The period from 1689 to 1789 is called the era of spiritual awakening in the history of Europe. The European nations wanted religious and moral uplift of the common people. But the philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau had declared the Church and religion as infamous things.
After the downfall of Napoleon, the concepts of Rationalism Scepticism were opposed and the European nations pondered the idea of uplifting the religious condition of the rulers and the ruled.
Czar Alexander I was the foremost of all who, with the assistance of immediate allies, Prussia and Austria, declared the scheme of the Holy Alliance. In the words of C. D. Hazen:
“Whose (Czar Alexander I) mood was now deeply religious under the influence of the tremendous events of recent years and the fall of Napoleon, which to his mind seemed the swift verdict of a higher power in human destinies.”
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The document of the Holy Alliance presented by Czar Alexander 1 was not a new one. In about 1600 a plan of such type was also made in France by the French emperor Henry IV and his minister named Sully This plan was called ‘The Grand Design of Henry IV’.
The main object of that plan was to maintain peace and order in Europe and to help the rulers live together as brothers. In the words of Sully himself:
“The object of the Grand Design was to deliver the Europeans for ever from the fear of bloody catastrophes, so common in Europe, to secure for them an unalterable repose so that all the princes might henceforth live together as brothers.”
But the above scheme could not be implemented because of the death of Henry IV in 1610. The same situation occurred with the Holy Alliance of Czar Alexander I.
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He also declared his scheme and presented the document before the European powers but his scheme also could not get off the ground.