Peter the Great, the first Russian emperor (1672-1725), was a reformer not only of the Russian state, but also of Russian drunkenness.

Until Peter the Great, God-fearing Russia was given a low-alcohol mead, and the frantic Europeanist Peter instilled in his fatherland a craving for strong drinks - rum, cognac and vodka. Under Peter the Great, Russian drunkenness spread wide and uncontrollably, like a river, which to this day is not going to enter back into its banks.

Peter himself most of all respected vodka and made even the ladies drink it. For drunken brawls, the people affectionately called the tsar "drunkard-tsar" and "tsar of Kokuisky." Moreover, Peter gave us two more civilized vices: tobacco and coffee. Thank you, father-king!

As a child, Peter was given to be raised by clerk Nikita Zotov - a quiet man, but who loved to drink. Perhaps it was he who, in adolescence, awakened Peter's alcoholism. In his youth, Peter made friends with the German Franz Lefort, who addicted the young crown bearer not only to the exact sciences, but also to beer and vodka. Returning home from an overseas business trip, Peter, rolling up his sleeves, set about reforms: he cut the boyars' beards, ordered them to drink coffee, and ordered the soldiers to smoke.

Drunkenness and tobacco smoking were promoted by means of decrees. Peter also introduced a free distribution of vodka: one glass a day was due to St. Petersburg builders, road workers, shipyard workers, port loaders, sailors and soldiers. Peter himself set an example for his subjects: his assembly and diplomatic receptions usually ended with drinking binges. The tsar invented what is now called a corporate party: every victory, important state event and the launch of a new ship, Peter celebrated, forcing the boyars and nobles to walk for weeks.

Peter affectionately called alcohol "Ivashka Khmelnitsky" and could miss 36 glasses of wine a day, and every morning he began with a shot of vodka and pickled cucumber. Gradually, the people got used to vodka and began to drink not only on holidays, but also every day, and the profit from the alcohol business monopolized by the state became an important source of replenishment of the treasury.

"Do not drive the peasants out of the tavern until they get drunk to the cross." Decree of Peter I

Naturally, having introduced daily drunkenness into the life of the people, Peter, as befits a tyrant, immediately began to regulate it with various decrees. Thus, the population was ordered to drink "moderately and honestly, for joy and joy, and not for the destruction of their souls," and the kissers and tavern heads were instructed to watch so that "no one drank hard and drank to death." Peter even issued a decree that a cast-iron circle be hung around the neck of drunkards, on which it was written that "this man was zealous in drunkenness." Naturally, the country quickly ran out of pig iron.

But the drunkard tsar did not stop there either: once he decided to turn drunkenness into a state institution and created the famous college of drunkenness - "the most sentimental and all drunken cathedral" chaired by a jester who bore the title of prince-pope. Under the Pope, there was a conclave of 12 cardinals, drunken gluttons, with a staff of clergy who bore obscene nicknames. The charter of the order was composed by Peter himself, and his first commandment was: get drunk every day and not go to bed sober. A newcomer in this cathedral was asked the question: "Are you eating?" - and sober "sinners" and heretics-drunkards were excommunicated from taverns and anathematized. Needless to say, Peter the Great to this day remains the most influential alcohol in the entire history of the Russian State, and his work, unlike the unpopular undertakings of other rulers, continues to live in the heart of almost every inhabitant of our homeland.

Genius versus use

1683-1695
Already as a child, he shows a penchant for great state and military achievements and creates amusing regiments - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky. He meets the Dutch engineer Franz Timmerman, works with him in arithmetic, geometry, artillery science. He meets Franz Lefort, marries Evdokia Lopukhina and immediately leaves his young wife for the sake of a sea voyage. He drinks mainly with foreigners in the German settlement. From the memoirs of Peter's associate Boris Kurakin:

"Then a brawl began, drunkenness is so great that it is impossible to describe that for three days, locked in that house, they were drunk and that many happened to die because of this." Those who survived such meetings with "Ivashka Khmelnitsky" fell ill for several days, and Peter woke up in the morning as if nothing had happened.

1696-1699
Goes on a hike to Azov. Azov surrenders, and Peter drinks in honor of the victory. Goes to the "Great Embassy" across Europe. Returning, suppresses the rifle revolt. Feasts and drinking parties give way to executions: 200 archers were executed on Red Square. Taking this opportunity, he exiles his wife to the monastery. Immediately after this, the "All-Sightful Cathedral" arranges a party, dedicating Lefort's palace to the god Bacchus.

"Some carried large mugs filled with wine, others - vessels with honey, others - jars of beer, vodka." Cuts the beards of the first dignitaries of the state with his own hand. Requires everyone to drink vodka, including the ladies. During the celebrations, guardsmen appeared in the garden with tubs of booze, the smell of which was carried along the alleys, and the sentries were ordered not to let anyone out of the garden.

1699-1700
Issues a decree on the celebration of the New Year on January 1: "... to congratulate each other on the New Year, to make decorations from fir trees, to amuse children on sledges, and not to commit drunkenness and massacre to adults, there are enough other days for that." The atrocities of the "council" continue: according to the testimony of contemporaries, "many prepared for those days as if they were death." Forms an army.

1700-1710
The most impressive series of state successes of the tsar: the conclusion of a peace treaty with Turkey, the founding of St. Petersburg, the capture of Dorpat and Narva, the defeat of the Swedes at Poltava. In taverns, vodka is no longer being sold in buckets and cups, but in buckets with a capacity of 12 liters. All types of snacks were also banned in pubs.

