France has the most rosy and frivolous associations for foreigners. This is a country of frivolity, haute couture and cuisine, lacy Gothic architecture and delicious light wines. It is a well-known fact that the French drink alcohol every day, but the problem of alcoholism is not among the top ten most important in the country. In addition, a certain “phenomenon” has been identified that brings residents of the United States into terrible envy and despair: gorging themselves on creamy sauces, fatty cheeses, foie gras and all kinds of pastries, unable to imagine the morning without a fresh baguette and a croissant with hot chocolate, these mysterious French people remain slim and fit into old age, always optimistic, and cancer, heart attacks and diabetes are much less common among adherents of a healthy diet and even vegetarians! Mystery…

According to statistical studies (2011 data), France ranks 18th in the world in alcohol consumption per capita. The average Frenchman over 15 years old drinks more than 11 liters of pure alcohol. 80% of this “terrible figure” is wine, mainly red. It is followed by: beer, cider, cognac, liqueurs and all kinds of low-alcohol cocktails and complex aperitifs. How is it that, by regularly “drinking”, the inhabitants of France do not become drunkards and do not lose face and good name? What are their secrets?

1. One of the golden rules of the French is moderation. In everything. In contrast to the hot Slavic blood, which is “a galloping horse” and “cutting is a matter of course,” the descendants of the Gauls are always reasonable and think first, and act only after. When it comes to eating and drinking, they know their own limits and do not exceed them. One glass of light wine at lunch, a couple of glasses of pastis and a little sweet liqueur at dinner - and your head remains clear, the company is friendly and warm, your sense of humor blossoms - everything is wonderful!

2. Gastronomy, delicious food, beautiful presentation of dishes, accompanying them with alcoholic (and non-alcoholic) drinks - all this is one of the components of the famous French “joie de vivre” (the ability to enjoy life). The French extract a certain “pleasantness” from every little thing, they try to be optimistic and look at life positively, “en rose” (“In pink” - as Piaf the little sparrow sang). A Frenchman (without very serious reasons) will never eat on the run or snack at a fast food restaurant with something indigestible, made from who knows what.

It would be better for him to simply drink a cup of black coffee and smoke a cigarette (let us remember that France is currently actively fighting smoking in public places, which does not prevent the indigenous residents of the state from indulging in their favorite bad habit with pleasure). A meal à la française (in French) is a leisurely “tasting” of a string of dishes according to the established order (salad - main course - cheeses - dessert), accompanied by pleasant conversation and a sufficient amount of wine. The French savor food, feel its taste, perceive every ingredient and never feel guilty for eating an extra piece. And for the sip you take, too.

3. Since vast territories of some provinces of the state are occupied by vineyards (both ancient and relatively recently planted), the culture of winemaking is in the blood of the French. Is it really possible to invest strength, emotions, soul and love into caring for bushes, rejoicing in the harvest, pouring young fragrant wine into bottles - and not tasting it? Since childhood, “peasant” children have been “friends” with wine and cider. These drinks are part of their daily life. No one sees here what is indecent, forbidden, or “adult.” Using the example of their parents, young men learn to “drink” wisely.

4. Finally, it is worth noting that in France there are alcoholics who are being treated, who cannot control themselves, asocial types, etc. The problem is not as acute and global as in the “cold” countries of Scandinavia or in the former republics of the USSR. Young people from big cities - regulars at disco bars, provincials who have escaped from the care of their parents, and office “plankton” who experience discomfort in the workplace - this is the main part of the “heavy drinkers” of the French. Well, the clochards who spend the night under bridges - they need to keep warm!

Follow the example of the “Gauls” and enjoy life in all its manifestations!

They say that the French don't get drunk. I decided to test this phenomenon from personal experience and try to get my friend drunk in France. I’ll tell you what came of it and about my observations in general.

First of all, the statement is, of course, wrong. This is a myth, because the French are people too. At parties you can easily meet completely drunk young people who row, fight and generally behave extremely indecently. Alcoholism in France exists as a disease, and is treated for it.

But I was interested in getting people drunk who, in principle, are not inclined to do so. And this, in fact, turned out to be a difficult task. I, of course, presented them with Russian vodka, in the hope that they would try the “curiosity.” They politely accepted the gift, but flatly refused to drink. "Another time somewhere in the future somehow another time sometime later!" – beaming with a positive smile, said my friend Jacques and put the bottle away out of harm’s way. However, he offered to pour me a drink “if I want”, but then I “thanked” - I wasn’t going to get drunk myself.

Strong alcohol

By the way, the French really don’t drink vodka. It can be easily found in liquor stores, but it is not popular. The average Frenchman tried vodka and “didn’t want it anymore.” It is popular again among riotous young people, who do not drink it in its pure form, but make cocktails from it, peremptorily pouring juice into it.

But what surprised me was that there was no cognac in the French house. After all, this is their national drink, and it is here that cognacs are made of simply excellent quality. I talked about this with the owner, and again caused a positive smile and slight misunderstanding. Jacques said that he did not know a single family where they drank cognac. “It’s not a popular drink,” he explained. “Everyone drinks wine here.” “And from the strong ones?” – I insisted. “Except whiskey,” replied Jacques. “And that’s not all, we don’t drink.”

There is no need to talk about the fact that the French drink large quantities of wine; probably everyone already knows. Then I was convinced: this is the pure truth! Although Jacques told me that recently there has been a fashion in France to be an absolute teetotaler. Everyone supports such people; they lead a healthy lifestyle. But personally, he, Jacques, and his family have not yet “grown up” to this.

Wine or water?

There was always wine on the table. Not only during the meal - it was simply not removed anywhere. There was a special jug into which it was poured. Many more bottles stood in a special cabinet in the kitchen - a whole collection from which a bottle could be easily taken out for lunch and dinner and immediately drunk. If Jacques was simply thirsty, he poured himself some wine from a jug. And this jug itself was filled from a huge five-liter special jar, which contained wine purchased by the glass! Here we treat wine like water. Therefore, getting friends drunk was problematic.

The French start drinking wine in the womb. Pregnant women, as a rule, do not stop drinking at all or, as a last resort, dilute the wine with water. By the way, this same wine, diluted with water, is found everywhere here. For example, I had no desire to try it. And Jacques could take a sip of it too, again to quench his thirst. Most often, the wine is diluted here for children and patients who take pills. For some reason, diluted wine is no longer considered wine. They can even take medicine with them. Nursing mothers drink regular wine. Therefore, babies too...

How, where, when, how much

In . More precisely, no, it is not customary here to drink on the street - in our understanding. In Paris, it is quite possible to meet a couple drinking wine on a bench and, what is very remarkable, from wine glasses! But sitting with a bottle of beer is somehow considered shameful here. That's why they don't sit. And most often, they go drinking in a bar or restaurant. This is a very popular pastime! The workday is over: the Frenchman goes out for a drink with friends. You may not have a snack at the same time, but just drink. And then he’ll go home calmly, and even while driving!

They drink here not for the sake of the result, but for the sake of the process. Conversation, good company, and a snack, if you have one, of course, are important. Since I was visiting Jacques, they always had a snack there, and very thoroughly. Well, except for those cases when it’s just to “quench your thirst.” But they didn’t get completely drunk! Well, maybe they relaxed a little if they had “enough” a lot. That's all! “Missing” a few glasses of wine at dinner or lunch is an everyday reality for them. They don't need a reason. It’s somehow not customary for us to drink without reason. Well, at least some. Well, for example, Friday evening is a reason. Or that ours lost again in football - a reason. Or “wash” a new meat grinder. We need a reason for wine too, not just for vodka. But they don't. They neither toast nor clink glasses. Not accepted.

I have never seen anyone drunk on the street or in public transport, although the French drink everywhere and always. We only met drunk people at parties. The French cannot imagine such a thing as a person lying on the road and sleeping. Although there are homeless people. But these are homeless people, not drunks. They simply have nowhere to live. In general, their drinking culture has developed over the centuries, a solid, indestructible one.

“Is it weak?!..”

I decided to take Jacques “weakly”. I think: not in strength, but at least in quantity. “I bet,” I say, “that you won’t drink this two-liter jug ​​of red wine?!” Jacques thought about it. I’ll have a drink, he says. But why? “For a bet! Let’s bet you 100 euros that you won’t drink?” “In one gulp, or what?” - asks. “No, why, in one gulp? During dinner. In an hour."

"Well, that's no problem!" – Jacques laughed. He's a funny guy. He began to joke and laugh. He asked, of course, why I needed this argument. I say: “But I don’t believe that you can!” In fact, I would drink two liters myself. But I needed to see him get drunk. Just on principle, to refute the theory about the “non-drunken” French. I didn’t admit this to him, of course. And then, you see, they are “by the glass”, and “as an appetizer”, no, friend, come on, hit it hard!

Yes, it was worth watching. Jacques drank half the jug in one sitting. And where did the elegant “savoring in small sips” from an elegant glass go? That is, he drank from a glass, but literally in one gulp. In general, the liter somehow disappeared imperceptibly. Then Jacques began to eat a lot. I waited impatiently for his tongue to begin to slur. I didn’t even drink so as not to miss the moment. But for some reason he couldn’t get his tongue around. He visibly cheered up. That's all.

Okay, I’ll wait until the jug is empty, I decided. Just think - a liter of wine, two - that's already...

