Under her long reign, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, Russia experienced a renaissance of culture and sciences, which led to the founding of many new cities, universities, and theatres; along with large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and the recognition of Russia as one of the great powers of Europe. [103], Catherine took many different approaches to Islam during her reign. Catherine recalled in her memoirs her optimistic and resolute mood before her accession to the throne: I used to say to myself that happiness and misery depend on ourselves. Peter and Catherine had both been involved in a 1749 Russian military plot to crown Peter (together with Catherine) in Elizabeth's stead. She had the government collect and publish vital statistics. He died at the age of 52 in 1791. While the state did not technically allow them to own possessions, some serfs were able to accumulate enough wealth to pay for their freedom. News of Catherine's plan spread, and Frederick II (others say the Ottoman sultan) warned her that if she tried to conquer Poland by marrying Poniatowski, all of Europe would oppose her. [71] She ordered the planting of the first "English garden" at Tsarskoye Selo in May 1770. [28] From 1762, the Great Imperial Crown was the coronation crown of all Romanov emperors until the monarchy's abolition in 1917. Hulus The Great offers an irreverent, ahistorical take on the Russian empress life. Historian Franois Cruzet writes that Russia under Catherine: had neither a free peasantry, nor a significant middle class, nor legal norms hospitable to private enterprise. Journal of Modern Russian History and Historiography, USA. It was a failure because it narrowed and stifled entrepreneurship and did not reward economic development. [94] The girls who attended the Smolny Institute, Smolyanki, were often accused of being ignorant of anything that went on in the world outside the walls of the Smolny buildings, within which they acquired a proficiency in French, music, and dancing, along with a complete awe of the monarch. While the measure appeared to be progressive on paper, the reality of the situation remained stark for most peasants, and in 1881, revolutionaries assassinated the increasingly reactionary czara clear example of what Hartley deems autocracy tempered by assassination, or the idea that a ruler had almost unlimited powers but was always vulnerable to being dethroned if he or she alienated the elites., After Pugachevs uprising, Catherine shifted focus to what Massie describes as more readily achievable aims: namely, the expansion of her empire and the enrichment of its culture.. However, military conscription and the economy continued to depend on serfdom, and the increasing demands of the state and of private landowners intensified the exploitation of serf labour. [116] While other religions (such as Islam) received invitations to the Legislative Commission, the Orthodox clergy did not receive a single seat. [74][75], Catherine enlisted Voltaire to her cause, and corresponded with him for 15 years, from her accession to his death in 1778. [29], During her reign, Catherine extended the borders of the Russian Empire by some 520,000 square kilometres (200,000sqmi), absorbing New Russia, Crimea, the North Caucasus, right-bank Ukraine, White Russia, Lithuania, and Courland at the expense, mainly, of two powersthe Ottoman Empire and the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth. She lost the large territories of the Russian protectorate of the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania and left its territories to Prussia and Austria. Peter supposedly was assassinated, but it is unknown how he died. Under Catherine's rule, despite her enlightened ideals, the serfs were generally unhappy and discontented. Later, several rumours circulated regarding the cause and manner of her death. In 1762 called on the army to upgrade its medical services. At the time of Peter III's overthrow, other potential rivals for the throne included Ivan VI (17401764), who had been confined at Schlsselburg in Lake Ladoga from the age of six months and who was thought to be insane. In this month, the empress of Russia died and her successor Paul, who detested that the Zubovs had other plans for the army, ordered the troops to retreat to Russia. And there's also no question Catherine despised her husband in life and did not mourn his death. Catherine the Great (May 2, 1729-Nov. 17, 1796) was empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796, the longest reign of any female Russian leader. The British ambassador James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury, reported back to London: Her Majesty has a masculine force of mind, obstinacy in adhering to a plan, and intrepidity in the execution of it; but she wants the more manly virtues of deliberation, forbearance in prosperity and accuracy of judgment, while she possesses in a high degree the weaknesses vulgarly attributed to her sexlove of flattery, and its