Under Catherine's rule, despite her enlightened ideals, the serfs were generally unhappy and discontented. In 1772, Catherine wrote to Potemkin. [78] By 1790, the Hermitage was home to 38,000 books, 10,000 gems and 10,000 drawings. In addition, some governors listened to the complaints of serfs and punished nobles, but this was by no means universal. The tsar's eccentricities and policies, including a great admiration for the Prussian king, Frederick II, alienated the same groups that Catherine had cultivated. A description of the empress's funeral is written in Madame Vigée Le Brun's memoirs. By 1759, Catherine and he had become lovers; no one told Catherine's husband, the Grand Duke Peter. Far away from the capital, they were confused as to the circumstances of her accession to the throne.[74]. Converted Jews could gain permission to enter the merchant class and farm as free peasants under Russian rule. Catherine was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia (now Szczecin, Poland) as Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg. The Corps then began to take children from a very young age and educate them until the age of 21, with a broadened curriculum that included the sciences, philosophy, ethics, history, and international law. Russia invaded Poland on 26 August 1764, threatening to fight, and imposing Poniatowski as king. [109] Two years after the implementation of Catherine's program, a member of the National Commission inspected the institutions established. [90], During Catherine's reign, Russians imported and studied the classical and European influences that inspired the Russian Enlightenment. Taxes doubled again for those of Jewish descent in 1794, and Catherine officially declared that Jews bore no relation to Russians. In 1771, he was sent as first Russian plenipotentiary to the peace congress of Focşani, but he failed in his mission, owing partly to the obstinacy of the Ottomans, and partly (according to Panin) to his own outrageous insolence. [125], 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. In 1777, at the age of 43, he married his 18-year-old relative, Catherine Zinovyeva, variously described by sources as either a niece or a cousin, but left no children by that marriage. [78] 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. In the 1770s, a group of nobles connected with Paul, including her first wife, Nikita Panin, Denis Fonvizin and Countess Dashkova considered to introduce the Constitution in Russia, and the families of Michael Fonvizin and Ivan Puschin thought that this was the part of something like a new coup to depose Catherine and transfer the crown to Paul, whose power they envisaged restricting in a kind of constitutional monarchy. [123] This re-established the separate identity that Judaism maintained in Russia throughout the Jewish Haskalah. Alexander Radishchev published his Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 1790, shortly after the start of the French Revolution. All the ladies, some of whom took turn to watch by the body, would go and kiss this hand, or at least appear to." The wife of Paul died because of her health and had never been poisoned by Catherine for this coup and for the Constitution. It was charged with admitting destitute and extramarital children to educate them in any way the state deemed fit. [134], After her affair with her lover and adviser Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin ended in 1776, he allegedly selected a candidate-lover for her who had the physical beauty and mental faculties to hold her interest (such as Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov and Nicholas Alexander Suk[135]). Russia inflicted some of the heaviest defeats ever suffered by the Ottoman Empire, including the Battle of Chesma (5–7 July 1770) and the Battle of Kagul (21 July 1770). She made use of the social theory ideas of German cameralism and French physiocracy, as well as Russian precedents and experiments such as foundling homes. Orlov died in 1783. The crown was produced in a record two months and weighed 2.3 kg. She called together at Moscow a Grand Commission—almost a consultative parliament—composed of 652 members of all classes (officials, nobles, burghers, and peasants) and of various nationalities. After the event, Empress Catherine raised him to the rank of count and made him adjutant-general, director-general of engineers, and general-in-chief. [81] Between 1762 and 1766, she had built the "Chinese Palace" at Oranienbaum which reflected the chinoiserie style of architecture and gardening. She later wrote that she stayed at one end of the castle, and Peter at the other.