[36][37], It was widely expected that a 13,000-strong Russian corps would be led by the seasoned general, Ivan Gudovich, but the empress followed the advice of her lover, Prince Zubov, and entrusted the command to his youthful brother, Count Valerian Zubov. Catherine I of Russia - Wikipedia [18], In 1759, Catherine became pregnant with her second child, Anna, who only lived to 14 months. At the time, a source said: 'In theory, anyone can apply but all prospective tenants will be subject to security and background checks.' St James's Palace was built by Henry VIII in the 16th century. [134] An autopsy confirmed a stroke as the cause of death. In terms of making Russia a great power, says Hartley, these efforts proved successful. 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 empress played a direct role in many of these initiatives. [11] Despite Joanna's interference, Empress Elizabeth took a strong liking to Sophie, and Sophie and Peter eventually married in 1745. Jerzy Lojek, "Catherine II's Armed Intervention in Poland: Origins of the Political Decisions at the Russian Court in 1791 and 1792. A great dreamer, he was avid for territories to conquer and provinces to populate; an experienced diplomat with a knowledge of Russia that Catherine had not yet acquired and as audacious as Catherine was methodical, Potemkin was treated as an equal by the empress up to the time of his death in 1791. [88] Through him, she collected information from Russia and other countries about educational institutions. However, the Moscow Foundling Home was unsuccessful, mainly due to extremely high mortality rates, which prevented many of the children from living long enough to develop into the enlightened subjects the state desired. However, if the empress' policies were too extreme or too disliked, she was not considered the true empress. In 1780, she established a League of Armed Neutrality, designed to defend neutral shipping from being searched by the British Royal Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Gavrila Derzhavin, Denis Fonvizin and Ippolit Bogdanovich laid the groundwork for the great writers of the 19th century, especially for Alexander Pushkin. One evening, while attempting to have sexual intercourse with the stallion, the harness holding the horse broke, sending the beast crashing down on top of her. May 14, 2020. In 1769, a last major CrimeanNogai slave raid, which ravaged the Russian held territories in Ukraine, saw the capture of up to 20,000 slaves. Awaking from her delirium, however, Sophie said, "I don't want any Lutheran; I want my Orthodox father [clergyman]". The bridegroom, known as Peter von Holstein-Gottorp, had become Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (located in the north-west of present-day[update] Germany near the border with Denmark) in 1739. CATHERINE THE GREAT was Russia's longest ruling female leader after she succeeded her husband in the 18th century. [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. In 1787, Catherine conducted a triumphal procession in the Crimea, which helped provoke the next Russo-Turkish War.[35]. Catherine then sought to have inoculations throughout her empire and stated: "My objective was, through my example, to save from death the multitude of my subjects who, not knowing the value of this technique, and frightened of it, were left in danger". Catherine's death is well documented. Catherine then left with the Ismailovsky Regiment to go to the Semenovsky Barracks, where the clergy was waiting to ordain her as the sole occupant of the Russian throne. One claimed that she died on her toilet seat, which broke under her. Your Privacy Rights In the east Russians became the first Europeans to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America. B. Catherine the Great's Foreign Policy Reconsidered. Peter III was extremely capricious, adds Hartley. Catherine saw Orlov as very useful, and he became instrumental in the 28 June 1762 coup d'tat against her husband, but she preferred to remain the dowager empress of Russia rather than marrying anyone. The positions on the Assembly were appointed and paid for by Catherine and her government as a way of regulating religious affairs. She called Potemkin for help mostly military and he became devoted to her. [19] In the first version of her memoirs, edited and published by Alexander Hertzen, Catherine strongly implied that the real father of her son Paul was not Peter, but rather Saltykov.[20]. . She started out married to Emperor Peter III, as Time tells us, who was less than competent. With the support of Great Britain, Russia colonised the territories of New Russia along the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. 