inseparable companion, vanity; an inattention to unpleasant but salutary advice; and a propensity to voluptuousness which leads to excesses that would debase a female character in any sphere of life. After the decisive defeat of the Russian fleet at the Battle of Svensksund in 1790, the parties signed the Treaty of Vrl (14 August 1790), returning all conquered territories to their respective owners and confirming the Treaty of bo. [1] The Manifesto on Freedom of the Nobility, issued during the short reign of Peter III and confirmed by Catherine, freed Russian nobles from compulsory military or state service. Catherine was born in Stettin, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire, as Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg. K. D. Bugrov, "Nikita Panin and Catherine II: Conceptual aspect of political relations". The Corps then began to take children from a very young age and educate them until the age of 21, with a broadened curriculum that included the sciences, philosophy, ethics, history, and international law. She sent the Russian army into Poland to avoid possible disputes. Historians consider her efforts to be a success. Besides her native German, Sophie became fluent in French, the lingua franca of European elites in the 18th century. Catherine, 26 years old and already married to the then-Grand Duke Peter for some 10 years, met the 22-year-old Poniatowski in 1755, therefore well before encountering the Orlov brothers. Catherine's main interests were in education and culture. The death of Catherine shocks him, and as the intentions of Heathcliff never mean to hurt that much her to cause her dead. Sophie's childhood was very uneventful. [44] Another source of tension was the wave of Dzungar Mongol fugitives from the Chinese state who took refuge with the Russians. Share this: Like this: Loading. When it became apparent that his plan could not succeed, Panin fell out of favour and Catherine had him replaced with Ivan Osterman (in office 17811797). [121][122] The percentage of state money spent on the court increased from 10% in 1767 to 11% in 1781 to 14% in 1795. Anna Petrovna of Russia That is what the legend said. Elizabeth therefore allowed Catherine to have sexual lovers only after a new legal heir, Catherine and Peter's son, survived and appeared to be strong.[16]. Daniel Dumaresq and Dr John Brown. Advertising Notice The newlyweds settled in the palace of Oranienbaum, which remained the residence of the "young court" for many years. Decent Essays. She recruited the scientists Leonhard Euler and Peter Simon Pallas from Berlin and Anders Johan Lexell from Sweden to the Russian capital. In July 1762, barely six months after becoming emperor, Peter lingered in Oranienbaum with his Holstein-born courtiers and relatives, while his wife lived in another palace nearby. Sophie recalled in her memoirs that as soon as she arrived in Russia, she fell ill with a pleuritis that almost killed her. Cookie Policy On the night of 8 July (OS: 27 June 1762),[22] Catherine was given the news that one of her co-conspirators had been arrested by her estranged husband and that all they had been planning must take place at once. But in a purely humanitarian light, Catherines expansionist drive came at a great cost to the conquered nations and the czarinas own country alike. She was the second wife of Peter the Great. The life of a serf belonged to the state. Apart from providing that experience, the marriage was unsuccessfulit was not consummated for years due to Peter III's mental immaturity. Catherine decided it promoted the dangerous poison of the French Revolution. [88] Through him, she collected information from Russia and other countries about educational institutions. Catherine completed the conquest of the south, making Russia the dominant power in the Balkans after the Russo-Turkish War of 17681774. Th, The 8 weirdest British monarch deaths in history, Historys greatest love affair: Catherine the Great and Grigory Potemkin, Catherine the Great and the coup that made her Empress, Josephine Baker: The iconic performer turned WWII hero. In doing so, she ruffled the feathers of men around the world. She did not allow dissenters to build chapels, and she suppressed religious dissent after the onset of the French Revolution. On the following day, the formal betrothal of Catherine and Peter took place and the long-planned dynastic marriage finally occurred on 21 August 1745 in Saint Petersburg. [107] Judaism was a small, if not non-existent, religion in Russia until 1772. 