The times of Catherine II. How many children did Catherine the Great have and details of her personal life?

(1729-1796) Russian empress from 1762 to 1796

Her real name was Sophia Frederika Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst. In 1743, she came to Russia from Stettin to become the wife of the nephew of Empress Anna Ioannovna Peter of Holstein-Gottorp - the future Tsar Peter III. On August 21, 1745, their marriage took place, and she became Grand Duchess Catherine.

Until the end of her reign, the Empress never managed to combine two incompatible desires: to become famous throughout the world for her liberal views and reforms and not to allow any freedoms in Russia. These contradictions of hers were especially evident in her relations with educated people. She instructed Ekaterina Dashkova, one of the most educated women of that time, to develop a project for the creation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and supported secular education. At the same time, it was during her reign that already strict censorship was established.

The Empress was afraid of the slightest manifestation of free-thinking and severely punished A.N. Radishchev for his criticism of the existing order, set out in the book “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”, at the same time punishing N.I. Novikov, who dared to publish this book.

At the end of her reign, Catherine II ordered the dissolution of all Masonic lodges. N.I. Novikov was arrested and imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress, Prince Trubetskoy was exiled.

Nevertheless, Catherine II was an extraordinary and bright personality, a brilliant publicist and writer. She wrote a lot on a variety of topics, leaving behind personal “Notes” and numerous letters. Her correspondence with Diderot and Voltaire is especially interesting. True, she wrote mainly in French, since Russian remained for her the language of everyday communication.

The life of the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, which has attracted the attention of both ordinary people and creative individuals for more than two centuries, is surrounded by a large number of all kinds of myths. AiF.ru recalls the five most common legends about the most famous Russian ruler.

Myth one. “Catherine II gave birth to an heir to the throne not from Peter III”

One of the most persistent myths associated with the Russian Empress concerns who was the father of the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich. For Paul I, who ascended the throne, this topic remained painful until his very last days.

The reason for the persistence of such rumors is that Catherine II herself did not seek to refute them or somehow punish those who spread them.

The relationship between Catherine and her husband, the future Emperor Peter III, was indeed not very warm. The marital relationship in the early years was incomplete due to Peter's illness, which was subsequently overcome as a result of the operation.

Two years before Pavel was born, Catherine had her first favorite, Sergey Saltykov. The relationship between him and Catherine ended after the future empress showed signs of pregnancy. Subsequently, Saltykov was sent abroad as a Russian envoy, and practically did not appear in Russia.

There seem to be many reasons for the version of Saltykov’s paternity, but they all do not look convincing against the backdrop of the undoubted portrait similarity between Peter III and Paul I. Contemporaries, focusing not on rumors, but on facts, had no doubt that Pavel was the son of Peter Fedorovich.

Myth two. “Catherine II sold Alaska to America”

The persistent myth at the end of the 20th century was reinforced by the song of the group “Lube”, after which the empress’s status as “liquidator of Russian America” was finally established.

In reality, during the reign of Catherine the Great, Russian industrialists were just beginning to develop Alaska. The first permanent Russian settlement was founded on Kodiak Island in 1784.

The Empress was indeed unenthusiastic about the projects presented to her for the development of Alaska, but this was caused by who intended to develop it and how.

In 1780, secretary of the Commerce Collegium Mikhail Chulkov submitted to the Prosecutor General of the Senate, Prince Vyazemsky, a project for creating a company that was to receive a 30-year monopoly on fishing and trade in the entire Pacific North. Catherine II, who was an opponent of monopolies, rejected the project. In 1788, a similar project, which provided for the transfer of a trade and fishing monopoly of monopoly rights to the extraction of furs in newly discovered territories in the New World, was submitted by industrialists Grigory Shelikhov And Ivan Golikov. The project was also rejected. Only after the death of Catherine II, the development of Alaska by a monopoly company was approved by Paul I.

As for the sale of Alaska, the deal with the United States was concluded in March 1867 on the initiative of the great-grandson of Catherine the Great, Emperor Alexandra II.

