Which countries were part of the Holy Alliance 1815. Congress of Vienna and the Holy Alliance. Initiators and participants

IN early XIX century in Europe, many complex problems of social and national character. The former were associated with the opposition of the privileged strata of society with the peasantry and the emerging proletariat, and the latter with the national liberation struggle in Italy, Poland, Greece and other states that had lost their independence. In addition, the West was shocked by the scope Napoleonic Wars. The Vienna Congress of 1814-1815 laid down the basic principles of international law. However, the proposed system needed protection. It was decided to make the union of European monarchs the guarantor of peace and stability, who were to monitor the observance of the principles of the Vienna system.

The tasks of the Holy Alliance included:

• prevention of revolutions, which was, perhaps, key function created coalition;
• preservation of the monarchical system;
• prevention large-scale wars similar to those of Napoleon.

Initially, the act on the creation of the Holy Alliance was signed by Russia, Prussia and Austria. But later almost all European powers joined the coalition. Great Britain, although it refrained from signing the act, nevertheless took an active part in the life of the Union. By its nature, the Holy Alliance was an extremely conservative international organization that fought against anti-monarchist sentiments.

Congresses of the Holy Alliance

In the autumn of 1818, the first congress of the Holy Alliance took place in Aachen. The main issue of this congress was international position France. Since Paris was ready to pay indemnities, Austria, Russia, Prussia and England agreed to withdraw the occupying troops from French territory. Despite the fact that, secretly from the French diplomats, the four powers signed a secret protocol with a plan of action in the event of a resumption of war, in fact, the decisions of the congress meant the return of France to the ranks of the great powers.

Also at the Aachen Congress, issues related to the appeasement of the rebellious Spanish colonies in Latin America, disagreements among the Scandinavian kingdoms, restrictions on the slave trade, the security of international maritime trade, etc. were discussed.

The next congress was held in Troppau in December-October 1820. It was initiated by Austria, which was worried about the revolutionary movement in Italy. At the beginning of the 19th century, a secret society of the Carbonari operated there, fighting for the liberation of Italy from the power of the Neapolitan Bourbons and Austrians and the subsequent unification of the country. The Carbonari also advocated the establishment of democratic freedoms. The actions of the Carbonari scared Ferdinand I of Naples. He decided to make concessions: he granted his subjects a constitution and convened a parliament. But at Troppau, the leaders of the Holy Alliance decided to bring a military contingent into Italy. Ferdinand I, for whom democratic trends were only a ruse to stay on the throne, supported this decision. The discussion of these issues continued at the congress in Laibach (January-May 1821). Soon the Carbonari uprising was crushed, and Ferdinand I restored his status as an absolute monarch.

However, the revolutionary movement in Europe did not subside at all. Almost simultaneously with the Italian uprising, similar processes began in Spain, where the revolution of 1820-1823 broke out. By its nature, it was bourgeois-democratic: the rebels demanded the limitation of the power of the monarch, the assertion of civil rights and freedoms, and the elimination of feudal remnants. In connection with the Spanish events, the Verona Congress of the Holy Alliance was arranged (October-December 1820).

At the congress, it was also decided to send troops to Spain, which was done in 1823.

However, the Verona Congress, which eventually became last meeting leaders of the Holy Alliance, revealed the main contradictions between the European powers:

• firstly, the question of the Spanish overseas colonies, striving for independence. The Continental Powers wanted Latin America did not set a precedent and remained dependent on Madrid. But this was opposed by Great Britain, which established trade with the Spanish possessions. London benefited from the recognition of these areas free from the Spanish crown;
• secondly, the question of the national liberation struggle of the Greeks. Russia supported Greece, which rebelled against the government Ottoman Empire which was clearly contrary to the principles of the Holy Alliance. However, the Austrian Chancellor Metternich still managed to put pressure on Emperor Alexander I. Therefore, Russia's actions in the Balkans during this period were not too decisive.