A decree was issued: "Do not drive the peasants out of the taverns until they are drunk to the cross." When, for this reason, Peter's army was completely demoralized, a medal was cast from cast iron with a weight of 6.8 kg by the tsar's decree. The medal was embossed: "For drunkenness." The medal was chained to the drunkard's neck.

1711-1712
Marries a second time - to a woman who later became the Russian Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna (Ekaterina I). The wedding feast, which lasted 5 hours, was attended by over 160 people. One of them said that "the society was brilliant, the wine was fine, Hungarian, and, what was especially pleasant, the guests were not forced to drink it in excessive quantities."

Performs in the Prussian campaign, takes Vyborg. He continues to drink immoderately: “I don’t know how I went from you: I was never overly satisfied with Bakhusov’s gift. I ask that for everyone, if I caused annoyance to anyone, forgiveness, and even more from those who were at parting, so that every incident and so on will not remember ... ”(from Peter's letter to Count Apraksin).

1716-1720
Peter becomes commander of the combined fleets of Russia, Holland, Denmark and England. Manifesto on the deprivation of Tsarevich Alexei of the throne and death of the Tsarevich from torture. Opening of the Kunstkamera - the first museum in Russia. Taking care that the museum was visited by as many people as possible, Peter ordered to give each visitor a free glass of vodka and "zuckerbrod". Peter's decree appointed a monetary payment for the delivery of monsters to St. Petersburg and punishment for hiding them.

1721-1725
Peter assumed a new title and was officially called "Emperor", "Great" and "Father of the Fatherland". Peter celebrates the conclusion of the Nystad peace with Sweden with a week-long masquerade drunkenness.

At the bishop's table, the monk, who was bowing to Peter with a glass of aniseed, could not stay on his feet and doused the sovereign's entire dress. But I quickly found it, saying: "On whom is a drop, on whom two, and on you, sir, all grace poured out!" Peter laughed and demanded a second glass.

In November 1724, Peter threw himself into ice water rescue a stranded boat with soldiers, women and children, and as a result earned a severe cold. Sufferer urolithiasis the king could no longer recover and died on January 28, 1725 at the age of 52.

Drinking companions

Alexander Menshikov

The second person in the state participated in all the drunken outrages of the sovereign: “They used to drink until (...) the Minister of War, His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov (not) fell under the table and (not) came running from the ladies' half of his frightened princess Dasha to pour and wipe off the lifeless spouse "(from" Diary ... "by Korb, secretary of the Austrian emperor's embassy).

Duke of Courland

The future Russian empress, 17-year-old Anna Ioannovna, by order of Peter, was married to the 17-year-old Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Courland. Two months later, the couple went to Courland, but the next day, February 9, 1711, disaster struck. Duke Friedrich Wilhelm died - according to historians, from alcohol poisoning, for the day before he allowed himself to compete in drunkenness with Peter the Great.

Courtiers

Peter introduced a rule: those who were late for the assembly (they were held in Monplaisir-Petrodvorets) had to drink a cup of vodka with a volume of more than a liter. The Great Eagle Cup was a big bucket. There was a case when one of the senators died after such an Execution. But delays have stopped.

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AS SAW PETER I

Peter the Great, the first Russian emperor (1672–1725), was a reformer not only of the Russian state, but also of Russian drunkenness.

Until Peter the Great, God-fearing Russia was given a low-alcohol mead, and the frantic Europeanist Peter instilled in his fatherland a craving for strong drinks - rum, cognac and vodka. Under Peter the Great, Russian drunkenness spread wide and unrestrained, like a river, which to this day is not going to enter back into its banks.

As a child, Peter was given to education by the clerk Nikita Zotov - a quiet man, but who loved to drink. Perhaps it was he who, in adolescence, awakened Peter's alcoholism. In his youth, Peter made friends with the German Franz Lefort, who addicted the young crown bearer not only to the exact sciences, but also to beer and vodka. Returning to his homeland from an overseas business trip, Peter, rolling up his sleeves, set about reforms: he cut the boyars' beards, ordered them to drink coffee, and ordered the soldiers to smoke.

Drunkenness and tobacco smoking were promoted by means of decrees. Peter also introduced a free distribution of vodka: one glass a day was due to St. Petersburg builders, road workers, shipyard workers, port loaders, sailors and soldiers. Peter himself set an example for his subjects: his assemblies and diplomatic receptions usually ended with drinking bouts. The tsar invented what is now called a corporate party: Peter celebrated every victory, important state event and the launch of a new ship, forcing the boyars and nobles to walk for weeks.

Peter affectionately called alcohol "Ivashka Khmelnitsky" and could miss 36 glasses of wine a day, and every morning he began with a shot of vodka and pickled cucumber. Gradually, the people got used to vodka and began to drink not only on holidays, but also every day, and the profit from the alcohol business monopolized by the state became an important source of replenishment of the treasury.

"Do not drive the peasants out of the tavern until they get drunk to the cross." Decree of Peter I

Naturally, having introduced daily drunkenness into the life of the people, Peter, as befits a tyrant, immediately began to regulate it with various decrees. Thus, the population was ordered to drink "moderately and honestly, for joy and joy, and not for the destruction of their souls," and the kissers and tavern heads were instructed to watch so that "no one drank hard and drank to death." Peter even issued a decree that a cast-iron circle be hung around the neck of drunkards, on which it was written that "this man was zealous in drunkenness." Naturally, the country quickly ran out of pig iron.