Myth three. “Catherine II had hundreds of lovers”

Rumors about the incredible sexual exploits of the Russian Empress, which have been circulating for the third century, are greatly exaggerated. The list of her hobbies throughout her life contains just over 20 names - this, of course, is uncharacteristic for the Russian court of the pre-Catherine era, but for the morals of Europe at that time the situation was quite normal. With a small clarification - for male monarchs, not for women. But the whole point is that there were not so many women who ruled states single-handedly at that time.

Until 1772, Catherine’s love list was very short - in addition to her legal spouse Peter Fedorovich, it featured Sergey Saltykov, future Polish king Stanislav August Poniatowski And Grigory Orlov, the relationship with whom lasted about 12 years.

Apparently, 43-year-old Catherine was further influenced by the fear of her own beauty fading. In an effort to catch up with her youth, she began to change her favorites, who became younger and younger, and the duration of their stay with the empress became shorter and shorter.

The last of the favorites lasted for seven whole years. In 1789, 60-year-old Catherine approached a 22-year-old Horse Guards Platon Zubov. The aging woman was very attached to Zubov, whose only talent was extracting money from the state treasury. But this sad story definitely has nothing to do with the mythical “hundreds of lovers.”

Myth four. “Catherine II spent most of her time at feasts and balls”

Little Fike's childhood was indeed far from the classical ideas of how a princess should live. The girl was even forced to learn how to darn her own stockings. It would not be surprising if, having arrived in Russia, Catherine rushed to compensate for her “difficult childhood” with a passion for luxury and entertainment.

But in fact, having ascended the throne, Catherine II lived in the strict rhythm of the head of state. She got up at 5 am, and only in later years did this time shift to 7 am. Immediately after breakfast, the reception of officials began, and the schedule of their reports was clearly outlined by hours and days of the week, and this order did not change for years. The empress's working day lasted up to four hours, after which it was time to rest. At 10 p.m. Catherine went to bed, because in the morning she had to get up for work again.

Officials who visited the empress on official business outside of solemn and official events saw her in simple dresses without any jewelry - Catherine believed that she did not need to dazzle her subjects with her appearance on weekdays.

Myth fifth. “Catherine II was killed by a Polish dwarf avenger”

The death of the empress was also surrounded by many myths. A year before her death, Catherine II was one of the initiators of the Third Partition of Poland, after which the country ceased to exist as an independent state. The Polish throne, on which the empress's former lover, King Stanisław August Poniatowski, had previously sat, was sent to St. Petersburg, where, on the orders of the empress, it was allegedly made into a “toilet” for her dressing room.

Of course, Polish patriots could not endure such humiliation of their own country and the ancient throne of the Piast dynasty.

The myth says that a certain Pole-dwarf allegedly managed to sneak into Catherine’s chambers, ambushed her in the restroom, stabbed her with a dagger and disappeared safely. The courtiers who discovered the empress could not help her, and she soon died.

The only truth in this story is that Catherine was actually found in the restroom. On the morning of November 16, 1796, the 67-year-old empress, as usual, got out of bed, drank coffee and went to the toilet room, where she lingered for too long. The valet on duty dared to look there and found Catherine lying on the floor. Her eyes were closed, her complexion was purple, and wheezing came from her throat. The Empress was taken to the bedchamber. In the fall, Catherine sprained her leg, her body became so heavy that the servants did not have enough strength to lift him onto the bed. Therefore, they laid a mattress on the floor and laid the empress on it.

All signs indicated that Catherine had suffered an apoplexy - this term then meant a stroke and cerebral hemorrhage. She did not regain consciousness, and the court doctors who assisted her had no doubt that the empress had only a few hours left to live.

According to doctors, death should have occurred around three o'clock in the afternoon on November 17. Catherine’s strong body made its own adjustments here too - the great empress passed away at 9:45 pm on November 17, 1796.

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On February 14, 1744, an event occurred that was extremely important for the subsequent history of Russia. Arrived in St. Petersburg, accompanied by her mother Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst. The 14-year-old girl was entrusted with a high mission - she was to become the wife of the heir to the Russian throne, bear sons to her husband and thereby strengthen the ruling dynasty.

