Today, about a third of the adult population smokes tobacco, mostly men. In some societies, smoking is an important ritual, while for others it simply helps to relieve stress and fatigue. Tobacco smoke does contain a psychoactive substance that causes mild euphoria. But research scientists also point to a clear connection between such a habit and some serious diseases.
Tobacco in the ancient world
The history of the origin of tobacco has more than one century. Until the sixteenth century, the plant grew only in South and North America. The first images of tobacco were found in ancient temples. These finds of archaeologists date back to the thousandth year BC. In the ancient world, the plant was used by shamans and local healers. Tobacco was credited with medicinal properties, and the leaves were used as a pain reliever.
The use of the plant was included in the rituals of ancient civilizations. Ancient people who lived in the areaCentral Americans believed that the inhalation of smoke allows you to communicate with the gods and departed relatives. During this period, two ways of smoking appeared: pipes became popular in North America, and smoking cigars rolled from whole leaves became widespread in South America.
Amazing find
Interesting fact: French paleobotanist Michel Lescaut and Professor Pari in 1976 discovered crushed tobacco leaves in the abdomen of Ramesses II and tobacco beetle larvae in bandages. It became clear that after the removal of the organs, the ruler's intestines were replaced with a mixture of herbs, which included crushed tobacco leaves.
Most scientists do not agree with the explanation of these finds as confirmation of the contacts of the New and Old Worlds in pre-Columbian times. But in the history of the appearance of tobacco in Europe and Africa, new conjectures have appeared. There is a version that the plant could have come to the Egyptian emperors from the Pacific Islands near Australia.
How tobacco came to Europe
The history of tobacco in the Old World is controversial. There is evidence that the first European who tried tobacco leaves did not appreciate them and threw away the gift of the natives. Christopher Columbus himself, perhaps, was not at all interested in the plant, but other members of the expedition definitely witnessed the ritual smoking of twisted leaves, which the locals called tobacco or tobago.
After returning to their homeland, the Inquisition accused smokers ofconnections with mystical forces. But seeds and leaves continued to be brought to Europe. The history of tobacco in the Old World was created by major statesmen. So, the French ambassador in Lisbon, Jean Nicot, sent tobacco to the Medici Queen in 1561. The plant was considered an effective and safe remedy for migraines.
Tobacco promotion
The history of tobacco in the world has since begun to develop rapidly. Smoking was considered a panacea for various diseases. The dried parts of the plant were not only sniffed and smoked, but also chewed. The already mentioned Jean Nicot had a hand in the popularization of tobacco. By the way, the generic scientific name was given to the plant in honor of the French ambassador in Lisbon.
Already a century after the discovery of a new continent, the plant was grown in Italy, England, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland. Trade relations expanded rapidly. Tobacco penetrated into Siberia and other regions of Asia. At the end of the sixteenth century, the heavy smoker, aristocrat, English sailor and poet Sir W alter Reilly organized several plantations. The aristocrat called one of them Virginia, which gave the name to one of the most popular varieties of the plant.
First anti-tobacco movement
Tobacco fans continued to be criticized by the church. At the end of the seventeenth century, the anti-smoking movement in Europe intensified, and doctors began to study the consequences of tobacco use on human he alth. For example, the court physician of King Louis XIV, doctor Fagon, called smoking a Pandora's box, fraught with previously unknown diseases.
The king answered,that he cannot ban tobacco, because in this case the state treasury will lose the significant income that it receives from the monopoly. The history of tobacco did not risk sinking into oblivion. Any attempt by the monarchs to restrict the importation and cultivation of the plant in any way led to an unprecedented flourishing of smuggling.
Twenty-six states of America in 1890 decided to ban the sale of cigarettes to minors. In New York in 1908, women were forbidden to smoke in public places, but lawbreakers immediately appeared who began to actively fight for their rights. Since then, tobacco history has been associated with the women's emancipation movement.
