THE ACTIVITIES OF THE POLICE OF THE USSR AS REGARDING THE COMBAT OF SELF-IGNITION IN THE 1950s

Abstract

The issue of police opposition to moonshine brewing in the 1950s is investigated. Based on materials from the Sectoral Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the authors show what the scale of moonshine brewing was at that time, what were the causes of this phenomenon, what legal and organizational measures were taken by the state leadership and, on its behalf, by the police in the fight against the manufacture, distribution and consumption of moonshine. It is noted that the reasons for moonshine were the historical traditions of drinking in the USSR, which spread from Russia to Ukraine, the low standard of living of Soviet citizens, the low level of culture and the relative high cost of state alcoholic beverages, which were therefore relatively inaccessible to a large part of the population. Experience of combating the illegal circulation of alcohol and alcohol-containing products in Ukraine in the 1950s. connected with one large-scale anti-alcohol campaign. During this period, the Soviet anti-alcohol legislation underwent certain changes. In terms of criminal law counteraction to the illegal production and circulation of alcohol and alcohol-containing products, it is worth noting that the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR in 1960 and amendments to it by the decree of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR in 1961 provided for the corresponding types of crimes. However, it is impossible to draw an unequivocal conclusion about the influence of criminal policy on the level of crime, since to solve the problem of illegal circulation of alcohol products, it is necessary to apply a complex of legal, economic and socio-cultural measures. Examining the innovations in the administrative legislation, it can be seen that the changes mainly affected the issue of combating the production of surrogate alcoholic products. Administrative legal acts adopted during this period were aimed at solving specific tasks - the fight against illegal production and trade in alcoholic products, the fight against violations of public order committed while intoxicated. It should be noted that the police carried out fairly active work against moonshine brewing, but not in all regions, sometimes "turning a blind eye" to this phenomenon as an inevitable evil. As the practice of the second half of the 20th century shows, even anti-alcohol campaigns did not bring the expected results. This is due to the establishment of a large number of prohibitions and restrictions, which only contributed to the increase in the percentage of illegal alcohol on the market.