Temperance Movement

temperance movement

International social movement dedicated to the control of alcohol consumption through the promotion of moderation and abstinence. It began as a church-sponsored movement in the U.S. in the early 19th century. It attracted the efforts of many women, and by 1833 there were 6,000 local temperance societies in the U.S. The first European temperance society was formed in Ireland in 1826. An international temperance movement began in Utica, N.Y., U.S., in 1851 and spread to Australia, Asia, Europe, India, South and West Africa, and South America. See also Carry Nation; Prohibition; Woman's Christian Temperance Movement.

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Temperance Movement 

(Russian, trezvennichestvo), a religious sectarian movement that arose in Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among the urban petite bourgeoisie. Followers of the temperance movement strove for religious and moral perfection and for “salvation of the soul” through abstention from drinking, smoking, and other vices.

The tenets of the movement included belief in the “beneficial power” of the “prophets” (leaders of temperance groups and sects). The movement was characterized by superstitions, charlatanism, and the staging of “miraculous healings.” A number of temperance sects were named for their leaders; examples are the Churikovtsy, Koloskovtsy, Anisimovtsy, and Mironovtsy.

After the October Revolution of 1917, as a result of the sharp decline in the number of religious believers in the USSR, the number of followers of the temperance movement decreased considerably. There are still a few followers in some regions of the RSFSR.