Holy Alliance

Holy Alliance, loose organization of European sovereigns who agreed to advance the principles of the Christian faith. The alliance was established by a treaty drawn up by Emperor Alexander I of Russia. It was signed in Paris on September 26, 1815, by Francis I, emperor of Austria; by Frederick William III, king of Prussia; and by Alexander. The alliance was proclaimed at the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) and eventually all European rulers signed the treaty, except the Prince Regent of Britain, the pope, and the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The importance of the alliance lay not in the ineffectual agreement itself but in its becoming a symbol of absolutist policies. Autocratic and repressive rulers used the alliance as an instrument to maintain the status quo in Europe. During the mid-1800s, many democratic and nationalist uprisings were put down in the name of the alliance.