Difference between revisions of "Catherine II of Russia" - New World Encyclopedia
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== Early life == | == Early life == | ||
| − | A [[Germany|German]] Princess and cousin to [[Gustav III of Sweden]] and [[Charles XIII of Sweden]], Sophie (nicknamed ''Figchen'') was born in [[Szczecin|Stettin]] to [[Johanna Elisabeth von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp|Johanna Elizabeth of Holstein]] and [[Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst|Christian Augustus]], Prince of [[Anhalt-Zerbst]] and a [[Prussia]]n general who governed the city in the name of the king of [[Prussia]]. She was educated mainly by French governesses and tutors, in accordance with the custom | + | A [[Germany|German]] Princess and cousin to [[Gustav III of Sweden]] and [[Charles XIII of Sweden]], Sophie (nicknamed ''Figchen'') was born in [[Szczecin|Stettin]] to [[Johanna Elisabeth von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp|Johanna Elizabeth of Holstein]] and [[Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst|Christian Augustus]], Prince of [[Anhalt-Zerbst]] and a [[Prussia]]n general who governed the city in the name of the king of [[Prussia]]. She was educated mainly by French governesses and tutors, in accordance with the prevailing custom in German princely families of the time. |
| − | Christian Augustus engaged in thorough diplomatic management in order to arrange for his daughter to become wife of the future tsar, [[Peter III of Russia|Peter of Holstein-Gottorp]]. Both [[Count Lestocq]] and [[Frederick the Great]] took an active part. The objectives of this match were to strengthen the friendship between Prussia and Russia, weaken the influence of [[Austria]] and ruin chancellor [[Aleksey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin|Bestuzhev]], on whom [[Tsarina]] [[Elizabeth of Russia|Elizabeth]] relied, and who was also loyal to the Austrian alliance. | + | Christian Augustus engaged in thorough diplomatic management in order to arrange for his daughter to become wife of the future tsar, [[Peter III of Russia|Peter of Holstein-Gottorp]]. Both [[Count Lestocq]] and [[Frederick the Great]] took an active part as well. The objectives of this match were to strengthen the friendship between Prussia and Russia, weaken the influence of [[Austria]] and ruin chancellor [[Aleksey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin|Bestuzhev]], on whom [[Tsarina]] [[Elizabeth of Russia|Elizabeth]] relied, and who was also loyal to the Austrian alliance. |
The diplomatic intrigue failed, largely because of the intervention of Sophie's mother Johanna, said to a be clever but injudicious woman. Tsarina Elizabeth took a strong liking to Sophie anyway and the marriage finally occurred in 1744. | The diplomatic intrigue failed, largely because of the intervention of Sophie's mother Johanna, said to a be clever but injudicious woman. Tsarina Elizabeth took a strong liking to Sophie anyway and the marriage finally occurred in 1744. | ||
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The Empress knew the family well because Princess Johanna's brother Karl had gone to Russia to marry the future Empress Elizabeth years earlier, but had died before the wedding took place. | The Empress knew the family well because Princess Johanna's brother Karl had gone to Russia to marry the future Empress Elizabeth years earlier, but had died before the wedding took place. | ||
| − | Once in Russia, Sophie spared no effort to ingratiate herself not only to her husband, but to the Empress and the Russian people. She applied herself to learning the [[Russian language]] with such zeal that she rose at night and walked | + | Once in Russia, Sophie spared no effort to ingratiate herself not only to her husband, but to the Empress and the Russian people. She applied herself to learning the [[Russian language]] with such zeal that she rose at night and walked around her cold bedroom barefoot, repeating her lessons. This habit caused a severe attack of lung congestion in March 1744. |
| − | + | She explained in her [[memoirs]] that when she came to Russia, she was determined to do whatever had to be done and believe whatever she was required to believe in order to be qualified to wear the crown. Her consistency of character throughout her life makes it highly probable that even at the young age of fifteen, she was mature enough to understand how crucial it was to adhere to this commitment and conduct. [[Image:Catherine03.jpg|thumb|left|225px|Equestrian portrait of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseyevna.]] | |
Her father, a devout [[Lutheran]], was strongly opposed to Sophie's conversion. Despite his instructions, she was received into the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] on June 28, 1744 and was renamed Catherine Alexeyevna (''Yekaterina'' or ''Ekaterina''). | Her father, a devout [[Lutheran]], was strongly opposed to Sophie's conversion. Despite his instructions, she was received into the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] on June 28, 1744 and was renamed Catherine Alexeyevna (''Yekaterina'' or ''Ekaterina''). | ||
