The most widely known story of Catherine the Great involves her death at age 67 in 1796. Briefwechsel mit der Kaiserin Katharina", "Alexander the Great vs Ivan the Terrible", "The Ambiguous Legal Status of Russian Jewry in the Reign of Catherine II", "Catherine II and the Serfs: A Reconsideration of Some Problems", Bibliography of Russian history (16131917), Some of the code of laws mentioned above, along with other information, Manifesto of the Empress Catherine II, inviting foreign immigration, Biography of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, Family tree of the ancestors of Catherine the Great, Diaries and Letters: Catherine II German Princess Who Came to Rule Russia, Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lneburg, Catherine Alexeievna (Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst), Natalia Alexeievna (Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt), Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Wrttemberg), Anna Feodorovna (Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld), Alexandra Feodorovna (Charlotte of Prussia), Elena Pavlovna (Charlotte of Wrttemberg), Alexandra Iosifovna (Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg), Maria Pavlovna (Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin), Elizabeth Feodorovna (Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine), Alexandra Georgievna (Alexandra of Greece and Denmark), Elizaveta Mavrikievna (Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg), Anastasia Nikolaevna (Anastasia of Montenegro), Militza Nikolaevna of Montenegro (Milica of Montenegro), Maria Georgievna (Maria of Greece and Denmark), Viktoria Feodorovna (Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Catherine_the_Great&oldid=1142635143, 18th-century people from the Russian Empire, 18th-century women from the Russian Empire, Burials at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint Petersburg, Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Lutheranism, Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, Mistresses of Stanisaw August Poniatowski, People of the War of the Bavarian Succession, Recipients of the Order of St. George of the First Degree, Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland), Articles containing Russian-language text, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from May 2020, Articles lacking reliable references from November 2018, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Articles lacking in-text citations from July 2022, Articles containing explicitly cited English-language text, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2008, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2009, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from August 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2022, All articles needing additional references, Articles needing additional references from April 2022, Articles needing additional references from December 2022, Articles with Russian-language sources (ru), Articles with self-published sources from November 2021, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the New International Encyclopedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, According to court gossip, this lost pregnancy was attributed to. The attitude of the serfs toward their autocrat had historically been a positive one. Russia inflicted some of the heaviest defeats ever suffered by the Ottoman Empire, including the Battle of Chesma (57 July 1770) and the Battle of Kagul (21 July 1770). In these cases, it was necessary to replace this "fake" empress with the "true" empress, whoever she may be. Russian poets wrote about his virtues, the court praised him, foreign ambassadors fought for his favour, and his family moved into the palace. Privacy Statement Because the serfs had no political power, they rioted to convey their message. Catherine then sought to have inoculations throughout her empire and stated: "My objective was, through my example, to save from death the multitude of my subjects who, not knowing the value of this technique, and frightened of it, were left in danger". The truth of the matter was Catherine couldnt trust the systematic bureaucracy in Russia nor the many noblemen installed by her husband before her. Petersburg." Her father did not travel to Russia for the wedding. She succeeded her husband as empress regnant, following the precedent established when Catherine I succeeded her husband Peter the Great in 1725. By cleverly surrounding herself with those allied to her cause she strengthened her hold on the throne. The male-dominated world in which Catherine lived and ruled made her an exception to the norm. She is one of historys greatest female rulers who modernised her adopted homeland, expanded its borders and transformed it into a global superpower. She once wrote to her correspondent Baron Grimm: "I see nothing of interest in it. K. D. Bugrov, "Nikita Panin and Catherine II: Conceptual aspect of political relations". Some claimed Catherine failed to supply enough money to support her educational program. The rebellion ultimately failed and in fact backfired as Catherine was pushed away from the idea of serf liberation following the violent uprising. Although German soldiers allegedly saw the cabinet during WWII, no visible proof of the furniture exists leading many historians to believe it's just another salacious fabrication. Aided by her lover Grigory Orlov and his powerful family, she staged a coup just six months after her husband took the throne. At the time of Catherine's reign, the landowning noble class owned the serfs, who were bound to the land they tilled. This raised her in the empress's esteem. As Simon Sebag Montefiore notes in The Romanovs: 16181918, Peter, then on holiday in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, was