Sunset of the Holy Union

The accumulated contradictions made the further activity of the Union practically impossible. After the death of Alexander I, no more congresses were held. His successor, Nicholas I, got out of the influence of Austria and began to build his own foreign policy, continuing, however, to provide support to European monarchies that were faced with the revolutionary moods of their subjects.

In addition, objective historical processes gradually made the Holy Alliance a useless anachronism that hindered the establishment of democratic regimes and the development of capitalist relations. In the 1840s, a new wave of revolutions swept through Europe, which the Holy Alliance was unable to cope with properly.

However, for all its shortcomings, the Holy Alliance played a positive role in history. For almost 100 years (before the outbreak of the First World War), Europe did not experience wars like the Napoleonic ones.

Waiting for a new Holy Alliance. It was created on the initiative of the victorious Napoleon and the Russian Emperor Alexander I. The creation of a sacred union was evaluated by contemporaries in different ways. But mostly Russia was accused of trying to control the situation in Europe. The Holy Alliance, or rather a coalition of countries, which, according to the plans of the emperor, was supposed to transform the post-war world, was born on September 14, 1815. The treaty was signed by King of Prussia, Emperor of Austria Franz I, Louis XVIII and most of the continental monarchs. Only Great Britain did not officially wish to join the union, but accepted Active participation in his work. The union also had opponents: the Turkish sultan also ignored it.

The Holy Alliance of 1815 went down in history as a community of states, the original goal of which was the suppression of impending wars. In fact, the struggle was against any revolutionary spirit, as well as political and religious freethinking. The spirit of this coalition corresponded to the reactionary mood of the then existing governments. In fact, the Holy Alliance took as its basis the monarchical ideology, but with a utopian dream of idealistic mutual assistance between the ruling Christian sovereigns. “Empty and sonorous document” - that is what the politician Metternich called it.

Alexander I, as the initiator of this coalition, called on allies and emperors to join forces against military conflicts and offered to rule between peoples in the spirit of truth and brotherhood. One of the clauses of the agreement was the requirement to strictly fulfill the commandments of the Gospel. Russian Emperor called on the allies to simultaneously reduce their armed forces and provide mutual guarantees for the inviolability of existing territories, and the 800,000-strong Russian army acted as a reliable guarantor in these progressive proposals.

The Holy Alliance of 1815 was a document consisting of a mixture of mysticism and not real politics, as historians later said about it, but for the first seven years this international organization was very successful and fruitful.

Austrian Chancellor Metternich in 1820 convenes a congress of the Holy Alliance in the city of Troppau. As a result of numerous debates, a decision was made that crossed out everything progressive that was planned earlier, namely, the countries included in the union were allowed to send friendly troops to the lands of other states for the armed destruction of revolutionary riots. Such a statement was explained simply, because each state had its own predatory interests and political goals in the post-war partition.

The creation of a sacred union, as well as fairly advanced ideas, could not stop the ever-increasing contradictions between the parties to the treaty.

One of the first conflicts was the Neapolitan. Emperor Alexander insisted on the independence of the Kingdom of Naples, in which the revolution was raging. He believed that the king of this state himself would voluntarily present a progressive constitution to the people, but the treaty ally in the person of Austria had a different opinion. The Austrian military brutally suppressed revolutionary uprisings.

At the last Verona Congress, the Holy Alliance of 1815, under the influence of Metternich, became a tool of the monarchs against the discontent of the masses and any revolutionary manifestations.

The difficult year of 1822 showed disagreements between the countries of Austria and Russia in connection with the liberation uprising in Greece. Russian society supported the Greeks, since the state was of the same faith with it, and, in addition, friendship with this state significantly strengthened Russia's influence in the Balkans.

The following events in Spain undermined the foundations of the union and put an end to relations between countries within the framework of this agreement. In 1823, French troops entered the territory of Spain with the aim of forcibly restoring absolute monarchy here. The union actually ceased to exist, but in 1833 countries such as Russia, Prussia and Austria are trying to restore the agreement again, but the revolutionary events of 1848-1849 made this coalition forget forever.

