Abstinence movement

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The abstinence movement (also temperance or temperance movement , from Latin temperantia "moderation") is a social movement against the consumption of alcoholic beverages , which had its peak at the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century . The abstinence movement becomes politically and practically active with the help of so-called abstinence clubs , also temperance societies , which advocate a life abstinent from drugs . Colloquially, the members are also simply referred to as alcohol opponents.

Origins

In Ireland , the first temperance movement was formed in 1829. Since the 1830s, the idea of spread Scandinavia , Scotland and England starting in the rest of Europe. In 1831 the British and Foreign Temperance Society was founded, which for years was the focus of all efforts for temperance in England.

The Swiss Louis-Lucien Rochat , a free church pastor from Vaud , was convinced of the English abstinence movement and founded the Blue Cross in 1877 based on its model .

Since the 1880s there has been a abstinence movement in Russia , initiated by the charismatic Johannes Tschurikow.

In 1896, the Catholic Kreuzbund was founded in Aachen by Father Neumann, who at that time still saw itself as an association for the moderation of alcohol consumption. In Germany, Ottilie Hoffmann and Anna Klara Fischer were among the leading figures in the movement.

World outlook background

Temperenzlers saw in the total renunciation of alcohol on the one hand an approach to the cure of alcoholics , on the other hand a measure of social reform, since they viewed alcohol consumption as an expression of a lack of virtue, which they in turn believed to be the cause of the misery of the lower classes. As a result, the abstinence movement was close to the morality movement , which sought a moral reform of society. The abstinence associations were therefore also characterized by a high level of mission awareness towards the workers and peasants.

In the mid-1880s, Professor Gustav von Bunge from Basel introduced arguments in terms of social hygiene to the abstinence movement: alcohol consumption damages the human genome and thus endangers public health. Therefore, Bunge called for a ban on alcohol and abstinence for the entire population.

Since the 1880s, the charismatic Johannes Tschurikow preached in Saint Petersburg the renunciation of alcohol as a prerequisite for religious salvation.

The demand for abstinence also found support in the socialist movement. When, after the end of the Socialist Laws in 1890, the German Social Democrats were once again able to take part in legal political activities, the demand for abstinence was required in the new party statutes. The basis for this was alcoholism, which was widespread in the working class. Karl Kautsky, as a Marxist pioneer of the party, fiercely fought the demand in several newspaper articles - Kautsky turned against unrestrained alcohol consumption, but recognized the pub culture of social democracy as an important social integration factor without which the movement could not survive. His views prevailed, and the abstinent socialists had to organize themselves separately in a “ workers-abstinent union ”.

Around 1900 the abstinence movement was started by representatives of eugenics . The most important representative of this direction in Central Europe was Auguste Forel . The psychiatrist was a co-founder of the Swiss Order of Good Templars and founded a clinic for alcoholics in Ellikon an der Thur ; he is responsible for many advances in the treatment of alcoholics. The National Socialists also supported an abstinent lifestyle in their racial hygiene .

Extent and social influence

A songbook used by the temperance movement in the United States

Towards the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the abstinence movement was one of the most important social movements in Europe and the USA. Around 1900, around 60,000 people were active in abstinence associations in Switzerland.

When the population's consumption habits and the overall social situation changed after the First World War, the abstinence movement lost its importance and influence. In 1908, 63% of Swiss voters still voted for a ban on absinthe ; 20 years later, a referendum to introduce the possibility for Swiss municipalities to introduce prohibition in their municipality was rejected with 67% no votes.

The social influence of the abstinence movement reached its peak at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The changes in the drinking habits of the population (away from schnapps and towards beer and non-alcoholic beverages) can in part be explained by the fact that abstinence associations and medical professionals publicly discussed the subject of alcohol consumption and alcohol abuse and thus brought the associated problems to the public's attention. Reasons for the change in drinking habits were also the invention of the refrigeration machine and bottom-fermented beer (they made beer consumption popular outside the pub as well) as well as legal measures such as the taxation of spirits enacted in Prussia in 1885 and reforms to limit working hours. The economic interests of employers also played a role: alcohol consumption was banned in many companies. This should increase the productivity of the workers and reduce the number of industrial accidents.

Concrete successes of the abstinence movement include: a. the alleviation of the " compulsion to drink " in social groups (change of consciousness) and the development of efficient treatment methods for alcoholics and their relatives.

Membership structure

Like other non-profit associations and the moral associations , the abstinence associations were largely supported by their female members, who - in the absence of political and economic rights - found an opportunity here to work outside the home and exert social influence. Within the workforce, women also had an existential interest in fighting the reduction in income and the ability to work of their husbands due to alcohol consumption.

Organizations

Abstinence clubs can be divided into different directions. So z. B.

See also

literature

  • Jack S. Blocker, David M. Fahey, Ian R. Tyrrell (Eds.): Alcohol and Temperance in modern History. An international Encyclopedia. 2 volumes. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara CA 2003, ISBN 1-57607-833-7 .
  • Alfred Heggen: Alcohol and civil society in the 19th century. A study on German social history. With a foreword by Wilhelm Treue . Colloquium Verlag, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-7678-0738-6 ( individual publication by the Historical Commission in Berlin 64).
  • Cordula woods: The anti-alcohol movement in the German-speaking countries (1860–1930). Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 1988, ISBN 3-631-40709-2 ( European university publications . Series 3: History and its auxiliary sciences 376), (At the same time: Cologne, Univ., Diss., 1988).
  • Manfred Hübner: Between alcohol and abstinence. Drinking customs and alcohol issues in the German proletariat until 1914 . Dietz Verlag, Berlin (East) 1988, ISBN 3-320-01140-5 ( History series ).
  • Ralf Hoffrogge : Socialism and the Labor Movement in Germany: From the Beginnings to 1914 . Butterfly Verlag, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 3-89657-655-0 .
  • Hasso Spode : Alcohol and Civilization. Intoxication, disillusionment and table manners in Germany until the beginning of the 20th century. Tara-Verlag Hensel, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-929127-13-X (= dissertation, University of Hanover, 1991).
  • Hasso Spode: The power of drunkenness. Social and cultural history of alcohol in Germany. Leske + Budrich, Opladen 1993, ISBN 3-8100-1034-0 .
  • Bernhard van Treeck : Drugs and Addiction Lexicon. Lexikon-Imprint-Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89602-221-0 .
  • Bernhard van Treeck (Ed.): Drugs. Everything about drugs and drug effects, prevention and law enforcement, counseling and therapy. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89602-420-5 .
  • Rolf Trechsel: The history of the abstinence movement in Switzerland in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Working Group of the Swiss Abstinence Organization, Lausanne 1990.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Manfred Hübner: Between alcohol and abstinence. and Ralf Hoffrogge: Socialism and the workers' movement in Germany. P. 106 ff.
  2. ↑ IOGT , Juvente , ACTIVE - sobriety, friendship, peace ( Memento from April 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Federation for drug-free education for educators