August 22, 1941 - 83 Years Ago August 22, 1941, went down in history as the "birthday" of the famous "People's Commissar's 100 grams." On this day, the Chairman of the State Defense Committee of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, signed Decree No. 562 "On the Introduction of Vodka into Supply for the Active Red Army," according to which soldiers were entitled to receive half a glass of "fuel" daily. The document stated: "To establish, starting from September 1, 1941, the issuance of 40° vodka in the amount of 100 grams per day per person for soldiers and officers of the frontline troops of the Active Army." The supply of vodka to the army was personally overseen by Politburo member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and People's Commissar of the Food Industry of the USSR, Anastas Mikoyan, who did much to ensure that the Soviet soldier did not lack the essentials at the front. The distribution of the drink was to be personally monitored by the front commanders. Later (from May 1942 to November 1943), the rules for supplying Red Army soldiers with "fuel" were repeatedly changed. The circle of soldiers entitled to vodka rations, serving in different branches of the military and various combat positions, either expanded or contracted; and the norms of issuing the cherished "drink" either slightly increased or decreased. From November 25 to December 31, 1942, with the beginning of the decisive turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War, during the first victories of the Soviet troops at Stalingrad, the Transcaucasian Front consumed 1.2 million liters of vodka, the Western Front about 1 million, the Karelian Front 364 thousand, and the Stalingrad Front 407 thousand liters. On November 23, 1943, three months after the Battle of Kursk and the crossing of the Dnieper, which marked the completion of the turning point, Stalin finally approved the "People's Commissar's" norms: 100 grams for soldiers on the frontlines and 50 grams for the rest. And it remained so until the Victory.