The second liter went slower. Jacques ate and drank without losing his dignity. He spoke evenly and laughed. Didn't drop any forks or spoons. It was as if he understood what my purpose was. In general, he held on. What was the result when he emptied this very jug? Not that he wasn't drunk at all. He got drunk, of course. But somehow it’s disgustingly decent. Jacques made no attempt to hide the fact that he was tipsy. In general, he walked quite smoothly and did not fall on the table. Relaxed, so to speak. But there was nothing interesting: no drunken chatter, no loud laughter, no tears, no staggering. Almost as if he didn't drink. He stood up calmly and went to watch the news. I was terribly disappointed. I gave him a hundred euros, but he began to refuse, laughing. I insisted, he “broke down” for the sake of decency and took it. That's the whole experiment.

Probably, if I drank that much, I would immediately fall asleep. However, I don’t know, I’ll have to try. Maybe two liters of wine is not much?..

Alcohol consumption in the world is becoming one of the primary problems in a sufficiently large number of countries. The destructive addiction is spreading on all continents. Mortality from alcoholism, according to statistics, reaches 2.5 million people per year worldwide.

Consequences of alcoholism

The negative consequences of addiction affect not only the people who drink, but also those around them. And above all, families suffer. Alcohol is the cause of many illegal and unpleasant activities. Up to half of all crimes are committed under the influence of alcohol, families break up, and the younger generation suffers.

Most crimes, car accidents with serious consequences, cases of violence, serious harm to health, and so on are committed under the influence of alcohol. Women with alcohol addiction often give birth to defective offspring. The educational influence of drinking parents has an extremely negative impact on children, and the family’s financial support also suffers. Abandoned in such families, they often become homeless.

Alcoholism also has a negative impact on society. It can cause disruptions in the economy and even lead to economic and political crises.

Addiction to alcohol negatively affects literally all human organs, leading to serious damage and death of the body, becoming the cause of mental illness and loss of appearance, premature aging.

Alcoholism in Europe

According to established tradition, there is no concept of “alcoholism” and no records are kept of such patients. Europeans call such people “having problems with alcohol” and, according to various estimates, they number about 10-20%. Therefore, it is not possible to provide statistical data on this problem.

Europeans drink the most in the world. The conclusion suggests itself that in countries with high alcohol consumption, the standard and life expectancy should decline. However, this is not confirmed by statistical data.

The transition from alcohol use to alcohol abuse is influenced by various factors, such as:

The consequences of drinking in Europe

• comfort of living in the country;
• alcohol consumption culture;
• traditional types of alcohol consumed in the country;
• the prevailing attitude towards those suffering from this vice.

About the social roots of alcoholism

The generally accepted opinion is that representatives of low-status social strata with low income and standard of living are susceptible to the harmful effects of alcoholism. This implies a behavioral reaction to a failed life and dissatisfaction with one’s own situation. Of course, this kind of deviation also occurs among quite successful people, top-level politicians, and show business stars. But there are few mass phenomena of this kind in high circles. The very standard of living, communication, and life tasks require a person to constantly be in good shape and in adequate condition.

The culture of drinking alcohol in Europe does not imply an end in itself, but only accompaniment of the process of communication with others, therefore this level does not imply excessive consumption. In addition, the process of drinking alcohol occurs in public places - bars, pubs, restaurants, which also requires behavior of a certain level.

The level of prices for alcohol, which is several times higher than that in Russia, is also important. This applies not only to elite drinks, but also to ordinary vodka. This approach does not encourage excessive alcohol consumption.

Any type of alcohol contributes to the development of alcohol dependence, including beer, wine, and, especially, strong drinks, which are traditional in many territories. They affect alcoholism most aggressively in relatively short periods of time.

The comparison here is with wine-drinking Moldova. Having the highest level of alcohol consumption, it is characterized by the highest life expectancy.

Europe is characterized by a sensitive attitude towards people suffering from alcoholism. They try to involve them in public life, help them find a job, take a worthy place in society, and start a family. Alcoholics Anonymous societies are widespread, helping to provide psychological relief to addicted people, making it easier for them to fully return to society.

In general, it can be noted that Europeans are not concerned about the problem of alcoholism. They are more concerned about the problem of curing somatic diseases, which are also one of the consequences of a morbid addiction to alcohol.

Alcoholism in our country

The belief that Russians drink more than other countries is erroneous. Yes, they drink a lot, but there are many countries where it is more common. This opinion is formed for various reasons, including due to a number of specific features of the passion for alcohol in our country:

Alcoholism and drunkenness in numbers

Regarding this phenomenon, it is impossible to speak with certainty about the correctness of the data. In many countries there is no official registration of persons suffering from this defect.

And where such registration is carried out, it cannot be said that it is fully objective, because not everyone is registered in the relevant medical institutions, a significant part is not taken into account in such statistics.

It has been established that in communities without restrictions on the free sale of alcohol, the number of people wishing to receive medical help due to alcoholism is about 2%. Moreover, this figure is stable within the statistical error.

The number of “those who have problems,” that is, those who drink regularly but have not yet contacted doctors, is about 10 - 15%, and this figure is also stable for most countries.

For Russia, the number of people registered will be about 2.8 million people, latent alcoholics, respectively, 15 - 20 million.

Accordingly, in the EU countries this will be 1 million and 50 - 70 million people.

Alcohol rating by country

In the ranking of alcoholic countries, European countries occupy the first places, however, their attitude towards alcoholic beverages is ambiguous. Using data from 2014, we can identify some specific features. Let's pay attention to the top five countries leading in the consumption of alcoholic beverages:

Table 1

The top ten drinkers are the same.

18.12.2017 Svetlana Afanasyevna 8

Rating of the most drinking countries in the world

The World Health Organization has published a ranking of drinking countries in the world for 2018-19. According to WHO, alcoholic beverages are directly or indirectly considered one of the three main causes of increased mortality. At the same time, the share of alcohol consumed per adult is growing every year.

WHO specialists collect such data annually; this helps to determine the overall degree of dependence and the percentage of alcohol consumed.

For more than ten years, the list has been headed by the states of Eastern Europe and those formed from the former republics of the USSR. Russia is almost always in the middle of the drinking list.

The world began to drink more. WHO has been keeping such statistics since 1961; based on these data, special programs are being developed to combat the spread of alcohol. However, almost every nation adopts its own rules for drinking or not drinking.

The summary is compiled not only by the amount of pure ethanol drunk. All produced alcohol, imported or purchased, is accepted for accounting. At the same time, as a rule, in the leading territories themselves, the population does not consider drunkenness a national problem.

Statistics from the world's heaviest drinking countries in 2018-19 show that, due to containment policies, the share of alcohol consumed has greatly increased in countries with open economic borders. In an explanation of the study, WHO provided a rationale for this situation. The organization noted that a lot of alcohol considered consumed in the top three countries is not bought for the sake of drinking. Most often, such sales occur for the purpose of further distribution.

The permanent states included in the world ranking are countries where the culture of consumption of so-called light alcohol is very developed - wine, beer, local fruit brews. Austria, Slovenia, Poland, Italy and others are leading in another statistical list - consumption of low-alcohol drinks per capita. This year they were joined by African countries and South Korea.

Beer consumption per capita for 2018-19

Top 18 most drinking countries in the world

The global level of alcohol consumption has increased on the planet. In 2018-19, every person over 15 years old consumed 6.6 liters of pure alcohol per year. Since 2014, this figure has been growing by 0.2 percent.

Looking at countries with strong economies, experts have found that every fifth resident is a chronic alcoholic. Europe has held the leading position in suicides under the influence of systematic drunkenness for five years. Every 4th attempt to take one's life here is related to drinking.

This year’s ranking is represented almost entirely by countries in Europe and the post-Soviet space. Australia closes the top 18 of the world list. For the first time, she came to 20 countries with increased interest in alcohol.

And the most drinking country in the world in 2019 is Belarus, and the share of consumption of all categories of drinks has increased here.

Australia

18th line of the rating. Just three years ago, this state was one of the top thirty drinkers. But, due to the widespread distribution of local varieties of wine and beer, the country of kangaroos was faced with the problem of alcoholism among the aborigines. The health of many of them deteriorated so much that in some territories it was necessary to introduce compulsory treatment for drunkenness for local Indians.

Slovenia and Denmark

17th and 16th place. Traditionally, countries have the same rate of alcoholism among the population. In these states, beer is not considered an alcoholic beverage; its sale is permitted to persons over 15 years of age. People often start drinking alcohol much earlier. It is noteworthy that local health care does not consider these national traditions a threat. Many medicines are made from beer and derivatives.

Hungary

15th place. Two-thirds of the territory of this state is occupied by vineyards. Even more wine is produced here than in Italy. This alcoholic drink is considered a national treasure and is drunk everywhere. Hungary remains the only country in Europe where you can get behind the wheel if you are fairly tipsy. Criminal prosecution begins only for the systematic use of alcohol leading to death from an accident.

Portugal

14th place. This country closes the list of territories where lovers of low-alcohol drinks live. Despite the fact that we often remember the national port wine, the Portuguese themselves prefer local wine and beer. The latter is considered tastier than Slovenian and Czech, since it is produced with the addition of grape sugar.

