On September 26, 1815, the Russian Emperor Alexander I, the Austrian Emperor Franz II and the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III signed an act establishing the Holy Alliance.

The activity of this association was based on the principle of maintaining the power of all the ruling dynasties of Europe.

Thanks to the creation of an alliance, the contradictions that existed between the European powers were temporarily smoothed out.

Creation of the Holy Alliance

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Europe and the world experienced large-scale upheavals associated with the bourgeois revolution in France and the Napoleonic wars.

But in 1812, Napoleon was defeated in Russia, and a year later he was defeated in the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig.

After the defeat of Bonaparte, the question of the post-war world order arose.

England wanted to retain the captured colonies and prevent the strengthening of Russia.

Austria and Prussia - competed for leadership among the German states, the Russian authorities, in turn, advocated the maintenance of international stability.

The leaders of European states discussed the new world order at the Vienna Congress, the General Act of which was signed on June 9, 1815.

England, as planned, secured new colonies for itself, France lost the lands conquered by Napoleon, Austria expanded at the expense of territories on the Apennine Peninsula, and Prussia at the expense of neighboring German states.

Part of the Duchy of Warsaw was ceded to Russia.

Also, the participants in the congress banned the slave trade and adopted a single regulation on diplomatic agents.

However, then the mechanism for maintaining international stability and territorial integrity was not fully worked out.

The Russian Emperor Alexander I proposed his own way of preserving international stability and preventing revolutions, initiating, after the Congress of Vienna, the creation of a new union of European rulers.

He compiled the "Treatise of the Fraternal Christian Union" or, as modern historians call it, the act on the creation of the Holy Union.

On September 26, 1815, in Paris, this document was signed by three monarchs - Alexander I, Austrian Emperor Franz II and King of Prussia Frederick Wilhelm III.

  • Congress of Vienna

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The act stated that "the three allied sovereigns regard themselves as being appointed by Providence to manage three single family of branches."

At the same time, the document assumed that the heads of state who signed it would "give each other benefits, reinforcements and assistance."

As historians emphasize, the Holy Alliance was called upon to preserve the inviolability of the decisions of the Vienna Congress and the system of international relations established as a result of it.

His activities were based on the principle of maintaining the power of all European ruling dynasties.

The monarchs of most European states gradually joined the union.

Great Britain did not officially join the union, but it took part in some of the events organized by it and supported some of the decisions made within the framework of this union.

Union activities

The most important political events of the Holy Union were four international congresses: Aachen, Troppau, Laibach and Verona.

The Aachen Congress took place in the autumn of 1818.

It was attended by the Russian Emperor Alexander I, the Austrian Emperor Franz II and the Prussian King Frederick Wilhelm III, as well as high-ranking officials and diplomats from Russia, Austria, Prussia, England and France.

During the negotiations, it was decided to withdraw the occupying forces of the allied powers from the territory of France, as well as to join official Paris to the Holy Union.

The congress discussed the problems associated with merchant shipping and the prohibition of the slave trade, and as a result, a declaration in support of peace was adopted.

The Troppau Congress took place in 1820.

In connection with the revolution in the Kingdom of Naples, representatives of Russia, Austria and Prussia signed a protocol on it, proclaiming the right to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries in order to suppress revolutionary uprisings.

The decisions of the Congress instructed Austria to carry out the occupation of the Kingdom of Naples, but at the same time ensured the inviolability of its statehood.

The Laibach Congress of 1821 was a continuation of the Troppau Congress.

It discussed the policy of the union in relation to revolutionary actions in the Kingdom of Naples, Spain and Greece.

The last meeting of the leaders of the Holy Union at the highest level was the Verona Congress of 1822 - the most significant of all the union events.

Officially, it was initiated by the Austrian side to "reaffirm the existence of the union and unity of the monarchs."

However, its main theme was in fact the revolutionary events in the south of Europe and in the Latin American colonies of Spain.

Also at the congress, negotiations were held on border disputes in Europe, river shipping and the fight against slave trade.