But the drunkard tsar did not stop there either: once he decided to turn drunkenness into a state institution and created the famous college of drunkenness - "the most sentimental and all drunken cathedral" chaired by a jester who bore the title of prince-pope. Under the Pope, there was a conclave of 12 cardinals, drunken gluttons, with a staff of clergy who bore obscene nicknames. The charter of the order was composed by Peter himself, and his first commandment was: get drunk every day and not go to bed sober. A newcomer in this cathedral was asked the question: "Are you eating?" - and sober "sinners" and heretics-drunkards were excommunicated from taverns and anathematized. Needless to say, Peter the Great to this day remains the most influential alcohol in the entire history of the Russian State, and his work, unlike the unpopular undertakings of other rulers, continues to live in the heart of almost every inhabitant of our homeland.

GENIUS AGAINST USE

1683-1695

Already as a child, he shows a penchant for great state and military achievements and creates amusing regiments - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky. He meets the Dutch engineer Franz Timmerman, works with him in arithmetic, geometry, artillery science. He meets Franz Lefort, marries Evdokia Lopukhina and immediately abandons his young wife for the sake of a sea voyage. He drinks mainly with foreigners in the German settlement. From the memoirs of Peter's associate Boris Kurakin:

"Then a brawl began, drunkenness is so great that it is impossible to describe that for three days, locked in that house, they were drunk and that many happened to die because of this." Those who survived such meetings with "Ivashka Khmelnitsky" fell ill for several days, and Peter woke up in the morning as if nothing had happened.

1696-1699

Goes on a hike to Azov. Azov surrenders, and Peter drinks in honor of the victory. Goes to the "Great Embassy" across Europe. Returning, suppresses the rifle revolt. Feasts and drinking parties give way to executions: 200 archers were executed on Red Square. Taking this opportunity, he exiles his wife to the monastery. Immediately after this, the "Most Hearted Cathedral" arranges a party, dedicating Lefort's palace to the god Bacchus.

"Some carried large mugs filled with wine, others - vessels with honey, others - jars of beer and vodka." Cuts the beards of the first dignitaries of the state with his own hand. Requires everyone to drink vodka, including the ladies. During the celebrations, guardsmen appeared in the garden with tubs of booze, the smell of which was carried along the alleys, and the sentries were ordered not to let anyone out of the garden.

1699-1700

Issues a decree on the celebration of the New Year on January 1: "... to wish each other a Happy New Year, to make decorations from fir trees, to amuse children on sledges, and not to commit drunkenness and massacre to adults, there are enough other days for that." The atrocities of the "council" continue: according to the testimony of contemporaries, "many prepared for those days as if they were death." Forms an army.

1700-1710

The most impressive series of state successes of the tsar: the conclusion of a peace treaty with Turkey, the founding of St. Petersburg, the capture of Dorpat and Narva, the defeat of the Swedes at Poltava. Vodka in taverns begins to sell no longer in buckets and glasses, but in buckets with a capacity of 12 liters. All types of snacks were also banned in pubs.

A decree was issued: "Do not drive the peasants out of the taverns until they are drunk to the cross." When, for this reason, Peter's army was completely demoralized, a medal was cast from cast iron with a weight of 6.8 kg by the tsar's decree. The medal was embossed: "For drunkenness." The medal was chained to the drunkard's neck.

1711-1712

Marries a second time - to a woman who later became the Russian Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna (Ekaterina I). The wedding feast, which lasted 5 hours, was attended by over 160 people. One of them said that "the society was brilliant, the wine was wonderful, Hungarian, and, what was especially pleasant, the guests were not forced to drink it in excessive quantities."

Performs in the Prussian campaign, takes Vyborg. He continues to drink immoderately: “I don’t know how I went from you: I was never overly satisfied with Bakhusov’s gift. I ask that for everyone, if I caused annoyance to anyone, forgiveness, and even more from those who were at parting, so that every incident and so on will not remember ... ”(from Peter's letter to Count Apraksin).

1716-1720

Peter becomes commander of the combined fleets of Russia, Holland, Denmark and England. Manifesto on the deprivation of Tsarevich Alexei of the throne and death of the Tsarevich from torture. Opening of the Kunstkamera - the first museum in Russia. Taking care that the museum was visited by as many people as possible, Peter ordered to give each visitor a free glass of vodka and "zuckerbrod". Peter's decree appointed a monetary payment for the delivery of monsters to St. Petersburg and punishment for hiding them.

1721-1725

Peter assumed a new title and began to be officially called "Emperor", "Great" and "Father of the Fatherland". Peter celebrates the conclusion of the Nystad peace with Sweden with a week-long masquerade drunkenness.

At the bishop's table, the monk, who was bowing to Peter with a glass of aniseed, could not stay on his feet and doused the sovereign's entire dress. But I quickly found it, saying: "On whom is a drop, on whom two, and on you, sir, all grace poured out!" Peter laughed and demanded a second glass.

ALEXANDER Menshikov

The second person in the state participated in all the drunken outrages of the sovereign: “They used to drink until (...) the Minister of War, His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov (not) fell under the table and (not) came running from the ladies' half of his frightened princess Dasha to pour and wipe off the lifeless spouse "(from" Diary ... "by Korb, secretary of the Austrian emperor's embassy).

DUKE OF KURLAND

The future Russian empress, 17-year-old Anna Ioannovna, by order of Peter, was married to the 17-year-old Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Courland. Two months later, the couple went to Courland, but the next day, February 9, 1711, disaster struck. Duke Friedrich Wilhelm died - as historians believe, from alcohol poisoning, for the day before he allowed himself to compete in drunkenness with Peter the Great.

COURT

Peter introduced a rule: those who were late for the assembly (they were held in Monplaisir-Petrodvorets) had to drink a cup of vodka with a volume of more than a liter. The Great Eagle Cup was a big bucket. There was a case when one of the senators died after such an Execution. But delays have stopped.