Court leapfrog

The middle of the 18th century in Russia went down in history as the “era of palace coups.” In 1722 Peter I issued a decree on succession to the throne, according to which the emperor himself could appoint a successor. This decree played a cruel joke on Peter himself, who did not have time to express his will before his death.

There was no obvious and unconditional candidate: Peter's sons had died by that time, and all other candidates did not find universal support.

To the Most Serene Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov succeeded in enthroning the wife of Peter I Ekaterina, who became empress under the name Catherine I. Her reign lasted only two years, and after her death, the grandson of Peter the Great, the son of the prince, ascended the throne Alexei Peter II.

The struggle for influence over the young king ended with the unfortunate teenager catching a cold during one of the many hunts and dying on the eve of his own wedding.

The nobles, who were again faced with the problem of choosing a monarch, gave preference to the dowager Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna, daughters Ivan V, brother of Peter the Great.

Anna Ioannovna did not have children who could legally occupy the Russian throne, and appointed her nephew as heir Ioann Antonovich, who was less than six months old at the time of his accession to the throne.

In 1741, another coup took place in Russia, as a result of which the daughter of Peter the Great ascended the throne Elizabeth.

Looking for an heir

Elizaveta Petrovna, 1756. Artist Toke Louis (1696-1772)

Elizabeth Petrovna, who by that time was already 32 years old, ascended the throne, immediately faced the question of an heir. The Russian elite did not want a repetition of the Troubles and sought stability.

The problem was that the officially unmarried Elizaveta Petrovna, like Anna Ioannovna, could not give the empire, so to speak, a natural heir.

Elizabeth had many favorites, with one of whom, Alexey Razumovsky, she, according to one version, even entered into a secret marriage. Moreover, the empress may even have given birth to his children.

But in any case, they could not become heirs to the throne.

Therefore, Elizaveta Petrovna and her entourage began to look for a suitable heir. The choice fell on the 13-year-old Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp, son of Elizaveta Petrovna's sister Anna And Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich.

Elizabeth’s nephew had a difficult childhood: his mother died of a cold, which she got during a fireworks display in honor of the birth of her son. The father did not pay much attention to raising his son, and the appointed teachers preferred the rod out of all pedagogical methods. Things got really bad for the boy when, at the age of 11, his father died and distant relatives took him in.

At the same time, Karl Peter Ulrich was a great-nephew Charles XII and was a contender for the Swedish throne.

Nevertheless, the Russian envoys managed to get the boy to move to St. Petersburg.

What didn’t work out for Elizabeth and Catherine?

Pyotr Fedorovich when he was Grand Duke. Portrait Georg Christopher Groth (1716-1749)

Elizaveta Petrovna, who saw her nephew alive for the first time, was in a slight shock - a thin, sickly-looking teenager with a wild look, could hardly speak French, had no manners, and was generally not burdened with knowledge.

The Empress rather arrogantly decided that in Russia the guy would quickly be re-educated. To begin with, the heir was converted to Orthodoxy and named Petr Fedorovich and assigned him teachers. But the teachers wasted their time with Petrusha - until the end of his days, Pyotr Fedorovich never mastered the Russian language, and in general he was one of the least educated Russian monarchs.

After the heir was found, it was necessary to find him a bride. Elizaveta Petrovna generally had far-reaching plans: she was going to get offspring from Peter Fedorovich and his wife, and then independently raise her grandson from birth so that he would become the empress’s successor. However, in the end this plan was not destined to come true.

It is curious that Catherine the Great would subsequently try to carry out a similar maneuver, preparing her grandson as heir. Alexander Pavlovich, and will also fail.

Princess as Cinderella

However, let's return to our story. The main “fair for royal brides” in the 18th century was Germany. There was no single state, but there were many principalities and duchies, small and insignificant, but with an overabundance of well-born, but poor young girls.

Considering the candidates, Elizaveta Petrovna remembered the Holstein prince, whom in her youth was predicted to be her husband. The prince's sister Johannes Elisabeth, daughter was growing up - Sofia Augusta Frederica. The girl's father was Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, representative of an ancient princely family. However, a big name did not come with large incomes, because Christian Augustus was in the service of the Prussian king. And although the prince ended his career with the rank of Prussian field marshal, he and his family spent most of his life in poverty.

