Vodka is an alcohol that is undoubtedly associated with the Slavs and Central and Eastern Europe. It is probably also the favorite alcohol of Russians and Poles. For many years, Russians and Poles have been arguing not only about who can consume more vodka, but about who invented this unique drink. And although historians sweat a sweat, it turns out that resolving this dispute is not so easy.
Communist vodka dispute
The dispute about who is the inventor of vodka is not only a historical and moral curiosity. The matter even once entered the level of international relations, and more precisely, of the Polish People's Republic with the early Soviet Union. In 1978, representatives of the People's Republic of Poland turned to international arbitration bodies with a demand that Poland be granted the exclusive right to use the term "vodka". The claims were justified by the claim that it was Poles who invented the drink, and the Russians were later inspired by the Polish achievement.
Of course, the response from the USSR did not take long - the Russians made it a point of honor to prove that they were the inventors of vodka, and Poles were trying to appropriate their national heritage.
Polish version of the history of vodka
According to the Polish historian Mariusz Świder, alcohol produced from cereals was used in the Polish lands as early as in the 13th century - not only for medicinal purposes, but also for entertainment. The high-pitched drink was then called "spirits", which was a combination of the Latin words "acqua Vita" - "water of life!".
The new name for the drink, "vodka", was to appear in the fourteenth century, which is confirmed by a document - Sandomierz court records from 1405. In turn, the work "About Herbs and Their Power", created by Stefan Falimierz, a courtier of the Podole voivode from 1534, lists as many as 72 types of vodka! Most of them were herbal and intended for medicinal purposes [2]. One can only suspect that they were also used differently. One thing is certain - in the first half of the 16th century, the production of vodkas and liqueurs was already quite well developed in Poland.
Poles were also the first in the world to set up a distillery on an industrial scale. This was done in 1782 in Lviv by the Baczewski family, which later became the official supplier even for the Habsburg family! Interestingly, the Lviv Baczewski distillery operated until World War II, and for several years the heirs of the family resumed production of their vodka based on pre-war recipes that had been saved.
Time for the Russian version
At the turn of the 1970s and 1990s, the Russian historian William Pochlebkin was tasked with proving that vodka was a Russian creation. And he succeeded, because he proved, on the basis of the found and examined documents, that alcohol was distilled in Rus already in the 12th century, ie earlier than in Poland.
The first contact of the Russians with spirit was supposed to take place in 1386. The Russians, however, had difficulties with the production of strong alcohol on a larger scale and visited Italian monasteries to look for inspiration for producing alcoholic beverages there.
According to Pochlebkin, the Russians invented vodka itself in the second half of the 15th century, and mass production was launched in 1478, i.e. before the Poles. The liquor was supposed to be bought from the Russians by Swedes coming to Moscow.
It was in tsarist Russia that there was also one of the world's largest vodka distillations. It was created beyond the Urals in the nineteenth century, and its products have been awarded many times at national and international exhibitions. The creator of the distillery quickly gained the nickname of the "king of monopoly" and "general of vodka". Well, only the fact that his name was Alfons Koziełł-Poklewski and he was a Pole can add fuel to the fire.
The dispute cannot be settled
In fact, the dispute over who invented vodka is undecided. And the topic is raised time and time again for marketing rather than historical reasons. In fact, even Russian companies with distilleries in Poland are able to force the version that vodka was invented on the Vistula River.
However, from a historical point of view, establishing the matter is difficult. It is only known that vodka was created in Central and Eastern Europe. And the medieval borders and national consciousness of the inhabitants did not have such a clear division as it is today. Vodka could very well have been produced in today's Polish, Russian, Ukrainian or Belarusian lands. Certainly, it has been known in all these areas for several hundred years!
Vodka from the east - but far away
Some historical sources suggest that the strong alcohol and distillation technique came from the east. But to the Far East, because she was supposed to travel to Russian (and later Polish) lands together with the Mongols. They, in turn, took it over from the Chinese.
How was it really? We do not know this, but vodka and history enthusiasts certainly have a lot of space to show off and discover, because the topic will surely arouse extreme emotions for a long time!
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