7 Reasons Catherine the Great Was So Great. He would announce trying drills in the morning to male servants, who later joined Catherine in her room to sing and dance until late hours. Poland ceased to exist as an independent nation[130] until its post-WWI reconstitution. To put it bluntly, Catherine was a usurper. Catherine did indeed like horses, so much so that a portrait was painted of her on horseback. Perhaps most impressively, the empressborn a virtually penniless Prussian princesswielded power for three decades despite the fact that she had no claim to the crown whatsoever. Those who opposed her were men. For all her achievements, Catherine is often remembered for the multitude of salacious and slanderous rumours attached to her name, none more famous than the one surrounding her death. She nationalised all of the church lands to help pay for her wars, largely emptied the monasteries, and forced most of the remaining clergymen to survive as farmers or from fees for baptisms and other services. [72], Catherine shared in the general European craze for all things Chinese, and made a point of collecting Chinese art and buying porcelain in the popular Chinoiserie style. It was obvious to her that Peters hostility had evolved into a determination to end their marriage and remove her from public life., Far from resigning herself to this fate, Catherine bided her time and watched as Peter alienated key factions at court. Like Empress Elizabeth before her, Catherine had given strict instructions that Ivan was to be killed in the event of any such attempt. Writing in The Romanovs, Montefiore characterizes Catherine as an obsessional serial monogamist who adored sharing card games in her cozy apartments and discussing her literary and artistic interests with her beloved. Many sordid tales of her sexuality can, in fact, be attributed to detractors who hoped to weaken her hold on power. Eight days later, the dethroned tsar was dead, killed under still-uncertain circumstances alternatively characterized as murder, the inadvertent result of a drunken brawl and a total accident. [41], Being afraid of the May Constitution of Poland (1791) that might lead to a resurgence in the power of the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth and the growing democratic movements inside the Commonwealth might become a threat to the European monarchies, Catherine decided to refrain from her planned intervention into France and to intervene in Poland instead. [78] In the third category fell the work of Voltaire, Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, Ferdinando Galiani, Nicolas Baudeau, and Sir William Blackstone. She once wrote to her correspondent Baron Grimm: "I see nothing of interest in it. Though Russia never officially adopted the Nakaz, the widely distributed 526-article treatise still managed to cement the empress reputation as an enlightened European ruler. At first, the institute only admitted young girls of the noble elite, but eventually it began to admit girls of the petit-bourgeoisie as well. A portrait of Catherine the Great by Fedor Rokotov, 1763. That same morning, two of the Orlov brothers arrested Peter and forced him to sign a statement of abdication. A. Viazemski. Catherine the Great was Russia's longest-serving female leader. In this act, she gave the serfs a legitimate bureaucratic status they had lacked before. [93], Not long after the Moscow Foundling Home, at the instigation of her factotum, Ivan Betskoy, she wrote a manual for the education of young children, drawing from the ideas of John Locke, and founded the famous Smolny Institute in 1764, first of its kind in Russia. CATHERINE THE GREAT was Russia's longest ruling female leader after she succeeded her husband in the 18th century. Peter also still played with toy soldiers. Posterity will never forgive me., Contrary to Catherines dire prediction, Peters death, while casting a pall over her rule, did not completely overshadow her legacy. [46], Nicholas I, her grandson, evaluated the foreign policy of Catherine the Great as a dishonest one. In reality, those in power were beginning to fear the power that Russia was now wielding. Because the Moscow Foundling Home was not established as a state-funded institution, it represented an opportunity to experiment with new educational theories. Inspired by Byzantine design, the crown was constructed of two half spheres, one gold and one silver, representing the eastern and western Roman empires, divided by a foliate garland and fastened with a low hoop. Paul ascended to the throne and was known as Emperor Paul I. Catherine's will was discovered in . [134] An autopsy confirmed a stroke as the cause of death. The Russian troops set out from Kizlyar in April 1796 and stormed the key fortress of Derbent on 10 May. In the plus column, the longest-reigning empress of Russia transformed her empire into one of Europe's great and . She is one of historys greatest female rulers who modernised her adopted homeland, expanded its borders and transformed it into a global superpower. The cause of death was confirmed by autopsy. The bonnet which held her white hair was not decorated with ribbons, but with the most beautiful diamonds. Although she never met him face to face, she mourned him bitterly when he died. By the winter of 1773, the Pugachev revolt had started to threaten. [4] The more than 300 sovereign entities of the Holy Roman Empire, many of them quite small and powerless, made for a highly competitive political system as the various princely