[73] In 1779, she hired the Scottish architect Charles Cameron to build the Chinese Village at Tsarskoye Selo (modern Pushkin, Saint Petersburg). After the "Toleration of All Faiths" Edict of 1773, Muslims were permitted to build mosques and practise all of their traditions, the most obvious of these being the pilgrimage to Mecca, which previously had been denied. Perhaps the most readily recognizable anecdote related to Catherine centers on a horse. Gavrila Derzhavin, Denis Fonvizin and Ippolit Bogdanovich laid the groundwork for the great writers of the 19th century, especially for Alexander Pushkin. [17] She became friends with Princess Ekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova, the sister of her husband's official mistress. The emergence of these assignation roubles was necessary due to large government spending on military needs, which led to a shortage of silver in the treasury (transactions, especially in foreign trade, were conducted almost exclusively in silver and gold coins). Book. [69] With all this discontent in mind, Catherine did rule for 10 years before the anger of the serfs boiled over into a rebellion as extensive as Pugachev's. Many Orthodox peasants felt threatened by the sudden change, and burned mosques as a sign of their displeasure. [67] Their discontent led to widespread outbreaks of violence and rioting during Pugachev's Rebellion of 1774. According to History, sexual deviancy has often been tagged to women either in power or who are seeking to change society, among them Cleopatra, Anne Boleyn,and Catherine the Great, among others.Catherine took the throne following the death of Peter and in lieu of their son, Paul, who was only 8 at the time. Under her long reign, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, Russia experienced a renaissance of culture and sciences, which led to the founding of many new cities, universities, and theatres; along with large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and the recognition of Russia as one of the great powers of Europe. Later uprisings in Poland led to the third partition in 1795. [40], In 1764, Catherine placed Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, her former lover, on the Polish throne. Possibly the offspring of Catherine and Stanislaus Poniatowski, Anna was born at the Winter Palace between 10 and 11 o'clock; Born at the Winter Palace, he was brought up at, Born many years after the death of Catherine's husband, brought up in the, Empress Catherine appears as a character in, The Empress is parodied in Offenbach's operetta, Lubitsch remade his 1924 silent film as the sound film, The British/Canadian/American TV miniseries, Her rise to power and reign are portrayed in the award-winning, The song "Catherine the Great" from the album, Catherine (portrayed by Meghan Tonjes) is featured in the web series, She appears as a leader of the Russian civilization in. Because the Moscow Foundling Home was not established as a state-funded institution, it represented an opportunity to experiment with new educational theories. Catherine also issued the Code of Commercial Navigation and Salt Trade Code of 1781, the Police Ordinance of 1782, and the Statute of National Education of 1786. Throughout Russia, the inspectors encountered a patchy response. 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. It also stipulated in detail the subjects to be taught at every age and the method of teaching. She succeeded her husband as empress regnant, following the precedent established when Catherine I succeeded her husband Peter the Great in 1725. The ultimate goal for the Russian government, however, was to topple the anti-Russian shah (king), and to replace him with a half-brother, Morteza Qoli Khan, who had defected to Russia and was therefore pro-Russian. Meilan Solly is Smithsonian magazine's associate digital editor, history. 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). Her father, Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, belonged to the ruling German family of Anhalt. And if you can't find enough dirt to your satisfaction, make stuff up. [d] As a patron of the arts, she presided over the age of the Russian Enlightenment, including the establishment of the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens, the first state-financed higher education institution for women in Europe. On the following day, the formal betrothal of Catherine and Peter took place and the long-planned dynastic marriage finally occurred on 21 August 1745 in Saint Petersburg. [49], Catherine imposed a comprehensive system of state regulation of merchants' activities. She came from a very poor family and did not have a pleasant childhood. This was another attempt to organise and passively control the outer fringes of her country. The plan was another attempt to force nomadic people to settle. Peter was her second cousin. [104] Between 1762 and 1773, Muslims were prohibited from owning any Orthodox serfs. Her eyes were soft and sensitive, her nose quite Greek, her colour high and her features expressive. However, the Legislative Commission of 1767 offered several seats to people professing the Islamic faith. Her many military campaigns, on the other hand, represent a less palatable aspect of her legacy. Russia was to stop any involvement in internal affairs of Sweden. She recruited the scientists Leonhard Euler and Peter Simon Pallas from Berlin and Anders Johan Lexell from Sweden to the Russian capital. Hulu's new series, The Great, follows Catherine the Great and her husband Peter III of Russia, who died under mysterious circumstances after his brief ascent to . 