Spain

13th place. Spanish wines are a frequent export product. Over the past two years, the percentage of strong alcohol consumption here has increased. Grape vodka and moonshine took the main places on the Spaniards' table. Over the past year, temperance societies have become popular across the country. Many believe that in this way wine producers are trying to fight those who make strong alcohol.

Ireland

12th place. Classic Irish whiskey is produced annually up to 30 liters for every Irishman living in the world (!). There was an alcohol riot in the country within 4 years. And today, local producers have reached a high global level in the production of various alcohol-containing drinks based on malt and distillates.

Germany

11th place. It is still the only EU country where drinking alcohol is allowed everywhere. Local and imported drinks are so popular that they are taught about them in high school classes. The authorities believe that such awareness will help young people make the right choice and stop drinking alcohol.

France and Great Britain

10th and 9th line of the rating. These countries have consistently high alcohol ratings. Local traditions of production and consumption of alcoholic beverages date back to the very beginnings of statehood. More than half of the culinary recipes of these countries are based on wine, beer, whiskey, etc. Until recently, some faiths considered the regular consumption of wine by children from the first year of life to be the norm.

South Korea

8th place. Asian countries are not often included in alcohol statistics. South Caucasus owes this attention to the production and consumption of quite European drinks - vodka, moonshine, tinctures, liqueurs. 10 years ago, drinking was completely prohibited in the country; the lifting of restrictions led to so many alcoholics that the authorities started talking about returning the taboo.

Italy

7th place. The country of wine and sun is always among the top ten drinking nations. Here, alcoholic drinks are used as refreshments. Surprisingly, in Italy, which has a fairly high rating, you practically won’t find drunk people. However, here the percentage of regular drinkers of strong alcohol has reached high levels. According to statistics, every third Italian adult is a chronic alcoholic.

Russia

6th place. Just 5 years ago, our country was one of the top five drinking countries in the world. In general, Russians began to drink less. Experts attribute this to the general impoverishment of the population. A program for developing a healthy lifestyle plays an important role in the fight against bad habits.

Lithuania

Closes the top five. Residents of this small state quickly responded to the rather poor indicators; literally a few days later the local parliament approved a program to combat alcohol addiction. Starting next year, you can only drink any alcoholic beverages if you are 20 years old. Alcohol advertising will be completely banned in the country. The concept of time without alcohol has been introduced - 2-3 weekdays and all holidays; it will be impossible to buy booze anywhere.

Czech

Takes a stable fourth place. The situation in the country has not changed for five years now. Neither restrictions nor propaganda help stop alcoholism. Most people drink beer here, but strong alcohol is also drunk here.

Estonia

This is the first time this country has found itself in the top three; it usually ranks in the second ten. This is due to the lifting of age restrictions on the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Now any Estonian over 16 years old can drink. It is noteworthy that this measure also applies to foreigners. Alcohol tours in this Baltic country have become a frequent tourist destination.

Ukraine

Second place. The dismal result is the result of an almost unregulated alcohol market. In a country with strong traditions of moonshine brewing and winemaking, today every 4 people under 25 years old is considered a chronic alcoholic.

Belarus

First place in the ranking. Highest relative consumption of pure ethanol. Almost half of the respondents (47%) confirmed that they regularly drink strong alcoholic beverages 2-3 times a week. Over the past three years, the system of combating drunkenness has been almost completely destroyed. And most likely, consumption data are greatly underestimated.

Summary statistics of drinking countries around the world

Based on the statistics, a summary table was created showing the dynamics of alcohol consumption over several years.

Place in the ranking	A country	Alcohol consumption per capita 2018 (l)	Alcohol consumption per capita 2017 (l)	Alcohol consumption per capita 2016 (l)	Relative percentage/ratio
1	Belarus	17,5	16,6	14	Increased by 25%
2	Ukraine	17,4	15,3	12	Increased by 45%
3	Estonia	17,2	17	16,5	Increased by 4%
4	Czech	16,4	16	16,2	Increased by 1%
5	Lithuania	16,3	14	15,8	Increased by 3%
6	Russia	16,2	15,8	16,2	Has not changed
7	Italy	16,1	16	16,1	Has not changed
8	South Korea	16	14	12	Increased by 33%
9	France	15,8	15,6	15,8	Has not changed
10	Great Britain	15,8	15,7	15	Increased by 1%
11	Germany	11,7	12,3	11,5	Increased by 1%
12	Ireland	11,6	11	8	Increased by 45%
13	Spain	11,4	11,3	11,6	Decreased by 2%
14	Portugal	11,4	11	11,2	Increased by 2%
15	Hungary	10,8	10	6	Increased by 18%
16	Slovenia	10,7	10,5	10,8	Decreased by 1%
17	Denmark	10,7	9	6,3	Increased by 69%
18	Australia	10,2	10	7	Increased by 45%

Alcohol-free areas of the world

In 41 countries of the world there is an absolute prohibition law. The governments of Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden have enshrined the principles of sobriety by law.

• In the Scandinavian countries there is a social program sober city, according to it, weeks of freedom from addiction are held annually in every locality.
• Uzbekistan became the first prohibition country in the post-Soviet space. The sale, advertising, and production of alcohol is prohibited here. And the court talks to those who use it.
• In many Muslim countries, drinking and selling alcohol is punishable by criminal law. And in Iran, Jordan and the UAE, the drinker will be publicly humiliated or even killed.
• China became the first active fighter for sobriety. Almost everywhere there are laboratories where you can undergo free testing for diseases caused by alcohol.
• There are more than 400 religious denominations in the world, and their adherents are not just against drinking alcohol. In many cults, drugs and alcohol-containing substances are strictly taboo.

As the WHO notes in its report, the share of drinkers is increasing mainly due to countries with developed economies. This is facilitated by the availability of alcoholic beverages and relatively low employment.

I. Where is the time when Johanna Schopenhauer wrote: “there is no nation more sober than the French. In Germany, the commoner needs at least beer, tobacco and a bowling alley in order to feel the holiday. In France - nothing like that. Walking among the crowd in festive clothes with his wife and children or with a dear friend, bowing to acquaintances, being exquisitely polite with women (for here a woman is everything), presenting flowers to the one whom the heart prefers, and receiving a favorable look as a reward, that’s all a Frenchman needs to be happy, like God". There has been much controversy about the increasing alcoholism in France. Optimists point out that drunkenness existed among Shakespeare's contemporaries, as well as among the contemporaries of Racine and Boileau, according to the testimony of the Duke of Saint-Simon. Compared with the nobility and bourgeoisie of that time, we are told, our modern bourgeoisie are models of sobriety and moderation. Let's say; but the people? How can one deny the horrifying prevalence of alcoholism among him? The answer to this is that alcohol has a stultifying and destructive effect on the offspring of those who abuse it, and that in the end only those who do not abuse it will remain. May be; but, in anticipation of this, society is overrun with alcoholics and the sons of alcoholics, in whom the parental heritage is manifested by epilepsy, tuberculosis and other morbid changes, often contagious. The people of the Vosges and Normandy were once renowned for their strength and stature; now recruiting commissions note a rapid decrease in height and strength there; They, not without reason, attribute this result to the extraordinary development of drunkenness, not only among men, but also among women. We do not see that alcohol turns out to be a useful selection factor in this case, according to the opinion of some utopian doctors.

From a sociological point of view, the history of alcoholism can be divided into three periods, well defined by Legrand. The first covers the times when only naturally fermented drinks were consumed in France. During this era, "drunkenness was the exception rather than the rule." The man, "more of a pure water drinker than is generally believed," drank only wine when he deviated from his usual regimen. This wine, with the exception of some areas, was "low alcohol" and one had to consume a huge amount of liquid to experience the intoxicating effect. On the other hand, excessive and even moderate drinking of wine was "occasional" rather than constant; drinking wine was not yet recognized as a prime necessity; many were willing to do without him; Consequently, this use was very limited, and people did not consider themselves in mortal danger from drinking the water. For all these reasons, cases of chronic alcoholism, when they existed, were discovered late, at an age when reproductive abilities weaken and a person no longer leaves offspring. During the period of family formation, the man was then in full strength, and his children were born unaffected by the hereditary defect. This is the dominant fact in the history of ancient alcoholism. His victims remained "isolated" and the evil was always "individual."

The second period begins around the time of the great revolutionary movement and ends with the “appearance of real alcoholic beverages on the commercial and industrial scene.” A “new social body” emerges - the tavern. At first it was more a consequence than a cause of a false need for alcoholic excitement; but little by little, satisfying it, he inflames it, increases it, and in the end becomes a powerful cause of evil. Legrain summarizes this second period by saying that it is characterized by the introduction of alcoholic beverages into general use. Since that time, a prejudice has arisen that alcoholic drinks are hygienic and necessary for humans, that it is impossible for a citizen living in modern society to do without them. This delusion has given rise to "disasters." A false idea, legitimizing vice and elevated to a principle, as Kant says, is the most contagious and dangerous of idea-forces.

The third period is the period of alcoholism in the real meaning of the word; "Alcoholism accompanies wine addiction." Wine came into common use; “This is no longer a random drink, but like one of the nutrients.” Then industry is called to help. All substances capable of alcoholic fermentation are used. If the second period was characterized by the introduction of alcoholic beverages into general consumption, the modern period is characterized by an increase in poisoning due to these new substances and the spread of this poisoning. Thus, “from individual alcoholism became collective.” The alcoholism of our fathers was an isolated evil with no serious consequences; it was an individual disease; modern alcoholism is “a disease of a whole species, it is a national evil.”