families fought for advantage over each other, often via political marriages. In 1767, Catherine decreed that after seven years in one rank, civil servants automatically would be promoted regardless of office or merit. Ostensibly reigning on behalf of Peters heir apparentthe couples 8-year-old son, Paulshe had no intention of yielding the throne once her son came of age. "The circumstances and cause of death, and the intentions and degree of responsibility of those involved can never be known," wrote Robert K. Massie in his seminal biography, Catherine the Great . [56] The understanding of law in Imperial Russia by all sections of society was often weak, confused, or nonexistent, particularly in the provinces where most serfs lived. This commission was charged with organising a national school network, as well as providing teacher training and textbooks. [76], Catherine read three sorts of books, namely those for pleasure, those for information, and those to provide her with a philosophy. The plan was another attempt to force nomadic people to settle. This war was another catastrophe for the Ottomans, ending with the Treaty of Jassy (1792), which legitimised the Russian claim to the Crimea and granted the Yedisan region to Russia. However, the Moscow Foundling Home was unsuccessful, mainly due to extremely high mortality rates, which prevented many of the children from living long enough to develop into the enlightened subjects the state desired. In his 1647 book Beschreibung der muscowitischen und persischen Reise (Description of the Muscovite and Persian journey), German scholar Adam Olearius[136] Olearius's claims about a supposed Russian tendency towards bestiality with horses was often repeated in anti-Russian literature throughout the 17th and 18th centuries to illustrate the alleged barbarous "Asian" nature of Russia. The fifth film. In July 1765, Dumaresq wrote to Dr. John Brown about the commission's problems and received a long reply containing very general and sweeping suggestions for education and social reforms in Russia. One claimed that she died on her toilet seat, which broke under her. In reality, Catherine the Great died of a stroke and she was discovered collapsed on the floor in her washroom. Russia got territories east of the line connecting, more or less, RigaPolotskMogilev. It was charged with admitting destitute and extramarital children to educate them in any way the state deemed fit. Converted Jews could gain permission to enter the merchant class and farm as free peasants under Russian rule. A shrewd statesman, Panin dedicated much effort and millions of roubles to setting up a "Northern Accord" between Russia, Prussia, Poland and Sweden, to counter the power of the BourbonHabsburg League. By the end of her reign, 50 provinces and nearly 500 districts were created, government officials numbering more than double this were appointed, and spending on local government increased sixfold. (Lord Byron's Don Juan, around the age of twenty-two, becomes her lover after the siege of Ismail (1790), in a fiction written only about twenty-five years after Catherine's death in 1796. Army officer Grigory Potemkin was arguably the greatest love of Catherines life, though her relationship with Grigory Orlov, who helped the empress overthrow Peter III, technically lasted longer. [78] For information about particular nations that interested her, she read Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville's Memoirs de Chine to learn about the vast and wealthy Chinese empire that bordered her empire; Franois Baron de Tott's Memoires de les Turcs et les Tartares for information about the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean khanate; the books of Frederick the Great praising himself to learn about Frederick just as much as to learn about Prussia; and the pamphlets of Benjamin Franklin denouncing the British Crown to understand the reasons behind the American Revolution. . In 1785, Catherine conferred on the nobility the Charter to the Nobility, increasing the power of the landed oligarchs. Catherine The Great death: She was the victim of many slurs (Image: SKY/HBO) Trending There were a number of salacious tales surrounding the monarch and her court, which was something that . . Petersburg." Ruth P. Dawson, "Perilous News and Hasty Biography: Representations of Catherine II Immediately after her Seizure of the Throne." Use of this site constitutes acceptance of theTerms and Conditions. After the rebels, their French and European volunteers, and their allied Ottoman Empire had been defeated, she established in the Commonwealth a system of government fully controlled by the Russian Empire through a Permanent Council, under the supervision of her ambassadors and envoys. Tuberculosis, diagnosed as an abscess of the lungs, caused her early demise. If we are to believe another popular myth that surrounds her death, it wasnt the horse that killed her but a collapsing toilet seat. Still, there was a start of industry, mainly textiles around Moscow and