679 Words; 3 Pages; Open Document. Besides her native German, Sophie became fluent in French, the lingua franca of European elites in the 18th century. For all her show of sensuality, Catherine was actually rather prudish, says Jaques. Peter also still played with toy soldiers. [73] Catherine had at first attempted to hire a Chinese architect to build the Chinese Village, and on finding that was impossible, settled on Cameron, who likewise specialised in the chinoiserie style. 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. May 14, 2020. This second lost pregnancy was also attributed to Saltykov; Born at the Winter Palace, officially he was a son of Peter III but in her memoirs, Catherine implies very strongly that Saltykov was the biological father of the child. Uniting Cossacks, peasants, escaped serfs and other discontented tribal groups and malcontents, Pugachev produced a storm of violence that swept across the steppes, writes Massie. The global trade of Russian natural resources and Russian grain provoked famines, starvation and fear of famines in Russia. The crown contains 75 pearls and 4,936 Indian diamonds forming laurel and oak leaves, the symbols of power and strength, and is surmounted by a 398.62-carat ruby spinel that previously belonged to the Empress Elizabeth, and a diamond cross. On the morning of 5 November 1796 . Paul I of Russia was the son and successor of Catherine the Great, who took the Romanov throne away from her feeble-minded husband, Tsar Peter III, and had him killed in 1762, an event which ever afterwards preyed on the mind of their son, then a boy of eight. [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. She once wrote to her correspondent Baron Grimm: "I see nothing of interest in it. 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. K. D. Bugrov, "Nikita Panin and Catherine II: Conceptual aspect of political relations". Empress Elizabeth knew the family well and had intended to marry Princess Joanna's brother Charles Augustus (Karl August von Holstein); however, he died of smallpox in 1727 before the wedding could take place. I think Catherine realized that her own position and her own life [were] probably under threat, and so she acted., These tensions culminated in a July 9, 1762, coup. Only in this way apart from conscription to the army could a serf leave the farm for which he was responsible but this was used for selling serfs to people who could not own them legally because of absence of nobility abroad. By 1759, he and Catherine had become lovers; no one told Catherine's husband, the Grand Duke Peter. This rumor was widely circulated by satirical British and French publications at the time of her death. Paper notes were issued upon payment of similar sums in copper money, which were also refunded upon the presentation of those notes. The empress was a great lover of art and books, and ordered the construction of the Hermitage in 1770 to house her expanding collection of paintings, sculpture, and books. Ruth P. Dawson, "Perilous News and Hasty Biography: Representations of Catherine II Immediately after her Seizure of the Throne." [71] She ordered the planting of the first "English garden" at Tsarskoye Selo in May 1770. In the second partition, in 1793, Russia received the most land, from west of Minsk almost to Kiev and down the river Dnieper, leaving some spaces of steppe down south in front of Ochakov, on the Black Sea. in, Inna Gorbatov, "Voltaire and Russia in the Age of Enlightenment.". 2, part 2, Chapter 3, V]. [47] Catherine failed to reach any of the initial goals she had put forward. Whilst this one is also just an absurd rumour, it lies ever so slightly nearer the truth. Her reign was called Russia . The period of Catherine the Great's rule is also known as the Catherinian Era. I have never been so happy. Such all-consuming passion proved unsustainablebut while the pairs romantic partnership faded after just two years, they remained on such good terms that Potemkin continued to wield enormous political influence, acting as tsar in all but name, one observer noted. The life of a serf belonged to the state. Perhaps the most readily recognizable anecdote related to Catherine centers on a horse. Sophie's childhood was very uneventful. [96] However, Catherine continued to investigate the pedagogical principles and practice of other countries and made many other educational reforms, including an overhaul of the Cadet Corps in 1766. By cleverly surrounding herself with those allied to her cause she strengthened her hold on the throne. [108] Jewish members of society were required to pay double the tax of their Orthodox neighbours. "[6] Although Sophie was born a princess, her family had very little money. While the measure appeared to be progressive on paper, the reality of the situation remained stark for most peasants, and in 1881, revolutionaries