THE SACRED UNION is a reactionary association of European monarchs that arose after the fall of Napoleon's empire. 26. IX 1815, Russian Emperor Alexander I, Austrian Emperor Franz I and Prussian King Frederick William III signed the so-called “Act of the Holy Alliance” in Paris. The real essence of the “Act”, designed in a pompous religious style, boiled down to the fact that the monarchs who signed it pledged “in every case and in every place ... to provide each other with benefits, reinforcements and assistance.” In other words, the Holy Alliance was a kind of mutual assistance agreement between the monarchs of Russia, Austria and Prussia, which was extremely broad in nature.

On November 19, 1815, the French king Louis XVIII joined the Holy Alliance; Later, most of the monarchs of the European continent joined him. England did not formally join the Holy Alliance, but in practice England often coordinated its behavior with the general line of the Holy Alliance.

The pious formulas of the “Act of Holy Alliance” covered up the very prosaic goals of its creators. There were two of them:

1. Maintain intact the redrawing of European borders that was carried out at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 (...).

2. Conduct an irreconcilable struggle against all manifestations of the “revolutionary spirit.”

In fact, the activities of the Holy Alliance focused almost entirely on the fight against the revolution. The key points of this struggle were the periodically convened congresses of the heads of the three leading powers of the Holy Alliance, which were also attended by representatives of England and France. Alexander I and K. Metternich usually played the leading role at the congresses. There were four congresses of the Holy Alliance - the Aachen Congress of 1818, the Troppau Congress of 1820, the Laibach Congress of 1821 and the Verona Congress of 1822 (...).

The powers of the Holy Alliance stood entirely on the basis of “legitimism,” that is, the most complete restoration of the old dynasties and regimes overthrown by the French Revolution and Napoleon’s armies, and proceeded from the recognition of an absolute monarchy. The Holy Alliance was the European gendarme that kept the European peoples in chains. This was most clearly manifested in the position of the Holy Alliance in relation to the revolutions in Spain (1820-1823), Naples (1820-1821) and Piedmont (1821), as well as the uprising of the Greeks against the Turkish yoke, which began in 1821.

19.XI 1820, shortly after the outbreak of the revolution in Spain and Naples, Russia, Austria and Prussia at the congress in Troppau signed a protocol that openly proclaimed the right of intervention of the three leading powers of the Holy Alliance in the internal affairs of other countries in order to fight the revolution. England and France did not sign this protocol, but did not go beyond verbal protests against it. As a result of the decisions taken in Troppau, Austria received the authority to armedly suppress the Neapolitan revolution and at the end of March 1821 occupied the Kingdom of Naples with its troops, after which the absolutist regime was restored here. In April of the same 1821, Austria forcibly suppressed the revolution in Piedmont.

At the Congress of Verona (October - December 1822), through the efforts of Alexander I and Metternich, a decision was made on armed intervention in Spanish affairs. The authority to actually carry out this intervention was given to France, which on IV 7, 1823 actually invaded Spain with an army of 100,000 under the command of the Duke of Angoulême. The Spanish revolutionary government resisted foreign invasion for six months, but in the end the interventionist forces, supported by the Spanish domestic counter-revolution, were victorious. In Spain, as before in Naples and Piedmont, absolutism was restored.

No less reactionary was the position of the Holy Alliance on the Greek question. When a delegation of Greek rebels arrived in Verona to ask Christian sovereigns and especially Tsar Alexander I for help against the Sultan, the congress even refused to listen to it. England immediately took advantage of this and, in order to strengthen its influence in Greece, began to support the Greek rebels.

The Congress of Verona in 1822 and the intervention in Spain were essentially the last major acts of the Holy Alliance. After that, he virtually ceased to exist. The collapse of the Holy Alliance was due to two main reasons.

Firstly, within the union very soon contradictions between its main participants were revealed. When in December 1823 the Spanish king Ferdinand VII turned to the Holy Alliance for help in bringing his “rebellious” colonies in America to submission, England, interested in the markets of these colonies, not only declared a strong protest against all attempts of this kind, but also defiantly recognized independence American colonies of Spain (XII 31, 1824). This drove a wedge between the Holy Alliance and England. Somewhat later, in 1825 and 1826, on the basis of the Greek question, relations between Russia and Austria began to deteriorate - the two main pillars of the Holy Alliance, Alexander I (towards the end of his reign), and then Nicholas I supported the Greeks, while Metternich continued its previous line regarding the Greek "rebels". 4. IV 1826, the so-called St. Petersburg Protocol on coordination of actions in the Greek issue was even signed between Russia and England, clearly directed against Austria. Contradictions also emerged between other participants in the Holy Alliance.