| − | On the following day Sophie, now Catherine was formally | + | On the following day Sophie, now Catherine was formally engaged. She was married to the Grand Duke Peter on April 21, 1745 at St. Petersburg. The young spouses settled in the palace of [[Oranienbaum]], which would remain the residence of the "young court" for 16 years. |
== Coup d'etat == | == Coup d'etat == | ||
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Well read, Catherine kept up to date on current events in Russia and the rest of Europe. She corresponded with many of the great minds of her era, including [[Voltaire]] and [[Diderot]]. | Well read, Catherine kept up to date on current events in Russia and the rest of Europe. She corresponded with many of the great minds of her era, including [[Voltaire]] and [[Diderot]]. | ||
| − | In 1762, after moving into the new [[Winter Palace]] in [[Saint Petersburg]], Peter succeeded to the throne as [[Peter III of Russia]]. However, his eccentricities and policies, including an unusual fondness for [[Frederick the Great]], ruler of [[Prussia]], (the capital of which the Russian army occupied as a result of the [[Seven Years' War]]), alienated the same groups that Catherine had cultivated. Compounding matters, he insisted upon intervening in a war between [[Holstein]] and [[Denmark]] over the province of [[Schleswig]]. Peter's insistence on supporting his native [[Holstein]] in an unpopular war ruined | + | In 1762, after moving into the new [[Winter Palace]] in [[Saint Petersburg]], Peter succeeded to the throne as [[Peter III of Russia]]. However, his eccentricities and policies, including an unusual fondness for [[Frederick the Great]], ruler of [[Prussia]], (the capital of which the Russian army occupied as a result of the [[Seven Years' War]]), alienated the same groups that Catherine had cultivated. Compounding matters, he insisted upon intervening in a war between [[Holstein]] and [[Denmark]] over the province of [[Schleswig]]. Peter's insistence on supporting his native [[Holstein]] in an unpopular war ruined most of the support he had among the nobility. |
| − | In July 1762, | + | In July 1762, Peter committed the grave error of retiring with his [[Holstein]]-born courtiers and relatives to Oranienbaum, leaving his wife in St. Petersburg. On July 13 and 14, the revolt of the [[Leib Guard]] removed him from the throne and proclaimed Catherine their empress. The result was a bloodless coup; [[Ekaterina Dashkova]], confidante of Catherine, remarked that Peter seemed rather glad to be rid of the throne, requesting only a quiet estate and a ready supply of tobacco and burgundy in which to rest his sorrows. |
Six months after her ascension to the throne on July 17, 1762, Peter III was killed by [[Alexei Orlov]] (younger brother to [[Gregory Orlov]], then court favorite and a participant in the [[coup d'êtat|coup]]). It was supposedly an accidental killing, the result of Alexei's overindulgence in [[vodka]]. | Six months after her ascension to the throne on July 17, 1762, Peter III was killed by [[Alexei Orlov]] (younger brother to [[Gregory Orlov]], then court favorite and a participant in the [[coup d'êtat|coup]]). It was supposedly an accidental killing, the result of Alexei's overindulgence in [[vodka]]. | ||
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==Foreign affairs== | ==Foreign affairs== | ||
[[Image:Buberel Coronation coach Catherine the Great.jpg|thumb|250px|Coronation coach of Catherine the Great is exhibited in the [[Hermitage Museum]], [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]]]] | [[Image:Buberel Coronation coach Catherine the Great.jpg|thumb|250px|Coronation coach of Catherine the Great is exhibited in the [[Hermitage Museum]], [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]]]] | ||
| − | During her reign, Catherine extended the borders of the [[Russian Empire]] southward and westward to absorb [[New Russia]], [[Crimea]], [[Right-Bank Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], [[Lithuania]], and [[Courland]] at the expense of two powers; the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. All told, she added some 200,000 square miles (518,000 km²) to Russian territory. | + | During her reign, Catherine extended the borders of the [[Russian Empire]] southward and westward to absorb [[New Russia]], [[Crimea]], [[Right-Bank Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], [[Lithuania]], and [[Courland]] at the expense of two powers; the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. All told, she added some 200,000 square miles (518,000 km²) to Russian territory. She shaped Russian destiny to a greater extent than almost anyone before or since, with the possible exceptions of [[Lenin]], [[Stalin]], and [[Peter the Great]]. |
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| − | She shaped Russian destiny to a greater extent than almost anyone before or since, with the possible exceptions of [[Lenin]], [[Stalin]], and [[Peter the Great]]. | ||
