With the establishment of peace in 1815 the Russian government had occasion to be well satisfied with European conditions. After the menace of French aggression and French-supported revolutionary upheaval was suppressed, Russia emerged as the predominant Continental military power. Joined in close alignment with the Habsburg Monarchy and Prussia, a combination usually referred to as the Holy Alliance, the Russian government was a part of the most important European alliance system. With the acquisition of the major share of Poland, it also had no more territorial claims in the West. Weary of war and revolutionary upheaval, and with few pressing foreign policy objectives, Russia became the principal supporter of the status quo in European politics.

Russia's relations with the Ottoman Empire could be viewed with similar satisfaction. If the Porte kept its treaty obligations, the Russian government was in a position to dominate the internal politics of the Principalities and to play a major role in the relations of the Ottoman government with its Orthodox subjects. During the eighteenth century, as we have seen, Russia waged repeated campaigns with the aim of attaining certain territorial objectives. This direction of policy was, at least temporarily, to be reversed. The Russian government now wished to maintain the status quo in the Near East as well as in Europe. With the achievement of the Pruth boundary, the Russian leaders recognized that they had little more to gain by an aggressive policy in either area.