[13]. [37][38], The Russian victories procured access to the Black Sea and allowed Catherine's government to incorporate present-day southern Ukraine, where the Russians founded the new cities of Odessa, Nikolayev, Yekaterinoslav (literally: "the Glory of Catherine"; the future Dnipro), and Kherson. This commission promised to protect their religious rights, but did not do so. Her Swedish cousin (once removed), King Gustav IV Adolph, visited her in September 1796, the empress's intention being that her granddaughter Alexandra should become queen of Sweden by marriage. On 25 November, the coffin, richly decorated in gold fabric, was placed atop an elevated platform at the Grand Gallery's chamber of mourning, designed and decorated by Antonio Rinaldi. The Panin family was led by Nikita Ivanovich Panin (1718-83), a dominant influence on Russian foreign policy. Catherine believed education could change the hearts and minds of the Russian people and turn them away from backwardness. However, military conscription and the economy continued to depend on serfdom, and the increasing demands of the state and of private landowners intensified the exploitation of serf labour. Peter III's temperament became quite unbearable for those who resided in the palace. Sophie came to be known by the nickname Fike. Russian: Екатерина Алексеевна Романова, romanized: Yekaterina Alekseyevna Romanova. 6, pp. [111], However, Catherine promoted Christianity in her anti-Ottoman policy, promoting the protection and fostering of Christians under Turkish rule. To become serfs, people conceded their freedoms to a landowner in exchange for their protection and support in times of hardship. After Catherine II was seated on the throne she rewarded the participants of the revolt, lavishing on them titles, money, estates and serfs. [12], Sophie first met her future husband, who would become Peter III of Russia, at the age of 10. [98] In 1764, she sent for Dumaresq to come to Russia and then appointed him to the educational commission. Because the Moscow Foundling Home was not established as a state-funded institution, it represented an opportunity to experiment with new educational theories. He led the coup which overthrew Catherine's husband Peter III of Russia, and installed Catherine as empress. Olga Constantinovna of Russia, great-great-granddaughter of Catherine, was the maternal great-great-grandmother of King Felipe VI. Catherine II Catherine II of Russia Empress Catherine II Count Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov (Алексей Григорьевич Орлов; 5 October 1737 – 5 January 1808) was a Russian soldier and statesman, who rose to prominence during the reign of Catherine the Great. [60] By 1800, approximately 2 million inoculations (almost 6% of the population) were administered in the Russian Empire. This reform never progressed beyond the planning stages. [136] The last of her lovers, Prince Zubov, was 40 years her junior. B. Catherine the Great's Foreign Policy Reconsidered. 31st December 1868). [102], Not long after the Moscow Foundling Home, at the instigation of her factotum, Ivan Betskoy, she wrote a manual for the education of young children, drawing from the ideas of John Locke, and founded the famous Smolny Institute in 1764, first of its kind in Russia. She called Potemkin for help—mostly military—and he became devoted to her. He discusses new biographies written about the successive rule of Catherine II, Peter III, and Paul I. Raeff blames Communism for the neglect of this period of Russian History. Empress Elizabeth knew the family well: She had intended to marry Princess Johanna's brother Charles Augustus (Karl August von Holstein), but he died of smallpox in 1727 before the wedding could take place. A key principle was responsibilities defined by function. 10–12. [81] In 1779, she hired the British architect Charles Cameron to build the Chinese Village at Tsarkoe Selo (modern Pushkin, Russia). Catherine perceived that the Qianlong emperor was an unpleasant and arrogant neighbor, once saying: "I shall not die until I have ejected the Turks from Europe, suppressed the pride of China and established trade with India". Count Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov (1737–1808), brother of the above, was by far the ablest member of the Orlov count family, and was also remarkable for his athletic strength and dexterity. [69] However, she also restricted the freedoms of many peasants. For example, she took action to limit the number of new serfs; she eliminated many ways for people to become serfs, culminating in the manifesto of 17 March 1775, which prohibited a serf who had once been freed from becoming a serf again. Grigory Orlov was educated in the corps of cadets at Saint Petersburg, began his military career in the Seven Years' War, and was wounded at Zorndorf. ", Brenda Meehan-Waters, "Catherine the Great and the problem of female rule. A letter from Alexey Orlov, Catherine’s favorite responsible for Peter’s imprisonment said that he was killed accidentally during a fight caused by his tantrum. [19] Days earlier, she had found out about an uprising in the Volga region. Catherine was a patron of the arts, literature, and education. Grigory Orlov and his other three brothers found themselves rewarded with titles, money, swords, and other gifts, but Catherine did not marry Grigory, who proved inept at politics and useless when asked for advice. Subsequently, in 1792, the Russian government dispatched a trade mission to Japan, led by Adam Laxman. The imperial couple moved into the new Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. 