Russian peasantry in struggle for sobriety at the turn of XIX–XX centuries

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of alcohol consumption and different aspects of the struggle for sobriety in a Russian village at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries. The analysis of various archival documents, questionnaire surveys, statistical data, memoir literature allows making a conclusion that there was no acute problem of alcohol consumption among rural inhabitants in that period, and that there was a number of the measures to restrain the spread of alcoholism in villages. At the same time the article presents the characteristics of the cases hindering the spread of sobriety among Russian peasants