We think that this picture accurately depicts the situation from the point of view of national psychology and sociology. At present, in terms of the amount of pure alcohol consumed, France, which is placed in second place, would take first place if one were to take into account the distillation of alcohol from grape juice, which is always forgotten and which is produced in France on a larger scale than anywhere else. If we take this production as a fifth of the total, then the consumption of pure alcohol in France reaches five and a half liters per person (11.5 liters of vodka at 50% versus 9.52 liters per person in Belgium).

But even if it cannot be said with certainty that France ranks first in terms of the amount of pure alcohol consumed, then it will certainly take it and far outstrip other countries if we add to pure alcohol the alcohol contained in grape wine and cider, which are consumed in enormous quantities. The statement that these drinks do not cause alcoholism is completely erroneous: “wine is also intoxicating and poisonous, like vodka.” It is as if one were to discount the consumption of absinthe on the grounds that it is rarely drunk neat and is almost always diluted with plenty of water. Finally, nowadays wines in most cases are not natural, but are manufactured using industrially produced alcohols; Here, by the way, German alcohol, extracted from potatoes, comes in huge quantities. For all these reasons, Legrain has every reason to take into account in his statistics the amount of alcohol consumed in the form of wine and cider. He comes to the conclusion that the first place is occupied by France with its 14 liters of 100% alcohol. Other countries are in the following order: Switzerland - 11 liters; Belgium - 10.59; Denmark - 10.2; Germany - 9.33; England - 9.23. Is fighting really impossible in this case? Not at all. Norway, once so plagued by drunkenness, has found a way to reduce alcohol consumption from 10 to 3.9 liters per person over the course of thirty-six years, so that all the evils associated with alcoholism tend to disappear in it. Its population increased by one third: from 1,300,000 to 1,900,000 inhabitants. The number of convicted criminals fell from 250 to 180 for every 100,000 inhabitants; the number of people receiving welfare, while all forms of charity were developing, dropped from 40 per 1,000 inhabitants to 33. Finally, the national wealth increased by one third within seven years: from 496 crowns rose to 723.

In France the government has recently instituted special courses in all primary schools to teach children the innumerable evils caused by alcoholic beverages. But while the state, as a hygienist, laments the devastation caused by alcoholism, at the same time, as a tax collector, the state publicly rejoices at the development of drunkenness. Officials of the Ministry of Finance state in their reports of 1897 that alcoholism not only retained all positions occupied by it in the previous departments in 1895, but, what is much more important, departments that had until then remained unscathed began to find a taste for alcohol. “Consumption levels,” we read in the official report, “are progressively increasing in the southern cities, Nîmes, Montpellier, Bezières, Sette.” And the author of the report adds the following characteristic lines: “This increase already constitutes a result that the administration should rejoice at; but it, without a doubt, could have achieved even more if it had not had to fight professional smuggling.” Thus, in Montpellier the average alcohol consumption, which was only 3.6 liters in 1893, in 1896 reached 5.48 liters. In Nimes, over the same period, consumption rose from 4.4 to 5.19 liters; in Marseille - from 7 to 8.51; in Nice - from 4.4 to 5.19; in Avignon - from 4 to 6.2. Finally, in Sette, where the average alcohol consumption three years ago was 6 liters, we find in 1896 a magnificent figure of 11.65. In departments that have already previously paid tribute to alcohol, its consumption is also increasing, although not in such rapid progression as in areas that persisted until recently, but still in amounts that can be considered “satisfactory from a fiscal point of view.” . That's what the government says.

In the Seine department, out of 172 madmen, 38 suffer from alcoholic madness. To these 38 should also be added 39 degenerate subjects, in whom “in the vast majority of cases the degree of mental disorder is proportional to their tendency to drunkenness.” As a result - 77 to 172, not counting cases of epilepsy and general weakness, the cause of which is alcohol abuse. From the observations of Dr. Demm, a doctor at the Bern Children's Hospital, the following conclusion follows: if you take 10 families of sober and 10 families addicted to alcohol, then the first give 61 children, of which 50 are normal and only 6 are late developing or extremely nervous; families with drunkards produce 57 children, of whom only 9 are normal; all the rest are idiots, epileptics, hunchbacked, deaf-mute, with a hereditary disposition to drunkenness, dwarfs, or dying at an early age from general weakness. One statistician calculated how long it would take for a country in which alcohol continued its success to find itself in such a position that it would need only three institutions: a prison, a lunatic asylum and a hospital. Regressive modifications in the offspring caused by alcoholism fortunately end in complete extinction; but if alcoholism continues to claim more and more victims, then what will happen to the whole nation? Gladstone had reason to exclaim in the House of Commons, and no one accused him of exaggeration: “Alcohol produces more devastation in our time than the three historical scourges of famine, plague and war. It snatches more people than famine and plague, and kills more, than war; it is worse than killing: it dishonors!” Socialists assume that alcoholism is connected with the economic system, that it is a sign of a deep social illness, oblivion from which is sought in wine. But this is to ignore the fact that, of all countries, the worker and peasant are less miserable in France than elsewhere, and have less need of seeking consolation for their misfortunes in wine. They also say that the people are what we make them: their vices are our vices, “which they contemplate, which they envy and imitate”; if they fall with all their weight on us, then “this is only fair.” However, one should not go too far in this direction: drunkenness cannot be an imitation of our sobriety; We also do not see how a socialist government, under which the mass of the people will become the supreme ruler, will resist the vices of this ruler and prevent him from drinking. Try putting the issue of taverns to a referendum, and you will see the result.

In this case, too, only a moralist can fight alcoholism with the help of legislation. Will France really remain unarmed while Sweden, Germany and Switzerland are successfully fighting this scourge? It is necessary first of all to repeal the disastrous law of 1881, which, by proclaiming complete freedom for the tavern, created 100,000 new drinking establishments. It is necessary that the existing laws against drunkenness and police supervision of the sale of wine should be strictly enforced; that penalties be enhanced for repeat offenders; that the number of drinking establishments be reduced and the patent fee increased from them; that the opening of new drinking establishments be prohibited, and old ones closed with the death of their owner; that harmful alcohols are allowed for sale only after preliminary purification; that poisonous essences be prohibited; that the privilege of distilling spirits at home should be abolished; that the excise tax on alcohol be increased and that on harmless drinks reduced; that workers' homes be made healthier and improved; that united local associations should be spread throughout the country for the purpose of bringing about a general movement against alcoholism; so that they fight everywhere, by word and example, against that stubborn prejudice that wine gives strength.

In addition to a reasonably understood interest, it is very important to turn to moral sense and patriotism. It was rightly noted that serious results were achieved by temperance leagues only in Protestant countries, where propaganda is carried out primarily on religious grounds. There, evil is not discussed by physiologists and chemists from a scientific point of view; there people are convinced not by statistical data and analysis, but by the influence of ideas and feelings, ideas about the dignity and destinies of man; feelings that have their source in the deepest and most selfless movements of the heart: the concept of duty to all humanity, even more: to the entire universe and its principle.

Let us remember the pages of Kant, where this great philosopher declares that in order to move people, one must turn to the highest ideas and the most disinterested feelings. We all imagine that the greatest driver of man is selfishness. But try an experiment: paint a picture for a habitual drunkard of his ruined health, wasted strength, poverty and premature death awaiting him; he will tell you that you are right, a thousand times right, and more often than not he will continue to drink. If you, instead of appealing to his sense of self-preservation, awaken in him more selfless emotions, love for others, thoughts not only about the family, not even only about the fatherland, but about all of humanity; if you appeal at the same time to his sense of human dignity, you will have a better chance of achieving a lasting result. You raise the whole person to a certain height, from where he can, no doubt, fall again, but not to the same level. By speaking of his personal advantage, you focus his thoughts even more on himself, and the voice of advantage will soon be drowned out by the voice of passion or the hidden impulse of mechanical habit. We do not mean to say that the means which science offers for mental illumination should be neglected; but the power of science lies chiefly in the prevention of evil: when a vicious habit has not yet been acquired, a clear and cold picture of the inevitable consequences may serve as a reliable warning. But when it comes to making a revolution in a soul that has already lost its way, has already fallen, we must turn to deeper, truly philosophical feelings. This is precisely the power of religious ideas. Since we cannot count on the restoration of dogmas, we must at least borrow from religions their purest essence. Although it seems like a paradox, the main strength of the idea lies in its philosophical side. Therefore, in France, as a country of unbelief, the instruments of influence must be both scientific and philosophical.

II. The decline of the will of the people largely depends on the decline of the nervous and muscular system, which in turn depends on the greater or lesser licentiousness of morals. Debauchery, like drunkenness, fatally leads to a rapid loss of mental balance. It is therefore impossible to sufficiently censure the corrupting influence exercised at the present time by the obscene press, which is given complete freedom, by corrupting spectacles, and by the exhibition of vice in all its forms. One can even say that everything that arouses passions among the people, no matter what kind they may be, is dangerous. Indeed, many feelings and inclinations are of an indefinite character while they are not yet conscious of themselves or of their object. A classic example of this is the vague desire that awakens in a boy or girl when he reaches the possibility of love:

Voi che sapete che cosa e amor....

