Abstract: Contemporary Russian and foreign historiography is actively discussing the concept of the Middle ages. Some of the key problems concerning this notion include its chronological frame, its watershed temporal marks, its applicability to regions other than Western Europe and the Mediterranean, and its socio-cultural content. Opponents of this term have put forward claims that this concept lacks an objective basis and that from its appearance during the Renaissance, it has been no more than a projection of the ideas of scholars from different schools and epochs about the past and their own times. In this line of reasoning we are advised not to study the Middle ages as such (with the exception of particular periods and phenomena), but rather to assess this notion at different stages of historiography and decide what particular perception is necessary for our own contemporary society and, consequently, conduct our research accordingly. In writing this article the author made use of the general scientific methods, i.e. the historical and logical methods, as well as the systematic and linguistic methods. The author demonstrates that the critics of the notion of Middle ages have failed to prove its ontological emptiness, just as they have failed to prove this for the concept of Feudalism, which as they claim has been discarded by modern historiography as useless for the understanding of the medieval world. The author comes to the conclusion that the idea of the ontological emptiness of the discussed notion should be considered in the context of the more general historiographical debates about historicism, the pertinence of contemporary scientific concepts for the study of history, and the very subject of historical research, including the expediency of posing “global questions” in history. The article shows that the refutation of the notion of Middle ages is connected with the refusal of studying the system of social relations that enables us to apprehend the medieval world in its wholeness. The author also considers the place of Medieval European civilization from the point of view of its cultural achievements and its unique capability of evolution without causing major social catastrophes. A hypothesis is advanced that this capability is in itself a most important characteristic of the Medieval epoch.

Keywords: Middle ages, Modern History, European Civilisation, medieval studies, medievalism, history of notions, property relations, Feudalism, fiefs and vassalage, seigneurie.

