THE EUROPE OF THE PEOPLES

The "Russian" Version of the Holy Alliance
"Русская" версия Священного Союза
La "versione russa" della Santa Alleanza
La "version Russe" de la Sainte Alliance
Die "russische Version" der Heiligen Allianz

For all the above reason, Russia was able to play a decisive role over the shape of the Holy Alliance, albeit its specific points of view were not taken into the hoped account. In particular, according to the secret instructions conferred, by the Tsar , on Novosiltsev, the political form of Europe should have been transformed deeply, from the one side, for accommodating the national ambitions of the peoples of Europe, and, from the other side, following a bit the scheme of the famous projects for the reform of Europe, which had been worked out, over the centuries, by Podĕbrad, De Sully, Crucé, St. Pierre, Rousseau, Kant, Novalis and others, whereby the European Kings should have stipulated a “Peacefully Pact” (Fœdus Pacificum) for avoiding wars and for protecting Christendom. In this sense, the Russian project defined Europe as “the Christian Nation”, and “Europe of the Peoples”T he document is of great interest, as in it we find formulated for the first time in an official dispatch the ideals of international policy which were to play so conspicuous a part in the affairs of the world at the close of the revolutionary epoch, and issued at the end of the 19th century in the Rescript of  Nicolas II and the conference of the Hague. Alexander argued that the outcome of the war was not to be only the liberation of France, but the universal triumph of "the sacred rights of Humanity". To attain this it would be necessary "after having attached the  tonations their government by making these incapable of acting save in the greatest interests of their subjects, to fix the relations of the states amongst each other on more precise rules, and such as it is to their interest to respect."

A general treaty was to become the basis of the relations of the states forming "the European Confederation"; and this, though "it was no question of realising the dream of universal peace, would attain some of its results if, at the conclusion of the general war, it were possible to establish on clear principles the prescriptions of the rights of nations." "Why could not one submit to it", the Tsar continued, "the positive rights of nations, assure the privilege of neutrality, insert the obligation of never beginning war until all the resources which the mediation of a third party could offer have been exhausted, having by this means brought to light the respective grievances, and tried to remove them? It is on such principles as these that one could proceed to a general pacification, and give birth to a league of which the stipulations would form, so to speak, a new code of the law of nations, which, sanctioned by the greater part of the nations of Europe, would without difficulty become the immutable rule of the cabinets, while those who should try to infringe it would risk bringing upon themselves the forces of the new union."

As it is well-known, such ambitions were nullified by the resistance, to the Russian proposals, of the other main negotiators of the Vienna Treat, which refused to sign the general text of the Holy Alliance, which was not a legal text, but a political manifesto of a conservative project for a new “European Concert” inspired by the Enlightened Conservatism and by a form of Christian Ecumenism alongside the ideas of Novalis. Nevertheless, Alexander 1^st ordered that this document was read officially at least once a year in all Churches of the Empire.

Because of all of these initiatives, Alexander !st was the only soverain after Charlemagne to be called "the Empèeror of the Europeans"

Some of the ideas of this text of the “Holy Alliance” were taken over, unexpectedly, by West European politicians such as Mazzini and Gioberti, who continued the ideas of a “Europe of the Peoples”, and, respectively, of an Italian  federation presided by the Pope. Surely, Mazzini, and even Rosmini and Gioberti, who were considered, in their times, very “progressive” people, would not have appreciated this analogy. Nevertheless, it appears self-evident when reading secret instructions to Novosiltev and of the works of the two Italian politicians and thinkers.

