Today, about a third of the adult population smoke tobacco, it is mainly men. In some societies, smoking is an important ritual, and it helps someone simply relieve stress and fatigue. Tobacco smoke does contain a psychoactive substance that causes mild euphoria. But scientists' studies 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 dates back more than one century. Until the sixteenth century, the plant grew only in South and North America. The first tobacco images were found in ancient temples. These findings of archaeologists date back to the thousandth year BC. In the ancient world, the plant was used by shamans and local healers. Healing properties were attributed to tobacco, and the leaves were used as painkillers.
The use of the plant entered into the rituals of ancient civilizations. Ancient people living in Central America believed that inhaling smoke allowed them to communicate with gods and departed relatives. Two methods of smoking appeared during this period: in the northern part of America pipes became popular, and in South America smoking of cigars twisted from whole leaves became widespread.
Amazing find
An interesting fact: the French paleobotanist Michel Lescot and Professor Paris in 1976 discovered shredded tobacco leaves in the abdominal cavity of Ramesses II and tobacco beetle larvae in bandages. It became clear that after removing the organs, the ruler’s intestines were replaced by a mixture of herbs, which included chopped tobacco leaves.
Most scientists do not agree with the explanation of these findings as confirmation of the contacts of the New and Old Worlds in pre-Columbian times. But in the history of the emergence of tobacco in Europe and Africa, new speculations appeared. There is a version that the plant could get to the Egyptian emperors from the islands of the Pacific Ocean near Australia.
How tobacco appeared in Europe
The history of tobacco in the Old World is contradictory. 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, really was not at all interested in the plant, but other members of the expedition clearly witnessed the ritual smoking of twisted leaves, which the locals called tobacco or tobago.
After returning to the homeland of smoking lovers, the Inquisition blamed in connection with mystical forces. But seeds and leaves continued to be brought to Europe. The history of tobacco in the Old World was created by large statesmen. So, the French ambassador in Lisbon, Jean Nico in 1561 sent tobacco to the Queen Medici. The plant was considered an effective and safe remedy for migraine.
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 Nico had a hand in promoting tobacco. By the way, the generic scientific name was given to the plant in honor of the French ambassador in Lisbon.
A century after the discovery of a new continent, the plant was grown in Italy, England, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland. Trade ties expanded rapidly. Tobacco penetrated into Siberia and other regions of Asia. At the end of the sixteenth century, an avid smoker, aristocrat, English sailor and poet Sir Walter Reilly organized several plantations. One of them called the aristocrat Virginia, which gave the name to one of the most popular plant varieties.
The first anti-tobacco movement
Tobacco fans continued to be criticized by the church. At the end of the seventeenth century, the anti-smoking movement intensified in Europe, and doctors began to study the effects of tobacco use on human health. For example, the court physician of King Louis XIV, doctor Fagon called smoking Pandora's box, concealing previously unknown diseases.
The king replied that he could not ban tobacco, because in this case the state treasury would lose significant revenues from the monopoly. The history of tobacco did not risk falling into oblivion. Any attempt by the monarchs in any way to limit the import and cultivation of plants led to an unprecedented flowering 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, in the history of tobacco, smoking has become associated with the emancipation movement of women.
Tobacco during the wars of the twentieth century
During World War I, he became part of the daily life of soldiers. Tobacco was recommended to smoke 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 product in the wartime period.
The post-war era 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 on the dangers of plants appeared, and the largest manufacturers for the first time began to produce filter cigarettes.
In the sixtieth, packs were first warned of the dangers of smoking, and two decades later a global attack on tobacco began. Taxes in Western Europe and the United States grew by 85%. At the turn of the century, litigation became the main topic of tobacco industry news.
The history of tobacco in Russia
In Russia, the plant appeared under Ivan the Terrible. English merchants brought tobacco, he penetrated into the baggage of the interventionists, hired officers and Cossacks during the time of 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, attitudes toward smoking changed dramatically. Tobacco was officially banned, and the smuggling discovered was burned in full. Consumers and merchants were subjected to heavy fines and corporal punishment. After a major fire in Moscow in 1634, a royal decree banning smoking under the threat of death was issued. In practice, the execution was replaced by "cutting" the nose.
Poor Potion
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1646 wanted to take the sale of tobacco into a monopoly, but the powerful patriarch Nikon soon restored tough measures against the “godly potion”. For any smoker heavy physical punishment was provided.
The history of tobacco smoking in Russia has abated for a while, but soon the Tsar reformer 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 inhale and exhale only through pipes.
In 1705, a new decree was promulgated. The sale of tobacco was allowed through kissers, elected, burmistrov. Two factories were simultaneously established: in Akhtyrka (modern Ukraine) and Petersburg. Tobacco became widespread by the middle of the eighteenth century. Not a single assembly or festival was complete without smoking.
Tobacco under Empress Catherine
During the reign of Catherine, Russian entrepreneurship developed rapidly, 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 from 1762.
The first tobacco workshops in Tsarist Petersburg were organized by foreigners. Production volumes were modest. By 1812, the number of large workshops had increased to six, all of them worked on raw materials that were brought from abroad. Snuff became popular at that time. Many aristocrats preferred not snuff mixtures, but snuff, brought from France or Germany. Local tobacco soon spread. The most popular variety in Russia was called shag.
The appearance of cigarettes
Until the beginning of the nineteenth century, smoking tobacco was inferior in popularity to snuff. But during the reign of Alexander I, the pipe and cigar began to supplant the snuff box. The real revolution happened when cigarettes appeared. The first documented mention of cigarettes is found in the decree of the Ministry of Finance of Russia, dated 1844. Then cigarettes made dozens of factories.
The first major 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 beginning of the twentieth century, the trade in tobacco had become one of the most profitable undertakings in the commercial sphere.
A cigarette boom occurred during the First World War, but then the tobacco factories were nationalized, and production fell significantly. Production facilities with the beginning of World War II 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 all domestic industry: some factories went bankrupt, others turned out to be privatized, and fierce competition arose.
Today, large domestic enterprises work simultaneously with many handicraft industries. The modern consumer chooses the highest quality products that are manufactured in full accordance with the requirements for technology, so that the number of small factories is steadily decreasing.