References:
Blok M. Feodal'noe obshchestvo. M.: Izdatel'stvo imeni Sabashnikovykh, 2003. 502 s.
Boytsov M. A. Srednevekov'e – v «real'nosti» ili tol'ko v nashem soznanii? // [Elektronnyy resurs] – URL: http://www.hse.ru/data/2012/05/26/1253617231/VvedenieSait.doc (data obrashcheniya: 26.12.14)
Gurevich A. Ya. Izbrannye trudy. T. 1. Drevnie germantsy. Vikingi. M.; SPb.: Universitetskaya kniga, 1999. 352 s.
Gurevich A. Ya. Problemy genezisa feodalizma v Zapadnoy Evrope. M.: Vysshaya shkola, 1970. 203 s.
Dolgoe Srednevekov'e. Sbornik v chest' professora Adelaidy Anatol'evny Svanidze / Otv. red. A. K. Gladkov, P. Yu. Uvarov. M.: Kuchkovo pole, 2011. 576 s.
Dubrovskiy I. V. Kak ya ponimayu feodalizm. Evropa. V–XVI vv. // Konstruirovanie feodal'nogo / Sost. P. Yu. Uvarov, I. V. Dubrovskiy. M.: Editorial URSS, 2001. S. 170–182.
Le Goff Zh. V podderzhku dolgogo Srednevekov'ya // Le Goff Zh. Srednevekovyy mir voobrazhaemogo. M., 2001. S. 31–38.
Tuber P. Istoriya struktur Srednevekov'ya (Beseda s N. Offenshtadtom) // Srednie veka. 2007. Vyp. 68 (1). S. 69–91.
Uvarov P. Yu. «Roskosh' feodalizma» // Vsemirnaya istoriya. T. 2. Srednevekovye tsivilizatsii Zapada i Vostoka. M.: Nauka, 2012. C. 810–818.
Uvarov P. Yu. Chto takoe «Srednie veka»? // Vsemirnaya istoriya. T. 2. Srednevekovye tsivilizatsii Zapada i Vostoka. M.: Nauka, 2012. C. 5–15.
Uvarov P. Yu. XII stoletie i sekret srednevekovogo Zapada: obretenie form // Srednie veka. 2013. Vyp. 74 (3–4). S. 42–59.
Feodalizm. Ponyatie i realii / Pod red. A. Ya. Gurevicha, S. I. Luchitskoy, P. Yu. Uvarova. M., 2008. 277 s.
Filippov I. S. Sredizemnomorskaya Frantsiya v rannee Srednevekov'e. Problema stanovleniya feodalizma. M.: Skriptoriy, 2000. 799 s.
Khachaturyan N. A. Obshchestvennaya sistema i printsip otnositel'nosti. K voprosu o soderzhanii kontsept-yavleniya «feodalizm» // Srednie veka. 2009. Vyp. 68 (1). S. 6–35.
Chitatel'skaya konferentsiya zhurnala «Srednie veka» // Srednie veka. 2009. Vyp. 70 (1–2). S. 8–138.
Bonnassie P. Le servage: une sous-féodalité? Le témoignage des documents catalans (fin XI–XIII siècle) // La Servitude dans les pays de la Méditerranée occidentale chrétienne au XII siècle et au-delà: déclinante ou renouvelée? Mélanges de l’Ecole Française de Rome. 2000. T. 112. ¹ 2. P. 643–661.
Brown E. A. R. The Tyranny of a Construct: Feudalism and Historians of Medieval Europe // American Historical Review. 1974. Vol. 79. P. 1063–1088.
Cantor N. Inventing the Middle Ages: The Lives, Works and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century. New York: Morrow, 1991. 477 p.
Cheyette F. L. Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Troubadours. Ithaca; London: Cornell University press, 2001. XV, 474 p.
Cluny, les moines et la société au premier âge féodal / Dir. D. Iogna-Prat, M. Lauwers, F. Mazel et I. Rosé. Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2013. 592 p.
Die Gegenwart des Feudalismus – Présence du féodalisme et présent de la féodalité – The Presence of Feudalism / Hrsg. von N. Fryde, P. Monnet, O. G. Oexle. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 2002. 327 S.
Duby G. Qu’est-ce que la société féodale? Paris: Flamarion, 2002. 1780 p.
Durliat J. Les finances publiques de Diocletien aux Carolingiens (284–888). Sigmaringen: Thorbecke, 1990. 368 p.
El temps i l’espai del Feudalisme. Reunió científica VI Curs d’Estiu. Comtat d’Urgell (Balaguer, 11, 12 i 13 de juliol de 2001) / Coordinadors F. Sabaté i J. Farré. Lleida: Pagès editors, 2004. 644 p.
Guerreau A. L’avenir d’un passé incertain: Quelle histoire du Moyen Age au XXI siècle? Paris: Le Seuil, 2001. 343 p.
Il feudalesimo nell’alto medioevo. Settimane di studio del Centro italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo, XLVII, 8–12 aprile 1999. Spoleto, 2000. 1026 p.
La Dîme, l’Eglise et la Société féodale / Ed. par M. Lauwers. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012. 634 p.
Les féodalités / Sous la dir. de E. Bournazel et J.-P. Poly. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1998. 807 p.
Medievalism in the modern world: essays in honour of Leslie J. Workman / Ed. by R. J. Utz and T. A. Shippey. Turnhout: Brepols, 1998. 452 p.
Philippov I. La transhumance dans les Alpes françaises du Haut Moyen Age // Vie, culture et société dans les Alpes. Actes du Colloque International d’Histoire et d’Archéologie sur l’Arc Alpin. Gap, 28 et 29 septembre 2002. Gap, 2005. P. 101–106.
Reynolds S. Fiefs and Vassals. The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted. Oxford: Oxford University press, 1994. XI, 544 p.
Wickham Ch. Le forme del feudalesimo // Il feudalesimo nell’alto medioevo. Settimane di studio del Centro italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo. XLVII. 8–12 aprile 1999. Spoleto, 2000. P. 15–46.