For all the above reason, Russia was able to play a decisive role over the shape of the Holy Alliance, albeit its specific points of view were not taken into the hoped account. In particular, according to the secret instructions conferred, by the Tsar , on Novosiltsev, the political form of Europe should have been transformed deeply, from the one side, for accommodating the national ambitions of the peoples of Europe, and, from the other side, following a bit the scheme of the famous projects for the reform of Europe, which had been worked out, over the centuries, by Podĕbrad, De Sully, Crucé, St. Pierre, Rousseau, Kant, Novalis and others, whereby the European Kings should have stipulated a “Peacefully Pact” (Fœdus Pacificum) for avoiding wars and for protecting Christendom. In this sense, the Russian project defined Europe as “the Christian Nation”, and “Europe of the Peoples”T he document is of great interest, as in it we find formulated for the first time in an official dispatch the ideals of international policy which were to play so conspicuous a part in the affairs of the world at the close of the revolutionary epoch, and issued at the end of the 19th century in the Rescript of Nicholas II and the conference of the Hague. Alexander argued that the outcome of the war was not to be only the liberation of France, but the universal triumph of "the sacred rights of humanity". To attain this it would be necessary "after having attached the nations to their government by making these incapable of acting save in the greatest interests of their subjects, to fix the relations of the states amongst each other on more precise rules, and such as it is to their interest to respect."

A general treaty was to become the basis of the relations of the states forming "the European Confederation"; and this, though "it was no question of realising the dream of universal peace, would attain some of its results if, at the conclusion of the general war, it were possible to establish on clear principles the prescriptions of the rights of nations." "Why could not one submit to it", the Tsar continued, "the positive rights of nations, assure the privilege of neutrality, insert the obligation of never beginning war until all the resources which the mediation of a third party could offer have been exhausted, having by this means brought to light the respective grievances, and tried to remove them? It is on such principles as these that one could proceed to a general pacification, and give birth to a league of which the stipulations would form, so to speak, a new code of the law of nations, which, sanctioned by the greater part of the nations of Europe, would without difficulty become the immutable rule of the cabinets, while those who should try to infringe it would risk bringing upon themselves the forces of the new union."

As it is well-known, such ambitions were nullified by the resistance, to the Russian proposals, of the other main negotiators of the Vienna Treat, which refused to sign the general text of the Holy Alliance, which was not a legal text, but a political manifesto of a conservative project for a new “European Concert” inspired by the Enlightened Conservatism and by a form of Christian Ecumenism alongside the ideas of Novalis. Nevertheless, Alexander 1^st ordered that this document was read officially at least once a year in all Churches of the Empire.

Moreover, some of the ideas of this text of the “Holy Alliance” were taken over, unexpectedly, by West European politicians such as Mazzini and Gioberti, who continued the ideas of a “Europe of the Peoples”, and, respectively, of an Italian federation presided by the Pope. Surely, Mazzini, and even Gioberti, who were considered, in their times, very “progressive” people, would not have appreciated this analogy. Nevertheless, it appears self-evident when reading secret instructions to Novosiltev and of the works of the two Italian politicians and thinkers.

A "EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION”: A LEGACY OF ALEXANDER Ist

The Emperor of the Europeans 

Царь  европейцев

L'imperatore degli Europei

L'empereur des Européens

Der Kaiser der Europaeer

Notwithstanding the change of Catherine’s mood towards Reforms after American and French Revolution, the relationships of the Russian Empire towards France and Napoleon was never completely negative.

The Czar Alexander 1^st was a follower of Freemasonry. During the first part of his reign, he was considered as favorable to reforms, and, by the Tilsit Treaty, he tried even to reach an agreement with Napoleon. However, the decision, by the latter, to invade Russia, left to him no other choice  than war. He was surrounded, from one side, by Freemason intellectuals of the most different orientations, and, from the other, by middle-of-the-way liberal reformers, such as Czartorysky and Novosiltsev, with whom he entertained complex relationships. In particular, Czartorysky, who had been active in the last struggles in Poland before the Third Partition, but who was a personal friend of the Tsar, had worked out, with the consent of the Emperor, a project, which merged the experiences of some pre-revolutionary constitutions, like the Polish “Konstytucja Trzeciego Maja” (which had the approval of Rousseau) and the final act of the Finnish Estactes of Borgå, with the project of Catherine II for a new Russian Legislation, so envisaging to introduce into Poland and into Finland some limited reforms, as an example to be followed lateron  in other parties of the Empire (it would have been the first occasion for utilizing the term “Finlandisation”).