  • Laybach Congress

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The rulers of Russia, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Tuscany, Modena and Parma, as well as authorized diplomats from England, France and the Vatican gathered in Verona.

Representatives of Russia, Austria, Prussia and France spoke out for the suppression of revolutionary uprisings in Spain.

A protocol was prepared that allowed official Paris in the event of a number of circumstances (anti-French aggression, deprivation of the monarch of the throne, violation of the rights of the royal family) to use force against the Spanish revolutionaries, which ultimately happened in 1823.

Even more difficult were negotiations on the future of the Spanish colonies in Latin America.

England, which had lucrative trade contracts in the region, was categorically opposed to restricting the freedom of young states.

France has vaguely suggested that Madrid ensure the prosperity of Latin America and yield to the "power of things."

Alexander I wished the Spanish crown success in restoring ties with the colonies.

Austria and Prussia turned out to be more categorical, refusing to recognize the independence of the countries of South and Central America.

No consensus was reached on this issue.

  • Verona Congress.

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In addition, disagreements regarding the "Eastern question" related to the future of the Balkan possessions of the Ottoman Empire became apparent.

Alexander I found himself in an ambiguous position - on the one hand, he advocated stability and condemned revolutions, on the other hand, Russia traditionally sympathized with the Orthodox peoples fighting for independence from the Turks.

The Russian declaration, read out at the congress, included demands for the Ottoman Empire to withdraw troops from the Danube principalities, as well as to ensure the rights of the Greeks and freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.

To one degree or another, the congress participants supported the wishes of Russia, but the members of the Holy Union condemned the uprising in Greece.

In general, according to historians, at the Verona Congress, the members of the union found a common language with much more difficulty than before.

“The Verona Congress was the last of the Holy Alliance Congresses.

At the end of his life, Alexander I lost interest in this institute, and there were no more congresses, "said Evgeny Spitsyn, advisor to the rector of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, in an interview with RT.

According to experts, Russia played the "first fiddle" at the Verona Congress, but not all negotiators were ready to support her initiatives to form a "great European family".

According to Leonid Lyashenko, professor of the Department of Russian History at Moscow State Pedagogical University, at this congress "Russia fell into a trap."

“According to the rules of the union, she had no right to demand a change in the form of government of European states.

Thus, formally St. Petersburg lost the right to demand the liberation of the Balkan peoples, which was an unnatural situation for him, "Lyashenko explained in a conversation with RT.

At the same time, the Verona Congress worried the United States, which was claiming hegemony in the Western Hemisphere.

The desire of some European powers to intervene in Latin American affairs pushed Washington to accept the so-called "Monroe Doctrine."

According to historians, under the guise of talk about freedom of choice for the inhabitants of the former colonies, the Americans decided to decide their fate themselves.

  • Alexander I

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In 1833, Russia, Austria and Prussia, in response to the upsurge of the revolutionary movement in Europe, signed an act in Berlin on the right of "legitimate" states to mutual assistance.

“Within the framework of allied obligations, under Nicholas I, Russia took part in the suppression of the Hungarian uprising of 1848-1849.

St. Petersburg helped Vienna, where anti-Russian forces eventually established themselves.

It would be better if the funds spent on this would be used for the purchase of steamers on the eve of the Crimean War, "writer and historian Alexander Shirokorad noted in an interview with RT.

According to Leonid Lyashenko, the Vienna system and the Holy Alliance ensured stability for Europe and gave it the opportunity "to live for several decades without major wars."

At the same time, from the point of view of Yevgeny Spitsyn, it is difficult to name the exact date of the end of the activities of the Holy Union.

“Some historians claim that the Holy Union ordered to live long with the beginning of the Crimean War, others - with the outbreak of the First World War.

It defended the principles of the territorial integrity of states and promoted stability, but the formal implementation of the principles laid down in its rules often ran counter to the interests of its participants.

Alexander I had to step on the throat of his own song in the name of strict fulfillment of international obligations, since it was in the geopolitical interests of Russia to support the uprisings in the Balkans against the Turks, ”summed up Spitsyn.