Sophia Augusta Frederica was educated at home solely because her father could not afford to hire expensive tutors. The girl even had to darn her own stockings, so there was no need to talk about the princess being spoiled.

At the same time, Fike, as Sophia Augusta Frederica was called at home, was distinguished by her curiosity, thirst for study, as well as for street games. Fike was a real daredevil and took part in boyish amusements, which did not make her mother too happy.

The Tsar's Bride and the Would-be Conspirator

The news that the Russian Empress was considering Fike as the bride of the heir to the Russian throne struck the girl’s parents. For them it was a real gift of fate. Fike herself, who had a sharp mind since her youth, understood that this was her chance to escape from her poor parental home into another, brilliant and vibrant life.

Catherine after her arrival in Russia, portrait by Louis Caravaque.

“Her reign was successful. As a conscientious German, Catherine worked diligently for the country that gave her such a good and profitable position. She naturally saw the happiness of Russia in the greatest possible expansion of the boundaries of the Russian state. By nature she was smart and cunning, well versed in the intrigues of European diplomacy. Cunning and flexibility were the basis of what in Europe, depending on the circumstances, was called the policy of Northern Semiramis or the crimes of Moscow Messalina.” (M. Aldanov “Devil's Bridge”)

Years of reign of Russia by Catherine the Great 1762-1796

Catherine the Second's real name was Sophia Augusta Frederika of Anhalt-Zerbst. She was the daughter of the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, the commandant of the city of Stettin, which was located in Pomerania, a region subject to the Kingdom of Prussia (today the Polish city of Szczecin), who represented “a side line of one of the eight branches of the house of Anhalst.”

“In 1742, the Prussian king Frederick II, wanting to annoy the Saxon court, which hoped to marry his princess Maria Anna to the heir to the Russian throne, Peter Karl-Ulrich of Holstein, who suddenly became Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, began hastily looking for another bride for the Grand Duke.

The Prussian king had three German princesses in mind for this purpose: two from Hesse-Darmstadt and one from Zerbst. The latter was the most suitable in age, but Friedrich knew nothing about the fifteen-year-old bride herself. They only said that her mother, Johanna Elisabeth, led a very frivolous lifestyle and that it is unlikely that little Fike was really the daughter of the Zerbst prince Christian Augustus, who served as governor in Stetin.”

How long, short, but in the end the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna chose little Fike as a wife for her nephew Karl-Ulrich, who became Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich in Russia, the future Emperor Peter III.

Biography of Catherine II. Briefly

• 1729, April 21 (Old style) - Catherine the Second was born
• 1742, December 27 - on the advice of Frederick II, the mother of Princess Ficken (Fike) sent a letter to Elizabeth with New Year congratulations
• 1743, January - kind reply letter
• 1743, December 21 - Johanna Elisabeth and Ficken received a letter from Brumner, the teacher of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, with an invitation to come to Russia

“Your Grace,” Brummer wrote meaningfully, “are too enlightened not to understand the true meaning of the impatience with which Her Imperial Majesty wishes to see you here as soon as possible, as well as your princess daughter, about whom rumor has told us so many good things.”

• 1743, December 21 - on the same day a letter from Frederick II was received in Zerbst. The Prussian king... persistently advised to go and keep the trip strictly secret (so that the Saxons would not find out ahead of time)
• 1744, February 3 - German princesses arrived in St. Petersburg
• 1744, February 9 - the future Catherine the Great and her mother arrived in Moscow, where the court was located at that moment
• 1744, February 18 - Johanna Elisabeth sent a letter to her husband with the news that their daughter was the bride of the future Russian Tsar
• 1745, June 28 - Sofia Augusta Frederica converted to Orthodoxy and new name Catherine
• 1745, August 21 - marriage of Catherine
• 1754, September 20 - Catherine gave birth to a son, heir to the throne Paul
• 1757, December 9 - Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Anna, who died 3 months later
• 1761, December 25 - Elizaveta Petrovna died. Peter the Third became Tsar

