Implementation of Anti-Alcohol Campaign of 1950-ies in Ulyanovsk Region

Abstract

The process of implementation of the anti-alcohol campaign carried out during the “Khrushchev thaw” in the Ulyanovsk region is considered. The novelty of the study is seen in the fact that the work is based on the first introduced into scientific circulation archival materials from the State Archive of the Modern History of the Ulyanovsk Region. It is shown how the party organizations of the Ulyanovsk region implemented the Resolution No. 1365 of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On strengthening the fight against drunkenness and restoring order in the trade of spirits.” The authors of the article, having studied the references and reports of the regional committees of the CPSU on the discussion and implementation of this decision, come to the conclusion that the mechanisms of combating alcohol deviation in the studied time were mainly declarative. It is noted that the party meetings enthusiastically approved the measures proposed by the state institutions to combat alcoholization of the population, but specific measures that contribute to the solution of this social problem were not carried out. According to the authors, these practices are consistent with the double morality in the behaviour of Soviet citizens, developed in the Stalin period in the framework of social discipline.