God Save the Tsar!

"God save the Tsar!" was the national anthem of the Russian Empire, used from 1833 to 1917. The melody of the anthem was composed by Alexei Lvov, and the lyrics were written by Vasily Zhukovsky.

Bozhe, tsarya khrani!

English: God save the Tsar!
Боже, Царя храни!
Former anthem of Russian Empire
Lyrics	Vasily Zhukovsky, 1833
Music	Alexei Lvov, 1833
Adopted	1833
Relinquished	1917
Audio sample
God save the Tsar (1915) file help

History

In 1833 the emperor Nicholas I was visiting Austria and Prussia with Alexei Lvov. Nicholas was greeted by English marches, which he didn't like. When he came back to Russia, he had Alexei compose a song that would become the national anthem. The composer, Alexei Lvov and the lyricist, Vasily Zhukovsky, created the anthem that was first played in December 1833. After that, the song became the national anthem of Russian Empire, with the name of "God save the Tsar!". The anthem was used until the revolution in 1917. The song were succeeded by the "Worker's Marseillaise" and later by the "Internationale".

Lyrics

During Imperial Russia, mostly only the first stanza was played, easy to remember, usually repeated three times.

Short version	Romanized lirycs	English translation
Боже, Царя храни! Сильный, державный, Царствуй на славу, на славу намъ! Царствуй на страхъ врагамъ, Царь православный! Боже, Царя храни!	Bozhe, Carja hrani! Sil’nyj, derzhavnyj, Carstvuj na slavu, na slavu nam! Carstvuj na strah vragam, Car’ pravoslavnyj! Bozhe, Carja, Carja hrani!	God, protect the Tsar! Strong and majestic, Reign for glory, For our glory! Reign to foes’ fear, Orthodox Tsar. God, protect the Tsar!