Secondly, and this was especially important, despite all the efforts of the reaction, the growth of revolutionary forces in Europe continued. In 1830, revolutions took place in France and Belgium, and an uprising against tsarism broke out in Poland. In England, the violent movement of the popular masses forced the Conservatives to accept the electoral reform of 1832. This dealt a heavy blow not only to the principles, but also to the very existence of the Holy Alliance, which actually disintegrated. In 1833, the monarchs of Russia, Austria and Prussia tried to restore the Holy Alliance, but this attempt ended in failure (see Munich Convention).

Diplomatic Dictionary. Ch. ed. A. Ya. Vyshinsky and S. A. Lozovsky. M., 1948.

A few days before Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, on June 9, 1815, Austria, England, Prussia, Russia, Switzerland and France signed the “Final Act,” the final document of the Congress of Vienna. This document consisted of 121 articles. It provided for the restoration of the French Bourbon dynasty in the person of Louis XVIII and the deprivation of France of all its conquests. Other European states significantly strengthened their positions: Switzerland received strategically important Alpine passes; in Italy the Sardinian kingdom was restored, to which Savoy, Nice and Genoa were annexed; Austria established its power over Northern Italy and Eastern Galicia, also gaining predominant influence in the German Confederation; the lands of the Duchy of Warsaw went to Russia, with the exception of Krakow, which was given the status of a “free city”; Prussia received North Saxony, the left bank of the Rhine, most of Westphalia, Swedish Pomerania and the island of Rügen; Holland and Belgium formed the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Sweden received the territory of Norway; England secured part of the former colonies of Holland and France.

After the signing of the Vienna agreements, the Austrian Foreign Minister Metternich said: “In Europe there is only one problem - revolution.” It is also noteworthy that Napoleon himself, a week after the defeat at Waterloo, said: “The powers are not at war with me, but with the revolution. They always saw me as its representative, a man of the revolution.”

Indeed, after the final overthrow of Napoleon, the desire to preserve the established international order arose and strengthened in Europe, and the means for this were the permanent union of European sovereigns and the periodic convening of international congresses. Russian Emperor Alexander I was an ardent supporter of this idea. On September 26, 1815, on his initiative, the formation of the Holy Alliance was announced, and the document was also signed by Emperor Francis I of Austria and King Frederick William III of Prussia. This treaty was subsequently gradually joined by almost all the monarchs of Europe with the exception of Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire. This union was intended to preserve the inviolability of the decisions of the Congress of Vienna of 1814-1815. and the system of international relations established by him. Based on the principle of supporting the ruling monarchical dynasties, the participants in this union fought against any manifestation of the revolutionary and national liberation movement in Europe.

In 1818-1822. A series of congresses of the Holy Alliance took place - in Aachen, Troppau, Laibach (modern Ljubljana), Verona, the participants of which expressed their readiness to fight any manifestation of revolutionary sentiments on the continent. Thus, Alexander I, contrary to public opinion in Russia, refused to support the uprising that began in 1821 in Greece against Ottoman rule.

Thus, at this time there was a regrouping of forces in Europe, as French hegemony was replaced by the political dominance of Russia, England and Austria. To a large extent, this balance of power contributed to the stabilization of international relations. The Vienna system lasted for more than forty years, and during this time Europe did not know significant bloody wars. Nevertheless, it, like most political associations, was characterized by the aggravation of contradictions between the great European powers and the desire of these states to expand the spheres of their political and economic influence.