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. [76] Pugachev had made stories about himself acting as a real tsar 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. In July 1762, Catherine led a coup with the help of the Ismailovsky Regiment, her lover Grigory Orlov and Grigory’s brother Alexei. [146] Olearius's claims about a supposed Russian tendency towards bestiality with horses was often repeated in anti-Russian literature throughout the 17th and 18th centuries to illustrate the alleged barbarous "Asian" nature of Russia. Finally Catherine annexed the Crimea in 1783. [82][83], Catherine enlisted Voltaire to her cause, and corresponded with him for 15 years, from her accession to his death in 1778. 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). [131][132] The percentage of state money spent on the court increased from 10% in 1767 to 11% in 1781 to 14% in 1795. "Did Orlov buy the Orlov", Gems and Jewellery, July 2014, pp. ", Jerzy Lojek, "Catherine II's Armed Intervention in Poland: Origins of the Political Decisions at the Russian Court in 1791 and 1792. During this duel between noble girls, both exchanged sword-to-sword blows only, as they both had a fear of it leading to bloodletting. CATHERINE II (1729 – 1796; ruled 1762 – 1796). 6 November] 1796), also known as Catherine the Great (Екатери́на Вели́кая, Yekaterina Velikaya), born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, was Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796, the country's longest-ruling female leader. Reddaway, W.F. Kamenskii A. [87] 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. Peter also still played with toy soldiers. They indeed helped modernise the sector that totally dominated the Russian economy. [72] However, they were already suspicious of Catherine upon her accession because she had annulled an act by Peter III that essentially freed the serfs belonging to the Orthodox Church. [inconsistent] She credited her survival to frequent bloodletting; in a single day, she had four phlebotomies. [47], The Qianlong emperor of China was committed to an expansionist policy in Central Asia and saw the Russian empire as a potential rival, making for difficult and unfriendly relations between Beijing and Saint Petersburg. [85] She especially liked the work of German comic writers such as Moritz August von Thümmel and Christoph Friedrich Nicolai. 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. Children of serfs were born into serfdom and worked the same land their parents had. She once wrote to her correspondent Baron Grimm: "I see nothing of interest in it. This alliance provided Catherine II with the military support required to stage a coup against Emperor Peter III. Poniatowski, through his mother's side, came from the Czartoryski family, prominent members of the pro-Russian faction in Poland; Poniatowski and Catherine were eighth cousins, twice removed by their mutual ancestor King Christian I of Denmark, by virtue of Poniatowski's maternal descent from the Scottish House of Stuart. June Head, Catherine: The Portrait of An Empress, Viking Press, New York, 1935, pp.312-13. 5 November] 1796, Catherine rose early in the morning and had her usual morning coffee, soon settling down to work on papers; she told her lady's maid, Maria Perekusikhina, that she had slept better than she had in a long time. [113] Between 1762 and 1773, Muslims were prohibited from owning any Orthodox serfs. He would announce trying drills in the morning to male servants, who later joined Catherine in her room to sing and dance until late hours.[21]. "Documents of Catherine the Great. Some claimed Catherine failed to supply enough money to support her educational program. Cambridge University Press, (England), (1931), Reprint (1971). Catherine reformed the administration of Russian guberniyas (governorates), and many new cities and towns were founded on her orders. https://mihistoriauniversal.com/biografia/catalina-ii-rusia ", Romanovs. Catherine II[a] (born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 1729 in Szczecin – 17 November 1796[b]), most commonly known as Catherine the Great,[c] was Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796—the country's longest-ruling female leader. Catherine II (Екатери́на Алексе́евна; 2 May 1729 – 17 November 1796), also known as Catherine the Great, born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, was Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796, the country's longest-ruling female leader.wikipedia In her accession to power and her rule of the empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favourites, most notably count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. ", James W. Marcum, "Catherine II and the French Revolution: A Reappraisal. [125] She closed 569 of 954 monasteries, of which only 161 received government money. Under her leadership, she completed what Peter III had started: The church's lands were expropriated, and the budget of both monasteries and bishoprics were controlled by the College of Economy. Russian local authorities helped his party, and the Russian government decided to use him as a trade envoy. [68] Although she did not want to communicate directly with the serfs, she did create some measures to improve their conditions as a class and reduce the size of the institution of serfdom. Possibly the offspring of Catherine and Stanisław 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, Queen 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 subsequent reign are portrayed in the award-winning, Catherine (portrayed by Meghan Tonjes) is featured in the web series.