Peter the Great, the first Russian emperor (1672–1725), was a reformer not only of the Russian state, but also of Russian drunkenness.

Until Peter the Great, God-fearing Russia was given a low-alcohol mead, and the frantic Europeanist Peter instilled in his fatherland a craving for strong drinks - rum, cognac and vodka. Under Peter the Great, Russian drunkenness spread wide and uncontrollably, like a river, which to this day is not going to enter back into its banks.

Peter himself most of all respected vodka and made even the ladies drink it. For drunken brawls, the people affectionately called the tsar "drunkard-tsar" and "tsar of Kokuisky." Moreover, Peter gave us two more civilized vices: tobacco and coffee. Thank you, father-king!

As a child, Peter was given to be raised by clerk Nikita Zotov - a quiet man, but who loved to drink. Perhaps it was he who, in adolescence, awakened Peter's alcoholism. In his youth, Peter made friends with the German Franz Lefort, who addicted the young crown bearer not only to the exact sciences, but also to beer and vodka. Returning home from an overseas business trip, Peter, rolling up his sleeves, set about reforms: he cut the boyars' beards, ordered them to drink coffee, and ordered the soldiers to smoke.

Drunkenness and tobacco smoking were promoted by means of decrees. Peter also introduced a free distribution of vodka: one glass a day was due to St. Petersburg builders, road workers, shipyard workers, port loaders, sailors and soldiers. Peter himself set an example for his subjects: his assemblies and diplomatic receptions usually ended with drinking bouts. The tsar invented what is now called a corporate party: Peter celebrated every victory, important state event and the launch of a new ship, forcing the boyars and nobles to walk for weeks.

Peter affectionately called alcohol "Ivashka Khmelnitsky" and could miss 36 glasses of wine a day, and every morning he began with a shot of vodka and pickled cucumber. Gradually, the people got used to vodka and began to drink not only on holidays, but also every day, and the profit from the alcohol business monopolized by the state became an important source of replenishment of the treasury.

"Do not drive the peasants out of the tavern until they get drunk to the cross." Decree of Peter I

Naturally, having introduced daily drunkenness into the life of the people, Peter, as befits a tyrant, immediately began to regulate it with various decrees. Thus, the population was ordered to drink "moderately and honestly, for joy and joy, and not for the destruction of their souls," and the kissers and tavern heads were instructed to watch so that "no one drank hard and drank to death." Peter even issued a decree that a cast-iron circle be hung around the neck of drunkards, on which it was written that "this man was zealous in drunkenness." Naturally, the country quickly ran out of pig iron.

But the drunkard tsar did not stop there either: one day he decided to turn drunkenness into a state institution and created the famous collegium of drunkenness - "the most sentimental and most drunken cathedral" chaired by a jester who bore the title of prince-pope. Under the Pope, there was a conclave of 12 cardinals, drunken gluttons, with a staff of clergy who bore obscene nicknames. The charter of the order was composed by Peter himself, and his first commandment was: get drunk every day and not go to bed sober. A newcomer in this cathedral was asked the question: "Are you eating?" - and sober "sinners" and heretics-drunkards were excommunicated from taverns and anathematized. Needless to say, Peter the Great to this day remains the most influential alcohol in the history of the Russian State, and his work, unlike the unpopular undertakings of other rulers, continues to live in the heart of almost every inhabitant of our homeland. Genius versus use

1683-1695
Already as a child, he shows a penchant for great state and military achievements and creates amusing regiments - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky. He meets the Dutch engineer Franz Timmerman, works with him in arithmetic, geometry, artillery science. He meets Franz Lefort, marries Evdokia Lopukhina and immediately leaves his young wife for the sake of a sea voyage. He drinks mainly with foreigners in the German settlement. From the memoirs of Peter's associate Boris Kurakin:

"Then a brawl began, drunkenness is so great that it is impossible to describe that for three days, locked in that house, they were drunk and that many happened to die because of this." Those who survived such meetings with "Ivashka Khmelnitsky" fell ill for several days, and Peter woke up in the morning as if nothing had happened.

1696-1699
Goes on a hike to Azov. Azov surrenders, and Peter drinks in honor of the victory. Goes to the "Great Embassy" across Europe. Returning, suppresses the rifle revolt. Feasts and drinking parties give way to executions: 200 archers were executed on Red Square. Taking this opportunity, he exiles his wife to the monastery. Immediately after this, the "All-Sightful Cathedral" arranges a party, dedicating Lefort's palace to the god Bacchus.

"Some carried large mugs filled with wine, others - vessels with honey, others - jars of beer, vodka." Cuts the beards of the first dignitaries of the state with his own hand. Requires everyone to drink vodka, including the ladies. During the celebrations, guardsmen appeared in the garden with tubs of booze, the smell of which was carried along the alleys, and the sentries were ordered not to let anyone out of the garden.

1699-1700
Issues a decree on the celebration of the New Year on January 1: "... to congratulate each other on the New Year, to make decorations from fir trees, to amuse children on sledges, and not to commit drunkenness and massacre to adults, there are enough other days for that." The atrocities of the "council" continue: according to the testimony of contemporaries, "many prepared for those days as if they were death." Forms an army.

1700-1710
The most impressive series of state successes of the tsar: the conclusion of a peace treaty with Turkey, the founding of St. Petersburg, the capture of Dorpat and Narva, the defeat of the Swedes at Poltava. In taverns, vodka is no longer being sold in buckets and cups, but in buckets with a capacity of 12 liters. All types of snacks were also banned in pubs.