One has to recall that the Finnish-Swedish aristocracy had even fought a war against the Napoleonic Swedish for maintaining its “Constitution”. On the contrary, the Polish Constitution of 1815, which referred to the Old Constitution of 1791, was not accepted by mainstream Poland, since it reflected just the ideas of the higher aristocrats.

For Russia, the Napoleonic invasion in 1812 resulted in a unique experience, which deeply influenced its perception of the world. It had, on the self-consciousness of Russians, an impact similar to the one had in other countries of Europe (such as, e.g., Spain, Italy and Germany), i.e., the raising of the national feelings. However, this feelings were different in scope. In first instance, the special scope of Russia emerged from the fact itself that it was Russia, and Russia alone, which, with its resistance to Napoleon’s invasion, determined the fall of the latter. It was precisely the disbanding catastrophe followed to the invasion of Russia the reason why the French Army was no more in a position to overcome its European foes.

It is true, the invasion of Russia from the West had never succeeded, as experiences by the Poled and by the Swedes. However, after the invasion of Napoleon, this invincibility of Russia was put under the eyes of everybody in Europe. This was sufficient to give Russia a special standing. But this was not enough. In fact, Russian troops had proven to be very effective all over Europe. An example for all: already in 1796, Suvorov had been able to defeat Napoleon in Piedmont, to conquer Torino and to recall the King of Sardinia (who, however, declined his invitation). Especially, Suvorov, himself a typical “national-popular” military leader, outbalanced Napoleon also in his policy of aggregating, under “Austro-Russian” flags, the Italian national voluntaries, as well as counter-revolutionary guerrilla. In this sense, even if this role has never been recognized, he contributed, at least as much as Napoleon, to anticipate the birth of Italian nationalism, in the same way as this happened with the other ant-Napoleon military movements in Germany, Austria and Spain. Moreover, Suvorov conducted an extraordinary campaign in Switzerland, for which he was designed as “The Generalissimo”.

At the end of the war, Russia’s armies were present even in France, and Russia was in a position to influence heavily the overall results of the Congress of Vienna.

Thirdly, the Russian Empire was a multinational entity, which could avail itself of the far-reaching experience of people like Czartorysky, who had been an active part in the political life of another big country, like Poland, where the newest reform trends were hardly debated and had found a first concrete step in the “Konstytucja Treciego Maja”.

Finally, the liberation war against Napoleon, which was called “The Patriotic War”, allowed also Russia to forge its own nationalism.

During the XVIII Century, the original identity of the Muscovite State, which had been imprinted by the religious heritage of the “Third Rome”, had been profoundly shaken. The rationalist attitude, as well as the foreign nationality, of some monarchs (like Catherine II), together with the huge influence of Polish, German, Swedish and Tatar aristocrats, as well as of Italian, French, English and Scandinavian artists, architects and officials (who all spoke, among them, in French), had distanced the Court and the aristocracy from common people. By the way, it has to be remembered that personal serfdom was not a traditional Slavonic, or Russian, institution; on the contrary, it was consolidated precisely during the Catherine period, with something which can recall the idea of slave labor in the Americas and in the other European colonies worldwide of the same period. And, in fact, the revolts of Razin and Pugačiov recall, under many points of view, the contemporary anti-colonial revolts, such as the one of Tupac Amaru in Southern America, as well as the peasant revolts in the Austrian Galicia. On the contrary, the fact that, during the Napoleon wars, the aristocratic officials class had fought, side to side, together with peasants, for the defense of fatherland, had diffused a completely new mood. Intellectuals were encouraged to look for the “national soul” of the Russian people, alongside the ideals of Romanticism. This event raised, at the same time, the social consciousness of many aristocrats, like Prince Volkonskij, or the Decabrists, and the utilization of national language instead of French.

The growing importance of the peoples rendered it impossible to impeach also all the infinite other ethnic entities of the Empire (starting from Poles and Finns, but going down to Caucasians and to Lithuanians, up to Ukrainians and to Jews) to vindicate their respective nationalities, languages and identities, as well as an increased role for lower classes. It is the moment when Kalevala were written by Lömroeth and Pan Tadeusz and Dziady by Mickiewicz, and, and when Hadzi Muhammad and Chamil raised the Daghestanian and Chechnyan revolts.

