A “Semi-Dry” Law: The Peculiarities of Regulation of Alcohol Merchandise in the Palace Towns Tsarskoe Selo, Gatchina and Peterhof During the First World War

Abstract

While many scholars have addressed the issue of organizing the sale of alcohol during World War I, there are still “historical lacunae,” one of which is connected with the policy towards the distribution of hard liquor in Tsarskoe Selo, Peterhof, and Gatchina, towns that had the special status being under the supervision of the Ministry of the Imperial Court, rather than the general administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Using archival sources from the Russian State Historical Archive, the author examines the policy of local Palace administrations, the Court Department, and authorities on the whole in this sphere in 1914–1917. Due to the uncertainty of the duration of limits on sales of spirits, local officials had to be careful and accurate in their work, getting approval for every decision from officials at the Excise Department of the Treasury. Since indulgence in the sale of spirits, introduced in the beginning of 1915, led to massive arrival of buyers from Petrograd and other regions, by the end of that year free trade in spirits in the palace towns was eventually abolished. However, in the case of the abolition of restrictions in 1915–1917, a list of outlets with the right to trade in alcohol was approved annually; and several organizations in each of the settlements were able to gain the right to sell alcoholic beverages on the basis of a special circular from the Minister of Finance regarding technical, educational, scientific and medical purposes.