Beer Consumption in Armenia during New Economic Policy Era (1921–1928)

This article examines beer consumption culture and practices in Soviet Armenia during the period of the New Economic Policy (NEP) from 1921 to 1928. An interdisciplinary study aims at uncovering socio-cultural transformations within early Soviet society. The sources include archival documents, legislative acts of the USSR, Transcaucasian Federation, and Soviet Armenia, scholarly research, materials from contemporary press, and literary texts. Many data are introduced into academic discourse for the first time. Cultural practices associated with beer consumption and their representation in public discourse have been analyzed. It is demonstrated that beer became an element of a new consumer culture situated between traditional customs and modernizing lifestyles. The everyday life of brewing establishments reflected tensions between NEPinfluenced living standards and ideological norms. The study reveals how the popularization of beer was accompanied by conflicts between representations of “old,” predominantly Eastern, and “new,” urbanized Soviet ways of life. Emphasis is placed on the fact that the formation of beer-drinking culture followed general trends across the Soviet Union similar to those observed in Russia under the NEP era, where beer was conceptualized as a symbol of industrial leisure among workers. The topic has not previously been addressed in Armenian historiography. The relevance of this research lies in its potential to offer alternative perspectives on evaluating daily life during the NEP period.

1. Andreevsky, G. V. (2008). The daily life of Moscow in the Stalin era. The 1920s and 1930s. Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya Publ. 555 p. ISBN 978-5-235-03123-4. (In Russ.).

2. Bazeyan, K., Aganyan, G. (2015). Alexandrapol: ethnographic sketches. In: Archaeological and historical-ethnographic studies of Shirak 2. Yerevan–Gyumri: Gitutyun Publishing House of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. 5—117. ISBN 978-5-8080-1135-9. (In Armen.).

3. Bocharov, A. A., Aladyshkin, I. V. (2025). Marginal and criminal aspects of everyday life in Petrograd in the first half of the 1920s in V. Kaverin’s novella “The End of the Khaza” and the related film “The Ferris Wheel”. Klio, 9: 89—95. DOI: 10.24412/2070-9773-2025-9225-89-95. (In Russ.).

4. Compleeva, L. Y. (2012). Culture of alcohol consumption in the Middle Volga countryside during the NEP period. Proceedings of the Penza State Pedagogical University named after V. G. Belinsky, 27: 722—724. (In Russ.).

5. Danikhno, S. N. (2006). Drunkenness as a social disease of industrial workers of the Southeast of Russia during the NEP period. Izvestiya vuzov. The North Caucasus region. Social sciences. Application, 10: 59—64. (In Russ.).

6. Gataullina, I. A. (2008). Urban everyday life of the Middle Volga region in the 1920s. Proceedings of the Altai State University. A series of Stories, 4/3: 52—61. (In Russ.).

7. Ilyin, Yu. A. (2012). Ordinary man in the province of the NEP era: the negative aspects of everyday life. Bulletin of the Ivanovo State University. Humanities, 4: 47—53. (In Russ.).

8. Kamardin, I. N. (2011). Drunkenness among the workers of the Volga region during the NEP period. News of higher educational institutions. The Volga region. Humanities, 4 (20): 26—33. (In Russ.).

9. Kazakhetsyan, V. N. (2006). Armenia in 1920—1940. Yerevan: Institute of History. 564 p. ISBN 99941-991-2-9. (In Armen.).

10. Kotelnikov, A. S. (2016). The development of private entrepreneurship in the mid-1920s: features of development and causes of collapse (based on materials from the Lower Volga region). The Caspian region: politics, economics, culture, 2 (47): 26—32. (In Russ.).

11. Kravtsova, L. P. (2018). “Give the people beer”: on Soviet alcohol market advertising (linguistic and cultural aspect). Media linguistics, 5 (4): 424—435. DOI: 10.21638/spbu22.2018.403. (In Russ.).

12. Nagapetyan, R. (2019). About the ethno-cultural character of the Armenian traditional dish. Historical and Philological Journal, 2: 175—199. (In Armen.).

13. Orbelian, G. (2018). Entertainment establishments of old and new Yerevan. In: Yerevan–5. Collection of scientific articles. Yerevan: Museum of the History of the City of Yerevan. 102—122. (In Armen.).

14. Orlov, I. B. (2024). Soviet everyday life: historical and sociological aspects of formation. Moscow: Publishing House of the Higher School of Economics. 317 p. ISBN 978- 5-7598-2959-1. (In Russ.).

15. Panin, S. E. (2009). “Drunken” crime in Russia in the 1920s. Proceedings of the Samara Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 11 (2): 121—126. (In Russ.).

16. Petyukevich, T. V. (2024). “It's not beer that destroys people...”: the fight against drunkenness in the BSSR during the NEP period (1921—1928). In: Pichet Readings — 2024. History: science, education, memory. Minsk: BSU. 376—381. ISBN 978-985-881-715-2. (In Russ.).

17. Shevchenko, I. A., Zemtsov, L. I. (2023). Fight for Sobriety in Russia at Beginning of 20th Century: Discussion on Low-Alcohol Beverages. Nauchnyi dialog, 12 (9): 517— 532. https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2023-12-9-517-532. (In Russ.).

18. Sidorchuk, I. V. (2025). Drunkenness in Soviet Russia in the 1920s: the totality of the causes of the main social deviation of the era. History: facts and symbols, 1 (42): 36—53. DOI: 10.24888/2410-4205-2025-42-1-36-53. (In Russ.).

19. Takala, I. (2007). “For a sober life!”: Alcohol policy of the Soviet state in the 1920s. The NEP Era: Soviet Russia 1921—1928, 1: 55—88. (In Russ.).

20. Voskerchyan, P. T. (1966). Industry of Soviet Armenia (1920—1940). Yerevan: Hayastan. 184 p. (In Armen.).