Catherine's foreign minister, [[Nikita Ivanovich Panin|Nikita Panin]], exercised considerable influence from the beginning of her reign. Though a shrewd statesman, Panin dedicated much effort and millions of [[Russian ruble|ruble]]s to the creation of a "Northern Accord" among Russia, Prussia, Poland, Sweden, and perhaps Great Britain, to counter the power of the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]]-[[Habsburg]] League. When it became apparent that his plan could not succeed, Panin fell out of favor and in 1781 was dismissed. | Catherine's foreign minister, [[Nikita Ivanovich Panin|Nikita Panin]], exercised considerable influence from the beginning of her reign. Though a shrewd statesman, Panin dedicated much effort and millions of [[Russian ruble|ruble]]s to the creation of a "Northern Accord" among Russia, Prussia, Poland, Sweden, and perhaps Great Britain, to counter the power of the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]]-[[Habsburg]] League. When it became apparent that his plan could not succeed, Panin fell out of favor and in 1781 was dismissed. | ||
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=== Russo-Turkish Wars === | === Russo-Turkish Wars === | ||
| − | Catherine made Russia the dominant power in the [[Middle East]] after her [[Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774|first Russo-Turkish War]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]] (1768-1774), which saw some of the greatest defeats in Turkish history, including the [[Battle of Chesma]] and the [[Battle of Kagul]]. The victories allowed Russia to obtain access to the [[Black Sea]] and to incorporate vast areas of what is now South [[Ukraine]], where the | + | Catherine made Russia the dominant power in the [[Middle East]] after her [[Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774|first Russo-Turkish War]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]] (1768-1774), which saw some of the greatest defeats in Turkish history, including the [[Battle of Chesma]] and the [[Battle of Kagul]]. The victories allowed Russia to obtain access to the [[Black Sea]] and to incorporate vast areas of what is now South [[Ukraine]], where the cities of [[Odessa]], [[Nikolayev]], [[Dnepropetrovsk]], and [[Kherson]] were founded. |
Catherine annexed [[Crimea]] in 1783, only nine years after it had gained independence from the Ottoman Empire during her first war against the Ottomans. | Catherine annexed [[Crimea]] in 1783, only nine years after it had gained independence from the Ottoman Empire during her first war against the Ottomans. | ||
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=== Relations with Western Europe === | === Relations with Western Europe === | ||
| − | Catherine played an important role in the European political theater, acting as mediator in the [[War of the Bavarian Succession]] (1778-1779) between Prussia and Austria. In 1780 she set up a group designed to defend neutral shipping against [[Great Britain]] during the [[American Revolution]]. She refused to intervene in the revolution on the side of the British when asked. In foreign affairs, she was ever conscious of her legacy, and longed to be perceived as an enlightened sovereign. She pioneered | + | Catherine played an important role in the European political theater, acting as mediator in the [[War of the Bavarian Succession]] (1778-1779) between Prussia and Austria. In 1780 she set up a group designed to defend neutral shipping against [[Great Britain]] during the [[American Revolution]]. She refused to intervene in the revolution on the side of the British when asked. In foreign affairs, she was ever conscious of her legacy, and longed to be perceived as an enlightened sovereign. She pioneered Russia's role of international mediator in disputes that could or did lead to war. England came to play this same role throughout most of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. |
From 1788 to 1790 Russia was engaged in a [[Gustav III's Russian War|war with Sweden]], led by Catherine's cousin, the Swedish King [[Gustav III of Sweden|Gustav III]]. Gustav began the war to reclaim the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] territories lost to Russia in 1720. Expecting to simply overtake the Russian armies still engaged in war against the Ottoman Turks and hoping to strike Saint Petersburg directly, the Swedes ultimately faced mounting human and territory losses when opposed by Russia's Baltic fleet. After [[Denmark]] declared war in 1789, things looked bleak for the Swedes. After the [[Battle of Svensksund]] a treaty was signed August 14, 1790, returning all conquered territories to their respective nations, and peace reigned for 20 years. | From 1788 to 1790 Russia was engaged in a [[Gustav III's Russian War|war with Sweden]], led by Catherine's cousin, the Swedish King [[Gustav III of Sweden|Gustav III]]. Gustav began the war to reclaim the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] territories lost to Russia in 1720. Expecting to simply overtake the Russian armies still engaged in war against the Ottoman Turks and hoping to strike Saint Petersburg directly, the Swedes ultimately faced mounting human and territory losses when opposed by Russia's Baltic fleet. After [[Denmark]] declared war in 1789, things looked bleak for the Swedes. After the [[Battle of Svensksund]] a treaty was signed August 14, 1790, returning all conquered territories to their respective nations, and peace reigned for 20 years. | ||
