The "unique" temperance movement animated all of Russian society in a way that was different from most issues, it "originated and grew without the tutelage of the state." (5) The role of alcohol in society was hotly debated and contended by all peoples, on all levels from peasants to the educated elite, and was largely "in opposition to [the states] policies." (6).
Throughout the whole book, Herlihy notes that the consumption of alcohol was seen as a moral disease, however, in the chapter entitled "Battling Booze: Strategies for Sobriety in the Military," the consumption of alcohol is attributed to have greater consequences than a decay of the moral fiber of society, it was said to have been the cause of many of Russia's lost battles throughout history. (7) It makes sense that if the men were fighting in a battle they did not want to fight, or before they even left for it, that they would get drunk to help ease their worries, and "drinking became a political statement." (8) I thought it was interesting to note that each man in military service was given a "charka," or daily serving of vodka, and how this created a lot of debate as to whether or not alcohol should be distributed or sold to the armed forces and watch the two sides go back and forth with decrees and bans. (9) In the end, it seems to have become clear, that no matter what the official statement was at the time, the men in the military were going to drink. If the men in the military were not permitted to drink, they found ways around it, and this "constant pattern of breaking the alcoholic ban made it easier for people to disregard the laws of the land." (10).
Women's relationship to the alcohol issue in Russia was rather complicated. While some petitioned the authorities to "send vodka to their husbands, who were suffering from cold in the trenches," others were joining women's temperance groups to fight the sale of alcohol.