You who know what love is...

But let even one word open the eyes of a feeling, define it, showing it its object, and the passion immediately acquires the power of external and volitional expression, which can become almost irresistible. Taine, one of the greatest inventors of formulas, laughs at "formulas"; meanwhile, to formulate passion or redemption means to give them both soul and body; from a state of vague aspiration they will move into a state of clear consciousness. But what happens when they not only “formulate” passion, but also inflame it in all sorts of ways? Passions, the strength of which is inversely proportional to volitional energy, have a huge influence on the national character since they hereditarily change the lungs, heart and brain. It is known that every emotion is accompanied by greater or lesser disturbance in the internal organs, in the blood circulation, and especially in what could be called the nervous circulation. Hence - a greater or lesser disturbance of physical as well as mental balance, accompanied by a decrease in vital and volitional energy. Any overexcitation inevitably ends in a depressed state. The result of this is more and more nervous generations, from childhood predisposed to worry and waste energy, without volitional energy, unable to persistently pursue a goal, shaken by internal storms. Evil exists in all countries, but ours is especially susceptible to it, because the prevailing temperament in France, as we have seen, is intellectually sensitive. The pornographers so rightly castigated by Max Nordau are not “degenerate” subjects, as he suggests; they know very well what they are doing; but there is no doubt that these industrialists are actively promoting degeneration. Literature of this kind, we are told, finds readers not only in France, but also abroad. True, but foreign governments fight evil by banning the sale of books that we allow to be displayed. This kind of pseudo-literary craft has existed at all times; but previously the police had limited its infectious influence. Let harsh laws be applied and evil will immediately disappear. To rely on the fact that “freedom” itself will be able to restrain itself in this case means, in essence, to encroach on freedom, on the right that we all have to breathe healthy air and give our children the opportunity to breathe it.

Chapter Four. Alleged psychological degeneration conclusion.

I. Has our national character, from a psychological point of view, changed for the worse during the last century? This is precisely what is asserted by those who, along with physical degeneration, also accuse us of mental degeneration. Thus, for example, one Italian sociologist and one German psychiatrist simultaneously endow us with this internal disease. But did they use a truly “scientific” method to establish it? A. de Bella is confident that he diagnosed our decline in an essay on social pathology, included in his Course of Sociology and published in April 1889 in the excellent Rivista di filosofia scientifica. According to this doctor, “the pathological element that has taken root between the various layers of the French character is exaggerated pride, sometimes coinciding with vanity, sometimes with pride and always with intolerance, cruelty and Caesarism.” All these shortcomings, he adds, are also accompanied by a basic contradiction: “in theory - great principles, often ahead of their time; in practice - the absence or instability of any principles, not only human dignity, but sometimes even justice.” Then the author gives our mournful sheet: "1) Vanity and pride. The First Republic, during the consulate of Napoleon I, established the Order of the Legion of Honor." Please note: the author of this vanity invention is the French Republic, and not the “Italian by birth”, Bonaparte. “Instead of surrounding itself with republics equal to its rights, the first republic creates insignificant republics, which it can dispose of at its own discretion... for example, the Cisalpine, Ligurian, Parenopean... The Second Empire with the same pride leads the destinies of Europe, trampling Italy like a French prefecture." This is all that, in the opinion of this author, France did for the Italians during the second empire. “Then, having destroyed the Mexican Republic, Napoleon established an empire there with Maximilian of Austria”... “All French poets, not excluding Victor Hugo, call Paris the brain of the whole world”... In “all French novels” appears “a fellow citizen of Rochefort, who kills with one striking a dozen Germans or Italians with a saber and cutting off the skulls of ten Englishmen with one blow of his fist!..." "2) Intolerance and cruelty. Under Louis XVI, the Parisian mob kills Foulon and Berthier, etc." What follows is a classic picture of terror. Intolerance and cruelty are apparently unknown in Italian history. "France hasn't changed at all these days. At French rallies not a single note of peace can be heard... When some meeting in Paris goes without the wounded, then this should be considered happiness." Such a well-informed, learned sociologist also points to "the pleasure with which the French people are present at executions "Then follows another important symptom of our national illness: "the contradiction between theory and practice. The first French republic destroyed the Venetian one; the second drowned the Roman one in blood. At present, all the French, without exception, demand Alsace-Lorraine; but there is not a single person in all of France who would agree to the return of Nice and Corsica to Italy! The anti-clerical and atheistic third republic takes Christians in the East under its protection." These are the main signs of the disease that threatens us with death. Meanwhile, the author of this sociology course generally sympathizes with us: "France," he says in conclusion, "is a great nation; in the field of science and the arts it ranks with the first European nations... France is, above all, a people of strong initiative; that is why its fall would be an irreparable loss for Europe." If in the Christian period even philosophers and sociologists on the other side of the Alps had such information and judged our character in such a way, then one can imagine what a monstrous mutual misunderstanding reigned among the masses between the two neighboring nations Let us hope that it will soon disappear. Thinking that he was giving a scientific picture of the French character, De Bella, and without suspecting it, outlined to us the abnormal state of the Italian mind of recent years. The question may arise whether this state was not also "pathological" "But no, it was simply political. By equating Corsica with Alsace-Lorraine, the author introduces us more to the ulterior thoughts of the Italian rulers of that time than to our own. As for the protection of Eastern Christians, here it is also easy to guess Italy's desire to take it into its own hands and take advantage of her without the slightest concern about whether this would not “contradict" her anti-papal policy. In any case, if we did not have other symptoms of mental degeneration, then we could consider our state of health to be satisfactory.

The most serious charges of degeneration are brought upon us by our modern literature, by our poets and novelists. We readily agree that the decadents, whose glory, however, has already passed, returned us, as Letourneau showed, to the literature of primitive savages; to the poetry of “interjections”, in which sounds are everything, and meaning plays no role; to strings of vague comparisons and images, and the poem can be read indifferently, from the beginning or from the end; to repetitions of syllables and consonances and play on words characterizing the songs of the Papuans, Hottentots or Kaffirs. This is literature that has fallen into childhood. But who is seriously interested in these attempts, most of which are not even sincere, but are some kind of voluntary madness, deliberate nonsense? You cannot judge a country by what serves as the amusement of a few jaded and bored people, any more than by some ridiculous fashionable style.

The well-known indictment of Max Nordau regarding our modern literature is no more conclusive than the accusations made by A. de Bella regarding our national character. According to Nordau, our main diseases, which he observed throughout Europe, however, are revealed by our poets and novelists: egotism, mysticism and obscene false realism. Nordau defines mysticism as "an inability to pay attention, to think clearly and to control sensations, an inability caused by the weakening of the higher centers of the brain." Could there be anything more unscientific than this phraseology borrowed from the natural sciences? In the same way, “egoism is a consequence of poor conductivity of the sensory nerves, dullness of the centers of perception, aberration of instincts due to the lack of sufficiently strong impressions, and a great predominance of organic sensations over ideas.” That's why your daughter is mute. What explanation can be gleaned from this “nosological picture” worthy of Moliere? Is the egoism of our poets and writers stronger than it was in the times of Rene and Werther? In any case, it is a natural consequence of the unreliability that currently plagues all objective and impersonal doctrines. Due to the lack of common faith, everyone's thoughts turn to themselves; pathology has nothing to do with it. As for the obscene realism that we ourselves have just branded and which enjoys impunity thanks to the criminal indifference of the police, then transport yourself to the Middle Ages and even to the later ones; remember the old literature of the townspeople and villains, the rudeness, the fundamental immorality of the “Gallic fun”. Were not even the chosen part of the former society distinguished by innumerable vices, along with their virtues? Was the literature of even the most cultured classes of the 18th century less immoral than modern literature? Finally, among our diseases, Nordau includes, under the rubric of mysticism, any desire for an ideal world, everything that comes out of the narrow circle of positive science. To those who say that pure science has failed in the field of morals and religion, he responds by enumerating all the discoveries concerning the structure of matter, heat, the mechanical unity of forces, spectral analysis, geology, paleontology, "chromophotography", "instant photography", and etc., etc., and then exclaims: “And you are not happy!” No, we are not satisfied yet, because our ambition is higher. Spectral analysis can reveal the presence of metals on stars, but it tells us nothing about the meaning and purpose of existence. “Whoever demands,” says Nordau, “that science calmly and boldly answer all the questions of idle and restless minds, will inevitably be disappointed, because science does not want and cannot satisfy these demands.” Wonderful. This means that you recognize that there are questions to which positive science necessarily responds with silence. But does preoccupation with these questions really indicate “idleness and restlessness” of the mind, even when they concern the very meaning and use of life? To include in the number of mystics and degenerates all those for whom railways and telegraphs do not give complete satisfaction to the mind and heart means to forget that philosophy and religion (this collective philosophy of peoples) have always existed, and will continue to exist until man stops asking himself: Who I? Where am I from? What should I do and what should I hope for? This kind of concern not only does not indicate degeneration, but has always served as signs of eras of renewal and progress. When the crowd instinctively feels an urgent need for teaching about the world and life, one should not find in this any mystical delirium or “inability to pay attention caused by the weakening of the centers of the cortical substance.” Since Nordau likes to bring psychology closer to biology, he could find something analogous in the instinct that forces even living creatures that are still deprived of eyes to turn towards the light. Throw a weak beam of light into the water in which the ciliates are swimming; They do not yet have a visual organ, but they still sense light and are directed towards it as a condition of life and well-being. The crowd, which is not yet fully conscious, by virtue of a similar instinct, rushes towards every distant ray of light in which it thinks to find a harbinger of the liberating ideal.