oblivious to his wifes actions. Her many military campaigns, on the other hand, represent a less palatable aspect of her legacy. Catherine's eldest sonand heirmay have been illegitimate. Vaizemski's Office of State Revenue took centralised control and by 1781, the government possessed its first approximation of a state budget. The Commonwealth had become the Russian protectorate since the reign of Peter I, but he did not intervene into the problem of political freedoms of dissidents advocating for their religious freedoms only. She disliked his pale complexion and his fondness for alcohol at such a young age. But whereas she downplayed this background in favor of presenting herself as a Russian patriot, he catered to his home country by abandoning conquests against Prussia and pursuing a military campaign in Denmark that was of little value to Russia. The emperor's eccentricities and policies, including a great admiration for the Prussian king Frederick II, alienated the same groups that Catherine had cultivated. All of this meant that the target on Catherines back was even greater. Always in search of romantic intimacy, she once admitted, The trouble is that my heart is loath to remain even one hour without love.. Isabel De Madariaga, "Catherine the Great." Catherine did initiate some changes to serfdom. The cause of death was confirmed by autopsy. Construction of many mansions of the nobility, in the classical style endorsed by the empress, changed the face of the country. To the general public, Catherine is perhaps best known for conducting a string of salacious love affairs. Catherine was a patron of the arts, literature, and education. Upon arriving in St. Petersburg in 1744, Sophie converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, adopted a Russian name and began learning to speak the language. While this was considered a controversial method at the time, she succeeded. Jaques cites a Vigilius Ericksen portrait of the empress as emblematic of Catherines many contradictions. I hate fountains that torture water in order to make it take a course contrary to its nature: Statues are relegated to galleries, vestibules etc. [87], Catherine appointed Ivan Betskoy as her advisor on educational matters. The statute sought to efficiently govern Russia by increasing population and dividing the country into provinces and districts. For example, she took action to limit the number of new serfs; she eliminated many ways for people to become serfs, culminating in the manifesto of 17 March 1775, which prohibited a serf who had once been freed from becoming a serf again.[61]. She was given the last rites and died the following evening around 9:45. Amazingly, writes Montefiore, the regicidal, uxoricidal German usurper recovered her reputation not just as Russian tsar and successful imperialist but also as an enlightened despot, the darling of the philosophes.. Catherine held western European philosophies and culture close to her heart, and she wanted to surround herself with like-minded people within Russia. So why then has the legacy of Russia's longest-ruling woman been stained with these rumours for over two centuries? She credited her survival to frequent bloodletting; in a single day, she had four phlebotomies. The plan was another attempt to force nomadic people to settle. He later became the de facto absolute ruler of New Russia, governing its colonisation. [71] She ordered the planting of the first "English garden" at Tsarskoye Selo in May 1770. 5 November]1796, Catherine rose early in the morning and had her usual morning coffee, soon settling down to work on papers; she told her lady's maid, Maria Perekusikhina, that she had slept better than she had in a long time. [109][110], In an attempt to assimilate the Jews into Russia's economy, Catherine included them under the rights and laws of the Charter of the Towns of 1782. Her foreign policy lacked a long-term strategy and from the very start was characterised by a series of mistakes. "[6] Although Sophie was born a princess, her family had very little money. The future Peter III was born Karl Peter Ulrich in 1728, in Kiel, Germany. She refused the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp which had ports on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, and refrained from having a Russian army in Germany. The pair met on the day of Catherines 1762 coup but only became lovers in 1774. She applied herself to learning the Russian language with zeal, rising at night and walking about her bedroom barefoot, repeating her lessons. [139][140] According to lisabeth Vige Le Brun: "The empress's body lay in state for six weeks in a large and magnificently decorated room in the castle, which was kept lit day and night. She established a centralised medical administration charged with initiating vigorous health policies. These were the privileges a serf was entitled to and that nobles were bound to carry out. The empress played a direct role in many of these initiatives. 