“Peter the Third was the son of the daughter of Peter I and the grandson of the sister of Charles XII. Elizabeth, having ascended the Russian throne and wanting to secure it behind her father’s line, sent Major Korf with instructions to take her nephew from Kiel and deliver him to St. Petersburg at all costs. Here the Holstein Duke Karl-Peter-Ulrich was transformed into Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich and forced to study the Russian language and the Orthodox catechism. But nature was not as favorable to him as fate... He was born and grew up as a frail child, poorly endowed with abilities. Having become an orphan at an early age, Peter in Holstein received a worthless upbringing under the guidance of an ignorant courtier.

Humiliated and embarrassed in everything, he acquired bad tastes and habits, became irritable, cantankerous, stubborn and false, acquired a sad inclination to lie..., and in Russia he also learned to get drunk. In Holstein he was taught so poorly that he came to Russia as a 14-year-old complete ignoramus and even amazed Empress Elizabeth with his ignorance. The rapid change of circumstances and educational programs completely confused his already fragile head. Forced to learn this and that without connection and order, Peter ended up learning nothing, and the dissimilarity of the Holstein and Russian situations, the meaninglessness of the Kiel and St. Petersburg impressions completely weaned him from understanding his surroundings. ...He was fascinated by the military glory and strategic genius of Frederick II...” (V. O. Klyuchevsky “Course of Russian History”)

• 1761, April 13 - Peter made peace with Frederick. All lands seized by Russia from Prussia during the course were returned to the Germans
• 1761, May 29 - union treaty between Prussia and Russia. Russian troops were transferred to the disposal of Frederick, which caused sharp discontent among the guards

(The flag of the guard) “became the empress. The emperor lived badly with his wife, threatened to divorce her and even imprison her in a monastery, and in her place put a person close to him, the niece of Chancellor Count Vorontsov. Catherine stayed aloof for a long time, patiently enduring her situation and not entering into direct relations with the dissatisfied.” (Klyuchevsky)

• 1761, June 9 - at the ceremonial dinner on the occasion of the confirmation of this peace treaty, the emperor proposed a toast to the imperial family. Catherine drank her glass while sitting. When Peter asked why she did not stand up, she replied that she did not consider it necessary, since the imperial family consists entirely of the emperor, herself and their son, the heir to the throne. “And my uncles, the Holstein princes?” - Peter objected and ordered Adjutant General Gudovich, who was standing behind his chair, to approach Catherine and say a swear word to her. But, fearing that Gudovich might soften this uncivil word during the transfer, Peter himself shouted it across the table for all to hear.

  The Empress burst into tears. That same evening it was ordered to arrest her, which, however, was not carried out at the request of one of Peter’s uncles, the unwitting culprits of this scene. From that time on, Catherine began to listen more attentively to the proposals of her friends, which were made to her, starting from the very death of Elizabeth. The enterprise was sympathized with by many people from high society in St. Petersburg, most of whom were personally offended by Peter

• 1761, June 28 - . Catherine is proclaimed empress
• 1761, June 29 - Peter the Third abdicated the throne
• 1761, July 6 - killed in prison
• 1761, September 2 - Coronation of Catherine II in Moscow
• 1787, January 2-July 1 -
• 1796, November 6 - death of Catherine the Great

Domestic policy of Catherine II

- Changes in central government: in 1763, the structure and powers of the Senate were streamlined
- Liquidation of the autonomy of Ukraine: liquidation of the hetmanate (1764), liquidation of the Zaporozhye Sich (1775), serfdom of the peasantry (1783)
- Further subordination of the church to the state: secularization of church and monastic lands, 900 thousand church serfs became state serfs (1764)
- Improving legislation: a decree on tolerance for schismatics (1764), the right of landowners to send peasants to hard labor (1765), the introduction of a noble monopoly on distilling (1765), a ban on peasants filing complaints against landowners (1768), the creation of separate courts for nobles, townspeople and peasants (1775), etc.
- Improving the administrative system of Russia: dividing Russia into 50 provinces instead of 20, dividing provinces into districts, dividing power in provinces by function (administrative, judicial, financial) (1775);
- Strengthening the position of the nobility (1785):

• confirmation of all class rights and privileges of the nobility: exemption from compulsory service, from poll tax, corporal punishment; the right to unlimited disposal of estate and land together with the peasants;
• the creation of noble estate institutions: district and provincial noble assemblies, which met once every three years and elected district and provincial leaders of the nobility;
• assigning the title of “noble” to the nobility.

