Really!?
Serious, now (a-hem!
)
Prohibition was likely a side-effect of World War 1. It was the government's concern, first of all, to avoid alcohol intoxication among the troops, secondly to save corn for the more urgent needs of fighting food shortage, and third, a moral uprise against 'the devil alcohol'.
For the first reason, Russia had already in 1914 forbidden the sale of wodka, which would turn against herself, since it deprived the government from immense tax incomes needed to fund the war. As far as I am informed, Britain nationalised all the pubs for the same reason (1917), made a paying membership compulsory and imposed a closing at 10 pm. These rules still existed in the 1970's.
France did not bother that much. The French soldier in the trenches had the right on one glass of brandy a day!
In 1919, Belgium introduced its own, creative 'prohibition'. The sale of liquor (but not of beer) was forbidden in pubs. The sale of liquor in shops was still allowed, but highly taxed, and, one had to buy AT LEAST 2 LITERS! Anyone carrying less than 2 liters of liquor on the street risked a fine! The idea behind it was that most alcoholics could not financially afford to buy that much in one sale! The law was abolished in 1983.