The Prayer of Russians

Molitva russkih
English: "The Prayer of Russians"
Молитва русских
	Former national anthem of Russia
Lyrics	Vasily Zhukovsky
Music	Based on that of "God Save the King"
Adopted	1816
Relinquished	1833
Preceded by	"Let the Thunder of Victory Rumble!"
Succeeded by	"God Save the Tsar!"
Audio sample
	The Prayer of Russians file; help;

"The Prayer of Russians"^[a] is a patriotic hymn that was used as the national anthem of Imperial Russia from 1816 to 1833.

After defeating the First French Empire, Tsar Alexander I of Russia recommended a national anthem for Russia. The lyrics were written by Vasily Zhukovsky, and the music of the British anthem "God Save the King" was used.

In 1833, "The Prayer of Russians" was replaced with "God Save the Tsar". The two songs both have identical incipits: «Боже, царя храни».^[1]

Some consider "God Save the Tsar" Russia's first true national anthem, as both its words and music were Russian. Others^[who?] say that the title belongs to "Let the Thunder of Victory Rumble!", another popular song at the time, although it never had official status.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

^ Очерк истории российского гимна. Государственные символы Российской Федерации.

[2] Очерк истории российского гимна. Государственные символы Российской Федерации.

[a]

[1]