JULIANA KRUDENER

Alexander left Vienna in 1815, without waiting for the completion of all the work of the Congress. By this time, by the way, he met an elderly lady imbued with mystical ideas, Baroness Juliana Krudener. Many historians and biographers of Alexander attached great importance to this meeting in relation to the strengthening of the religious-mystical mood that began to manifest itself noticeably in him at that time. And Alexander himself attached great importance to this acquaintance. But it must be said that a penchant for mysticism developed in him even before meeting Baroness Krudener, and one can think that it was thanks to this circumstance that Mme Krudener gained access to it. Apparently, the terrible events of 1812 gave a decisive impetus to the development of Alexander’s mysticism, but even before 1812 Alexander willingly talked with various monks and “holy people.” From Shishkov's notes we learn that in 1813, between reports on important state affairs, Shishkov, the Secretary of State, read to Alexander a selection of extracts from the ancient prophets, the text of which, as it seemed to them both, was very suitable for modern events - while both of them poured themselves tears from tenderness and excess of feelings. Since 1812, the Gospel was constantly with Alexander, and he often seemed to guess from it, opening pages at random and dwelling on the coincidence of individual texts of the Gospel with the external facts of the surrounding life. However, many people in Europe then indulged in such a mystical mood. It was especially popular to apply some expressions of the Apocalypse to Napoleon. The enormous spread of Freemasonry and Masonic lodges also marked a strong development of mysticism. The colossal world upheavals of that era obviously influenced the alarmed minds of contemporaries in this regard. Be that as it may, this mystical mood of Alexander in 1815 was not yet noticeably reflected in his socio-political views and did not entail any steps in the field of domestic policy. Only the insightful La Harpe, even then, was extremely upset by this new inclination of Alexander.

In the field of foreign policy, this inclination of Alexander - not without the participation of Baroness Krudener - found for the first time a rather innocent expression in his proposal to his then allies to form the Holy Alliance of the Princes of Europe, which would introduce ideas of peace and brotherhood into international relations. According to the idea of this union, the sovereigns of Europe should treat each other as brothers, and their subjects as fathers; all quarrels and international misunderstandings must be settled peacefully. The Prussian king Frederick William reacted with some sympathy to this idea; the Austrian Emperor Franz, a pietist, who was constantly in the hands of the Jesuits, signed this treaty only after consulting with Metternich, who said that although this was an empty chimera, it was completely harmless. The English Prince Regent could not sign this act without the consent of Parliament, but he politely expressed his sympathy for Alexander’s idea in a special letter. Then, little by little, all the sovereigns of Europe, except the Turkish Sultan and the Pope, entered into this union. Subsequently, in the hands of Metternich, this institution degenerated into an alliance of sovereigns against the restless peoples, but in 1815 the alliance did not yet have such significance, and Alexander was and showed himself then to be an obvious supporter of liberal institutions.

THE FATHERLAND IS IN DANGER!

As always happens when dividing the spoils, Napoleon's victors began to quarrel: Austria with Prussia - because of hegemony in Germany, Prussia with England - because of Saxony, and all of them with Russia - because of Poland, since tsarism wanted to annex the Duchy of Warsaw entirely to himself (“I conquered the duchy,” said Alexander I, “and I have 480 thousand soldiers to defend it”), and other powers were against the excessive strengthening of Russia. Disagreements escalated. On January 3, 1815, England, Austria and France entered into a secret agreement and outlined a plan for a military campaign against Russia and Prussia, which it was decided to open by the end of March. The commander-in-chief of the troops of the three powers, Prince K.F., was also appointed. Schwarzenberg. In such a situation, on March 6, the “brothers” of the monarchs learned amazing news: Napoleon left Elba and landed in France. Yes, having analytically compared the rejection of the Bourbons in France and the strife within the 6th coalition, Napoleon saw in this a chance for himself to return to the French throne. On March 1, with a detachment of 1,100 people, he landed in the south of France and in 19 days, without firing a single shot, he again subjugated the country. The Bourbons fled to Belgium. This is how Napoleon’s enchanting “Hundred Days” began.

The news of Napoleon's return frightened, but also rallied the coalition. They instantly cast aside all their feuds and, in the words of V.O. Klyuchevsky, “convulsively grabbed hold of Russia, of Alexander, ready to again be at his disposal.” On March 13, eight powers declared Napoleon “the enemy of humanity” and pledged to fight him until victory, thereby legally formalizing the 7th and final anti-Napoleonic coalition.

Napoleon this time did not want to rouse France to a revolutionary war under the slogan “The Fatherland is in danger!” In a conventional war, he did not have enough strength to fight the 7th coalition. On June 18, at the Battle of Waterloo, the Allies defeated it. Napoleon was deposed for the second time and now exiled literally far away - to the distant and deserted, almost uninhabited island of St. Helena, where he spent the last 6 years of his life in strict isolation (he died there on May 5, 1821).

In the 50s of this century, the Swedish toxicologist S. Forshuvud established by bombarding Napoleon's hair with nuclear particles that the emperor died not from stomach cancer, as was believed throughout the world, but from gradual arsenic poisoning. According to Forshuvud, the poisoner was Count S.T. Montolon is a Bourbon agent.