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:''Main article: [[Russian Enlightenment]]'' | :''Main article: [[Russian Enlightenment]]'' | ||
[[Image:Shubin.jpg|thumb|left|225px|Marble statue of Catherine II in the guise of [[Minerva]] (1789-90), by [[Fedot Shubin]].]] | [[Image:Shubin.jpg|thumb|left|225px|Marble statue of Catherine II in the guise of [[Minerva]] (1789-90), by [[Fedot Shubin]].]] | ||
| − | Catherine subscribed to [[the Enlightenment]] and considered herself a "philosopher on the throne." She was well aware of her image abroad, and | + | Catherine subscribed to [[the Enlightenment]] and considered herself a "philosopher on the throne." She was well aware of her image abroad, and always desired to be perceived by Europe as a civilized and enlightened monarch, despite the fact that in Russia she often behaved like a tyrant. Even as she proclaimed her love for the ideals of liberty and freedom, she did more to tie the [[Russian serfdom|Russian Serf]] to his land and his lord than any sovereign since [[Boris Godunov]]. |
| − | Catherine was known as a patron of the arts, literature and education. The [[Hermitage Museum]], which now occupies the | + | Catherine was known as a patron of the arts, literature and education. The [[Hermitage Museum]], which now occupies the entire old Winter palace, was begun as Catherine's personal collection. Catherine wrote comedies, fiction and memoirs, while cultivating [[Voltaire]], [[Denis Diderot|Diderot]] and [[Jean le Rond d'Alembert|D'Alembert]], all French [[encyclopedist]]s who later cemented her reputation in their writings. |
Subtle as she was forceful, she enlisted one of the great minds of the age, Voltaire, to her cause. She corresponded with him for fifteen years, from her accession to his death. He lauded her with epithets, calling her "The Star of the North" and "[[Semiramis]] of Russia," making reference to the legendary Queen of Babylon. Though she never met him face-to-face, she mourned him bitterly when he died. She acquired his collection of books from his heirs and placed it in the [[Imperial Public Library]]. | Subtle as she was forceful, she enlisted one of the great minds of the age, Voltaire, to her cause. She corresponded with him for fifteen years, from her accession to his death. He lauded her with epithets, calling her "The Star of the North" and "[[Semiramis]] of Russia," making reference to the legendary Queen of Babylon. Though she never met him face-to-face, she mourned him bitterly when he died. She acquired his collection of books from his heirs and placed it in the [[Imperial Public Library]]. | ||
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Many of the democratic principles frightened her more moderate and experienced advisers so she refrained from putting them into practice. After holding more than 200 sittings, the Commission was dissolved without getting beyond the realm of theory and wishful thinking. [[Image:Catherine02.jpg|thumb|200px|Portrait of Catherine in an advanced age, with the [[Chesme Column]] in the background.]] | Many of the democratic principles frightened her more moderate and experienced advisers so she refrained from putting them into practice. After holding more than 200 sittings, the Commission was dissolved without getting beyond the realm of theory and wishful thinking. [[Image:Catherine02.jpg|thumb|200px|Portrait of Catherine in an advanced age, with the [[Chesme Column]] in the background.]] | ||
| − | At the instigation of her | + | At the instigation of her general assistant, [[Ivan Betskoi]], Catherine wrote a manual for the education of young children, drawing from the ideas of [[John Locke]]. She also founded the famous [[Smolny Institute]] for noble young ladies. This school was to become one of the best of its kind in Europe, and broke ground by admitting young girls born to wealthy merchants alongside the daughters of the nobility. |
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Throughout her long reign, Catherine took many lovers. Some of these men loved her back, as she was considered quite beautiful by the standards of the day, and was ever generous with her lovers. She often elevated them to high positions for as long as they held her interest, then pensioned them off with large estates and gifts of serfs. [[Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin]] was believed to be her favorite. After her affair with him, it has been said that he selected a candidate that had both the physical beauty as well as the mental faculties to hold Catherine's interest. The last of her lovers, [[Prince Zubov]]was forty years her junior and the most capricious and extravagant of them all. | Throughout her long reign, Catherine took many lovers. Some of these men loved her back, as she was considered quite beautiful by the standards of the day, and was ever generous with her lovers. She often elevated them to high positions for as long as they held her interest, then pensioned them off with large estates and gifts of serfs. [[Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin]] was believed to be her favorite. After her affair with him, it has been said that he selected a candidate that had both the physical beauty as well as the mental faculties to hold Catherine's interest. The last of her lovers, [[Prince Zubov]]was forty years her junior and the most capricious and extravagant of them all. | ||