Tobacco during the wars of the twentieth century
During the First World War, he became part of the daily lives of soldiers. Tobacco was recommended for smoking to calm the nervous system and relax. The plant "passed" and the Second World War. Then Franklin Roosevelt, the President of the United States and one of the central figures of world events in the first half of the twentieth century, even declared tobacco a strategic commodity during wartime.
The post-war period saw the golden age of the tobacco industry. In the late forties and early fifties, cigarettes became an integral part of the image of many heroes, movie stars and sex symbols. In the fifties, the first scientific publications about the dangers of the plant appeared, and the largest manufacturers began to produce filtered cigarettes for the first time.
In the sixties, warnings about the dangers of smoking began to be applied to packs for the first time, and two years laterdecade began a global attack on tobacco. Taxes in Western Europe and the United States increased by 85%. At the turn of the century, litigation became the main topic of tobacco industry news.
History of tobacco in Russia
In Russia, the plant appeared under Ivan the Terrible. Tobacco was brought by English merchants, it got into the baggage of interventionists, hired officers and Cossacks during the turmoil. Smoking was not encouraged for a long time, but for a short time gained popularity in high society, and especially among foreigners.
Under Mikhail Romanov, the attitude towards smoking has changed dramatically. Tobacco was officially banned, and the detected contraband began to be burned in full. Consumers and merchants were subjected to large monetary fines and corporal punishment. After a major fire in Moscow that occurred in 1634, a royal decree was issued banning smoking under threat of death. In practice, the execution was replaced by the "cutting" of the nose.
Abominable Potion
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1646 wanted to take the sale of tobacco into a monopoly, but the powerful patriarch Nikon soon reinstated tough measures against the “blameful potion”. Any smoker was subject to severe physical punishment.
The history of tobacco smoking in Russia subsided for a while, but soon the reformer Tsar Peter I legalized the sale and established the rules for the distribution of smoking mixtures. Tobacco smoke, according to the decree of 1697, was allowed to be inhaled and exhaled only through pipes.
In 1705 a newdecree. The sale of tobacco was allowed through kissers, elected officials, and burmisters. At the same time, two factories were established: in Akhtyrka (modern Ukraine) and St. Petersburg. Tobacco became widespread by the middle of the eighteenth century. No assembly or celebration was complete without smoking.
Tobacco under Empress Catherine
During the reign of Catherine, Russian entrepreneurship flourished, which turned out to be very successful for the tobacco trade. A significant event took place in the history of tobacco in Russia: free sale was officially allowed by a special decree of the Empress, which dates back to 1762.
The first tobacco workshops in Tsarist Petersburg were organized by foreigners. Production volumes were modest. By 1812, the number of large workshops increased to six, all of them worked on raw materials that were brought from abroad. At the same time, snuff became popular. Many aristocrats preferred not smoking mixtures, but snuff brought from France or Germany. Local tobacco soon became widespread. The most popular variety in Russia was called shag.
The appearance of cigarettes
Until the early nineteenth century, smoking tobacco was inferior in popularity to snuff. But during the reign of Alexander I, the pipe and cigar began to replace the snuffbox. The real revolution happened when cigarettes appeared. The first documented mention of cigarettes is found in a decree of the Russian Ministry of Finance dated 1844. Then cigarettes were made by dozens of factories.
First big monopoly
In 1914, the St. Petersburg Society appeared, which included thirteen factories and produced more than half (56%) of tobacco products in Russia. By the early twentieth century, the tobacco trade had become one of the most lucrative commercial ventures.
The cigarette boom happened during the First World War, but then the tobacco factories were nationalized, and the volume of production was significantly reduced. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, production facilities were evacuated to the east, and in the fifties restored on an advanced basis. But already in the eighties, tobacco production repeated the fate of the entire domestic industry: some factories went bankrupt, others were privatized, fierce competition arose.
Today, large domestic enterprises work simultaneously with many handicraft industries. The modern consumer chooses the highest quality products, which are produced in full accordance with the requirements for technology, so the number of small factories is steadily declining.