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. Poniatowski accepted the throne, and thereby put himself under Catherine's control. [52], Catherine paid a great deal of attention to financial reform, and relied heavily on the advice of Prince A. [133] The court physician diagnosed a stroke[133][134] and despite attempts to revive her, she fell into a coma. Catherine decided to have herself inoculated against smallpox by Thomas Dimsdale, a British doctor. Under Catherine's rule, despite her enlightened ideals, the serfs were generally unhappy and discontented. In the east Russians became the first Europeans to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America. Catherine then left with the Ismailovsky Regiment to go to the Semenovsky Barracks, where the clergy was waiting to ordain her as the sole occupant of the Russian throne. [68] Pugachev had made stories about himself acting as a real emperor should, helping the common people, listening to their problems, praying for them, and generally acting saintly, and this helped rally the peasants and serfs, with their very conservative values, to his cause. Though Hartley acknowledges that serfdom is a scar on Russia, she emphasizes the practical obstacles the empress faced in enacting such a far-reaching reform, adding, Where [Catherine] could do things, she did do things., Serfdom endured long beyond Catherines reign, only ending in 1861 with Alexander IIs Emancipation Manifesto. The bonnet which held her white hair was not decorated with ribbons, but with the most beautiful diamonds. The Ottomans restarted hostilities in the Russo-Turkish War of 17871792. This work, divided into four parts, dealt with teaching methods, subject matter, teacher conduct, and school administration. [43] In 1762, he unilaterally abrogated the Treaty of Kyakhta, which governed the caravan trade between the two empires. "Despot" is not derogatory in this context. She placed strictures on Catholics (ukaz of 23 February 1769), mainly Polish, and attempted to assert and extend state control over them in the wake of the partitions of Poland. Because Russia under her rule grew strong enough to threaten the other great powers, and because she was in fact a harsh and unscrupulous ruler, she figured in the Western imagination as the incarnation of the immense . Ivan VI was assassinated during an attempt to free him as part of a failed coup. She provided support to a Polish anti-reform group known as the Targowica Confederation. [89] In 1764, she sent for Dumaresq to come to Russia and then appointed him to the educational commission. In 1775, the empress decreed a Statute for the Administration of the Provinces of the Russian Empire. Called the Nakaz, or Instruction, the 1767 document outlined the empress vision of a progressive Russian nation, even touching on the heady issue of abolishing serfdom. Look at the mirror, however, and an entirely different ruler appears: Her reflection is this private, determined, ambitious Catherine, says Jaques. Children of serfs were born into serfdom and worked the same land their parents had. She had her husband arrested, and forced him to sign a document of abdication, leaving no one to dispute her accession to the throne. The formidable Catherine had little time for her heir. [135], Later, several rumours circulated regarding the cause and manner of her death. Letters exchanged by the couple testify to the ardent nature of their relationship: In one missive, Catherine declared, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, you are so handsome, clever, jovial and funny; when I am with you I attach no importance to the world. It was instituted by the Fundamental Law of 7 November 1775. [134] An autopsy confirmed a stroke as the cause of death. Dogs Rhetorical Exercise In Catharine Sedgwick's, Dogs, she uses the rhetorical appeal, logos, to help make it clear to the reader that animal cruelty is wrong, and to argue that goodness trumps genius. [5] In accordance with the custom then prevailing in the ruling dynasties of Germany, she received her education chiefly from a French governess and from tutors. Book. The bloodless shift in power was so easily accomplished that Frederick the Great of Prussia later observed, [Peter] allowed himself to be dethroned like a child being sent to bed.. [77] She especially liked the work of German comic writers such as Moritz August von Thmmel and Christoph Friedrich Nicolai. The treaty also removed restrictions on Russian naval or commercial traffic in the Azov Sea, granted to Russia the position of protector of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire, and made the Crimea a protectorate of Russia. [31], Catherine agreed to a commercial treaty with Great Britain in 1766, but stopped short of a full military alliance. [77] In the second category fell the work of Denis Diderot, Jacques Necker, Johann Bernhard Basedow and Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. In 1777, the empress described to Voltaire her legal innovations within a backward Russia as progressing "little by little". Peter, however, supported Frederick II, eroding much of his support among the nobility. And if you can't find enough dirt to your satisfaction, make stuff up. 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. Also, the townspeople tended to turn against the junior schools and their pedagogical[clarification needed] methods. A self-described glutton for art, the empress strategically purchased paintings in bulk, acquiring as much in 34 years as other royals took generations to amass. The truss holding her equine paramour broke, crushing Catherine to death beneath the poor beast. And there's also no question Catherine despised her husband in life and did not mourn his death. 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. While Peter was boorish [and] totally immature, says historian Janet Hartley, Catherine was an erudite lover of European culture. Catherine was stretched on a ceremonial bed surrounded by the coats of arms of all the towns in Russia. [105][additional citation(s) needed], In 1785, Catherine approved the subsidising of new mosques and new town settlements for Muslims. She disapproved of off-color jokes and nudity in art falling outside of mythological or allegorical themes. Catherine saw Orlov as very useful, and he became instrumental in the 28 June 1762 coup d'tat against her husband, but she preferred to remain the dowager empress of Russia rather than marrying anyone. A ball was given at the imperial court on 11 September when the engagement was supposed to be announced. Sette, Alessandro.

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