A decree was issued: "Do not drive the peasants out of the taverns until they are drunk to the cross." When, for this reason, Peter's army was completely demoralized, a medal was cast from cast iron with a weight of 6.8 kg by the tsar's decree. The medal was embossed: "For drunkenness." The medal was chained to the drunkard's neck.

1711-1712
Marries a second time - to a woman who later became the Russian Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna (Ekaterina I). The wedding feast, which lasted 5 hours, was attended by over 160 people. One of them said that "the society was brilliant, the wine was fine, Hungarian, and, what was especially pleasant, the guests were not forced to drink it in excessive quantities."

Performs in the Prussian campaign, takes Vyborg. He continues to drink immoderately: “I don’t know how I went from you: I was never overly satisfied with Bakhusov’s gift. I ask that for everyone, if I caused annoyance to anyone, forgiveness, and even more from those who were at parting, so that every incident and so on will not remember ... ”(from Peter's letter to Count Apraksin).

1716-1720
Peter becomes commander of the combined fleets of Russia, Holland, Denmark and England. Manifesto on the deprivation of Tsarevich Alexei of the throne and death of the Tsarevich from torture. Opening of the Kunstkamera - the first museum in Russia. Taking care that the museum was visited by as many people as possible, Peter ordered to give each visitor a free glass of vodka and "zuckerbrod". Peter's decree appointed a monetary payment for the delivery of monsters to St. Petersburg and punishment for hiding them.

1721-1725
Peter assumed a new title and was officially called "Emperor", "Great" and "Father of the Fatherland". Peter celebrates the conclusion of the Nystad peace with Sweden with a week-long masquerade drunkenness.

At the bishop's table, the monk, who was bowing to Peter with a glass of aniseed, could not stay on his feet and doused the sovereign's entire dress. But I quickly found it, saying: "On whom is a drop, on whom two, and on you, sir, all grace poured out!" Peter laughed and demanded a second glass.

In November 1724, Peter threw himself into the icy water to rescue a stranded boat with soldiers, women and children, and as a result suffered a severe cold. Suffering from urolithiasis, the king could no longer recover and died on January 28, 1725 at the age of 52.

Drinking companions

Alexander Menshikov

The second person in the state participated in all the drunken outrages of the sovereign: “They used to drink until (...) the Minister of War, His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov (not) fell under the table and (not) came running from the ladies' half of his frightened princess Dasha to pour and wipe off the lifeless spouse "(from" Diary ... "by Korb, secretary of the Austrian emperor's embassy).

Duke of Courland

The future Russian empress, 17-year-old Anna Ioannovna, by order of Peter, was married to the 17-year-old Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Courland. Two months later, the couple went to Courland, but the next day, February 9, 1711, misfortune struck. Duke Friedrich Wilhelm died - according to historians, from alcohol poisoning, for the day before he allowed himself to compete in drunkenness with Peter the Great.

Courtiers

Peter introduced a rule: those who were late for the assembly (they were held in Monplaisir-Petrodvorets) had to drink a cup of vodka with a volume of more than a liter. The Great Eagle Cup was a big bucket. There was a case when one of the senators died after such an Execution. But delays have stopped.

First instructions on how to brew malt beer and pure water, date back to 3000 BC. NS.; for the landowners of Mesopotamia, it was a valuable commodity, and in Egypt during the time of the pharaohs it was considered the joy of drunkards. Alpina Publisher is preparing to release the book “The History of Beer: From Monasteries to Sport Bars”, in which authors Mika Rissanen and Juha Tahvanainen describe how this drink in different times was associated with culture, social upheaval and economy. The Theories and Practices publishes an excerpt about how Peter I brought the habit of drinking beer from Europe, why it did not take root and why it was again in demand under Catherine II.

Peter the Great was head and shoulders above those around him - both in height (203 cm) and in character traits. On the battlefield, he was bolder than the brave, in the matter of government - the most far-sighted, and at parties he drank the most. It was customary for the tsar to drink vodka in quantities that would bring the inexperienced to the grave. Unfortunately, the Russian people also indulged in drunkenness, not all of whose representatives possessed Peter's resistance to alcohol. Peter realized the problem and decided that it was time for his subjects to sober up. He turned his gaze to the west in order to find European justice for the craving for "little white" inherent in Mother Russia.

Peter became a nominal ruler in 1682 at the age of ten, together with his feeble-minded brother Ivan V. In fact, power until his adulthood belonged to his older half-sister Sophia and mother Natalya. The future statesman did not have to bother himself with the daily affairs of government, so that in his younger years he could focus on mastering extensive life skills.

Europe was one of the Peter's passions. At the end of the 17th century. Russia remained a conservative country that in some way lived out the hopeless Middle Ages. Entrepreneurship was not flexible, innovation was disinterested, and the church was central to society. The young Peter's advisers, the Scotsman Patrick Gordon and the Swiss Franz Lefort, in turn knew how to captivate the sovereign with stories about the West striving for novelty. Gordon was well acquainted with European education and military affairs. Lefort, for his part, knew a thing or two about trade, seafaring and the joys of life. In particular, Peter was impressed by the Lefortovo manner of drinking. If, when drinking Russian vodka, the main goal was, it would seem, to get drunk to the point of feeling insensible, then Lefort, as he drank, only became livelier, and his jokes became more amusing.

At the age of 17-18 years old, Peter himself earned his first glory in the Moscow nightlife... Thanks to his large build and growing experience, he contrived to drink more than others. Especially famous funny company under the title of "All-hearted, All-Drunken and Extravagant Cathedral," whose drinking could go on for days. The clergy were outraged by the violent morals of this society, while many bishops and blacks were considered an honor to participate in "council" libations.

