Real comparativistics: an attempt to comparatively analyze the temperance movement in Russian and German empires

The paper makes an attempt to carry out a comparative analysis of the teetotaling movement in Russia and Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The comparative method based on structural and factual analysis used in the study is aimed at identifying general development trends and distinctive features of the organized struggle against alcoholism in the two countries. The authors conducted the so-called "parallel study" (neighboring states in simultaneous existence). The source base was made up of documents of an organizational nature, publicist press materials, works of Russian and German researchers, and reference publications. Difficulties in the work were the need not only for the linguistic correlation of concepts in the Russian and German languages, but also for the discrepancy between the semantic content of today's concepts and their historical counterparts. The paper reveals that the stages of development of the teetotaling movement in the two empires coincide in content. From a spontaneous movement against the distribution of "hot" (alcoholic) drinks through the initiative work of the intelligentsia (doctors, teachers, writers, etc.) to organized social mass movements. In both countries, influence from other countries on the development of teetotalism manifested itself (USA in Germany, Germany in Russia). The Orthodox Church played an exceptional role in the development of the temperance movement in Russia. In Germany, associations of Catholics (the Catholic Union of the Cross) and Protestants (the Blue Cross) played a significant role. There was a process of centralization and unification of diverse movements, which in Germany was more intense, in Russia the influence of the state was strong. It is shown how important propaganda was through the press, the distribution of which, especially in Germany, was large-scale. In Germany, the issues of refusing drunkenness were also manifested in the struggle of political parties, the labor movement. The authors substantiate the conclusion that the movements depended on the tax and economic policy of states, the development of bourgeois culture. In Russia, the majority of participants in the movement were in favor of a complete abstinence from alcohol, in Germany - in favor of limited (moderate) consumption. The ideological foundations of the fight against drunkenness were also different: in the Russian Empire, emphasis was placed on the sinfulness of drunkenness, in the German Empire, on medical reasoning, the idea of a healthy lifestyle.