78 years have passed since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, and people still talk about "people's commissar's hundred grams". The distribution of state-owned vodka to servicemen remained too deeply in the memory of the people.
On August 22, 1941, the USSR State Defense Committee adopted the famous decree "On the introduction of vodka for supply in the active Red Army." So the official start was given to the supply of active combat units with vodka at the state expense. But in fact, the history of the front-line hundred grams is much longer. It is rooted in the imperial past of Russia.
At the beginning of the 18th century, people did not pay attention to the pernicious addiction to alcohol, but they considered "bread wine" necessary for warming up and raising morale. For a century and a half, the lower ranks of the Russian army in wartime received 3 glasses of "bread wine" per week for combatants and 2 glasses for non-combatants. The volume of one cup was 160 grams. Thus, the lower rank of the military service received 480 grams of "bread wine" per week. In peacetime, unlike periods of hostilities, soldiers received vodka on holiday dates, but not less than 15 glasses a year.
In addition, the officers of the regiments had the right to reward distinguished soldiers at their own expense, "affixing" vodka to them. The navy was supposed to have 4 glasses of vodka a week, and from 1761 the dose to the lower ranks of the fleet was increased to 7 glasses of vodka a week. Thus, the sailors drank even more soldiers of the ground forces. The latter relied on vodka, first of all, to maintain health during parades and drill exercises in the cold season, as well as during hikes.
Only by the end of the 19th century, doctors noticed the unhealthy situation in the army. They found that soldiers returning from service were deeply addicted to alcoholic beverages and could no longer return to a sober life. Therefore, doctors began to insist on the abolition of the prescribed charms, but the generals of the Russian army did not immediately succumb to their persuasion. It was believed that vodka helped soldiers relax, and it was also a cheap and sought-after way to reward soldiers for good behavior.
Only in 1908, after the Russian-Japanese war, in which the Russian Empire was defeated, it was decided to cancel the issue of vodka to the army. This decision was due to the fact that the command came to the conclusion about the influence of drunkenness of soldiers and officers on the decrease in the combat effectiveness of the army. It was forbidden not only to give out vodka to soldiers, but also to sell it in regimental stores. Thus, in the Russian army, the "dry law" was introduced for the first time, which, of course, was not observed, but at least the state itself ceased to be involved in issuing vodka to soldiers.
The situation changed 32 years later, in 1940. The then People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov "took care" of the Red Army soldiers. Comrade Voroshilov himself knew a lot about alcohol and considered it useful for raising the health and morale of the personnel of the units of the active army. Just the Soviet-Finnish war was going on, when the People's Commissar Voroshilov personally turned to Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin with a request to give the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army combat units 100 grams of vodka and 50 grams of bacon per day. This request was motivated by difficult weather conditions on the Karelian Isthmus, where the Red Army units had to fight. Frosts reached -40 ° C and Voroshilov believed that vodka with bacon would ease the situation of the military at least a little.
Stalin went to meet Voroshilov and supported his request. The troops immediately began to receive vodka, and the tankers received a double portion of vodka, and the pilots were supposed to issue 100 grams of brandy daily. As a result, only from January 10 to March 10, 1940, more than 10 tons of vodka and 8, 8 tons of brandy were consumed in the active units of the Red Army. The Red Army men began to call the alcoholic "bonus" "Voroshilov's ration" and "people's commissar's 100 grams."
As soon as the Great Patriotic War began, the leadership of the USSR and the command of the Red Army decided to return to the practice of issuing "Voroshilov's rations." Already in July 1941, the troops began to receive vodka, although the very decree of the State Defense Committee of the USSR, signed by Joseph Stalin, appeared only in August 1941. The decision emphasized:
To establish, starting from September 1, 1941, the issuance of 40 ° vodka in the amount of 100 grams per day per person to the Red Army soldier and the commanding staff of the first line of the active army.
Under these words was the signature of Comrade Stalin himself.
Three days after the adoption of the decree, on August 25, 1941, the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense for Logistics, Lieutenant General of the Quartermaster Service Andrei Vasilyevich Khrulev, signed order No. 0320 specifying Stalin's decree. The order "On the issuance of 100 grams of vodka per day to the front line of the active army" stated that in addition to the actual Red Army men and commanders fighting on the front line, the right to receive vodka is given to pilots performing combat missions, engineers and airfield technicians. The delivery of vodka to the troops was organized and put on stream. She was transported in railway tanks. In total, every month the troops received at least 43-46 tanks of strong alcohol. Barrels and cans were filled from the cisterns and vodka was delivered to the units and subdivisions of the Red Army.
However, the massive distribution of vodka did not contribute to the military successes of the Red Army. In the spring of 1942, the command decided to slightly change the plan for issuing vodka to the personnel of the active army. It was decided to leave the issue of vodka only for military personnel of units operating on the front line of the front and having success in battles. At the same time, the amount of vodka dispensed was increased to 200 grams per day.
But Stalin intervened and personally amended the new document. He left the "Voroshilov ration" only for the Red Army men of those units and subunits that were conducting offensive operations against enemy troops. As for the rest of the Red Army soldiers, they relied on vodka in the amount of 100 grams per person only on revolutionary and public holidays as an incentive. On June 6, 1942, a new GKO Resolution No. 1889s "On the Procedure for Issuing Vodka to the Army in the Field" was issued, with the corrections introduced by Comrade Stalin.