| − | She was a harsh mother to her son [[Paul I of Russia|Paul]], whom she hinted had been fathered by her first lover, Sergei Saltykov, but who physically resembled her husband, Peter. It seems highly probable that she intended to exclude Paul from the succession, and to leave the crown to her eldest grandson [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander]], later the Emperor Alexander I. Her harshness to Paul was probably due to political distrust as a result of observing his character. Whatever else Catherine may have been, she was first and foremost a sovereign and a politician whose main priority was to do what she saw fit in order to protect the interests of the state. | + | She was a harsh mother to her son [[Paul I of Russia|Paul]], whom she hinted had been fathered by her first lover, Sergei Saltykov, but who physically resembled her husband, Peter. It seems highly probable that she intended to exclude Paul from the succession, and to leave the crown to her eldest grandson [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander]], later the Emperor Alexander I. Her harshness to Paul was probably due to political distrust as a result of observing his character. Whatever else Catherine may have been, she was first and foremost a sovereign and a politician whose main priority was to do what she saw fit in order to protect the interests of the state. She kept Paul in a state of semi-captivity in [[Gatchina]] and [[Pavlovsk]]. She was determined not to allow her authority to be disputed by her son, or shared by him. |
Catherine kept {[Bobrinsky|Alexis Bobrinski]],(Her illegitimate son by Grigori [[Orlov]]), aloof from the court. Although she did acknowledge him as her son. [[Image:Nevsky catherine.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Mikhail Mikeshin]]'s monument to Catherine in St Petersburg.]] | Catherine kept {[Bobrinsky|Alexis Bobrinski]],(Her illegitimate son by Grigori [[Orlov]]), aloof from the court. Although she did acknowledge him as her son. [[Image:Nevsky catherine.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Mikhail Mikeshin]]'s monument to Catherine in St Petersburg.]] | ||
Catherine suffered a [[stroke]] while taking a bath on November 5 1796, and subsequently died at 10:15 the following evening without regaining consciousness. She was buried at the [[Peter and Paul Cathedral]] in [[Saint Petersburg]]. Palace intrigue generated several [[Urban myths related to Catherine II of Russia|urban myths about the circumstances of her death]] that put her in rather unfavorable light. Because of their sexual nature, they survived the test of time and are still widely known even today. | Catherine suffered a [[stroke]] while taking a bath on November 5 1796, and subsequently died at 10:15 the following evening without regaining consciousness. She was buried at the [[Peter and Paul Cathedral]] in [[Saint Petersburg]]. Palace intrigue generated several [[Urban myths related to Catherine II of Russia|urban myths about the circumstances of her death]] that put her in rather unfavorable light. Because of their sexual nature, they survived the test of time and are still widely known even today. | ||
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==List of great Catharinians== | ==List of great Catharinians== | ||
Revision as of 04:06, 23 June 2006
Catherine II the Great (Russian: Екатерина II Великая or Yekaterina II Velikaya, 2 May, 1729 — 6 November [O.S. 17 November] 1796), was born Sophie Augusta Fredericka of Anhalt-Zerbst). She was sometimes referred to as the epitome of an "enlightened despot" and reigned as Empress of Russia for more than three decades, from June 28, 1762 until her death.
Early life
A German Princess and cousin to Gustav III of Sweden and Charles XIII of Sweden, Sophie (nicknamed Figchen) was born in Stettin to Johanna Elizabeth of Holstein and Christian Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst and a Prussian general who governed the city in the name of the king of Prussia. She was educated mainly by French governesses and tutors, in accordance with the prevailing custom in German princely families of the time.
Christian Augustus engaged in thorough diplomatic management in order to arrange for his daughter to become wife of the future tsar, Peter of Holstein-Gottorp. Both Count Lestocq and Frederick the Great took an active part as well. The objectives of this match were to strengthen the friendship between Prussia and Russia, weaken the influence of Austria and ruin chancellor Bestuzhev, on whom Tsarina Elizabeth relied, and who was also loyal to the Austrian alliance.
The diplomatic intrigue failed, largely because of the intervention of Sophie's mother Johanna, said to a be clever but injudicious woman. Tsarina Elizabeth took a strong liking to Sophie anyway and the marriage finally occurred in 1744.
The Empress knew the family well because Princess Johanna's brother Karl had gone to Russia to marry the future Empress Elizabeth years earlier, but had died before the wedding took place.
