Historical Anthem: Russian Empire - Боже, Царя храни!

“God Save the Tsar!“ (Russian: Боже, Царя храни!; transliteration: Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!) was the national anthem of the former Russian Empire. The song was chosen from a competition held in 1833 and was first performed on 18 December 1833. The composer was violinist Alexei Lvov, and the lyrics were by the court poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It was the anthem until the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which “Worker’s Marseillaise“ was adopted as the new national anthem until the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government.