Most of the Red Army soldiers could now see vodka only on the anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution (November 7 and 8), the International Labor Day (May 1 and 2), Red Army Day (February 23), Constitution Day (December 5), New Year (January 1), All-Union Day of the Athlete (July 19), All-Union Aviation Day (August 16), as well as on the days of the formation of their units. Interestingly, Stalin crossed out the International Youth Day on September 6 from the list of "vodka" days. Obviously, Joseph Vissarionovich nevertheless believed that a youthful holiday and vodka are a bit incompatible concepts.
Several months passed and on November 12, 1942, the issue of 100 grams of vodka was again restored for all Red Army units operating on the front line. Servicemen of reserve units, construction battalions, as well as wounded Red Army soldiers received a ration of 50 grams of vodka a day. It is interesting that in units and subdivisions stationed in the Caucasus, instead of vodka, it was supposed to give out 200 grams of port or 300 grams of dry wine. Apparently, it was easier from an organizational point of view.
Nevertheless, after a few months, a reform of the dispensing of vodka, associated with the turning points at the front, followed again. So, on April 30, 1943, the State Defense Committee of the USSR issued a new Resolution No. 3272 "On the procedure for issuing vodka to the troops of the active army." It emphasized that from May 1, 1943, the issuance of vodka to the personnel of the RKKA and RKKF ceases, with the exception of military personnel participating in offensive operations. All other servicemen again received the opportunity to drink at public expense only on the days of revolutionary and public holidays.
In May 1945, after the victory over Nazi Germany, the dispensing of vodka in units and subunits was completely stopped. The only exception was the submariners, who received 100 grams of dry wine a day while the submarines were on alert. But this measure was dictated, first of all, by considerations of preserving the health of servicemen.
It should be noted that the Red Army men themselves were very ambiguous about the "Voroshilov ration". Of course, at first glance, one would expect that almost any Soviet soldier was madly happy about the "People's Commissar's hundred grams." In fact, if you look at the memories of people who really fought, this was not entirely true. Young and untrained soldiers drank, and they were the first to die.
The older men understood perfectly well that vodka only temporarily removes fear, does not warm at all, and its use before a fight can rather do harm than help. Therefore, many experienced Red Army men refrained from drinking alcohol before the battle. Some exchanged alcohol from especially drinking co-workers for some more needed food or things.
Director Petr Efimovich Todorovsky fought since 1942, hitting the front as a seventeen-year-old boy. In 1944, he graduated from the Saratov Military Infantry School and was assigned as the commander of a mortar platoon to the 2nd Battalion of the 93rd Infantry Regiment of the 76th Infantry Division. Participated in the liberation of Warsaw, Szczecin, the capture of Berlin. He ended the war with the rank of lieutenant, was wounded, shell-shocked, but until 1949 he continued to serve in the Red Army near Kostroma. That is, he was a quite experienced officer, whose memories of the war can be trusted. Peter Todorovsky emphasized:
I remember that vodka was only given out before the attack. The foreman walked along the trench with a mug, and whoever wanted to, poured himself. First of all, young people drank. And then they climbed right under the bullets and died. Those who survived several battles were very wary of vodka.
Another well-known director, Grigory Naumovich Chukhrai, was drafted into the Red Army before the start of the war, in 1939. He first served as a cadet in the 229th separate communications battalion of the 134th rifle division, then was sent to the airborne units. He went through the entire war as part of the airborne units on the South, Stalingrad, Donskoy, 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts. He served as the commander of the communications company of the 3rd Guards Airborne Brigade, and the chief of communications for the Guards regiment. He was wounded three times, received the Order of the Red Star. Chukhrai recalled about the "Voroshilov ration" that even at the very beginning of the war, the soldiers of his unit drank hard and this ended in a deplorable way for the unit, there were heavy losses. After that, Grigory Naumovich refused to drink and held out until the very end of the war. Chukhrai did not drink his "Voroshilov ration", but gave it to his friends.
Philosopher and writer Alexander Alexandrovich Zinoviev during the Great Patriotic War in the spring of 1941.was enrolled in a tank regiment, then sent to study at the Ulyanovsk Military Aviation School, which he graduated in 1944 with the rank of junior lieutenant and was assigned to the 2nd Guards Assault Aviation Corps. Zinoviev took part in battles in Poland and Germany, received the Order of the Red Star. The writer admitted that it was after graduating from the aviation school that he began to regularly "paw the collar." He, as a combat pilot, was entitled to 100 grams for combat missions, and he, like other officers of the squadron, used this opportunity:
Well, gradually I got involved. Then he drank a lot, but was not a physiological alcoholic. If there was no drink, then I didn't feel like it.
However, many front-line soldiers treated vodka much more warmly. It is no coincidence that folk songs were composed about the People's Commissar's hundred grams, they were remembered in proverbs and sayings decades after the war. Unfortunately, some front-line soldiers remained in the habit of drinking for the rest of their lives, based on the experiences they experienced, which often only exacerbated the situation.