When in the early 90s. XVII century. Peter asserted his autocratic power and fought in 1695 with the Turks for access to the Azov - and then the Black - Sea, he went on a journey for specific examples European way of life. The main purpose of the trip was, of course, the modernization of the army and the construction of the navy, but at the same time Peter wanted a wide renovation of Russia - right down to culinary preferences.

After spending a fair amount of time in Amsterdam, in 1698 Peter and his retinue arrived in London. He rented an apartment above a pub right on the Thames waterfront, on Norfolk Street (now called Temple Place). Every day he got acquainted with the work of the port and shipyards, and he himself enjoyed working with his hands. We had a rest from work at night. Downstairs in the pub, the entourage tasted the favorites of the shipbuilders dark varieties beer. According to the stories of contemporaries, the maid was just filling a mug for Peter when he stopped him and ordered: “Leave the mug alone. Bring me a jug! " Along with beer and tobacco smoking, the men also paid tribute to brandy. Later, in the spring, when the Russians moved to another apartment near the Dorpatford shipyards, beer finally gave way to spirits. As a result, the estate, and it belonged to the writer John Evelyn, suffered complete ruin. After the high-born tenants, the owner had to tidy up the floors of all three floors and almost all the furnishings. According to the ledgers, the Russians reimbursed, among other things, the cost of "fifty chairs chopped up for wood, twenty-five torn paintings, three hundred window panes, tiled stoves and all the locks in the house."

Peter the Great visits London shipyards in 1698 and at the same time gets to know the workers' drink - porter. Peter MacLis: "Peter the Great at the Dorptford Shipyards", 1857

In general, a ruler full of strength returned to Russia in August 1698, who confirmed that the Russian people should lead a sober and vigorous lifestyle. Peter himself was content only with cheerfulness. He began military reform and a few years later prevailed over all his opponents. In 1703, he ordered the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress at the mouth of the Neva, which was seized from the Swedes. But the appetite comes during construction, and a year later the sovereign orders to make St. Petersburg under construction the capital.

During construction work naturally thirst arises. Peter took particular care to ensure that the work progressed and the workers were given beer. The same dark elixir was enjoyed in London by the guys from the harbor and shipyard workers, but at the same time in England there were no lazy people, no drunkenness, except perhaps in the retinue of Peter himself. The architects and builders of the future capital were served the same dark beer delivered by sea from England that was drunk at the royal court. The builders had to be content with the products of local breweries, but that was by no means the last analysis: after all, brewing traditions had existed in Russia for centuries.

Prince of Kiev Vladimir, who later became known as the Great, at the end of the 10th century. firmly decided what faith he will convert his people and will convert himself. According to legend, because of the ban on alcohol, Islam was not even discussed. As a result, Vladimir preferred Byzantium to Rome and opened the doors to Orthodoxy. It is noteworthy in the legend that Russia, for all its many years of glory, was not always a vodka power. They got acquainted with vodka in Russia only five centuries after the emergence of a strong drink, so Vladimir, who rejected Islam, with his subjects gave in the 10th century. preference for other drinks - honey, kvass and beer. The Russian word "hop" means, as you know, and spice plant, which is part of beer (lat. Humulus lupulus), and the state of intoxication caused by alcohol. It also suggests that beer ranked first as an intoxicating drink. Later the situation changed. The earliest mention of the production of vodka in Russia dates back to 1558. And already at the end of the same century there were complaints that vodka had become a national disaster.

At the time of Peter the Great, beer rushed to the counter. Beer and other "European" drinks were primarily preferred by the middle and upper class citizens who were the pro-Western part of society. The poorest part of the peasantry also drank mostly weak drinks. However, this did not last long. The "West Wind" subsided as Peter grew older, and sober life the people no longer seemed a matter of key importance. Vodka had its advantages: it brought tangible income to the state.

The decades after Peter were marked by constant palace coups. Of course, they drank beer at court, but French drinks were in great favor - from wine to cognac. Beer was on trend again in the 60s. XVIII century, when barley drink a connoisseur appeared in the person of a native of Germany, Catherine II the Great. Her father even sent his daughter beer, brewed in the German city of Zerbst, as a wedding drink. True, after her youth in Germany, Catherine never liked Russian beer. For the needs of the court, she annually ordered a huge batch of strong dark beer in London. Catherine also called for English masters to be hired in Russian breweries. The appeal was heard and the quality of the beer improved as expected.

Simultaneously with the renewal of domestic brewing, trade flourished as well. Beer imports to Russia have grown tenfold over the long period of Catherine's rule (1762–1796). The English traveler William Cox recalled his visit to St. Petersburg in 1784: “... I have never tasted a better and richer english beer and porter. " In the period 1793-1795. beer was imported into the country in the amount of 500,000 rubles, in monetary terms, twice as much as spices. But Ekaterina could not change the general direction of Russian drinking culture. The use of vodka has grown over the 18th century. 2.5 times - the same trend continued later. However, since the 90s. XX century beer in Russia has "risen" again. And again the image of Europe is associated with it. And nowadays, mostly educated townspeople prefer beer over vodka.

Women and children played only the role of assistants in breweries, but in Tartu in the 18th century. they took over all the brewing in the city. Woodcut 17th century

If women, in principle, are less represented in historical descriptions, then in the history of beer, and even more so, almost all heroes are men. Catherine, who boasted that she could drink beer at the same speed as the court men, is a striking exception. Many women, such as the Tartu widows, have remained on the pages of history only as nameless ghosts. Of the glorious ladies of the past centuries, few became known as admirers of beer, but as an example, we can mention at least the Empress of Austria-Hungary Elizabeth, for friends - Sissi.