In the study of degenerate literature, Max Nordau had a predecessor in Guyot, to whose authority he, however, more than once refers. But Guyot was wary of exaggeration and hasty generalizations; he showed that art must obey the law that forces us, for a quarter of a century and even a shorter period of time, to be present at renewal at one point and decay at another, “at dawn and dusk, when very often it is impossible even to say whether it is day or night.” ends." The theory of decline can, therefore, be applied only "to groups of writers, to particular parts of a century, to a series of lean and barren years." No generalization is possible in this case. Ideas quickly follow one another, science is constantly being transformed; how can literary schools avoid this continuous movement? There is a need to change and renew; but geniuses rarely appear, and one must, in Guyot’s words, “be able to wait before declaring that the hour of irreparable decline has arrived.” Neither concern for form and words, nor bad taste and incoherence of ideas and images, nor the triumph of the critical and analytical trend serve as sufficient evidence of decline, since all these traits are found even in great eras and among great geniuses. Nordau sees disease everywhere. If you haven't written much, it's a sign of powerlessness; if you write a lot, this is a symptom of graphomania. Whatever you do, you are “degenerate”. Nordau will not think that along with the spread of education and cheap printing, the number of writers was fatally expected to increase. How could there be no absurdities in this mass of published works? Judging the end of our century by bad poets is the same as judging the century of Louis XIV by Pradon and Chaplain, or the entire 19th century by its first years. Did Delille and the pseudo-classics foreshadow the appearance of Lamartine and Hugo?

If imitation, as Tarde showed, is the dominant principle of activity, then the love of change is also one of the laws of society and the individual; and change can be a transition from one extreme to another. After the clear, cheerful and superficial music of Adam, Ober and others, they began to be carried away by the foggy, gloomy and deep music of Wagner. After the dominance of balanced and reasonable classical literature, they felt the need for disorderly and reckless literature. In the same way, after the Parnassians, the Symbolists and Decadents felt the need for the vague, vague, elusive and unknowable. Currently, in the field of literature, something has ended and something is beginning. Crude naturalism is over; Apparently, a reconciliation of naturalism with idealism begins. This is all that can be concluded based on the more or less successful attempts of the decadents and symbolists. The French genius is far from exhausted.

However, along with detractors, we also encounter favorable judgments about France abroad. Gallia rediviva (Gaul Resurgent) is the title of an article published in January 1895 in the Atlantic Monthly; in this article, Cohn reviews everything that makes one believe in the revival of the French spirit. What seems especially significant to him over the past twenty-five years is the awakening of the national spirit, the country’s industriousness, the reorganization of a powerful army, the rapid rise of primary and higher education, and most importantly, the progress of philosophy, and specifically idealistic philosophy. The old materialism has almost disappeared due to the ever-increasing attraction to moral social sciences. “There is a noticeable effort on the part of adherents of all philosophical opinions, Protestants, Catholics and free thinkers, to expose the need for devotion to some ideal. For France as a nation to have to return again to the dogmas of Christianity, “this can be doubted; but, without any doubt, France is looking for some ideal form of inspiration, the light of which could fill all sincere hearts with joy; Shouldn't this search be met with the words of the deepest religious thinker of France, Pascal: “You would not have looked for me if you had not already found me”?

II. In the end, we could not find such vital, so-called “scientific” evidence of our degeneration either in our national character, or in our arts and literature. Some sad symptoms, both physical and mental, are more noticeable in France because we are ahead of other European nations. For example, a slowdown in the birth rate will occur in them after some time. As for the absorption of elements of the blond race into the Celto-Slavic races, it is also observed in Germany and Italy. Even in England the number of brunettes is increasing, and ethnologists assert that brachycephalism has been increasing there since the beginning of historical times. It is impossible to allow such a general phenomenon to be an irreparable misfortune; in any case, if there is ethnic “disintegration” here, it is not a feature of our country. The same must be said about the growth of cities, with their advantages and disadvantages, as well as the spread of alcoholism and debauchery. You cannot judge an entire nation by novels, the printing of which is tolerated by the police and against which we, unfortunately, do not try to influence. The totality of unfavorable circumstances, not yet fully defined and measured, cannot serve as a basis for pronouncing a death sentence on us. From this we can only conclude that it is necessary for France, as for other nations, firstly, for better physical hygiene, capable of counterbalancing the influence of mental or emotional overwork, secondly, for a salutary reaction against the depopulation of villages in favor of cities, and finally, that most importantly, very strict laws against drunkenness and debauchery. The success of the measures adopted in Sweden and some states of the North American Union should have convinced our legislators, if only the latter were not unfortunately under the political vassalage of the "taverns." As for the incitement to debauchery by the press, a little firmness on the part of the government and parliament would suffice to put an end to it: the task in this case is very easy, and we cannot be forgiven for delaying its execution.

From a psychological point of view, there seems to have been no great change in the French character. It is possible that we have become more positive and realistic, more distrustful of feelings, less enthusiastic and naive. During the last twenty years, in spite of our weaknesses and misfortunes, we have discovered greater prudence, stability of feeling, enlightened patriotism, and a patient and persistent will. It has become common place to accuse us of inconstancy and rapid decline of spirit. But didn’t we discover endurance and perseverance in the war of 1870, which, however, was not offensive, but defensive, and was accompanied not by victories, but by defeats? After all, expeditions of conquest are only temporary follies into which our leaders too often lead us; at the slightest turn of happiness, our common sense asserts its rights; but in the struggle for the integrity of France we could not decide until we were absolutely forced to lose one of the living members of our fatherland. Since then, although we are recognized as forgetful, they have not stopped talking about the tenacity with which we remember our brothers - the Alsace-Lorraineers. What are we being reproached for, finally? In the vindictiveness of offended pride? In the hatred of the vanquished for his conqueror? No; in the war game we have always been good enough players to easily tolerate the turns of fortune. But we would consider ourselves dishonored by indifference to the rights of peoples and our compatriots. We do not hate Germany, but we love France and are disgusted by injustice.

The combination of impressionability and sociability with a bright and clear mind, which, as it seems to us, is inherent in the French character, cannot, however, do without frequent contradictions. This explains, in our morals, in our history and politics, the constant alternation of freedom and enslavement, revolution and routine, optimistic faith and pessimistic discouragement, enthusiasm and irony, meekness and violence, logic and irrational passion, savagery and humanity. It is obvious that the balance of passion and reason is extremely difficult to achieve and unstable; Meanwhile, it is precisely this balance that the French character constantly strives for. Our greatest resource is a passion for rational and common sense ideas. We are aware of the need for this and our ability to do this. We strive to strengthen ourselves by attaching our thoughts and hearts to the goal indicated to us by the mind and set to the greatest possible height.

In confirmation of our backwardness and the degeneration that threatens us, our opponents especially insist on the similarity of our impressionability and sensitivity with the sensitivity and impressionability of a woman or child. But this purely external similarity should not hide from them many deep differences. It is not difficult to call adult children people who enthusiastically believe in ideas and defend them with selfless energy; but does youth of heart deserve such contempt? Is “love for the human race” a vice? If in France there had been nothing other than childish, feminine, or “plebeian,” could we, in our time (which lasted for centuries), have dominated the world thanks either to our political and military power, or to our mental superiority? No, we cannot agree with our opponents that the fatherland of Descartes, Pascal, Bossuet, Corneille, Moliere, Richelieu and others is only a country of adult children. Not everything in our history and in our actions is frivolous and vain, as Gioberti and Leopardi claim. If these shortcomings occur (not always separable from the advantages, the opposite side of which they constitute), then they do not depend on the feminine or childish character of the French; they are explained simultaneously by our nervous temperament, our upbringing and our inherent sociability. In fact, when dealing with people, sometimes you cannot take the issue too deeply, insist too much, turn the living room into an audience, and the conversation into a dissertation. In the same way, the desire to please others, to gain their respect, naturally gives rise to a certain vanity and a certain “respect for the individual.” The individual no longer seeks all his worth and worth in himself; he largely seeks it in others. In the same way, the softness of our character, our weaknesses, the pursuit of fashion and fear of public opinion depend not on the fact that we look like women, but on the fact that social life requires this softness, this rounding of all the sharp edges of individuality, this dependence of each from the general mood. Should we conclude from this, as the Germans, English and Italians do, that the expansion of social life has the necessary consequence of a narrowing of the personal and internal, that as one develops, the other atrophies? Yes, if by social life we ​​understand secular life; but does the latter constitute true social life and is it not just an abnormal, perverted form of it? A better understood social existence requires, on the contrary, strong individuality and high personality development. The ideal that France has formulated for itself, without having yet sufficiently realized it, and to which it must always strive, is the harmonious growth of social and individual life. Its genius remains as useful and necessary to the world as the genius of neighboring nations, no offense intended to the statesmen who dreamed not so long ago of subordinating France north of Lyon to German rule and the German language, and France south of Lyon to the rule of Italy and the Italian language.

