Zahar Shybeka: The state will never be interested in fighting alcoholism once and forever

photo by the EuroBelarus Information Service

When did alcohol appear in our lands? Which drinking culture did Belarusians have? Why were our ancestors not drunkards, while modern generation is suffering from alcoholism?

Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences, the member of the Tel Aviv Diaspora Research Center (Israel), famous researcher during his visit to his homeland decided to give a public lecture on how Belarusians used to drink and how they took to drinking. Whether the topic was so urgent, or the personality of Zahar Shybeka has already become legendary, but on a weekday in the evening the creative space CEH could not fit all those who wished to listen to the lecture of the professor, organized by the Centre for Studying the History of Trade and the Flying University. EuroBelarus Information Service managed to get to the lecture and learn the history of alcohol in our land.

Zahar Shybeka started his lecture with general thoughts about what alcohol is: for someone it is food, for someone – a medicine, for others - a drug. Pagans, Christians, and Jews used wine as a ritual food.

From honey to the cheap wine

Originally, our ancestors used the fermented aqueous solution of honey as a strong spirit.

Another traditional Belarusians drink was beer, which was made of barley and, like honey, used as a ritual drink since the days of paganism. Such beer went bad quite quickly, so it was prepared at taverns and immediately consumed there.

Vodka has long been known to Belarusians – since 1519. First it was made from rye. Vodka served as a basis for liqueurs and nalivkas with herbs, berries, honey, and spices, thus being the basis for such traditional aristocratic beverages as krupnik, zubrovka, Krambambulia, and trayanka.

Starting from the 1940s, vodka was made of potato, and wasn’t as soft as the one made on the basis of rye.

Over time, new technologies have allowed cleaning vodka better and making it as strong as 96%, and vodka started to be produced from mixing this strong spirit with water.

Among other things our ancestors used moonshine, too, as well as the famous Soviet "ink" - flavored fortified wines made of grape and citrus wine, sugar, and artificial flavor. Its production has made a significant contribution to accustoming Belarusians to hard drinking.

If there is something to drink, there will be a place to drink it

Zahar Shybeka believes that people used to drink alcohol during pagan rituals. Later, civilized public places for spirits consumption have appeared. First of all, taverns: those that reminded modern hotels, where one could spend a night, and those that reminded modern cafes and restaurants, where only drinks and food were sold.

- I was surprised to find out that there were Tatars among the visitors of taverns in Belarus, even though usually Muslims don’t drink. But it turns out that Belarusian Tatars were!

Craftsmen, merchants, and even the Jews, who were forbidden to visit taverns and drink alcohol but on Shabbat, also were the usual visitors of taverns.

Earlier, people only used alcohol in public places; but after the introduction of the state monopoly on liquor home alcoholism started to flourish – the state shops only allowed purchasing alcohol to-go.

Soviet Union clearly lacked public places for drinking alcoholic. That was the reason why people usually consumed alcohol in the corners in groups of three – because drinking has always been a collective tradition.

Size matters

In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania beer and honey were ordered in the size of 2.8 liters and 1.1 liters, vodka – in glasses of 120 grams.

In the USSR, apart from small bottles of 0.25 liters 200-gram faceted glasses were popular, which contributed to alcohol abuse.

Our ancestors always had something to eat with drinks; it was only during the World War I and II that people were drinking without eating. This tradition continued in the Soviet village shops.

The downside of urbanization

In the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania people were drinking, but didn’t become drunkards. They drank spirits of good quality, ate well, and used small bottles. Both religion and traditions served as restricting measures.

Alcohol dependency started to appear gradually, and urbanization played a great role in it.

Not the last role in alcohol abuse of Belarusians belongs to wars and European mercenaries, whom Belarusians often paid with vodka. This tradition of paying for work with vodka has taken root in our lands, because the money wasn’t enough, and there were plenty of drinks.

How the aristocracy ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Whose fault in making Belarusians abuse alcohol was the largest– that of the authorities, traders or consumers of spirits themselves?

Unlike the Russian system, the Belarusians in the times of the Kievan Rus’ and the Duchy of Polotsk had the right to produce hard liquor for family and church holidays, whereas since 1863 the Russian Empire introduced excise taxes on alcohol that changed onto state monopoly on the production of alcohol.

The Bolsheviks also immediately introduced a monopoly on the manufacture and sale of alcohol and had great income from it.

- As soon as the authorities took over control on the manufacture and sale of alcohol, alcohol abuse started, - Zahar Shybeka summed up.

At the same time, the state struggled with alcoholism. Taverns in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had contracts that stipulated that there should be discipline in taverns. Russian Empire had prescribed rules for the drinking establishments, too.

Soviet authorities also struggled with alcoholism: first Khrushchev fight brewing liquor at home, then Gorbachev introduced the "dry law".

- Every time the "dry law" was introduced in Russia, a civic disaster happened: the collapse of the Russian empire, the collapse of the USSR.

According to the historian, such coincidence is not accidental: alcoholism is a touchstone of something bad in the society. The state will never be interested in fighting alcoholism once and forever.

 "I didn’t drink, I wish I did"

Even science proved that alcohol is useful, if its quality is high and if it’s used moderately. Zahar Shybeka recommends drinking dry wine not stronger than 12 degrees, which is what a natural product of fermentation can reach.

At the end of the lecture Zahar Shybeka wished his audience to drink so that it is healthy, but don’t let alcohol be the only joy in life.