The Congress of Vienna completed its work shortly before Waterloo. Its final act was signed on June 9, 1815. It satisfied the ambitions of all coalitionists. Russia received the lion's share of the Duchy of Warsaw under the name “Kingdom of Poland” (in the same 1815, Alexander I granted the Kingdom of Poland a constitution and autonomy within the Russian Empire). Austria and Prussia divided the remaining part of the Duchy of Warsaw among themselves and acquired rich lands: Austria in Italy, Prussia in Saxony. England secured Malta, the Ionian Islands and a number of French colonies. As for France, it was reduced to the borders of 1792 and occupied for 5 years. The monarchs overthrown by the French Revolution and Napoleon returned to its throne, as to other European thrones (in Spain, Piedmont, the Roman region, Naples, and the German principalities).

Thus, the Congress of Vienna legitimized the restoration of feudal-absolutist orders in Europe. Since the people did not want to accept the old kings and opposed them, the organizers of the congress agreed to jointly suppress outbreaks of popular discontent anywhere. To this end, they decided to unite in the Holy Alliance.

ACT OF THE HOLY ALLIANCE (1815)

They solemnly declare that the subject of this act is to reveal to the face of the universe their unshakable determination, both in the government of the states entrusted to them, and in political relations with all other governments, to be guided by no other rules than the commandments, sowing the holy faith, the commandments of love , truth and peace...

On this basis he led them. agreed on the following articles:

Art. 1. According to the words of the sacred scriptures, which command all men to be brothers, there are three dogas. the monarch will remain united by the bonds of real and inextricable brotherhood and, considering themselves as if they were fellow citizens, they will, in any case and in every place, begin to give each other assistance, reinforcement and help; in relation to their subjects and troops, they, like fathers of families, will govern them in the same spirit of brotherhood with which they are animated to preserve faith, peace and truth.

Art. 2. Therefore, let there be a single prevailing right both between the mentioned authorities and their subjects: to bring services to each other, to show mutual goodwill and love, to consider themselves as members of a single Christian people, since the three allied sovereigns consider themselves to have been appointed by providence for the management of three single family branches, namely Austria, Prussia and Russia, thus confessing that the autocrat of the Christian people, of which they and their subjects form a part, is truly no other than the one to whom the power actually belongs, since in him alone treasures of love, knowledge and endless wisdom are found, that is, God, our Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, the word of the Most High, the word of life. Accordingly, their Majesties, with the most tender care, urge their subjects to strengthen themselves from day to day in the rules and active fulfillment of the duties in which the divine Savior instructed people, as the only means of enjoying peace, which flows from a good conscience and which alone is lasting.

Art. 3. All powers who wish to solemnly recognize the sacred rules set forth in this act and who feel how necessary it is for the participation of kingdoms that have been shaken for a long time, so that these truths will henceforth contribute to the good of human destinies, can all be willingly and lovingly accepted into this sacred union.

1815, subsequently all the monarchs of continental Europe gradually joined, except the Pope and the Turkish Sultan. Not being, in the precise sense of the word, a formalized agreement between the powers that would impose certain obligations on them, the Holy Alliance, nevertheless, went down in the history of European diplomacy as “a close-knit organization with a sharply defined clerical-monarchist ideology, created on the basis of the suppression of the revolutionary spirit and political and religious free-thinking, wherever they appear."

History of creation

Castlereagh explained England's non-participation in the treaty by the fact that, according to the English constitution, the king does not have the right to sign treaties with other powers.

Signifying the character of the era, the Holy Alliance was the main organ of the pan-European reaction against liberal aspirations. Its practical significance was expressed in the resolutions of a number of congresses (Aachen, Troppaus, Laibach and Verona), at which the principle of intervention in the internal affairs of other states was fully developed with the aim of forcibly suppressing all national and revolutionary movements and maintaining the existing system with its absolutist and clerical-aristocratic trends.

Congresses of the Holy Alliance

Aachen Congress

Congresses in Troppau and Laibach

Typically considered together as a single congress.

Congress in Verona

Collapse of the Holy Alliance

The post-war system of Europe created by the Congress of Vienna was contrary to the interests of the new emerging class - the bourgeoisie. Bourgeois movements against feudal-absolutist forces became the main driving force of historical processes in continental Europe. The Holy Alliance prevented the establishment of bourgeois orders and increased the isolation of monarchical regimes. With the growth of contradictions between the members of the Union, there was a decline in the influence of the Russian court and Russian diplomacy on European politics.