On September 26, 1815, in Paris, the Russian Emperor Alexander I, the King of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm III and the Austrian Emperor Franz I signed the Act of the Holy Alliance. To ensure the inviolability of the decisions of the Vienna Congress of 1814–1815 and to prevent possible conflicts, the victorious powers needed common goal that would bring them together. And such a goal was to strengthen the ideals of Christianity, the suppression of revolutionary and national liberation movements in Europe.

Conclusion of the Holy Alliance between Russia, Prussia and Austria on September 26, 1815, lithograph on copper
Johann Carl Bock

The initiator of the creation and ideological inspirer The Union, based on the commandments of the Gospel, was the mystically minded Russian monarch Alexander Pavlovich. He personally sketched a draft document in rough form, instructing his secretary of state Alexander Skarlatovich Sturdze and Count Ioann Antonovich Kapodistria to dress him in a diplomatic uniform, while severely punishing: but do not change the essence! this is my business, I started it, and with God's help I will complete it...

Liberators of Europe 1815
Solomon CARDELLI

Friedrich Wilhelm III willingly joined in the act, which evoked in his memory the oath of allegiance that he, Queen Louise and Alexander I took on a dark autumn night in 1805 in the crypt of the garrison church of Potsdam at the tomb of Frederick the Great. Emperor Franz I, who was not inclined to mysticism, was more restrained and hesitated, but he was convinced by the cunning Chancellor Metternich. Despite the fact that the prince scornfully called the Act voiced but empty paper, he perfectly understood what a useful tool the Holy Alliance would become in the future in politics and diplomacy, especially in the hands of such a rogue as himself ...

On November 19, 1815, France and a number of other European states joined the Holy Alliance. She nodded her head in agreement, but England politely declined to sign the document, citing the fact that the Prince Regent did not have the authority to do so. In addition, the Turkish Sultan refused to participate in the Union, united under the sign of the Cross, and the Pope did not like that the document did not contain a clear demarcation of religions.

ACT OF HOLY UNION

In the name of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity! Their Majesties, the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia and the Emperor of All Russia, as a result of the great events that marked the last three years in Europe, and especially as a result of the blessings that God's Providence was pleased to pour out on the states, whose government placed its hope and respect on the One God, feeling inner conviction that it is necessary for the present powers to subordinate the image of mutual relations to the highest truths inspired by the eternal law of God the Savior, solemnly declare that the subject of this act is to reveal in the face of the universe their unshakable determination, both in governing the states entrusted to them, and in political relations to all other governments, be guided by no other rules than the commandments of this holy faith, the commandments of love, truth and peace, which were not limited to their application solely to private life, should, on the contrary, directly control the will of kings and guide all of them deeds, as a single means of affirming human decrees and rewarding their imperfection. On this basis, Their Majesties agreed in the following articles:

I. According to the words scriptures commanding all people to be brothers, the three contracting monarchs will remain united by the bonds of a real and inseparable brotherhood, and considering themselves as if they were of the same land, they will, in any case and in every place, begin to give each other allowance, reinforcement and help; in relation to their subjects and troops, they, as fathers of families, will govern them in the same spirit of brotherhood with which they are animated for the protection of faith, peace and truth.

II. Accordingly, let there be a single prevailing rule, both between the aforementioned authorities and their subjects, to bring services to each other, to show mutual goodwill and love, to consider all of themselves as members of a single Christian people, since the three allied sovereigns consider themselves as if they were appointed from Providence. to strengthen the 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 proper belongs, since in Him alone treasures of love, knowledge and infinite wisdom are acquired, i.e. God, our Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, the Speech of the Most High, the Word of Life. Accordingly, Their Majesties, with the most tender care, convince their subjects from day to day to establish themselves in the rules and active performance of duties, in which the Divine Savior has placed people, as the only means to enjoy the peace that flows from a good conscience, and which alone is durable.