BETWEEN RUSSIA AND EUROPE

Center-Eastern Europe at the Time of the Livonia War

Poland, Sweden,Belarus,Baltic States, Ukraine, Moldova, Turkey, had tight contacts among them in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.
По́льша,Шведска,Беларус,Приба́лтика,Украи́на,Молдова,Турция  были тесно связанные в XVII и XVIII веке
Nel XVII e XVIII Secolo, Polonia, Svezia, Bielorussia, Paesi Baltici, Ucraina, Moldova e Turchia erano strettamente interconnesse
Aux Siècles XVII et XVIII, la Pologne,  la Suède,la Biélorussie, les Pays Baltes, l'Ucraine, la Moldavie et la Turquie étaient étroitement enchevetrées
In den XVIIen und XVIII Jahrhundert, waren Polen,Schweden,Belarus,Baltikum, Ukraine, Moldova und die Tuerkei, dicht miteinander gebunden. 
 

During and after the Mongolian domination, different parts of the Russian territory were subjected to the determinant influences of other, European and Asiatic, Kingdoms, and, in particular,Tataria,  Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Sweden and Turkey, so further increasing the cosmopolitan character of Russia.

1.     German Knights

Simultaneously with the Mongolian attack, also the German Knights of the Holy Cross tried to subdue the Novgorod Republic. However, Alexander Nevsky succeeded to defeat and to expel them by the battle of the Peipüs Lake.

The contacts with Germany continued nevertheless, thanks to the membership of Novgorod and other Northern Towns in the Hansa, thanks also to the family connection between the Russian princes and German aristocracy, thanks to the presence of a German heritage in the Baltic States, and, finally, thanks to the important immigration into Russia of German settlers, especially under the kingdom of Catherine II.

2.     Lithuania

During the Mongolian invasions, towns in the Western part of Kievskaja Rus, such as Novohradec, Brest, Mogilev, Minsk, were exposed to the influence of the Lithuanian princes. The latter, being still heathen, were exposed to several pressures to convert. As a consequence, there is, in Lithuanian history, a long-lasting trend toward Christian influences. The latter found their expression, in a first step, in the adoption of Greek Orthodox Faith and of Church Slavonic; later on, in the adoption of Catholicism and of Latin.

In the same time, the South-Western territory of the Kingdom of Halić fell under the influence of the King of Poland.

During the XV and XVI Centuries, the whole territory of present-days Belarus and Ukraine became part of a “Lithuanian Great-Duchy”, which, with its Orthodox Faith and its Slavonic language, could be considered as a sort of replica of the previous Kievan Rus’(and in fact, was still denominated also al “Zemlia Russka”).

3.     Poland

However, the personal union (Polish-Lithiuanian Rzeczpospolita) which, in the form of Unia Lubelska, transformed itself into a Polish hegemony, substracted force to Lithuania, and, hence, also to its previous Orthodox character. Ukraine became a part of the Polish Crown; Catholicism, Latin and Polish gained momentum.

During the period of the “Riots” (“Smutnoe Vreme”, Poles tried even to subdue Russia, arriving at conquering the Moscow Kremlin.

During that period, the Orthodox part of the former Great-Ducky of Lithuania, presently part of the Polish Crown, fell under the control of the Cossacks (the Hetmanate). In a first stage, the Cossack Hetmans governed this region (which stretched between Ukraine and Belarus) on behalf of the Polish King. However, at a certain moment, Hetman Chmel’nicky pretended to get a full autonomy from Poland, and, therefore, was attacked by the same. Chmel’nicky tried to resist Poland with the support of the Tatar Crimea Khanate and of the Ottoman Empire, but the Khan allied with Poles, so that Chmel’nicky was obliged to address himself to Russia.