By the end of the 1820s, the Holy Alliance began to disintegrate, which was facilitated, on the one hand, by a retreat from the principles of this Union on the part of England, whose interests at that time were very much in conflict with the policy of the Holy Alliance both in the conflict between the Spanish colonies in Latin America and metropolis, and in relation to the still ongoing Greek uprising, and on the other hand, the liberation of the successor of Alexander I from the influence of Metternich and the divergence of interests of Russia and Austria in relation to Turkey.

“As for Austria, I am confident in it, since our treaties determine our relations.”

But Russian-Austrian cooperation could not eliminate Russian-Austrian contradictions. Austria, as before, was frightened by the prospect of the emergence of independent states in the Balkans, probably friendly to Russia, the very existence of which would cause the growth of national liberation movements in the multinational Austrian Empire. As a result, in the Crimean War, Austria, without directly participating in it, took an anti-Russian position.

Bibliography

For the text of the Holy Alliance, see Complete Collection of Laws, No. 25943.
For the French original, see Part 1 of Vol. IV “Collections of treatises and conventions concluded by Russia with foreign powers” by Professor Martens.
"Mémoires, documents et écrits divers laissés par le prince de Metternich", vol. I, pp. 210-212.
V. Danevsky, “Systems of political balance and legitimism” 1882.
Ghervas, Stella [Gervas, Stella Petrovna], Réinventer la tradition. Alexandre Stourdza et l’Europe de la Sainte-Alliance, Paris, Honoré Champion, 2008. ISBN 978-2-7453-1669-1
Nadler V.K. Emperor Alexander I and the idea of the Holy Alliance. vol. 1-5. Kharkov, 1886-1892.

Notes

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See what “Holy Alliance” is in other dictionaries:

The alliance of Austria, Prussia and Russia, concluded in Paris on September 26, 1815, after the fall of the empire of Napoleon I. The goals of the Holy Alliance were to ensure the inviolability of the decisions of the Congress of Vienna 1814-1815. In 1815, France and... ... joined the Holy Alliance. Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

THE SACRED ALLIANCE, the union of Austria, Prussia and Russia, concluded in Paris on September 26, 1815, after the fall of Napoleon I. The goals of the Holy Alliance were to ensure the inviolability of the decisions of the Congress of Vienna 1814 15. In 1815, the Holy Alliance was joined by... ... Modern encyclopedia

The alliance of Austria, Prussia and Russia, concluded in Paris on September 26, 1815, after the fall of Napoleon I. The purpose of the Holy Alliance was to ensure the inviolability of the decisions of the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15. In November 1815, France joined the union,... ... Historical Dictionary

Congress of Vienna and the Holy Alliance

Congress of Vienna 1814 – 1815

After the victory over the Napoleonic Empire in 1814, the Congress of European States met in Vienna. The main role was played by Russia, England, Austria and Prussia. The French commissioner was also allowed to attend the behind-the-scenes meetings. All important issues were resolved at these meetings. The main goals of the congress participants were to restore, if possible, the former dynasties and the power of the nobility, to redistribute Europe in the interests of the victors and to fight the emerging new revolutionary movements. Disregarding the people, the victors shredded the map of Europe in their own interests; England retained the island of Malta and the former Dutch colonies - the island of Ceylon off the coast of India and the Cape Land in southern Africa. England's main success was the weakening of its main enemy, France, and the consolidation of British superiority at sea and in colonial conquests. Russia secured most of Poland.

The fragmentation of Germany was greatly reduced. Instead of more than two hundred small states, a German Confederation of 39 states was created. The largest of them were Austria and Prussia. The German Confederation had no government, no money, no army, no influence on international affairs.

The rich and economically developed provinces of the Rhineland and Westphalia became the possessions of Prussia. Some of the bourgeois orders introduced during Napoleon have been preserved there. Western Polish lands were also recognized as the possession of Prussia.

The territory of Austria increased significantly - its former possessions in Italy and a number of other lands were again transferred to it. The previous dynasty was restored in Piedmont, and Austrian dukes reigned in the small states of Northern Italy.

The temporal power of the pope over the Roman region was restored, and the former Bourbon dynasty was installed on the throne in the Kingdom of Naples. The Pope and the Neapolitan king ruled relying on Swiss mercenaries.

In Spain, the absolute monarchy and the Inquisition were restored. The persecution and execution of patriots - participants in the revolution of 1808 - 1814 - began.

