| English: God Save the Tsar! | |
|---|---|
| Боже, Царя храни! | |
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Former national anthem of Russia Former royal anthem of Bulgaria (1878–1908) | |
| Lyrics | Vasily Zhukovsky |
| Music | Alexei Lvov |
| Adopted | 31 December 1833 |
| Relinquished | 15 March 1917 |
| Preceded by | "The Prayer of Russians" |
| Succeeded by | "Worker's Marseillaise" (Russia) "Anthem of His Majesty the Tsar" (Bulgaria) |
| Audio sample | |
Choral version (recorded in 1915) | |
"God Save the Tsar!" (Russian: Боже, Царя храни!, IPA: [ˈboʐɨ tsɐˈrʲa xrɐˈnʲi]) was the national anthem of the Russian Empire. The song was chosen from a competition held in 1833 and was first performed on 18 December 1833. It was composed by violinist Alexei Lvov, with lyrics written by the court poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It was the anthem until the February Revolution of 1917, after which "Worker's Marseillaise" was adopted as the new national anthem until the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government by the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution of the same year.