III. All powers that wish solemnly to accept the sacred rules set forth in this Act, and who feel as necessary for the happiness of kingdoms that have been shaken for a long time, so that these truths will henceforth contribute to the good of human destinies, can be all willingly and lovingly accepted into this Sacred Union.

Emperor Alexander I
A.M. ALIO

The second stay in Paris turned out to be less pleasant for the Sovereign than the first. He left the capital of France, in which he had spent several months, and headed through Switzerland to Prussia, noting in the end with sadness: 30 million two-legged animals live on this earth, possessing the gift of speech, but having neither rules nor honor: and what can be where there is no religion? And he wrote to his beloved sister Ekaterina: Finally, I got away from this accursed Paris.

Union of England, Russia, France, Austria and Prussia. 1819. Watercolor by Reeve after an original by Heath and Fry
William HIT

On November 20, Russia signed bilateral acts with Austria, England and Prussia, which constituted the so-called Quadruple Union. The Union was supposed to ensure the implementation of the decisions of the Congress of Vienna and the coordination of efforts in defense of legitimism. Article VI of the treaty laid the foundation for the subsequent convening of the Congresses of the Allied Powers, the so-called congressional diplomacy.

And on January 6, 1816 in Russia, the Act of the Holy Alliance was promulgated in the tsar's manifesto on the formation and mission of the Holy Alliance. It said: we undertake mutually, both among ourselves and in relation to our subjects, to accept the rule drawn from the words and teachings of Our Savior Jesus Christ, who proclaims to people to live, like brothers, not in enmity and malice, but in peace and love. By order of the Holy Synod, upon the publication of the manifesto, it was necessary to expose its text on the walls of temples, as well as to borrow thoughts from it for sermons.

The era of the new world in Europe. Freedom, Trade and Prosperity, 1815
Friedrich KAMP

At the end of the Congress of Vienna in the autumn of 1815, the sovereigns of Russia, Austria and Prussia were in Paris at the same time and concluded here among themselves the so-called Holy Alliance, which was supposed to ensure peace in Europe in the future. The initiator of this union was Tsar Alexander I. "The leader of the immortal coalition" that deposed Napoleon, he was now at the top of power and glory. His popularity was supported by the fact that he was considered a supporter of free political development, and indeed, at that time his mood was rather liberal. Joining Finland in 1809 to Russia, he kept in it the estate constitution that was in force in Sweden, and in 1814 insisted that the French king LouisXVIII gave his subjects a constitutional charter. At the end of 1815, the Kingdom of Poland, newly formed at the Congress of Vienna, received a constitution from its new (Russian) sovereign. Even before this, Alexander I had constitutional plans for Russia itself, and even later, opening the first Polish Sejm in Warsaw in 1818, he said that he intended to extend the benefits of representative government to his entire empire.

But at the same time, with this liberalism, which later turned out to be insufficiently deep and strong, there was another mood in the soul of Alexander I. The grandiose events in which he had to play a role could not but affect his entire psyche, and the result of this action was the development in him of religious dreaminess, mysticism. After the fire of Moscow, by his own admission, "illuminating his soul", he, along with the pious admiral Shishkov began to diligently read the Bible, some passages of which he interpreted in the sense of prophecies about the events that had just taken place. This mood intensified in Alexander I after his acquaintance with one pietist, Ms. Krudener, with whom he often saw in 1815 in Heidelberg and in Paris: she already directly applied various prophecies of the Apocalypse to Alexander I himself, called him the angel of peace, the founder of the millennium kingdom, etc. Having outlined what later became the main act of the Holy Union, the mystically inclined emperor showed her his project, on which she put the words “La Sainte Alliance” as a title.