Once in Russia, Sophie spared no effort to ingratiate herself not only to her husband, but to the Empress and the Russian people. She applied herself to learning the Russian language with such zeal that she rose at night and walked around her cold bedroom barefoot, repeating her lessons. This habit caused a severe attack of lung congestion in March 1744.
She explained in her memoirs that when she came to Russia, she was determined to do whatever had to be done and believe whatever she was required to believe in order to be qualified to wear the crown. Her consistency of character throughout her life makes it highly probable that even at the young age of fifteen, she was mature enough to understand how crucial it was to adhere to this commitment and conduct.
Her father, a devout Lutheran, was strongly opposed to Sophie's conversion. Despite his instructions, she was received into the Russian Orthodox Church on June 28, 1744 and was renamed Catherine Alexeyevna (Yekaterina or Ekaterina).
On the following day Sophie, now Catherine was formally engaged. She was married to the Grand Duke Peter on April 21, 1745 at St. Petersburg. The young spouses settled in the palace of Oranienbaum, which would remain the residence of the "young court" for 16 years.
Coup d'etat
The marriage was unsuccessful. It may not have been consummated for 12 years due to Peter III's impotence and mental immaturity.
Peter took a mistress. Catherine carried on liaisons with Sergei Saltykov and Stanislaw Poniatowski. She became friends with Ekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova, the sister of her husband's mistress, who introduced Catherine to several powerful political groups which opposed Peter.
Well read, Catherine kept up to date on current events in Russia and the rest of Europe. She corresponded with many of the great minds of her era, including Voltaire and Diderot.
In 1762, after moving into the new Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Peter succeeded to the throne as Peter III of Russia. However, his eccentricities and policies, including an unusual fondness for Frederick the Great, ruler of Prussia, (the capital of which the Russian army occupied as a result of the Seven Years' War), alienated the same groups that Catherine had cultivated. Compounding matters, he insisted upon intervening in a war between Holstein and Denmark over the province of Schleswig. Peter's insistence on supporting his native Holstein in an unpopular war ruined most of the support he had among the nobility.
In July 1762, Peter committed the grave error of retiring with his Holstein-born courtiers and relatives to Oranienbaum, leaving his wife in St. Petersburg. On July 13 and 14, the revolt of the Leib Guard removed him from the throne and proclaimed Catherine their empress. The result was a bloodless coup; Ekaterina Dashkova, confidante of Catherine, remarked that Peter seemed rather glad to be rid of the throne, requesting only a quiet estate and a ready supply of tobacco and burgundy in which to rest his sorrows.
Six months after her ascension to the throne on July 17, 1762, Peter III was killed by Alexei Orlov (younger brother to Gregory Orlov, then court favorite and a participant in the coup). It was supposedly an accidental killing, the result of Alexei's overindulgence in vodka.
During the Soviet period it was assumed proven that Catherine ordered the murder. She also disposed of other potential claimants to the throne, Ivan VI and Princess Tarakanova at about the same time. Now, some historians tend to doubt her involvement because of the long-running tensions between Alexei Orlov and Catherine.
Foreign affairs
During her reign, Catherine extended the borders of the Russian Empire southward and westward to absorb New Russia, Crimea, Right-Bank Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Courland at the expense of two powers; the Ottoman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. All told, she added some 200,000 square miles (518,000 km²) to Russian territory. She shaped Russian destiny to a greater extent than almost anyone before or since, with the possible exceptions of Lenin, Stalin, and Peter the Great.
Catherine's foreign minister, Nikita Panin, exercised considerable influence from the beginning of her reign. Though a shrewd statesman, Panin dedicated much effort and millions of rubles to the creation of a "Northern Accord" among Russia, Prussia, Poland, Sweden, and perhaps Great Britain, to counter the power of the Bourbon-Habsburg League. When it became apparent that his plan could not succeed, Panin fell out of favor and in 1781 was dismissed.
Russo-Turkish Wars
Catherine made Russia the dominant power in the Middle East after her first Russo-Turkish War against the Ottoman Empire (1768-1774), which saw some of the greatest defeats in Turkish history, including the Battle of Chesma and the Battle of Kagul. The victories allowed Russia to obtain access to the Black Sea and to incorporate vast areas of what is now South Ukraine, where the cities of Odessa, Nikolayev, Dnepropetrovsk, and Kherson were founded.
Catherine annexed Crimea in 1783, only nine years after it had gained independence from the Ottoman Empire during her first war against the Ottomans.
