{"id":1938,"date":"2020-12-14T06:26:45","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T19:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2dpoint.net\/?p=1938"},"modified":"2020-12-14T09:18:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-13T22:48:40","slug":"how-russia-became-synonymous-with-vodka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2dpoint.net\/how-russia-became-synonymous-with-vodka\/","title":{"rendered":"How Russia became synonymous with Vodka?"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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  1. It was in the 1300s that Russians first got a taste of grape wine, which merchants from modern-day Italy and Greece brought with them.<\/li>\n
  2. But it was an expensive drink that only the rich could afford, so people continued drinking the alcohol made from honey (this drink was called Medovukha<\/em>), but the craving for a better alcohol continued to exist.<\/li>\n
  3. In the 1430s, monks in a monastery mastered the art of making alcohol from grains, and since it was made from grains it was called bread wine.<\/li>\n
  4. It worked out cheaper than Medovukha<\/em> and grape wine and so, gradually people began making it at home.<\/li>\n
  5. The then-prince (Ivan III) realised its potential to generate revenue, and so, he started a state monopoly on this drink and taxed it, i.e. only the government could produce it and charge a tax on the sale.<\/li>\n
  6. Because the bread wine (later got known as Vodka) was the most profitable, the government-run taverns stopped selling other liquors.<\/li>\n
  7. The grandson of Ivan III, known as Ivan The Terrible<\/i>, in the 16th century set up Kabakhs<\/i>, bars that sold vodka and included services such as gambling, money and grain loans, and sometimes prostitution.<\/li>\n
  8. The minimum Vodka order at a Kabakh was upwards of {tooltip}10 litres{end-text}Some sources say it was 12.3 litres, while others suggest it was 22 litres {end-tooltip}.<\/li>\n
  9. It not only stopped public revolt (people were too drunk) but also kept any disagreement in the royal court under check.<\/li>\n
  10. By the 18th century {tooltip}60%{end-text} Different sources suggest a different percentage ranging from 40% to 75%{end-tooltip} of all Russian males were in debt to Kabakhs <\/i>and in the mid-19th century, Vodka was the source of 40% of the government revenue.<\/li>\n
  11. Such was the government’s dependency on vodka sales that in the 17th century, Peter The Great announced that any wife who tries to take her husband away from the tavern\u00a0 <\/span>(till he is done) should be whipped.<\/li>\n
  12. Stalin, who ruled Russia from the mid-1920s to 1953 also encouraged his citizens to drink vodka to prevent national bankruptcies.<\/li>\n
  13. In the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev pushed distilleries to make juice, instead of Vodka, which led to an increase in vodka prices (high demand, low supply).<\/li>\n
  14. So, people started making their own Vodka at home, leading to cases of poisoning, while the government struggled to cover loss of vodka-revenue.<\/li>\n
  15. This led to the destruction of the Soviet economy, cementing the power Vodka holds in Russian politics.<\/li>\n
  16. \u201cWhat to do with Vodka\u201d has continued to be a key issue to handle for all leaders in Russia since the 15th century.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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