"The Prayer of Russians" ( rus, Молитва русских, r=Molitva russkikh, p=mɐˈlʲitvə ˈruskʲɪx) is a song that was used as the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

from 1816 to 1833. After defeating the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son of ...

recommended a national anthem for Russia. The lyrics were written by

Vasily Zhukovsky Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (russian: Василий Андреевич Жуковский, Vasiliy Andreyevich Zhukovskiy; – ) was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s and a leading figure in Russian literature in the first half of the 19 ...

, and the music of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

anthem "

God Save the King "God Save the King" is the national anthem, national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in ...

" was used. In 1833, "The Prayer of Russians" was replaced with "God Save the Tsar" ('' Bozhe, tsarya khrani''). The two songs both start with the same words ''Bozhe, tsarya khrani'' but diverge after that. Some consider ''God Save the Tsar'' Russia's first true national anthem, as both its words and music were Russian. Others say the title belongs to

Grom pobedy, razdavaysya! "Let the Thunder of Victory Rumble!" (russian: Гром побе́ды, раздава́йся!, Grom pobedy, razdavaysya!) was an unofficial Russian national anthem in the late 18th and early 19th century. The lyrics were written by the premier Ru ...

, another popular song of the time, although it never had official status.

Lyrics

External links

Prayer of Russians (in Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prayer of Russians European anthems Christian prayer Historical national anthems Russian anthems Royal anthems 1816 songs National anthem compositions in G major God Save the King