Holy Union

The essence of the matter was that the sovereigns of Austria, Prussia and Russia made a solemn promise in all their actions to be guided by the commandments of the holy Christian faith, to be among themselves in brotherhood and "to give each other allowance, reinforcement and help", referring to their subjects and troops, how fathers of families should behave, etc. Declaring themselves “as if appointed from Providence to manage three single family branches”, the three allied sovereigns “with the most tender care urged their subjects from day to day to establish themselves in the rules and the active performance of duties” taught by the Divine Savior. In conclusion, it was pointed out that the powers that wish to solemnly recognize the "sacred rules" set forth in the act "may all be willingly and lovingly accepted into this Holy Alliance."

Having drawn up this religious and moral declaration without any definite political and legal content and without any mention of the rights of peoples, Alexander I submitted it to the Austrian emperor for consideration. FranzI and the Prussian king Friedrich WilhelmIII. Neither of them liked the project. The Austrian emperor was, however, under the unconditional influence of his minister, the prince Metternich, who fully agreed with his sovereign, finding that this "philanthropic undertaking under the guise of religion" is nothing more than an "empty and crackling document", which, however, could be very badly interpreted. It was precisely at this time that Metternich began to play the role of the first statesman of Austria, in which he then remained for more than thirty years, directing the policy of the Habsburg monarchy along the most reactionary channel. In his stubborn conservatism, he, as well as possible, approached the character of Franz I, a pedantic absolutist who believed only in the patriarchal method of government and in the need the strictest discipline. Franz I instructed Metternich to discuss the offer of the Russian emperor with the Prussian king, and he also found the matter unsuitable, but at the same time pointed out the inconvenience of rejecting the project. Alexander I was then indicated by both allies some, in their opinion, desirable changes, and Metternich convinced the author of the project to make them, after which the document was signed by all three monarchs. For the actual signing of the act of the Holy Alliance, its initiator chose September 26 of the new style, which in the last century coincided with September 14 according to the old style, i.e. with the celebration in Orthodox Church day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, which also for Alexander I. apparently had a special religious meaning.

In addition to the three sovereigns who signed the act of the Holy Alliance, other sovereigns also joined it. There were very few exceptions. First, dad PiusVII declared that he had nothing to adhere to the principles that he always recognized, but in fact he did not want his signature to be among the signatures of minor sovereigns. Secondly, the English Prince Regent, who replaced his mentally ill father, refused to join the union. GeorgeIII: the treaty was signed by some sovereigns, and the English constitution also requires the signature of the responsible minister. Finally, the Turkish sultan, as a non-Christian sovereign, was not at all invited to participate in this union of the “united Christian people,” as the union was directly named in the act. In addition to large and small monarchs, Switzerland and the German free cities also joined the union.

The Austrian minister, who at first found the “philanthropic undertaking” of Alexander I “at least useless”, subsequently, more than anyone else, benefited from the document, which he himself called “empty and crackling”. After the fall of Napoleon, Metternich became the most influential political figure in Europe, and even Alexander I submitted to his system, despite the fact that Austrian policy was often in conflict with the most vital interests of Russia. Of all the statesmen of this era, the Austrian chancellor embodied the principles of reactionary politics more fully than others and more steadily than anyone else put them into practice, not without reason calling himself a man of the existing. The very state tradition of the Habsburg monarchy was a tradition of political and religious reaction. On the other hand, no state needed to suppress the popular movements, like Austria with its diverse population: there were also Germans in it, and therefore it was necessary to ensure that it was quiet and peaceful in Germany - and Italians, and therefore, it was necessary to watch all of Italy - and Poles, fellow tribesmen which in the Kingdom of Poland, to the displeasure of Metternich, had a constitution - and, finally, the Czechs, Magyars, Croats, and so on. with their particularistic aspirations. All this made the Habsburg monarchy the general center of reactionary politics, and Metternich - its leader throughout Europe. The advice of the Vienna oracle was followed not only by the petty sovereigns of Germany and Italy, but also by the monarchs of such great powers as Russia and Prussia. In particular, Alexander I often submitted to the influence of Metternich, who usually very skillfully supported the requirements of Austrian policy with references to the Holy Alliance.

Chapter 13