The Ottomans started a second Russo-Turkish War during Catherine's reign. This war (1787-1792) proved catastrophic for them and ended with the Treaty of Jassy, which legitimized the Russian claim to Crimea.
Relations with Western Europe
Catherine played an important role in the European political theater, acting as mediator in the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778-1779) between Prussia and Austria. In 1780 she set up a group designed to defend neutral shipping against Great Britain during the American Revolution. She refused to intervene in the revolution on the side of the British when asked. In foreign affairs, she was ever conscious of her legacy, and longed to be perceived as an enlightened sovereign. She pioneered Russia's role of international mediator in disputes that could or did lead to war. England came to play this same role throughout most of the nineteenth and early twentieth century.
From 1788 to 1790 Russia was engaged in a war with Sweden, led by Catherine's cousin, the Swedish King Gustav III. Gustav began the war to reclaim the Baltic territories lost to Russia in 1720. Expecting to simply overtake the Russian armies still engaged in war against the Ottoman Turks and hoping to strike Saint Petersburg directly, the Swedes ultimately faced mounting human and territory losses when opposed by Russia's Baltic fleet. After Denmark declared war in 1789, things looked bleak for the Swedes. After the Battle of Svensksund a treaty was signed August 14, 1790, returning all conquered territories to their respective nations, and peace reigned for 20 years.
Partitions of Poland
In 1763 Catherine placed former lover, Stanisław Poniatowski on the Polish throne. Although the idea came from the Prussian king, Catherine took a leading role in the partitions of Poland in the 1790s. This action was motivated by concern that the May Constitution of Poland might bring a renaissance of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth power and the growing democratic movements inside the Commonwealth might become a threat to the European monarchies.
After the French Revolution, Catherine rejected many of the principles of the Enlightenment that she had previously claimed to support. In order to stop reforms of the May Constitution and not allow modernization of the Commonwealth, she provided support to a Polish anti-reform group known as the Targowica Confederation. After defeating Polish loyalist forces in the War in Defense of the Constitution and in Kosciuszko Uprising, Russia divided all of the Commonwealth territory with Prussia and Austria.
Arts and culture
- Main article: Russian Enlightenment
Catherine subscribed to the Enlightenment and considered herself a "philosopher on the throne." She was well aware of her image abroad, and always desired to be perceived by Europe as a civilized and enlightened monarch, despite the fact that in Russia she often behaved like a tyrant. Even as she proclaimed her love for the ideals of liberty and freedom, she did more to tie the Russian Serf to his land and his lord than any sovereign since Boris Godunov.
Catherine was known as a patron of the arts, literature and education. The Hermitage Museum, which now occupies the entire old Winter palace, was begun as Catherine's personal collection. Catherine wrote comedies, fiction and memoirs, while cultivating Voltaire, Diderot and D'Alembert, all French encyclopedists who later cemented her reputation in their writings.
Subtle as she was forceful, she enlisted one of the great minds of the age, Voltaire, to her cause. She corresponded with him for fifteen years, from her accession to his death. He lauded her with epithets, calling her "The Star of the North" and "Semiramis of Russia," making reference to the legendary Queen of Babylon. Though she never met him face-to-face, she mourned him bitterly when he died. She acquired his collection of books from his heirs and placed it in the Imperial Public Library.
Within a few months of her accession, upon hearing that the publication of the famous French Encyclopedie was in danger of being stopped by the French government because of its irreligious spirit, she proposed to Diderot that he complete his great work in Russia under her protection.
Four years later, she attempted to embody the principles of enlightenment learned through her study of the French philosophers, into a legislative form. A Grand Commission, acting as a consultative parliament, composed of 652 members of all classes — officials, nobles, burghers and peasants and of various nationalities — was convened in Moscow to consider the needs of the empire and the means of satisfying them. The Instructions for the Guidance of the Assembly were prepared by the empress herself and were, by her own admission, the result of pillaging the philosophers of the West, especially Montesquieu and Beccaria.
Many of the democratic principles frightened her more moderate and experienced advisers so she refrained from putting them into practice. After holding more than 200 sittings, the Commission was dissolved without getting beyond the realm of theory and wishful thinking.
At the instigation of her general assistant, Ivan Betskoi, Catherine wrote a manual for the education of young children, drawing from the ideas of John Locke. She also founded the famous Smolny Institute for noble young ladies. This school was to become one of the best of its kind in Europe, and broke ground by admitting young girls born to wealthy merchants alongside the daughters of the nobility.