As for our real evils, which inspire such legitimate concern, indifference and discouragement would have the same effect in this case and would be equally dangerous. Nothing is more dangerous for the people than “self-hypnosis” regarding the decline that threatens them. By constantly telling himself that he is in danger of falling, he may become dizzy and fall. Just as on the battlefield the certainty of defeat makes it inevitable, so national despondency deprives characters of their elasticity and turns into something resembling a suicidal mood. Content with absurd words like: “the end of a race”, “the end of a century”, “the end of a people”, people surrender to the general flow, become indifferent, refer to the powerlessness of the individual in the fight against the fate that weighs on an entire people and even takes the form of physical necessity. We have seen that in reality this necessity does not exist. Renan once insisted on the enormous importance of race, while Taine exaggerated the importance of environment; in the end, both recognized in the nation - and especially in the French, more accessible to social influences - a "spiritual principle", the result of "long efforts, sacrifices and dedication in the past", a heritage received indivisible, with an obligation to increase its value, and accepted consciously by a kind of "everyday plebiscite". “We are what you were,” said the Spartan song addressed to the ancestors, “and we will be what you are now.” What the ancient poets expressed figuratively, modern scientists could repeat in the name of reality itself; but the influence of the ancestors is not perpetuated by the mere heredity of the race and the constant influence of the physical environment, as many of the modern scientists seem to think, but also by language, education, religion, laws and morals. This impulse, acting over such a vast distance and moving us through the centuries, like a single force raising the waves throughout the whole sea, does not represent only the blind influence of the instincts of the Quaternary period or the material factors surrounding us; At the same time, this is the influence of ideas and feelings developed by civilization and building a moral one over the physical organism. If a nation is a single organism, then it is first of all a spiritual organism. We have examined, from a psychological point of view, what the French soul is like. It is impossible to see the “twilight of a people” in excessive nervousness or weakening of the muscular system, which occurs more or less in all other nations. If mental life and social influences, with their good and bad sides, are more predominant in France than in other countries, and ethnic influences have reached a highly unstable equilibrium in it, there is as much reason for hope as for fear. At critical moments, national character with all the favorable and unfavorable chances it determines becomes, first of all, a matter of mind and will: the salvation or destruction of the nation is in its own hands.

III. The choice of folk heroes is a fact of great importance in the psychology of peoples. Indeed, the heroes represent both typical representatives of a given race and its idealized idea of ​​itself. One German rightly said that there could never have been a Napoleon nation, but that there was a moment when the secret desire of every Frenchman was to become a Napoleon. This ideal Napoleon, however, was far from being like the rude and treacherous historical Napoleon, whom even now, after so many diverse studies, we still do not know enough. Vercingetorix, Charlemagne, Saint Louis, Joan of Arc, Vincent de Paul, Bayard, Henry IV, Turain, Conde, d'Assas, Mirabeau, Napoleon - these are the heroes of France, whose true or imaginary face is familiar to everyone. The most popular are Joan of Arc and Napoleon, and from the latter they made the personification of the French revolution and French glory. Undoubtedly, under the influence of the classical direction, the great people of France underwent great changes and approached the conventional heroes of Corneille and Racine's heroes; but in any case, they acted charmingly on simple and direct popular imagination with its courage and contempt for death, uncontrollable impulse and all-conquering frankness, greatness of soul and chivalrous spirit, devotion to the fatherland or humanity, love for “freedom,” “enlightenment” and “progress.” These are symbols rather of an ideal living in the people's soul than in historical reality; but it cannot be denied that if you want to characterize this ideal in one word, you will call it the ideal of generosity.

In the eyes of some nations, to be generous is to be a "fool." Without a doubt, generosity must be enlightened and “ideas” are forces only if they do not contradict reality. But what people are sinning at the present time is not an excess of love and devotion to ideas; against. Skepticism, utilitarian concerns, dishonesty in monetary matters, narrow politics of parties and interests, selfish class struggle - this is what must now be fought everywhere in the name of ideas. If France were to renounce its cult of the ideal, its selfless service to society and humanity, it would lose, without any possible gain for it, that in which its true moral strength always lay. Let's not force our abilities.

De l "Intelligence I, book IV, chapter I.

Tarde. Laws of imitation, ch. III. What is society?

This pessimism is challenged in favor of a somewhat exaggerated new optimism by Novikov in his interesting book on the Future of the White Race.

Apply one end of a large compass to the forehead and the other to the back of the head, and you will get the length of the skull; then measure with a compass the greatest width of the skull along the line of the ears; the quotient of dividing the width of the skull by its length is called the cranial index (l "indice cephalique).

The German anthropologist Golder wanted to call the round-headed predecessors of the Germans in Germany

The following objections are raised against this: 1) brachycephaly is less significant and less common in Asia than in Europe; 2) brachycephals could have entered Europe in the Bronze Age only by passing through Siberia and Russia, where almost only dolichocephals are found in this era, or by passing through the entire population of Assyrians, which is historically impossible. Finally, our plants are not of Asian origin.

Let us also add that, as Collignon proved, the victors usually occupied the plains and river valleys, while the vanquished were pushed into the mountains or to the very coast of the ocean.

One Japanese anthropologist suggests that the upper classes of Japan are largely descended from the Akkadians, closely related to the Chaldeans. In any case, the Mongolian element is less significant in Japan.

Currently, the cranial index has increased among the Greeks from 0.76 to 0.81.

The Germans pointed out from Virgil the following description of a person who had a completely German appearance and even bore a German name - Herminius:

Catillus Joan.

Ingentemque animis, ingentem corpore et armis

Dejicit Herminium, nodo cui vertice fulva

Caesaries nudique humeri.

It is known that the Franks and Germans tied their long hair in a knot, which fell down their backs.

Soubies published a book in Halle (1890) about the ideal of male beauty among the old French poets of the 18th and 13th centuries. The physical ideal corresponds to the aristocratic type: tall stature, broad shoulders, developed chest, thin waist, high instep, white skin, blond hair, rosy cheeks, lively gaze, crimson lips.

However, Attila, who belonged to the Finnish or Ural-Altaic race, is depicted by Iornandes with a flat nose, small sunken eyes, a huge head and dark skin color.

Kossuth looked like a Hun and was proud of it. But was there any greater reason for such pride?

Familles eugeniques, constituting, as it were, an ethnic aristocracy.

The Germanic peoples, or those who consider themselves such, accuse the Celtic races of uncleanliness, but how can one explain in this case that the Gauls invented soap? According to the testimony of Ammiens Marcelin, they, on the contrary, paid great attention to caring for their bodies, and they could never be seen dressed in dirty rags.

It is known that the Gallic Druids enjoyed, according to Caesar, important advantages: they were exempt from military service and from all taxes; they had the right to prohibit the performance of sacrifice, that is, to subject them to real excommunication. All Druids, including their highest members, were elected. The election required a long preparation, since the training was only oral and lasted, as they say, twenty years. The science of the Druids was famous in ancient times; but this cannot be given much importance: it is known how the ancients were fascinated by all foreign secrets. In any case, the Druids made laws and judged most lawsuits and crimes. Caesar adds that they taught the youth, explaining to them “the course of the stars, the size of the world and the lands, the strength and power of the gods.” They especially inspired him “that the soul does not die, but after death passes into the body of another.” Caesar was probably mistaken on this last point, unless some more learned Druids had become acquainted with Greek and Pythagorean doctrines in the south of Gaul. But the idea of ​​metempsychosis contradicts everything that sociology tells us about the beliefs of primitive peoples in general and Gallic peoples in particular.

When the Gauls happened to be dissatisfied with Rome, they were answered, pointing to their centuries-old enemies, the Germans, always ready to cross the Rhine: “In Germany there are the same reasons as before to invade Gaul (so Cerialius told them): love of money and pleasures ", the desire to change place, the Germans will always be glad to leave their swamps and deserts and rush to fertile Gaul in order to take possession of your fields and enslave you yourself." Indeed, Rome had already saved southern Gaul from the terrible invasion of the Cimbri and Teutones. When Caesar entered Gaul, was he not summoned by the Gauls themselves? If the Aedouens turned to him for help, it was only because the Suevi had already crossed the Rhine, and Ariovistus was already calling Gaul “his own.” “It must happen,” said one Gaul, “that in a few years all the Gauls will be expelled from Gaul and all the Germans will cross the Rhine, because the German soil cannot compare with the Gallic, as well as the way of life of the inhabitants of these countries.” Thus, Caesar’s ambition was useful to Gaul itself, since it protected it from German barbarism.

Voltaire’s words are famous: “Whatever city you pass through, be it in France, in Spain, on the banks of the Rhine or in England, you will everywhere meet good people who will boast that they had Caesar. Each province disputes with the neighboring the honor that she was the first to receive the lash from Caesar." All nations admire those who punish them well, whether they be Celts or Germans.

Once upon a time, Strabo wrote in the first century A.D., the Gauls thought more about war than about work. “Now that the Romans had forced them to lay down their arms, they began to cultivate their fields with the same fervor, they adopted more civilized morals with the same eagerness.” According to Pliny, the Romans looked upon the Gauls, as well as the Greeks, as “the most industrial people.” At the end of the first century, Josephus spoke of Gaul: “Sources of wealth emerge there from the depths of the soil and flow in a stream throughout the whole country.” And he wished his eastern compatriots to be “brave like the Germans, skillful like the Greeks, and rich like the Gauls.”