References (transliteration):
Blok M. Feodal'noe obshchestvo. M.: Izdatel'stvo imeni Sabashnikovykh, 2003. 502 s.
Boytsov M. A. Srednevekov'e – v «real'nosti» ili tol'ko v nashem soznanii? // [Elektronnyy resurs] – URL: http://www.hse.ru/data/2012/05/26/1253617231/VvedenieSait.doc (data obrashcheniya: 26.12.14)
Gurevich A. Ya. Izbrannye trudy. T. 1. Drevnie germantsy. Vikingi. M.; SPb.: Universitetskaya kniga, 1999. 352 s.
Gurevich A. Ya. Problemy genezisa feodalizma v Zapadnoy Evrope. M.: Vysshaya shkola, 1970. 203 s.
Dolgoe Srednevekov'e. Sbornik v chest' professora Adelaidy Anatol'evny Svanidze / Otv. red. A. K. Gladkov, P. Yu. Uvarov. M.: Kuchkovo pole, 2011. 576 s.
Dubrovskiy I. V. Kak ya ponimayu feodalizm. Evropa. V–XVI vv. // Konstruirovanie feodal'nogo / Sost. P. Yu. Uvarov, I. V. Dubrovskiy. M.: Editorial URSS, 2001. S. 170–182.
Le Goff Zh. V podderzhku dolgogo Srednevekov'ya // Le Goff Zh. Srednevekovyy mir voobrazhaemogo. M., 2001. S. 31–38.
Tuber P. Istoriya struktur Srednevekov'ya (Beseda s N. Offenshtadtom) // Srednie veka. 2007. Vyp. 68 (1). S. 69–91.
Uvarov P. Yu. «Roskosh' feodalizma» // Vsemirnaya istoriya. T. 2. Srednevekovye tsivilizatsii Zapada i Vostoka. M.: Nauka, 2012. C. 810–818.
Uvarov P. Yu. Chto takoe «Srednie veka»? // Vsemirnaya istoriya. T. 2. Srednevekovye tsivilizatsii Zapada i Vostoka. M.: Nauka, 2012. C. 5–15.
Uvarov P. Yu. XII stoletie i sekret srednevekovogo Zapada: obretenie form // Srednie veka. 2013. Vyp. 74 (3–4). S. 42–59.
Feodalizm. Ponyatie i realii / Pod red. A. Ya. Gurevicha, S. I. Luchitskoy, P. Yu. Uvarova. M., 2008. 277 s.
Filippov I. S. Sredizemnomorskaya Frantsiya v rannee Srednevekov'e. Problema stanovleniya feodalizma. M.: Skriptoriy, 2000. 799 s.
Khachaturyan N. A. Obshchestvennaya sistema i printsip otnositel'nosti. K voprosu o soderzhanii kontsept-yavleniya «feodalizm» // Srednie veka. 2009. Vyp. 68 (1). S. 6–35.
Chitatel'skaya konferentsiya zhurnala «Srednie veka» // Srednie veka. 2009. Vyp. 70 (1–2). S. 8–138.
Bonnassie P. Le servage: une sous-féodalité? Le témoignage des documents catalans (fin XI–XIII siècle) // La Servitude dans les pays de la Méditerranée occidentale chrétienne au XII siècle et au-delà: déclinante ou renouvelée? Mélanges de l’Ecole Française de Rome. 2000. T. 112. ¹ 2. P. 643–661.
Brown E. A. R. The Tyranny of a Construct: Feudalism and Historians of Medieval Europe // American Historical Review. 1974. Vol. 79. P. 1063–1088.
Cantor N. Inventing the Middle Ages: The Lives, Works and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century. New York: Morrow, 1991. 477 p.
Cheyette F. L. Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Troubadours. Ithaca; London: Cornell University press, 2001. XV, 474 p.
Cluny, les moines et la société au premier âge féodal / Dir. D. Iogna-Prat, M. Lauwers, F. Mazel et I. Rosé. Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2013. 592 p.
Die Gegenwart des Feudalismus – Présence du féodalisme et présent de la féodalité – The Presence of Feudalism / Hrsg. von N. Fryde, P. Monnet, O. G. Oexle. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 2002. 327 S.
Duby G. Qu’est-ce que la société féodale? Paris: Flamarion, 2002. 1780 p.
Durliat J. Les finances publiques de Diocletien aux Carolingiens (284–888). Sigmaringen: Thorbecke, 1990. 368 p.
El temps i l’espai del Feudalisme. Reunió científica VI Curs d’Estiu. Comtat d’Urgell (Balaguer, 11, 12 i 13 de juliol de 2001) / Coordinadors F. Sabaté i J. Farré. Lleida: Pagès editors, 2004. 644 p.
Guerreau A. L’avenir d’un passé incertain: Quelle histoire du Moyen Age au XXI siècle? Paris: Le Seuil, 2001. 343 p.
Il feudalesimo nell’alto medioevo. Settimane di studio del Centro italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo, XLVII, 8–12 aprile 1999. Spoleto, 2000. 1026 p.
La Dîme, l’Eglise et la Société féodale / Ed. par M. Lauwers. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012. 634 p.
Les féodalités / Sous la dir. de E. Bournazel et J.-P. Poly. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1998. 807 p.
Medievalism in the modern world: essays in honour of Leslie J. Workman / Ed. by R. J. Utz and T. A. Shippey. Turnhout: Brepols, 1998. 452 p.
Philippov I. La transhumance dans les Alpes françaises du Haut Moyen Age // Vie, culture et société dans les Alpes. Actes du Colloque International d’Histoire et d’Archéologie sur l’Arc Alpin. Gap, 28 et 29 septembre 2002. Gap, 2005. P. 101–106.
Reynolds S. Fiefs and Vassals. The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted. Oxford: Oxford University press, 1994. XI, 544 p.
Wickham Ch. Le forme del feudalesimo // Il feudalesimo nell’alto medioevo. Settimane di studio del Centro italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo. XLVII. 8–12 aprile 1999. Spoleto, 2000. P. 15–46.