assassinated the increasingly reactionary czara clear example of what Hartley deems autocracy tempered by assassination, or the idea that a ruler had almost unlimited powers but was always vulnerable to being dethroned if he or she alienated the elites., After Pugachevs uprising, Catherine shifted focus to what Massie describes as more readily achievable aims: namely, the expansion of her empire and the enrichment of its culture.. Catherine supported Poniatowski as a candidate to become the next king. Yet by the end of Catherine's reign, an estimated 62,000 pupils were being educated in some 549 state institutions. [7] For the smaller German princely families, an advantageous marriage was one of the best means of advancing their interests, and the young Sophie was groomed throughout her childhood to be the wife of some powerful ruler in order to improve the position of the reigning house of Anhalt. She later wrote that she stayed at one end of the castle, and Peter at the other.[10]. In Dashkov's opinion, Dashkov introduced Catherine to several powerful political groups that opposed her husband; however, Catherine had been involved in military schemes against Elizabeth with the likely goal of subsequently getting rid of Peter III since at least 1749. Orlov died in 1783. This raised her in the empress's esteem. In their eyes, Catherine was the very definition of unnatural and so stories of outlandish sexual behaviour became a way of insinuating how her position in the world was not natural to her gender. The British ambassador James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury, reported back to London: Her Majesty has a masculine force of mind, obstinacy in adhering to a plan, and intrepidity in the execution of it; but she wants the more manly virtues of deliberation, forbearance in prosperity and accuracy of judgment, while she possesses in a high degree the weaknesses vulgarly attributed to her sexlove of flattery, and its inseparable companion, vanity; an inattention to unpleasant but salutary advice; and a propensity to voluptuousness which leads to excesses that would debase a female character in any sphere of life. The cause of death was confirmed by autopsy. Cookie Policy [115], Catherine, throughout her long reign, took many lovers, often elevating them to high positions for as long as they held her interest and then pensioning them off with gifts of serfs and large estates. Upon Potemkins death in 1791, Catherine reportedly spent days overwhelmed by tears and despair., In her later years, Catherine became involved with a number of significantly younger loversa fact her critics were quick to latch onto despite the countless male monarchs who did the same without attracting their subjects ire. The crown was produced in a record two months and weighed 2.3kg (5.1 lbs). Her rise to power was supported by her mother Joanna's wealthy relatives, who were both nobles and royal relations. A. Viazemski. The death of Catherine shocks him, and as the intentions of Heathcliff never mean to hurt that much her to cause her dead. To put it bluntly, Catherine was a usurper. Under her leadership, she completed what Peter III had started. News of Catherine's plan spread, and Frederick II (others say the Ottoman sultan) warned her that if she tried to conquer Poland by marrying Poniatowski, all of Europe would oppose her. [14][15] Catherine nonetheless left the final version of her memoirs to Paul I in which she explained why Paul had been Peter's son. [52], Catherine made public health a priority. [70] In a letter to Voltaire in 1772, she wrote: "Right now I adore English gardens, curves, gentle slopes, ponds in the form of lakes, archipelagos on dry land, and I have a profound scorn for straight lines, symmetric avenues. Sophie had turned 16. While the majority of serfs were farmers bound to the land, a noble could have his serfs sent away to learn a trade or be educated at a school as well as employ them at businesses that paid wages. Catherine, for her part, claimed in her memoirs that all his actions bordered on insanity. By claiming the throne, she wrote, she had saved Russia from the disaster that all this Princes moral and physical faculties promised.. [91] This work emphasised the fostering of the creation of a 'new kind of people' raised in isolation from the damaging influence of a backward Russian environment. Thirty-four years after assuming the throne, Catherine passed away on November 6, 1796. After the rebels, their French and European volunteers, and their allied Ottoman Empire had been defeated, she established in the Commonwealth a system of government fully controlled by the Russian Empire through a Permanent Council, under the supervision of her ambassadors and envoys. The objective was to strengthen the friendship between Prussia and Russia, to weaken the influence of Austria, and to overthrow the chancellor Alexey Bestuzhev-Ryumin, a known partisan of the Austrian alliance on whom Russian Empress Elizabeth relied. His period of rule proved disappointing after repeated effort to prop up his regime through military force and monetary aid. Only 400,000 roubles of church wealth were paid back. She died of natural causes, of a stroke, when she was 67 years old. Look