“Catherine the Second well understood that she could stay on the throne only by pleasing the nobility and officers in every possible way - in order to prevent or at least reduce the danger of a new palace conspiracy. This is what Catherine did. Her entire internal policy boiled down to ensuring that the life of the officers at her court and in the guards units was as profitable and pleasant as possible.”

- Economic innovations: establishment of a financial commission to unify money; establishment of a commission on commerce (1763); manifesto on the general demarcation to fix land plots; establishment of the Free Economic Society to assist noble entrepreneurship (1765); financial reform: introduction of paper money - assignats (1769), creation of two assignat banks (1768), issue of the first Russian external loan (1769); establishment of the postal department (1781); permission for private individuals to open a printing house (1783)

Foreign policy of Catherine II

• 1764 - Treaty with Prussia
• 1768-1774 — Russian-Turkish War
• 1778 - Restoration of the alliance with Prussia
• 1780 - union of Russia and Denmark. and Sweden for the purpose of protecting navigation during the American Revolutionary War
• 1780 - Defensive Alliance of Russia and Austria
• 1783, March 28 -
• 1783, August 4 - establishment of a Russian protectorate over Georgia
• 1787-1791 —
• 1786, December 31 - trade agreement with France
• 1788 June - August - war with Sweden
• 1792 - severance of relations with France
• 1793, March 14 - Treaty of Friendship with England
• 1772, 1193, 1795 - participation together with Prussia and Austria in the partitions of Poland
• 1796 - war in Persia in response to the Persian invasion of Georgia

Personal life of Catherine II. Briefly

“Catherine, by nature, was neither evil nor cruel... and overly power-hungry: all her life she was invariably under the influence of successive favorites, to whom she gladly ceded her power, interfering in their disposal of the country only when they very clearly showed their inexperience, inability or stupidity: she was smarter and more experienced in business than all her lovers, with the exception of Prince Potemkin.
There was nothing excessive in Catherine’s nature, except for a strange mixture of the coarsest sensuality that grew stronger over the years with purely German, practical sentimentality. At sixty-five years old, she, as a girl, fell in love with twenty-year-old officers and sincerely believed that they were also in love with her. In her seventh decade, she cried bitter tears when it seemed to her that Platon Zubov was more reserved with her than usual.”(Mark Aldanov)

At birth, the girl was given the name Sophia Frederica Augusta. Her father, Christian August, was the prince of the small German principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, but gained fame for his achievements in the military field. The mother of the future Catherine, Princess Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp, cared little about raising her daughter. Therefore, the girl was raised by a governess.

Catherine was educated by tutors, and among them, a chaplain who gave the girl religious lessons. However, the girl had her own point of view on many questions. She also mastered three languages: German, French and Russian.

Entry into the Russian royal family

In 1744, the girl travels with her mother to Russia. The German princess becomes engaged to Grand Duke Peter and converts to Orthodoxy, receiving the name Catherine at baptism.

On August 21, 1745, Catherine marries the heir to the throne of Russia, becoming the crown princess. However, family life turned out to be far from happy.

After many childless years, Catherine II finally produced an heir. Her son Pavel was born on September 20, 1754. And then heated debate flared up about who really was the boy’s father. Be that as it may, Catherine hardly saw her first-born: soon after birth, Empress Elizabeth took the child to be raised.