As for the natural taste for the arts, it was revealed among the Gauls, in remarkable works, immediately after they became acquainted with Roman examples. At first they were content with a perfect imitation of the sculpture of their predecessors; in glass, metal and mosaic products they soon became real masters.

After the conquest, as before, the Gauls always showed the same love of danger and battle. They provided the Roman armies with the bravest foot soldiers and the toughest horsemen. At the end of the empire, they alone knew how to fight; they fought the last stubborn battles against the Germans and Persians. “They are good soldiers at any age,” says Ammien Marcelin; “young and old serve with equal energy, their bodies are strengthened by constant exercise, and they despise all dangers.” According to the poet Claudian, the Gauls are defeated not by force, but by chance: Sitgue palam Gallos casu, non robore vinci.

In the last days of the empire, when the sovereigns wanted to have soldiers who would not be barbarians and at the same time would not retreat before the enemy, they demanded them from Gaul, “this country of strong people who are courageous in war.”

According to Fustel de Coulanges, there is an analogy between the relationship of patrons and clients in ancient Rome and Gaul and the serfdom of the Germans; between the slow revolution, which turned the client into a tenant, and then the owner of the land, and the revolution, which turned the feudal serfs, first bound by certain obligations towards the landowner, and then into peasant owners; between the transformation of the army in the ancient republics, after the plebs entered it, and the transformation of the army of the Middle Ages after the establishment of communes; between the communes themselves, based on the development of middle-class wealth, and the ancient democracy that arose through trade and the replacement of immovable property with movable property.

The son of the great Fichte wrote: “What distinguishes the French in their scientific activity and what is connected more deeply than is usually thought with a correct assessment of truth is clarity, harmonious completeness of the idea, rigor of presentation, accuracy of definitions... Because the French assimilate our theories , insofar as we can judge from the outside the degree of clarity and scientific completeness of these theories: they are the first and indisputable judges of the clarity, maturity and accuracy of the idea." Introduction to the French translation of "The Way to Achieve a Happy Life", pp. 4, 6.

We extract from Brachet's Etymological Dictionary the following statistics of the modern French language: 1) words of unknown origin - 650; 2) words of Latin root - 3,800, Germanic - 420; Greek - 20; Celtic - 20; 3) Italian words - 450; Provencal - 50; Spanish - 100; German - 60; English - 100; Slavic - 36; Semitic - 110; eastern - 16; American - 20; 4) historical words - 105; 5) onomatopoeic - 40. Total - 5.977. If we subtract this figure of 5,977 from the 27,000 words contained in the Academic Dictionary, then we will be left with 21,000 derived words, formed either by the people through the development of root words, or by scientists by borrowing from Greek and Latin.

Venedey, in his book Les Allemands et les Français, d "apres l" esprit de leur langue et de leurs proverbes, says: “language is the people,” and he finds that in the French language there is less freedom and poetic feeling than in German. Then, based on his study of the language, he adds: “The Frenchman has a sense of his right; the German has a sense of the task that lies before him; the Frenchman is quicker to decide and more precise than the German; he is more active and happier... The French say: I earn my bread, whereas in Germany you have to earn it. The Frenchman knows, the German can; one knows the language, knows (knows how) to do something, knows (knows how) to remain silent; the other can speak a known language, can do something, can remain silent." Venedey might add that of these two languages, one shows more intellectuality, the other a greater predominance of will and force over reason."

Like this, for example: “The provisional government of the republic, convinced that greatness of soul is the highest policy, that every revolution carried out by the French people should serve as a sanction for a new philosophical truth, etc., etc., decrees” .

The fabliau and the Poem about Renard the Fox are adjacent to the comic and satirical genre; in them, no doubt, there is a lot of evil observation, critical instinct, fun and intelligence; but for one such fabliau as Griseledis, how much abomination in all meanings of this word! We owe the Gallic mind to Rainier, Molière, La Fontaine and Voltaire, but this does not prevent it from being too often the disgrace of France.

During his youth, Napoleon hated the French who took possession of Corsica: he regrets Paoli's failed attempt. Frankly with Bourrienne, he said: “I will cause your French all the harm that I am able to cause.” “He despised,” says Madame de Stael, “the nation whose chosen one he wanted to be.” “My origin,” he himself said, “forced all Italians to consider me their compatriot” (Memorial, May 6, 1816).

When the pope hesitated to come crown him, “the Italian party in the conclave,” he says, “defeated the Austrian, adding to political considerations the following argument, which caressed national pride: After all, this is an Italian dynasty, which, thanks to us, will rule the barbarians; we Let's take revenge on the Gauls."

Kant remarks in passing how difficult it is to translate into other languages, and especially into German, certain French words, the shades of which express traits of national character rather than specific objects, such as: “esprit (instead of bon sens), frivolite, galanterie, petit-maitre, coquette, etourderie, point d "honneur, bon ton, bon mot, etc." Apparently, for Kant we were still in the 18th century.

This is what Voltaire called the Jesuit party.

Louis and Napoleon - gold coins.

In France, says Lagneau, as in most large states, the military and political authorities consider it their duty not to collect, and most importantly not to make public, information about losses caused by wars; when it is impossible to completely hide these losses, they consider it their duty to reduce their significance so as not to frighten the population. Whatever may be the motives that motivate this concealment or this softening of the truth, a large part of the mortality caused by war is easily confused with the general mortality. It often seems much less valid because it only applies to deaths from wounds. Meanwhile, in all wars, and especially long ones, the number of those killed on the battlefield and those who died from wounds is much less than the number of those who died from disease.

The mortality rate of 1871, as stated by official statistics, exceeds in its enormous size everything that we know about the most difficult historical eras. Taking into account the terrible decrease in our population during these two years of the war of 1870-1871, one can agree with Lagneau, who finds moderate the figure of Fournier de Flay, who estimates at 2,500,000 people the loss caused by the twenty-three years of wars of the Revolution and the Empire, without including casualties. terror and civil wars. One can even very easily admit, together with Charles Richet, that the losses from the Empire’s wars alone extended to 3,000,000 people, if we add to the dead soldiers the victims of both sexes who were supposed to die during the two invasions, regardless of the shortage caused by the war in the birth rate. If, says Lagneau, we add the figure of losses for the period from 1852 to 1869, which we determined at 356,428 people (based on a comparison of the number of conscripted and discharged soldiers) to the 1,308,805 Frenchmen and Frenchwomen who died during the period 1869-1872 gg. thanks to the disastrous war of 1870, we will have a deficit of 1,500,000-1,600,000 inhabitants who died during the period of the Second Empire - a figure that also coincides with the 1,500,000 deaths that Richet counts for the same period of our history.

After the disastrous war of 1870, France again entered a period of peace. Despite the occupation of Tunisia, which turned out to be so deadly thanks to the typhus epidemic, which in 1881 raised the mortality rate in the expeditionary force to 61.30 per 1000; despite the expedition to South Oran; despite the occupation of Tonkin, so murderous thanks to the cholera epidemic, which in 1885 raised the mortality rate in the army to 96 people per 1000; despite the expedition to Madagascar, Upper Senegal and Sudan, the overall mortality rate in the army, apparently, was not high. “However, it would have turned out to be much greater if they had not continued to refrain from reporting the numerous dead soldiers of the expeditionary forces sent to these distant countries” (Lagneau, Consequences demographiques qu"ont eues pour la France les guerres depuis un siecle. Annales de l" Academie des sciences morales, 1892).

The arts, literature and sciences nowhere find so many means and incentives for work, so many opportunities to make their works known and make their works appreciated. A man of genius, says Levasseur, can be born anywhere; but “the full development of talent is the destiny of cities.” If, therefore, artistic, literary and scientific talents constitute the "flower of civilization" and are a source of social improvement, then cities must be forgiven for some of their disadvantages, taking into account the services they provide. Sometimes cities are “restless” and, under the dominance of centralized democracy, can give politics a direction on the edge of which there is an abyss, but in order to appreciate the role of cities, “one should not take into account only Paris, and in Paris only the extremes of demagoguery; it is necessary to understand the great movement social ideas that ferment within them and which are far from sterile." This movement, like the arts and sciences, contributes to the progress of civilization.

If we consider a nation as a living organism, then we can say that “villages produce more people than they dispose of, and cities absorb and consume part of this surplus, returning in return to the nation significant value in the form of wealth and civilization.” The more perfect are the instruments of production and the economic organization, the greater a proportion of the population a nation can devote to the work of the great cities; “It is therefore the proportion of urban population that is higher in industrial states than in purely agricultural ones, and tends to increase in our time both in old Europe and in young America.”

It is necessary to have two children to replace father and mother, and a third child to balance the mortality rate among those under marriageable age.

However, this is a common phenomenon in Europe. Of the three hundred and seventy-two secular peers of England that currently exist, Montalembert said, only twenty-four peerages arose before 1500; Yes, many of them survived only because they could pass into the female lines. No more than seventeen date back to the 16th century, and about sixty to the 17th, including those replaced by the highest title in a later era. Of the fifty-three hereditary peers and duchies existing in France in 1789, only four dated back to the sixteenth century.

Some doctors are also afraid of bicycle abuse, which not only predisposes to heart disease, but, by causing a rush of blood in the pelvic area, acts directly on the genitals. For women, they say, this exercise is especially dangerous and threatens infertility.