There is a wide range of beer brands named after great male historical figures. We have selected a couple of representative examples for this book as well. Women are rare. At least Belgian small brewery Smisjen named their beer "Imperial Stout" after Catherine the Great. The Bohemian Baroness Ulrika von Leventsov was also awarded a signature beer (Žatec Baronka). German writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe was on vacation in the Bohemian mountains in 1822 when he met 18-year-old Ulrika. A young lady from a noble family showed the 73-year-old writer the surrounding landscapes, they also looked into the local brewery. The noble hops of Bohemian beer and the beauty of his companion drove the old man crazy. Goethe could not forget the Baroness even after returning home. Where there - he seriously decided to ask her hand. Falling in love did not lead to a relationship, but inspired Goethe to write poems that are considered the most personal, including the Marienbad Elegy.

Baltika No. 6 Porter

Saint-Petersburg, Russia

Type: Porter

Strength: 7.0%

The initial gravity of the wort: 15.5 ˚P

Bitterness: 23 EBU

Color: 162 EBC

At the Russian imperial court, it was customary to serve specially delivered by sea from England strong varieties beer "stout", which later, in the 19th century, began to be called imperial (imperial stout). Baltic porters appeared when a similar dark beer began to be produced in the 18th century. in St. Petersburg and its environs. The beer tasted well with Russian snacks such as black bread with cucumber.

The brewing traditions continued in Soviet era although the quality of the product varied greatly. To save the reputation of Soviet beer in Leningrad, it was planned to build an ultra-modern brewery, which was opened in the fall of 1990, when Soviet Union lived out his last days. The Baltika Brewery was privatized in 1992, and in four years it became the largest brewery in the country. The plant is currently the second largest in Europe and has been owned by the Carlsberg concern since 2008.

Baltika No. 6 Porter is a top-fermented beer with fermentation at a low temperature, which distinguishes it from the British samples. It has an almost black color and, when poured into a glass, gives a layer of dense white foam. The notes are distinguishable in the aroma rye bread, burnt malt and caramel. Taste - caramel, with light chocolate shade, dryish. The aftertaste has citrus and hoppy notes.

What did the Russian tsars and Soviet leaders drink and smoke?

20th anniversary anti-alcohol campaign dedicated to

These days, Russia is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the anti-alcohol campaign launched in the country by Mikhail Gorbachev. This was not the first attempt to eradicate drunkenness in Russia. But, like all the previous ones, it ended in failure. And how could it be otherwise, if the first persons of the state themselves have always been distinguished by their craving for booze and tobacco. Some died from drunkenness, others from a stroke, and others from a heart attack caused by excessive smoking.

Peter I violated the will of his father
The very first Russian statesman to declare war on bad habits was the grandfather of Peter the Great - Tsar Mikhail Romanov.

He declared tobacco "anti-Christ herb" and banned its use on pain of death with confiscation of all property. Soon the death penalty was replaced by a shameful punishment - 60 strikes with a stick in the footsteps. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich tore out the nostrils of smokers. But the authorities were inconsistent in their actions - fighting against smoking, they encouraged drunkenness. Moreover, in the ability to drink, Alexei Mikhailovich himself had no equal. Legends are still alive about how the father of Peter the Great drank twenty liters of wine on a dispute during the day.

Peter the Great turned out to be the first violator of his father's will - under the influence of foreigners, he lit a cigarette in his youth. And he preferred strong Dutch tobacco - knaster from cow horns, and he also liked to drink it with wine. Peter I, like his parent, was a notorious drunkard - in one day he could miss 36 glasses of wine.

His wife Catherine leaned on strong Hungarian wines, which she ate with bagels, and only then switched to refined vodka. Foreigners wrote about her: "Catherine is always drunk, always staggering and forever unconscious."

Empress Catherine II has established herself as an ardent fan of snuff. For example, while working on papers, she almost never took the snuffbox from her face. Her husband Peter III did not allow her to sniff tobacco in public. Therefore, the empress had to ask Prince Golitsyn to sit down for dinner next to her and quietly treat him to tobacco under the table. Concerning alcoholic beverages, then Catherine regularly drank Madeira or Rhine. But only as prescribed by a doctor. But Peter III in this respect was in no way inferior to his grandfather. He liked to drink with footmen. Every day he accounted for at least one and a half liters of vodka!

Alexander III hid cognac in his boots
Alexander II preferred to everything else the Cristal champagne, specially created for him by the French from black and white varieties grapes. The emperor used this drink from a crystal glass, and he also liked to smoke tobacco wrapped in straw.

One of the few joys in life for Alexander III was vodka and cards. And all would be fine, but the doctors forbade him alcohol. The wife began to watch him closely. I had to dodge. The emperor ordered boots with wide tops and hid flat flasks with brandy or vodka in them in advance. Seizing the moment, Alexander drank, and two hours later he fell on the carpet and, swinging his legs above him, frightened his wife and children with his behavior.

Nicholas II inherited from his father an addiction to alcohol and tobacco smoking. Rasputin tried to cure the tsar of bad habits, but he said: “I cannot allow myself to be relieved of addictions that bring me such innocent pleasure. I don’t want to think that I don’t have the strength to stop. ”

"Memorial" Lenin's Cahors
When Lenin was seventeen years old, he started smoking like a steam locomotive with fellow students. But when his mother put him to shame, the future leader of the proletariat showed will: he pulled out cigarettes from his pocket, put them on the table and never smoked again.