Belgium was annexed to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Switzerland regained the mountain passes leading to Italy and was declared a perpetually neutral state.

The territory of the Sardinian kingdom was increased, the main part of which was Piedmont with the city of Turin.

According to the peace treaty with France, concluded in 1815, its territory was returned to its previous borders. An indemnity of 700 million francs was imposed on her. Until it was paid, the northeastern part of France was to remain occupied by Allied troops.

England, Russia, Austria and Prussia renewed the military alliance with the obligation to prevent the restoration of the Bonaparte dynasty in France and to convene congresses from time to time to protect the order in Europe established after the Napoleonic wars.

"Holy Alliance"

In order to consolidate absolutism and noble reaction, European sovereigns, at the suggestion of Alexander I, in 1815 concluded the so-called “Holy Alliance” against revolutionary movements. Its participants pledged to help each other in suppressing revolutions and to support the Christian religion. The Act of the “Holy Alliance” was signed by Austria, Prussia, and then almost all the monarchs of European states. England did not formally join the Holy Alliance, but actually supported the policy of suppressing revolutions.

In the early 20s. In Spain, the Kingdom of Naples and Piedmont, bourgeois revolutions led by advanced officers broke out against absolutism. By decision of the “Holy Alliance” they were suppressed - in Italy by Austrian troops, and in Spain - by the French army. But it was impossible to perpetuate the absolutist feudal order. Revolutions and national liberation wars covered more and more countries and continents.

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This year marks the 200th anniversary of one of the key events in the history of Europe, when, on the initiative of the Russian Emperor Alexander I, or, as he was called, Alexander the Blessed, steps were taken towards establishing a new world order. In order to avoid new wars similar to those waged by Napoleon, the idea was put forward of creating a collective security agreement, the guarantor of which was the Holy Alliance (la Sainte-Alliance) with the leading role of Russia.

The personality of Alexander the Blessed remains one of the most complex and mysterious in Russian history. "Sphinx, unsolved to the grave", - Prince Vyazemsky will say about him. To this we can add that the fate of Alexander I beyond the grave is just as mysterious. We mean the life of the righteous elder Theodore Kuzmich the Blessed, canonized as a Saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.

World history knows few figures comparable in scale to Emperor Alexander. This amazing personality remains misunderstood today. The Alexander era was perhaps the highest rise of Russia, its “golden age”, then St. Petersburg was the capital of Europe, and the fate of the world was decided in the Winter Palace.

Contemporaries called Alexander I the “King of Kings,” the conqueror of the Antichrist, and the liberator of Europe. European capitals greeted the Tsar-Liberator with delight: the population of Paris greeted him with flowers. The main square of Berlin is named after him - Alexander Platz. I want to dwell on the peacekeeping activities of Tsar Alexander. But first, let us briefly recall the historical context of the Alexander era.

The global war, unleashed by revolutionary France in 1795, lasted almost 20 years (until 1815) and truly deserves the name “First World War,” both in its scope and duration. Then, for the first time, millions of armies clashed on the battlefields of Europe, Asia and America; for the first time, a war was waged on a planetary scale for the dominance of a total ideology.

France was the breeding ground of this ideology, and Napoleon was the disseminator. For the first time, the war was preceded by the propaganda of secret sects and mass psychological indoctrination of the population. The Enlightenment Illuminati worked tirelessly, creating controlled chaos. The age of enlightenment, or rather darkness, ended with revolution, guillotine, terror and world war.

The atheistic and anti-Christian basis of the new order was obvious to contemporaries.

In 1806, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church anathematized Napoleon for his persecution of the Western Church. In all churches of the Russian Empire (Orthodox and Catholic), Napoleon was declared the Antichrist and “the enemy of the human race.”

But the European and Russian intelligentsia welcomed Napoleon as the new Messiah, who would make the revolution worldwide and unite all nations under his power. Thus, Fichte perceived the revolution led by Napoleon as preparation for the construction of an ideal world state.

For Hegel in the French Revolution “the very content of the will of the human spirit appeared”. Hegel is undoubtedly right in his definition, but with the clarification that this European spirit was apostasy. Shortly before the French Revolution, the head of the Bavarian Illuminati, Weishaupt, sought to return man to his “natural state.” His credo: “We must destroy everything without regret, as much as possible and as quickly as possible. My human dignity does not allow me to obey anyone.". Napoleon became the executor of this will.

