alcohol to keep us docile” and another character says “haha no way that would be crazy” s

[bacnguyen]

The Russians love vodka so much they even taught us Vietnamese how to make our own, Vodka is a drink for Tet in Vietnam but in daily life we prefer beer because hard liqueur make it tough to wake up to go to work at 6 in the morning . Maybe because of having to wake up so early make us less likely to drink .

[ДимитърИванов-еъ]

As someone from Bulgaria, the most normal thing for older people in the villages is to have 100-200 liters of rakia and 200-300l liters of wine in their basements that they drink during the winter. Also one of the most common gift is a slightly yellow coca-cola bottle with a fanta bottle cap field with rakia.

[yotoronto]

Imagine being an Abbasid Caliphate ambassador to the ancient Kievan Rus and finding out the King became Christian solely because of alcohol.

[unknownuser]

Short answer: People get lonely and depressed, then they turn to drugs

[Bambino_]

“People say I gotta drinking problem, but I got no problem drinking at all.”


Midland

[istoppedcaring]

being an autist, drinking socially has allowed me to break trough my social awkwardness in such events, similarly to how a parkinsons patient would see increased controll of motor functions when taking marihuana, in both cases the trade off is intoxication

[Im_No_Expert_]

After being an alcoholic for 30 years, I'm just glad to finally be free of it. ☦️

[GRAII]

I can't fathom how this channel doesn't have hundreds of thousands of subs already, the content is fantastic and very well researched every single time. Thanks for another great episode!

[Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I have actually watched that Kraut video! That video taught me a lot about the history of vodka, and this video taught me even more! Thanks for the additional information about this stereotypical part of Russian history!

[rossleone]

This channel is so awesome! Thank you. As an American living in Russia I can definitely say this is true

[unclecrusty]

I went to Moscow (Awesome, beautiful city) on vacation actually before the fall of The USSR. I was even in The Military. Had zero problems. Met up with a bunch of really cool Russian Soldiers and we partied like Rock Stars and they introduced me to some great food. We had a great time drinking vodka, trading friendly insults and slapping each other on the back. Best vacation ever.

[markusrows]

Well looking at europe, east and West, in general no one can point Fingers. Top 50 Annual drinking per Person list is almost a "Europe only" Club.

[kirilcavdarov]

This program went well with my morning beer. Keep making more great stuff.

[nnn]

And with alcohol once you're addicted you HAVE to drink otherwise you get seizures and can die. Alcohol withdrawals can kill you. Getting people addicted to a substance that you have control over is a perfect means of control that is used by governments often throughout history.

[michaelkimberling]

The beer that ancient people drank, was not the same as the beer that we drink now generally speaking, it was just enough to purify the water to keep it from giving you rotten gut snakes. everyone including small children, drank it. It was one of the few sure fire ways of getting clean, drinking water.

[sifridbassoon]

I recently read a book about the 1917 Revolution in Petrograd. In addition to a surge in violent crime, there was also an epidemic of "alcohol pogroms" where armed rioters would break into restaurants and palaces and upper class homes and loot the wine cellars. At one point they broke into the wine cellars of the Winter Palace and pillaged and drank for days (or at least until they passed out). The snow outside on the square turned red from all the wine people poured on it, and people would lay on the ground and eat the snow for the alcohol. The level of wine sloshing around in the cellar grew to several feet high, and once the administration finally got control again and pumped the wine out, they found several bodies of people who had passed out on the floor of the cellar and drowned.

[stephenbethell]

Отлично!!! I’m a Brit who’s lived in Russia for ten years . Then every bus stop had an alcohol kiosk attached, a few drinks whilst you wait for the bus comrade ? Now it’s very different and better ! Once again an excellent video :-)

[stevangucu]

The greatest fact about alcohol and Russians I heard: Soviets pilots would massively apply to pilot Tu-22. That plane had air conditioning system that was based on pure alcohol. Pilots would steal alcohol in gas canisters and heating bags, smuggling it out and drinking stuff at home. In 90s alcohol from Tu-22 would be used as a currency for pilots to exchange for certain goods.

Source: YouTube channel Paper Skies.