In the second part the 18th century there was a domestic policy and an economic crisis in Rzeczpospolita. Because of it in the 25th July 1772 a convention was signed between Austria, Prussia and Russia about the occupation of Rzeczpospolita and the annexation of most of its territories. Rzeczpospolita had received an ultimatum with the threat of using force, and the king and the Sejm conceded. Russia annexed the Polish Vidzeme and part of Belarus, Prussia – part of the Greater Poland, but Austria – Little Poland. In total there were three divisions, as a result the combined Polish and Lithuanian country ceased to exist and the Russian Empire acquired vast territories, including, The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia and the lands of Inflanty Voivodeship.
Latgale was added to the Russian Empire after the first division in 1772. With Latgale’s annexation to the Russian Empire the number of Orthodox believers increased. Taking into consideration the area of the Vitebsk Province, which included also the Belarussian and the Russian territories, it is logical that the most represented was the Orthodox belief followed by the Christians.
When building the Warsaw – Petersburgh, Moscow – Riga roads and railroads the number of Lutherans increased. In the 18th century a tradition for Catholics was formed in which they held their May public worships in populated places at a village cross. For 40 years (1864. – 1904.) the Russian Empire forbid the use of Latin print, and the gathering at crucifixes allowed to maintain the national language and the Latgalian identity. In every Latgalian village there was one or two crucifixes which were as both people and social life connectors.
Food production – the beginning of spirit distillery
Liquor in the modern-day Latvian territory was known already since the German manor times, where in many manors of Vidzeme and Zemgale there were their own spirit distilleries and the pub “business” was very profitable. Spirit was made by distilling cereals of bread, but liquor sold in the manor pubs. In Latgale this domestic craft was vastly developed when it was under the Russian subordination. In the middle of the 19th century began a fast formation of spirit distilleries. For example, in 1858 the army general Ignatiev in Dvinsk (nowadays Daugavpils) built a spirit distillery. The fame of the high-quality drinks made in Dvinsk quickly spread throughout the whole Russian Empire. These drinks were highly valued by both the admirers and the creators of this product. Many spirit distilleries were built in the territories of the Latgalian manors, however, sadly, there is no data about the created amount of spirit and the use liquor for the creating process.
The battle with the bad habit of drinking
The amount of spirit that was traded increased because there were many spirit distilleries. Alcohol was the only opportunity for the Latgale’s “small” human to get away for a moment from the every-day depression and forget the poverty, and the difficult household conditions where they had to live. In the 19th July of 1914 the trade for any alcoholic beverage was stopped. “The prohibition” was in force during the First World War. In 1916 the national City Council even reviewed an initiative “To enshrine the prohibition for keeps in Russia”. It has to be said that this “prohibition” cannot be considered as fully “dried up” because the trade for alcohol continued in restaurants, but the “strong drinks” went past for most of the people. During the time of the Russian Empire there was prohibition in all of the territory, both in the countryside and in the cities, to open pubs closer than 40 fathoms near important establishments – churches, prayer houses, monasteries, where public worships happened, graveyards, hospitals, barracks, prisons, schools and local community boards.
“Kandza” comes into the lexis
In the beginning of the 19th century the word “kandza” came into the Latvian language. Till now this term was unknown. As the researchers and enthusiasts of homemade alcohol consider, the origin of the word “kandza” can be found during the time of the Russian – Japanese war (1904. – 1905.). The soldiers in the Far East got to know a very bad spirit that in Korean was called “handza”. This drink is called the same in the territory of Estonia. The English name for kandza is “moonshine” – moonlight. It is called like that because the distilling was done only at night.