With the defeat of the Austrian army in 1805, the thousand-year-old Holy Roman Empire was abolished, and Napoleon - officially "Emperor of the Republic" - became the de facto Emperor of the West. Pushkin will say about him:

"Heir and murderer of rebellious liberty,

This cold-blooded bloodsucker,

This king, who disappeared like a dream, like the shadow of dawn.”

After 1805, Alexander I, remaining the only Christian emperor in the world, resisted the spirits of evil and the forces of chaos. But the ideologists of the world revolution and globalists do not like to remember this. The Alexander era is unusually eventful: even the reigns of Peter the Great and Catherine pale in comparison.

In less than a quarter of a century, Emperor Alexander won four military campaigns, repelling the aggression of Turkey, Sweden, Persia and, in 1812, the invasion of European armies. In 1813, Alexander liberated Europe and in the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig, where he personally led the allied armies, inflicted a mortal defeat on Napoleon. In March 1814, Alexander I, at the head of the Russian army, entered Paris in triumph.

A subtle and far-sighted politician, a great strategist, diplomat and thinker - Alexander Pavlovich was unusually gifted by nature. Even his enemies recognized his deep and insightful mind: "He is as elusive as sea foam"- Napoleon said about him. After all this, how can one explain that Tsar Alexander I remains one of the most slandered figures in Russian history?

He, the conqueror of Napoleon, is declared a mediocrity, and the Napoleon he defeated (by the way, who lost six military campaigns in his life) is declared a military genius.

The cult of the cannibal Napoleon, who covered Africa, Asia and Europe with millions of corpses, this robber and murderer, has been supported and extolled for 200 years, including here in Moscow, which he burned.

Globalists and slanderers of Russia cannot forgive Alexander the Blessed for his victory over the “global revolution” and the totalitarian world order.

I needed this long introduction in order to outline the state of the world in 1814, when, after the end of the World War, all the heads of European states met at a congress in Vienna to determine the future order of the world.

The main issue of the Vienna Congress was the issue of preventing wars on the continent, defining new borders, but, above all, suppressing the subversive activities of secret societies.

Victory over Napoleon did not mean victory over the Illuminati ideology, which managed to permeate all the structures of society in Europe and Russia.

Alexander’s logic was clear: whoever allows evil does the same.

Evil knows no boundaries or measures, so the forces of evil must be resisted always and everywhere.

Foreign policy is a continuation of domestic policy, and just as there is no double morality - for oneself and for others, there is no domestic and foreign policy.

The Orthodox Tsar could not be guided by other moral principles in his foreign policy, in relations with non-Orthodox peoples.

Alexander, in a Christian way, forgives the French all their guilt before Russia: the ashes of Moscow and Smolensk, robberies, the blown up Kremlin, the execution of Russian prisoners.

The Russian Tsar did not allow his allies to plunder and divide defeated France into pieces. Alexander refuses reparations from a bloodless and hungry country. The Allies (Prussia, Austria and England) were forced to submit to the will of the Russian Tsar, and in turn refused reparations. Paris was neither robbed nor destroyed: the Louvre with its treasures and all the palaces remained intact.

Europe was stunned by the king's generosity.

In occupied Paris, crowded with Napoleonic soldiers, Alexander Pavlovich walked around the city without an escort, accompanied by one aide-de-camp. The Parisians, recognizing the king on the street, kissed his horse and boots. None of the Napoleonic veterans thought of raising a hand against the Russian Tsar: everyone understood that he was the only defender of defeated France.

Alexander I granted amnesty to all Poles and Lithuanians who fought against Russia. He preached by personal example, firmly knowing that you can only change others with yourself. According to Saint Philaret of Moscow: "Alexander punished the French with mercy".

The Russian intelligentsia - yesterday's Bonapartists and future Decembrists - condemned Alexander's generosity and at the same time prepared regicide.

As the head of the Vienna Congress, Alexander Pavlovich invites defeated France to participate in the work on an equal basis and speaks in Congress with an incredible proposal to build a new Europe based on gospel principles. Never before in history has the Gospel been laid at the foundation of international relations.

In Vienna, Emperor Alexander defines the rights of peoples: they must rest on the precepts of the Holy Scriptures.

In Vienna, the Orthodox Tsar invites all monarchs and governments of Europe to abandon national egoism and Machiavellianism in foreign policy and sign the Charter of the Holy Alliance (la Sainte-Alliance). It is important to note that the term "Holy Alliance" itself in German and French sounds like "Holy Covenant", which strengthens its Biblical meaning.

