The last Soviet campaign against drunkenness and alcoholism: the experience of the Smolensk region (1985-1987)

Abstract

The paper studies the last anti-alcohol campaign in the Soviet Union during the period of Perestroika (1985-1991) on the example of the Smolensk region. The authors analysed the methods and techniques of the Soviet government’s struggle against drunkenness and alcoholism in the region. Previously unpublished archival documents and materials of local periodicals are used in the research. In conclusion, the authors identify the reasons that forced the Soviet leadership to curtail the fight against the production and consumption of alcohol in the country.

Keywords

• anti-alcohol campaign
• education
• perestroika
• drunkenness and alcoholism
• moonshine