at the mirror, however, and an entirely different ruler appears: Her reflection is this private, determined, ambitious Catherine, says Jaques. The most famous of these rumors is that she died after having sex with her horse. Catherine decided to have herself inoculated against smallpox by Thomas Dimsdale, a British doctor. Historians have argued that the horse myth represents how her enemies wished to paint her rule and her ascension to the throne as unnatural. Society stated that her role should just have been to provide Peter III with a male heir, instead she overthrew her clueless husband and claimed the throne for herself. Her face was left uncovered, and her fair hand rested on the bed. In reality, Catherine the Great died of a stroke and she was discovered collapsed on the floor in her washroom. Apply organic citrus and avocado . 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. [77] In the first category, she read romances and comedies that were popular at the time, many of which were regarded as "inconsequential" by the critics both then and since. The nobles were imposing a stricter rule than ever, reducing the land of each serf and restricting their freedoms further beginning around 1767. The newlyweds settled in the palace of Oranienbaum, which remained the residence of the "young court" for many years. [63] The diplomatic intrigue failed, largely due to the intervention of Sophie's mother, Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. [11] Despite Joanna's interference, Empress Elizabeth took a strong liking to Sophie, and Sophie and Peter eventually married in 1745. 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. Catherine completed the conquest of the south, making Russia the dominant power in the Balkans after the Russo-Turkish War of 17681774. Catherine's undated will, discovered in early 1792 among her papers by her secretary Alexander Vasilievich Khrapovitsky, gave specific instructions should she die: "Lay out my corpse dressed in white, with a golden crown on my head, and on it inscribe my Christian name. [4] The more than 300 sovereign entities of the Holy Roman Empire, many of them quite small and powerless, made for a highly competitive political system as the various princely families fought for advantage over each other, often via political marriages. Catherine II (born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 1729 - 17 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. Historian Franois Cruzet writes that Russia under Catherine: had neither a free peasantry, nor a significant middle class, nor legal norms hospitable to private enterprise. I am very fond of the arts, especially painting. Did you know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women, causing 1 in 3 deaths every year? Jaques cites a Vigilius Ericksen portrait of the empress as emblematic of Catherines many contradictions. [107] Judaism was a small, if not non-existent, religion in Russia until 1772. [103], Catherine took many different approaches to Islam during her reign. [114] Endowments from the government replaced income from privately held lands. 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. Whilst she used sex as a tool to broaden and cement her political power, she was far from the nymphomaniac that she was made out to be. Journal of Modern Russian History and Historiography, USA. Catherine promised more serfs of all religions, as well as amnesty for convicts, if Muslims chose to convert to Orthodoxy. Catherine was born in Stettin, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire, as Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg. Two wings were devoted to her collections of "curiosities". [73] Between 1762 and 1766, she had built the "Chinese Palace" at Oranienbaum which reflected the chinoiserie style of architecture and gardening. The leading economists of her day, such as Arthur Young and Jacques Necker, became foreign members of the Free Economic Society, established on her suggestion in Saint Petersburg in 1765. [79] For philosophy, she liked books promoting what has been called "enlightened despotism", which she embraced as her ideal of an autocratic but reformist government that operated according to the rule of law, not the whims of the ruler, hence her interest in Blackstone's legal commentaries. When Catherine agreed to the First Partition of Poland, the large new Jewish element was treated as a separate people, defined by their religion. After defeating Polish loyalist forces in the PolishRussian War of 1792 and in the Kociuszko Uprising (1794), Russia completed the partitioning of Poland, dividing all of the remaining Commonwealth territory with Prussia and Austria (1795). Grigory Orlov, the grandson of a rebel in the Streltsy Uprising (1698) against Peter the Great, distinguished himself in the Battle of Zorndorf (25 August 1758), receiving three wounds. 2. One urban legend even claimed that Catherine had an erotic cabinet created for one of her palaces. Under Catherine's rule, despite her enlightened ideals, the serfs were generally unhappy and discontented. As she learned Russian, she became increasingly interested in the literature of her adopted country.
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