The leading economists of her day, such as Arthur Young and Jacques Necker, were foreign members of the Free Economic Society, established on her suggestion in Saint Petersburg. She was able to lure Leonhard Euler and Peter Simon Pallas from Berlin back to the Russian capital.
Her patronage furthered the evolution of the arts in Russia more than any sovereign of that nation before or since. Under her reign, the classical and European influences which inspired the "Age of Imitation" were imported and studied. Gavrila Derzhavin and other writers of her epoch laid the groundwork for the great writers of the nineteenth century, especially the immortal Pushkin. However, her reign was also marked by the omnipresent censorship and state control of publications. When Radishchev published his Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 1790, warning of uprisings because of the deplorable social conditions of the peasants held as serfs, Catherine had him exiled to Siberia.
Personal life
Throughout her long reign, Catherine took many lovers. Some of these men loved her back, as she was considered quite beautiful by the standards of the day, and was ever generous with her lovers. She often elevated them to high positions for as long as they held her interest, then pensioned them off with large estates and gifts of serfs. Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin was believed to be her favorite. After her affair with him, it has been said that he selected a candidate that had both the physical beauty as well as the mental faculties to hold Catherine's interest. The last of her lovers, Prince Zubovwas forty years her junior and the most capricious and extravagant of them all.
She was a harsh mother to her son Paul, whom she hinted had been fathered by her first lover, Sergei Saltykov, but who physically resembled her husband, Peter. It seems highly probable that she intended to exclude Paul from the succession, and to leave the crown to her eldest grandson Alexander, later the Emperor Alexander I. Her harshness to Paul was probably due to political distrust as a result of observing his character. Whatever else Catherine may have been, she was first and foremost a sovereign and a politician whose main priority was to do what she saw fit in order to protect the interests of the state. She kept Paul in a state of semi-captivity in Gatchina and Pavlovsk. She was determined not to allow her authority to be disputed by her son, or shared by him.
Catherine kept {[Bobrinsky|Alexis Bobrinski]],(Her illegitimate son by Grigori Orlov), aloof from the court. Although she did acknowledge him as her son.
Catherine suffered a stroke while taking a bath on November 5 1796, and subsequently died at 10:15 the following evening without regaining consciousness. She was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. Palace intrigue generated several urban myths about the circumstances of her death that put her in rather unfavorable light. Because of their sexual nature, they survived the test of time and are still widely known even today.
List of great Catharinians
Aleksey Orlov | Grigory Potemkin | Alexander Bezborodko | Nikita Panin | Nicholas Repnin | Alexander Suvorov | Peter Rumyantsev | Fyodor Ushakov | Gavrila Derzhavin | Yekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova-Dashkova | Mikhailo Shcherbatov | Mikhail Lomonosov | Dmitry Levitsky
Bibliography
- The Memoirs of Catherine the Great by Markus Cruse and Hilde Hoogenboom (translators). N.Y.: Modern Library, 2005 (hardcover, ISBN 0679642994); 2006 (paperback, ISBN 0812969871)
- Madariaga, Isabel de. Catherine the Great: A Short History. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990 (hardcover, ISBN 0300048459); 2002 (paperback, ISBN 0300097220)
- Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Potemkin: Catherine the Great's Imperial Partner. N.Y.: Vintage, 2005 (paperback, ISBN 1400077176)
- Rounding, Virginia. Catherine the Great: Love, Sex and Power. L.: Hutchinson, 2006 (ISBN 0091799929)
- Reviewed by Charlotte Hobson in The Spectator, April 15, 2006
- Reviewed by Catriona Kelly in The Guardian, April 1, 2006
- Troyat, Henri. Catherine the Great. N.Y.: Dorset Press, 1991 (hardcover, ISBN 0880296887); L.: Orion, 2000 (paperback, ISBN 1842120298)
- Troyat, Henri. Terrible Tsarinas. N.Y.: Algora, 2001 (ISBN 1892941546)
External links
- Catherine the Great chronology World History Database
- Some of the code of laws mentioned above, along with other information: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/18catherine.html
- Manisfesto of the Empress Catherine II, inviting foreign immigration
- Information about the Battle of Svenskund and the war
- Historical Myths: The Death of Catherine the Great
- Catherine the Great of Russia
- Briefly about Catherine: The Enlightened Despots
- http://members.tripod.com/~Nevermore/CGREAT.HTM
Filmography: The Scarlet Empress (1934), Directed by Josef von Sternberg, with Marlene Dietrich as Catherine II of Russia
| Preceded by: Peter III |
Empress of Russia 28 June 1762 – 6 November1796 |
Succeeded by: Paul I |
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