Vodka Politics

Alcohol, Autocracy, and the Secret History of the Russian State

Mark Lawrence Schrad

Unique political history of Russia through the lens of alcohol
Filled with colorful stories of how rulers from Peter the Great to Stalin used alcohol to control their courts
Incorporates archival evidence from entire spectrum of Russian history, from the Tsars to Putin
Closes with a powerful look at the debilitating impact of alcoholism on contemporary Russia

Vodka Politics

Alcohol, Autocracy, and the Secret History of the Russian State

Mark Lawrence Schrad

Description

Russia is famous for its vodka, and its culture of extreme intoxication. But just as vodka is central to the lives of many Russians, it is also central to understanding Russian history and politics.

In Vodka Politics, Mark Lawrence Schrad argues that debilitating societal alcoholism is not hard-wired into Russians' genetic code, but rather their autocratic political system, which has long wielded vodka as a tool of statecraft. Through a series of historical investigations stretching from Ivan the Terrible through Vladimir Putin, Vodka Politics presents the secret history of the Russian state itself-a history that is drenched in liquor. Scrutinizing (rather than dismissing) the role of alcohol in Russian politics yields a more nuanced understanding of Russian history itself: from palace intrigues under the tsars to the drunken antics of Soviet and post-Soviet leadership, vodka is there in abundance.

Beyond vivid anecdotes, Schrad scours original documents and archival evidence to answer provocative historical questions. How have Russia's rulers used alcohol to solidify their autocratic rule? What role did alcohol play in tsarist coups? Was Nicholas II's ill-fated prohibition a catalyst for the Bolshevik Revolution? Could the Soviet Union have become a world power without liquor? How did vodka politics contribute to the collapse of both communism and public health in the 1990s? How can the Kremlin overcome vodka's hurdles to produce greater social well-being, prosperity, and democracy into the future?

Viewing Russian history through the bottom of the vodka bottle helps us to understand why the "liquor question" remains important to Russian high politics even today-almost a century after the issue had been put to bed in most every other modern state. Indeed, recognizing and confronting vodka's devastating political legacies may be the greatest political challenge for this generation of Russia's leadership, as well as the next.

Vodka Politics

Alcohol, Autocracy, and the Secret History of the Russian State

Mark Lawrence Schrad

1. Introduction
2. Vodka Politics
3. Cruel Liquor: Ivan the Terrible and Alcohol in the Muscovite Court
4. Peter the Great: Modernization and Intoxication
5. Russia's Empresses: Power, Conspiracy, and Vodka
6. Murder, Intrigue, and the Mysterious Origins of Vodka
7. Why Vodka? Russian Statecraft and the Origins of Addiction
8. Vodka and the Origins of Corruption in Russia
9. Vodka Domination, Vodka Resistance . . . Vodka Emancipation?
10. The Pen, the Sword, and the Bottle
11. Drunk at the Front: Alcohol and the Imperial Russian Army
12. Nicholas the Drunk, Nicholas the Sober
13. Did Prohibition Cause the Russian Revolution?
14. Vodka Communism
15. Industrialization, Collectivization, Alcoholization
16. Vodka and Dissent in the Soviet Union
17. Gorbachev and the (Vodka) Politics of Reform
18. Did Alcohol Make the Soviets Collapse?
19.The Bottle and Boris Yeltsin
20. Alcohol and the Demodernization of Russia
21. The Russian Cross
22. The Rise and Fall of Putin's Champion
23. Medvedev against History
24. An End to Vodka Politics?

Vodka Politics

Alcohol, Autocracy, and the Secret History of the Russian State

Mark Lawrence Schrad

Author Information

Mark Lawrence Schrad, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Villanova University

Mark Lawrence Schrad is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Villanova University.

Vodka Politics

Alcohol, Autocracy, and the Secret History of the Russian State

Mark Lawrence Schrad

Reviews and Awards

"a powerful critique of the effect of the levels of vodka consumption and of government policy ... this book has real value ... [which] principally lies in its laying bare the effects of excessive vodka drinking on the course of development of Russian society and the responsibility of the Russian state in allowing this to develop" - Graeme Gill, Australian Journal of Politics and History

"Schrad is an engaging writer. He ranges across Russian history with ease, zeroing in on countless striking anecdotes and developing his story within a competent and well-researched narrative. The author brings to bear vast scholarly literature as well as published and unpublished (including archival) primary sources ... Vodka Politics draws upon vast research, tells a lot of great stories, and advances a provocative thesis." - Jonathan Daly, American Historical Review

Vodka Politics

Alcohol, Autocracy, and the Secret History of the Russian State

Mark Lawrence Schrad

From Our Blog

Donald, we need to talk about Russia

Congratulations on a hard-fought campaign, Mr. President-Elect. As a reward, you now get the onerous task of governing the United States, and establishing its foreign-policy priorities! The campaign was crazy, with speculation about your personal and business links to Russia and your coziness toward Russian President Vladimir Putin giving way to evidence of a coordinated Kremlin attack on American sovereignty.

Posted on December 24, 2016

Read the blog post