Abstract: The article examines the alcohol sales prohibition, at the same time with the Imperial Decree of 16 July 1914 on military mobilization, and its prolongation (22 August 1914) until the end of the war, in the context of an on-going historiographical discussion on the population’s level of well-being in post-reform Russia. One of issues subject to controversy is the question of alcohol consumption by the population after 1861. The article demonstrates, based on both statistics and narrative sources, that the attempt to diminish alcohol expenditures per household and, more generally, the sense itself of alcohol consumption within the population is not seriously founded. In particular, after the introduction of the alcohol prohibition law the population’s deposits in government savings banks dramatically increased, various types of personal debts decreased, nutrition improved, as well as living and housing conditions, and purchases of agricultural machinery augmented, and so on. At the same time, diseases, fire accidents, poverty, unjustified workplace absenteeism, and more – decreased.

Keywords: World War I, Alcohol Prohibition, “hungry export”, drinking income, population well-being, alcohol consumption, consumption per capita, deposits and savings, Russian history, “semantic inflation”.

Contact information: Davydov Mikhail Abramovich, Nakhimovskiy prospekt 32, Moscow 117218 Russia

References:
Voronov D. N. Zhizn' derevni v dni trezvosti (po dannym zemskikh i drugikh anket). Pg., 1916.
Davydov M. A. Ocherki agrarnoy istorii Rossii v kontse XIX — nachale XX v. M., 2003.
Davydov M. A. Statistika i politika // Voprosy istorii. 2012. ¹ 12.
Ermolov A. S. Nashi neurozhai i prodovol'stvennyy vopros. V 2 t. SPb., 1909. T. 1.
Ermolov A. S. Sel'skokhozyaystvennye etyudy. Kiev, 1892.
Litoshenko L. N. Sotsializatsiya zemli v Rossii. Novosibirsk, 2001.
Mironov B. N. Strasti po revolyutsii. Nravy v rossiyskoy istoriografii v vek informatsii. M., 2013.
O vliyanii voyny na nekotorye storony ekonomicheskoy zhizni Rossii. Pg., 1916.
Ostrovskiy A. V. «P'yanaya derevnya»: domysly i fakty // Noveyshaya istoriya Rossii. 2013. ¹ 2 (7).
Rittikh A. A. Zavisimost' krest'yan ot obshchiny. SPb., 1903.
Semenov S. T. Nuzhdy i nedostatki krest'yanskikh obshchestv. M., 1896.

References (transliteration):
Voronov D. N. Zhizn' derevni v dni trezvosti (po dannym zemskikh i drugikh anket). Pg., 1916.
Davydov M. A. Ocherki agrarnoy istorii Rossii v kontse XIX — nachale XX v. M., 2003.
Davydov M. A. Statistika i politika // Voprosy istorii. 2012. ¹ 12.
Ermolov A. S. Nashi neurozhai i prodovol'stvennyy vopros. V 2 t. SPb., 1909. T. 1.
Ermolov A. S. Sel'skokhozyaystvennye etyudy. Kiev, 1892.
Litoshenko L. N. Sotsializatsiya zemli v Rossii. Novosibirsk, 2001.
Mironov B. N. Strasti po revolyutsii. Nravy v rossiyskoy istoriografii v vek informatsii. M., 2013.
O vliyanii voyny na nekotorye storony ekonomicheskoy zhizni Rossii. Pg., 1916.
Ostrovskiy A. V. «P'yanaya derevnya»: domysly i fakty // Noveyshaya istoriya Rossii. 2013. ¹ 2 (7).
Rittikh A. A. Zavisimost' krest'yan ot obshchiny. SPb., 1903.
Semenov S. T. Nuzhdy i nedostatki krest'yanskikh obshchestv. M., 1896.