The Dawn of Vodka: Distilled Spirits in Sixteenth-Century Muscovy

This paper challenges the popular opinion that it was the revenue-seeking government that imposed low-cost and highly addictive spirits on Muscovites in mid-sixteenth century. In reality, the development of vodka in Russia was very similar to what was happening elsewhere in Europe: at first used in therapeutic purposes, distilled alcohol gradually started to be consumed purely for enjoyment. But the pivotal moment in the growth of spirits in Muscovy was the influx of foreign experts, who obtained an exclusive right to make and sell ‘burned wine’. Among those, the key role was played by German expatriates brought to the Russian capital during the Livonian War. They have quickly abused this privilege to such an extent, that Ivan IV ordered to destroy Moscow’s German quarter and withdrew all the previously granted freedoms suggesting that the Russian authorities at the time were trying to curtail the consumption of spirits, not foster it.