ironworks in the Ural Mountains, with a labour force mainly of serfs, bound to the works. At the time, it was widely assumed that Catherine was behind this, but historians aren't so sure."The circumstances and cause of death, and the intentions and degree of responsibility of those . Whilst this one is also just an absurd rumour, it lies ever so slightly nearer the truth. Like his wife, Peter was actually Prussian. Cartoons drawn by foreign press perpetuated them, consistently degrading Catherine and exaggerating her apparent promiscuity. Terms of Use Yelizaveta Alekseyevna Tarakanova (17531775) was another potential rival. On 5 August 1786, the Russian Statute of National Education was created. To become serfs, people conceded their freedoms to a landowner in exchange for their protection and support in times of hardship. However, Catherine died from a stroke on 17 November 1796 before she could make the change. On 25 November, the coffin, richly decorated in gold fabric, was placed atop an elevated platform at the Grand Gallery's chamber of mourning, designed and decorated by Antonio Rinaldi. The Tokugawa shogunate received the mission, but negotiations failed. She found that piecemeal reform worked poorly because there was no overall view of a comprehensive state budget. Jerzy Lojek, "Catherine II's Armed Intervention in Poland: Origins of the Political Decisions at the Russian Court in 1791 and 1792. Yet by the end of Catherine's reign, an estimated 62,000 pupils were being educated in some 549 state institutions. Although the idea of partitioning Poland came from the King Frederick II of Prussia, Catherine took a leading role in carrying it out in the 1790s. Construction of many mansions of the nobility, in the classical style endorsed by the empress, changed the face of the country. [102], However, in accord with her anti-Ottoman policy, Catherine promoted the protection and fostering of Christians under Turkish rule. She also established a commission composed of T.N. Catherine became a great patron of Russian opera. By November, they were stationed at the confluence of the Araks and Kura Rivers, poised to attack mainland Iran. | READ MORE. After holding more than 200 sittings, the so-called Commission dissolved without getting beyond the realm of theory. Both women kissed the child on her forehead following the Russian Orthodox rites. Her marriage to Peter III of Russia lasted from 1745 until his suspicious death in 1762, and she had at least three lovers during this time (Catherine herself hinted that her husband . [38], By mid-June 1796, Zubov's troops overran without any resistance most of the territory of modern-day Azerbaijan, including three principal citiesBaku, Shemakha, and Ganja. Other aspects of the empress personality were similarly at odds: Extravagant in most worldly endeavors, she had little interest in food and often hosted banquets that left guests wanting for more. Nobles in each district elected a Marshal of the Nobility, who spoke on their behalf to the monarch on issues of concern to them, mainly economic ones. Longest ruling Russian empress, 17621796, "Catherine II" redirects here. Historically, when the serfs faced problems they could not solve on their own (such as abusive masters), they often appealed to the autocrat, and continued doing so during Catherine's reign, but she signed legislation prohibiting it. [57] Although she did not want to communicate directly with the serfs, she did create some measures to improve their conditions as a class and reduce the size of the institution of serfdom. Potemkin quickly gained positions and awards. This reform never progressed beyond the planning stages. Larry was not just a beloved family member, but also a husband, friend, mentor, peer, inventor, advisor, and audio enthusiast. A landowner could punish his serfs at his discretion, and under Catherine the Great gained the ability to sentence his serfs to hard labour in Siberia, a punishment normally reserved for convicted criminals. [117] While claiming religious tolerance, she intended to recall the Old Believers into the official church. [69] With all this discontent in mind, Catherine did rule for 10 years before the anger of the serfs boiled over into a rebellion as extensive as Pugachev's. In Dashkov's opinion, Dashkov introduced Catherine to several powerful political groups that opposed her husband; however, Catherine had been involved in military schemes against Elizabeth with the likely goal of subsequently getting rid of Peter III since at least 1749. Other than these, the rights of a serf were very limited. When Sophie arrived in Russia in 1744, she spared no effort to ingratiate herself not only with Empress Elizabeth but with her husband and with the Russian people as well. He represented an opposite to Peter's pro-Prussian sentiment, with which Catherine disagreed. [77] She especially liked the work of German comic writers such as Moritz August von Thmmel and Christoph Friedrich Nicolai.
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