But according to the memoirs, Vladimir Ilyich respected beer. Krupskaya wrote: "Sometimes in Paris he would sit down with the workers, order a small mug of dark beer and talk all evening about urgent tasks." And in Switzerland, where, due to overwork, he sometimes had headaches, he could drink a glass good wine... “Vladimir Ilyich has completely deteriorated,” his sister Anna complained in a letter to his mother. "He drinks Chianti instead of milk." At one time, Lenin also tasted the Polish Starka vodka, but quickly realized that it distracted him from the class struggle and began to avoid strong drinks, continuing to drink beer and wine in moderation. Following the example of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

When in 1994 the Museum-Apartment of Vladimir Ilyich was transported from the Kremlin to Gorki, ten “memorial” bottles from under a good Cahors were found among the exhibits.

Stalin soldered others
It is known that Stalin preferred Herzegovina Flor cigarettes, made on his special order. But he did not smoke them, but broke them and stuffed a pipe with tobacco. There were always several gutted cigarettes in his ashtray.

During parties with members of the Politburo, Stalin liked to solder his comrades-in-arms and observe their behavior, while he himself did not drink more than two glasses of Georgian cognac. His favorite brands of cognac are OS, KS and Eniseli. Especially for Stalin, the Kremlin cuisine ordered their homemade homemade wines from three Georgian collective farmers in Kakheti. In the summer, the leader of all nations usually drank dry white, and in winter - dry Red wine diluted with water. In the last years of his life, Stalin used a very weak, with a strength of no more than four degrees, young wine "Madjari", which he called juice.

Khrushchev loved vodka, and Brezhnev loved Zubrovka
Khrushchev was very fond of drinking. It was with him that vodka with pepper was certainly included in the menu of all Kremlin feasts. Nikita Sergeevich could drink a lot, but he did not lose control over himself.

Brezhnev preferred vodka infused with herbs, as well as Moldovan wines, to which he became addicted during his party work in Chisinau. Leonid Ilyich began the feast with an unchanging phrase: "Life is beautiful and amazing if you drink it beforehand." On the hunt, Brezhnev and his comrades used Zubrovka. They say that members of the Politburo managed to drink and eat even at the Lenin Mausoleum during parades and demonstrations on Red Square. But in the last years of his reign, the sick Leonid Ilyich, during the festivities, passed only one glass, after which he "served" toasts with a pile of Borjomi in his hands. During this period of his life, doctors advised Brezhnev to abandon his beloved Belomor and switch to Novost cigarettes, an exclusive batch of which was produced especially for him. And then they demanded to completely quit smoking altogether. But the secretary general decided to do it gradually. The high-ranking smoker was helped by craftsmen from the KGB, who made a unique cigarette case with a timer and a lock that opened only after 45 minutes.

When it was already unbearable to endure, Leonid Ilyich "fired" cigarettes from visitors. When vigilant doctors deprived him of this opportunity, Brezhnev began asking the guards to smoke in the car, and he himself took deep breaths with pleasure. You should have seen this: the limousine stopped, the door opened and the comrade general secretary floated out of the clouds of smoke!

Even during official receptions abroad and in the Kremlin, the secretary general repeatedly turned to his personal translator: “Vitya! Light a cigarette, please! " The translator flicked the lighter, trying to blow smoke in his direction. If he did it too delicately, Brezhnev begged: “Well, not so! Smoke on me! "

Andropov drank on a bet
Legend has it that in 1956 Yuri Andropov, then ambassador to Hungary, took on four glasses of vodka without a snack in a dispute with the Hungarian leader Janos Kadar. But it was this man who began the struggle for labor discipline in 1983. It is symbolic that at the same time on the Soviet counters there appeared bottles with the unpretentious name "VODKA" (the people deciphered this word like this: Here He is Good as). Indeed, the vodka, nicknamed "Andropovka", was cheaper than during the Brezhnev era. Andropov was seriously ill, but two years before his death he could afford to drink a small glass of Milk of the Beloved Woman's wine.

Teetotalers and ulcers
The seriously ill Konstantin Chernenko, who replaced Andropov in 1984, suffered from asthma and ulcers, and during his short reign simply could not drink. But when he was still healthy, he could slam a glass of alcohol without any problems.

Gorbachev really drank alcohol very rarely and in scanty amounts. And his sworn party enemy Yegor Ligachev never took a drop in his mouth. It is not surprising that this couple tried to remake the people for themselves and organized an anti-alcohol campaign in the country.

Yeltsin drank vodka like compote
But Yeltsin came and freed the people from torture. It was not only a populist gesture on his part. Boris Nikolaevich's craving for a bottle is known all over the world.

In his youth, Yeltsin loved to play volleyball. At the same time, each volleyball player, at his insistence, certainly drank one hundred and fifty grams before the game. In the Polish city of Zakopane in the 70s, Yeltsin shocked the public by drinking a glass of vodka while eating, and not in one gulp or in parts, but sipping like a compote ...

With Yeltsin, there were curious cases when, being drunk, during official ceremonies, he began to conduct a foreign military orchestra or could oversleep a meeting with a foreign government delegation. Yeltsin, like any person prone to libation, had friends all around - "friend Bill", "friend Jacques", "friend Ryu". But he had the warmest relations with his "friend Helmut", with whom Yeltsin even spent his vacation. The leaders of the two countries went on vacation to Baikal, where they could have a drink at home for a couple a large number of alcohol, without fear of reproaches from the world community.

Putin's sensational confession
As for Vladimir Putin, it has always been believed that he almost never drinks. However, more recently, the president denied this opinion, publicly stating that during his studies at the University he did not so much attend lectures as drank beer. They say that after that, Vladimir Vladimirovich's rating, somewhat undermined by the monetization of benefits, crawled up again.