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. For example, serfs could apply to be freed if they were under illegal ownership, and non-nobles were not allowed to own serfs. Much like how his previous film, The Favourite, reimagined the life of Britains Queen Anne as a bawdy period comedy, The Great revels in the absurd, veering from the historical record to gleefully present a royal drama tailor-made for modern audiences. [82], During Catherine's reign, Russians imported and studied the classical and European influences that inspired the Russian Enlightenment. Born in 1729, and known as Catherine the Great because she served as Russia's longest-reigning female ruler, she was empress from 1762 until her death in 1796. [102], However, in accord with her anti-Ottoman policy, Catherine promoted the protection and fostering of Christians under Turkish rule. It also stipulated in detail the subjects to be taught at every age and the method of teaching. The horse myth also allowed her enemies to tarnish her legacy and claims to greatness. Always in search of romantic intimacy, she once admitted, The trouble is that my heart is loath to remain even one hour without love.. Catherine was worried that Potemkin's poor health would delay his important work in colonising and developing the south as he had planned. He died at the age of 52 in 1791. Because Russia under her rule grew strong enough to threaten the other great powers, and because she was in fact a harsh and unscrupulous ruler, she figured in the Western imagination as the incarnation of the immense . In one portrait, hes managed to just somehow portray both sides of this compelling leader., Meilan Solly Although she could see the benefits of Britain's friendship, she was wary of Britain's increased power following its complete victory in the Seven Years' War, which threatened the European balance of power. [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. [74][75], Catherine enlisted Voltaire to her cause, and corresponded with him for 15 years, from her accession to his death in 1778. document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) [87], Catherine appointed Ivan Betskoy as her advisor on educational matters. I have said that she was quite small, and yet on the days when she made her public appearances, with her head held high, her eagle-like stare and a countenance accustomed to command, all this gave her such an air of majesty that to me she might have been Queen of the World; she wore the sashes of three orders, and her costume was both simple and regal; it consisted of a muslin tunic embroidered with gold fastened by a diamond belt, and the full sleeves were folded back in the Asiatic style. [133] Sometime after 9:00 she was found on the floor with her face purplish, her pulse weak, her breathing shallow and laboured. 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. This raised her in the empress's esteem. Orlov died in 1783. Inspired by Byzantine design, the crown was constructed of two half spheres, one gold and one silver, representing the eastern and western Roman empires, divided by a foliate garland and fastened with a low hoop. The statute sought to efficiently govern Russia by increasing population and dividing the country into provinces and districts. Longest ruling Russian empress, 17621796, "Catherine II" redirects here. [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. [citation needed] She bore him a daughter named Anna Petrovna in December 1757 (not to be confused with Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, the daughter of Peter I's second marriage), although she was legally regarded as Grand Duke Peter's.[129]. Catherine the Great | Found a Grave Very few members of the nobility entered the church, which became even less important than it had been. They refused to comply, and in 1764, she deported over 20,000 Old Believers to Siberia on the grounds of their faith. Jaques says that Catherine initially started collecting art as a political calculation aimed at legitimizing her status as a Westernized monarch. In the south the Crimean Khanate was crushed following victories over the Bar Confederation and Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War. They often became trusted advisors who she then promoted into positions of authority. "[138] In the end, the empress was laid to rest with a gold crown on her head and clothed in a silver brocade dress. The cause of death was confirmed by autopsy. A portrait of Catherine the Great by Fedor Rokotov, 1763. The commission studied the reform projects previously installed by I.I. Russian local authorities helped his party, and the Russian government decided to use him as a trade envoy. Many cities and towns were founded on Catherine's orders in the newly conquered lands, most notably Odessa, Yekaterinoslav (to-day known as Dnipro), Kherson, Nikolayev, and Sevastopol. [117] While claiming religious tolerance, she intended to recall the Old Believers into the official church. 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. Catherine separated the Jews from Orthodox society, restricting them to the Pale of Settlement. [103] Nevertheless, Catherine's Russia provided an asylum and a base for regrouping to the Jesuits following the suppression of the Jesuits in most of Europe in 1773.