The Charter of the Holy Alliance will be finally signed by the participants of the Congress on September 26, 1815. The text was compiled personally by Emperor Alexander and only slightly corrected by the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia.

Three monarchs, representing three Christian denominations: Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism, address the world in the preamble: “We solemnly declare that this act has no other purpose than the desire to demonstrate before the whole world our unshakable intention to make as a rule, both in the internal government of our states and in relations with other governments, the commandments of the Holy Religion, the commandments of justice, love, peace. , which are observed not only in private life, but should guide the policy of sovereigns, being the only means of strengthening human institutions and correcting their imperfections".

From 1815 to 1818, fifty states signed the charter of the Holy Alliance. Not all signatures were signed sincerely; opportunism is characteristic of all eras. But then, in the face of Europe, the rulers of the West did not dare to openly refute the Gospel.

From the very inception of the Holy Alliance, Alexander I was accused of idealism, mysticism and daydreaming. But Alexander was neither a dreamer nor a mystic; he was a man of deep faith and clear mind, and loved to repeat the words of King Solomon (Proverbs, ch. 8:13-16):

“The fear of the Lord hates evil, I hate pride and arrogance, and I hate the evil way and deceitful lips. I have advice and truth, I am the mind, I have the strength. By me kings reign, and rulers legitimize truth. The rulers and the nobles and all the judges of the earth rule over me.”.

For Alexander I history was a manifestation of God's Providence, the Manifestation of God in the world. On the medal, which was awarded to Russian victorious soldiers, were embossed the words of King David: “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your Name give glory.”(Psalm 113.9).

Plans for organizing European politics on evangelical principles were a continuation of the ideas of Paul I, the father of Alexander I, and were built on the patristic tradition.

The great contemporary of Alexander I, Saint Philaret (Drozdov), proclaimed bibliocentrism as the basis of state policy. His words are comparable to the provisions of the Charter of the Holy Alliance.

The enemies of the Holy Alliance understood perfectly well against whom the Alliance was directed. Liberal propaganda, both then and after, did its best to denigrate the “reactionary” policies of the Russian tsars. According to F. Engels: “The world revolution will be impossible as long as Russia exists”.

Until the death of Alexander I in 1825, the heads of European governments met in congresses to coordinate their policies.

At the Congress in Verona, the king said to the French Foreign Minister and famous writer Chateaubriand:

“Do you think that, as our enemies say, the Union is just a word covering up ambitions? […] There is no longer a policy of English, French, Russian, Prussian, Austrian, but there is only a general policy, and it is for the sake of the common good that peoples and kings must accept it. I should be the first to demonstrate firmness in the principles on which I founded the Union.".

In his book “History of Russia,” the French poet and politician Alphonse de Lamartine writes: “Such was the idea of the Holy Alliance, an idea that was slandered in its essence, representing it as base hypocrisy and a conspiracy of mutual support for the oppression of peoples. It is the duty of history to restore the Holy Alliance to its true meaning.".

For forty years, from 1815 to 1855, Europe did not know war. At that time, Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow spoke about the role of Russia in the world: “The historical mission of Russia is the establishment of a moral order in Europe, based on the Gospel commandments”.

The Napoleonic spirit will be resurrected with Napoleon I's nephew, Napoleon III, who, with the help of a revolution, will seize the throne. Under him, France, in alliance with England, Turkey, Piedmont, with the support of Austria, will start a war against Russia. The Europe of the Vienna Congress will end in Crimea, in Sevastopol. In 1855 the Holy Union will be buried.

Many important truths can be learned by contradiction. Attempts at denial often lead to affirmation.

The consequences of the disruption of the world order are well known: Prussia defeats Austria and, having united the German states, defeats France in 1870. The continuation of this war will be the war of 1914 - 1920, and the consequence of the First World War will be the Second World War.

The Holy Alliance of Alexander I remains in history as a noble attempt to elevate humanity. This is the only example of unselfishness in the field of world politics in history when the Gospel became the Charter in international affairs.

In conclusion, I would like to quote the words of Goethe, spoken in 1827 regarding the Holy Alliance, after the death of Alexander the Blessed:

“The world needs to hate something great, which was confirmed by its judgments about the Holy Alliance, although nothing greater and more beneficial for humanity has yet been conceived! But the mob doesn't understand this. Greatness is unbearable for her.".