Seizing the throne

On December 25, 1761, after the death of Empress Elizabeth, Peter III ascended the throne, and Catherine became the emperor's wife. However, it has little to do with government affairs. Peter and his wife were openly cruel. Soon, due to the stubborn support he provided to Prussia, Peter became alien to many courtiers, secular and military officials. The founder of what today we call progressive internal state reforms, Peter also quarreled with the Orthodox Church, taking away church lands. And now, just six months later, Peter was overthrown from the throne as a result of a conspiracy that Catherine entered into with her lover, Russian lieutenant Grigory Orlov, and a number of other persons, with the aim of seizing power. She successfully manages to force her husband to abdicate the throne and take control of the empire into her own hands. A few days after his abdication, in one of his estates, in Ropsha, Peter was strangled. What role Catherine played in the murder of her husband is unclear to this day.

Fearing that she herself will be overthrown by opposing forces, Catherine tries with all her might to win the favor of the troops and the church. She recalls the troops sent by Peter to the war against Denmark and in every possible way encourages and rewards those who come over to her side. She even compares herself to her revered Peter the Great, declaring that she is following in his footsteps.

Governing body

Despite the fact that Catherine is a supporter of absolutism, she still makes a number of attempts to carry out social and political reforms. She issues a document, “The Mandate,” in which she proposes to abolish the death penalty and torture, and also proclaims the equality of all people. However, the Senate responds with a decisive refusal to any attempts to change the feudal system.

After completing work on the “Instruction,” in 1767, Catherine convened representatives of various social and economic strata of the population to form the Statutory Commission. The commission did not produce a legislative body, but its convening went down in history as the first time when representatives of the Russian people from all over the empire had the opportunity to express their ideas about the needs and problems of the country.

Later, in 1785, Catherine issues the Charter of the Nobility, in which she radically changes policy and challenges the power of the upper classes, under which most of the masses are under the yoke of serfdom.

Catherine, a religious skeptic by nature, seeks to subjugate the Orthodox Church to her power. At the beginning of her reign, she returned lands and property to the church, but soon changed her views. The Empress declares the church part of the state, and therefore all her possessions, including more than a million serfs, become the property of the empire and are subject to taxes.

Foreign policy

During her reign, Catherine expanded the borders of the Russian Empire. She makes significant acquisitions in Poland, having previously placed her former lover, the Polish prince Stanislav Poniatowski, on the throne of the kingdom. According to the agreement of 1772, Catherine gives part of the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to Prussia and Austria, while the eastern part of the kingdom, where many Russian Orthodox Christians live, goes to the Russian Empire.

But such actions are extremely disapproving of Turkey. In 1774, Catherine made peace with the Ottoman Empire, according to which the Russian state received new lands and access to the Black Sea. One of the heroes of the Russian-Turkish war was Grigory Potemkin, a reliable adviser and lover of Catherine.

Potemkin, a loyal supporter of the empress's policies, himself proved himself to be an outstanding statesman. It was he who, in 1783, convinced Catherine to annex Crimea to the empire, thereby strengthening her position on the Black Sea.

Love for education and art

At the time of Catherine’s accession to the throne, Russia was a backward and provincial state for Europe. The Empress is doing her best to change this opinion, expanding opportunities for new ideas in education and the arts. In St. Petersburg, she founded a boarding school for girls of noble birth, and later free schools were opened in all cities of Russia.

Ekaterina patronizes many cultural projects. She is gaining fame as a zealous art collector, and most of her collection is exhibited at her residence in St. Petersburg, in the Hermitage.

Catherine, a passionate lover of literature, is especially favorable towards the philosophers and writers of the Enlightenment. Endowed with literary talent, the empress describes her own life in a collection of memoirs.

Personal life

The love life of Catherine II became the subject of much gossip and false facts. Myths about her insatiability have been debunked, but this royal lady actually had many love affairs during her life. She could not remarry, since marriage could undermine her position, and therefore she had to wear a mask of chastity in society. But, away from prying eyes, Catherine showed remarkable interest in men.

End of reign

By 1796, Catherine had already enjoyed absolute power in the empire for several decades. And in the last years of her reign, she showed the same liveliness of mind and strength of spirit. But in mid-November 1796, she was found unconscious on the bathroom floor. At that time, everyone came to the conclusion that she had suffered a stroke. 4.3 points. Total ratings received: 55.