As a consequence of the lack of success of the Polish tentative, the Muscovite Prince gained further influence also in Ukraine, and, during the XVII Century, with the Jaslav Convention and the Andrusovo Treaty, Kiev became a part of the Muscovite State. This situation gave rise to a growing Ukrainian influence in Muscovy, thanks also to the high level of theological development reached in Kiev’s Seminary.

4.     Sweden

Once the Polish influence finished, another threat was felt by the fledging Russian State: the power of the Kingdom of Sweden.

Following to the Reform and the Religious Wars, Sweden, during the Thirty Years War, had become able to reunite around it all Scandinavian States, more the Baltic States and the North of Germany, becoming a European great power.

Within this framework, the Swedes tried also to extend their power, from the Baltic territories, to Ukraine, across the previous lands of the Lithuanian State, thanks to the alliance with Hetman Mazepa, who tried to become independent from Poland, Russia and Turkey.

Also this tentative was unsuccessful. On the contrary, Paul the Great succeeded in defeating  the Swedes in Poltava and even to conquer all the stretch of Swedish territories on the Baltic, presently corresponding to the St. Petersburgkaja Oblast, to Estonia and Latvia. However, the Swedish influence on Russia did not cease with the Nordic Wars, but, on the contrary, went on also in the following centuries. In fact, in the Baltic States, besides the previous German aristocracy, originating from the German Knights of the Holy Cross, also a Swedish upper class had been created, which influenced the cultural life of the country and of Russia in general. For instance, the Admiral Vrangel’, one of the leaders of the White Russian Army during civil war, was of recent Swedish origins. Later on, in 1809, one of the reasons for the secession of Finland from Sweden, and the accession of the same to Russia, had been that Count Bernadotte, which, under French influence, had been appointed, by Napoleon,  as the King of Sweden, did not guarantee to maintain, to Finnish aristocracy (which was, in fact, nationally Swedish), the privileged guaranteed, under the previous dynasty, as the outcome of the “Constitution” of the “Borga Estates”.

So, Swedish-Finnish legal régime was “transferred” into Russia together with the Grand-Duchy of Finland, so constituting a basis for the reforms prompted later on, for the whole Empire, by Prince  Czartoryski.

This historical period had been also of paramount importance for the formation of the Finnish culture. At the moment of the passage of Finland from Sweden to Russia, and of the creation of the “Grand Duchy of Finland”, the need was felt to create a Finnish culture, instead of relying uniquely on the culture of Sweden, which had been, for the past, the almost sole culture of Finland. In fact, the ancient Ugro-Finnic population had been subjected to the Christian Swedes since the XIV Century, and did not have either a literary language, or a literary tradition.

At that moment in time, Lonnröth, going on the same path as Herder with Latvian ancient poetry, traveled intensively across Carelia, a Russian province inhabited by Finns, where he collected, from the voices of peasants, ancients legends, that he unified into the “Kalevala”, the national epos of the Finns. In so doing, he followed the same path of Macpherson, who, for his “Ossian”, collected Irish popular songs, unifying them into only one poem, and, then, pretending they were “Scottish”.

On the other side, the work of Lonnröth arouse an interest also on the other part of Botnia, in Estonia, where the Kalevi Poeg was composed, an epical cycle connected with the Kalevala.

5.     The Ottoman Empire

Whilst all these transformations were under way in the northern parts of Russia, in the South-Eastern part of it, and also in Ukraine, the influence of the Mongol and Tatar “Great Khans” had left place to the one of Turkey.

Both the Khanate of Crimea and the Nogai Horde had become vassals of the Ottoman Empire. This Turkish/Islamic influence is perceivable already now in those territories. In fact, all the Cis-Caucasian area was inhabited, together with Cossacks, by various smaller peoples, many of them, like the Daghestani and the Chechnyans, of Islamic faith. This area, formerly occupied by Tatars and by Mongols, Islam was often of recent date (like, for instance, in Ingushetia). For this reason, the cultural language was even Arabic, and the connections with Arabia were frequent.

These Islamic populations contributed heavily to revolts, including, i.a. to the one of Pugačiov, who, on the other side, had even an Arabic secretariate for drawing appeals and legislative instruments in that language.