Recently Vladimir Putin took his fellow presidents of the CIS nations on a tour of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. There, Putin drew their attention to a particular painting of interest, the portrait of the “Russian general”. But what was the meaning behind this work and why was it so important to Mr. Putin?

Image above: Portrait of General Leopold of Saxe-Coburg

Russian Emperor Nicholas I learned that German Prince Leopold, a lieutenant general in the Russian army, had been elected the first king of Belgium by the revolutionary parliament, and the Russian monarch exclaimed, “What a fall!” («Какое падение!») This is an accurate and very characteristic reaction of Nicholas I! The phrase “What a fall!” or perhaps more accurately “What a step down!” perfectly reflects the full range of his feelings about the news that the former Russian General Leopold of Saxe-Coburg accepted the crown of Belgium.

Vladimir Putin told the presidents all about this historical episode, so let’s look at what was behind this brief but damning assessment by the leader of Russia.:

Ideological and personal “fall”

For Nicholas I, “Europe’s last Don Quixote” and an implacable defender of legitimism, it was a double betrayal.

This was a betrayal of principles, Leopold agreed to become king not by right of blood or by the will of the legitimate monarch (the King of the Netherlands), but by the will of the revolutionary parliament elected after the uprising of 1830. In the eyes of Nicholas I, this was not an ascension to the throne, but a fall into the abyss of revolutionary illegitimacy.
Betrayal of personal honor and duty: Leopold was an officer of the Russian service, a general who was given many awards including the golden sword “for bravery” at Borodino. For Nicholas, for whom the concepts of duty, honor and loyalty were sacred, accepting the crown from the rebels was an act deeply unworthy and shameful for a former soldier.

The political “fall”

It was a blow to the Vienna system, Nicholas I considered himself the main guardian of the order established after the victory over Napoleon. The Belgian Revolution and the emergence of a new kingdom were a direct challenge to this system, which had to be suppressed by force.

An Alliance with the “enemies of the thrones” looked grim. Leopold’s marriage in 1832 to Louise Marie, the daughter of the “usurper king” Louis Philippe (who also came to power in France as a result of the 1830 revolution), finally convinced Nicholas that Leopold had become part of a “revolutionary clique” threatening the monarchies of Europe.

Practical actions of Nicholas I

Nicholas I categorically refused to recognize Leopold I as king, calling him only “Lord of Saxe-Coburg”. He insisted on military intervention to restore the authority of the King of the Netherlands over Belgium. Later, with great displeasure and under the pressure of urgent political circumstances, he was forced to recognize the independence of Belgium and its king eventually in 1839 by signing the Treaty of London.

The phrase “What a fall!” is a concentrated expression of contempt, disappointment and anger. It contains the whole Nicholas I: a knight of legitimism who saw in Leopold not a monarch who ascended to the throne, but a general who had fallen morally, exchanging the honor of a Russian officer for a crown obtained from the dirty hands of the revolution. This fall was not a career one for him, but a moral and ideological one.

Why did Putin bring this to the attention of the leaders of the CIS. One can only guess, but as the President is more than just a fan of history, there must be some deeper meaning.