Catherine II is the great Russian empress, whose reign became the most significant period in Russian history. The era of Catherine the Great is marked by the “golden age” of the Russian Empire, whose cultural and political culture the queen raised to the European level. The biography of Catherine II is full of light and dark stripes, numerous plans and achievements, as well as a stormy personal life, about which films are made and books are written to this day.
Catherine II was born on May 2 (April 21, old style) 1729 in Prussia in the family of the governor of Stettin, Prince of Zerbst and the Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp. Despite the rich pedigree, the princess's family did not have a significant fortune, but this did not stop her parents from providing home schooling for his daughter, without much ceremony with her upbringing. At the same time, the future Russian empress high level I learned English, Italian and French, mastered dancing and singing, and also gained knowledge about the basics of history, geography and theology.
As a child, the young princess was a playful and curious child with a pronounced “boyish” character. She did not show any special mental abilities and did not demonstrate her talents, but she helped her mother a lot in raising her younger sister Augusta, which suited both parents. In her youth, her mother called Catherine II Fike, which means little Federica.
At the age of 15, it became known that the Zerbst princess had been chosen as a bride for her heir, Peter Fedorovich, who later became the Russian Emperor. In this regard, the princess and her mother were secretly invited to Russia, where they went under the name of the Countesses of Rhinebeck. The girl immediately began studying Russian history, language and Orthodoxy in order to learn more fully about her new homeland. Soon she converted to Orthodoxy and was named Ekaterina Alekseevna, and the next day she became engaged to Pyotr Fedorovich, who was her second cousin.
Palace coup and ascension to the throne
After the wedding with Peter III, practically nothing changed in the life of the future Russian empress - she continued to devote herself to self-education, studying philosophy, jurisprudence and the works of world-famous authors, since her husband showed absolutely no interest in her and openly had fun with other ladies in front of her eyes. After nine years of marriage, when the relationship between Peter and Catherine went completely wrong, the queen gave birth to an heir to the throne, who was immediately taken away from her and was practically not allowed to see him.
Then a plan to overthrow her husband from the throne matured in the head of Catherine the Great. She subtly, clearly and prudently organized a palace coup, in which she was helped by the English Ambassador Williams and the Chancellor of the Russian Empire, Count Alexei Bestuzhev.
It soon turned out that both confidants of the future Russian empress had betrayed her. But Catherine did not abandon her plan and found new allies in its implementation. They were the Orlov brothers, adjutant Khitrov and sergeant Potemkin. Foreigners also took part in organizing the palace coup, providing sponsorship to bribe the right people.
In 1762, the Empress was completely ready to take a decisive step - she went to St. Petersburg, where the guards units, who by that time were already dissatisfied with the military policy of Emperor Peter III, swore allegiance to her. After this, he abdicated the throne, was taken into custody and soon died under unknown circumstances. Two months later, on September 22, 1762, Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst was crowned in Moscow and became Empress Catherine II of Russia.
Reign and achievements of Catherine II
From the very first day of her ascension to the throne, the queen clearly formulated her royal tasks and began to actively implement them. She quickly formulated and carried out reforms in the Russian Empire, which affected all spheres of life of the population. Catherine the Great pursued a policy that took into account the interests of all classes, which won the enormous support of her subjects.
To pull the Russian Empire out of the financial quagmire, the tsarina carried out secularization and took away the lands of churches, turning them into secular property. This made it possible to pay off the army and replenish the treasury of the empire by 1 million peasant souls. At the same time, she managed to quickly establish trade in Russia, doubling the number of industrial enterprises in the country. Thanks to this, the amount of government revenue increased fourfold, the empire was able to maintain a large army and begin the development of the Urals.
As for Catherine’s domestic policy, today it is called “absolutism”, because the empress tried to achieve the “common good” for society and the state. The absolutism of Catherine II was marked by the adoption of new legislation, which was adopted on the basis of the “Order of Empress Catherine,” containing 526 articles. Due to the fact that the queen’s policy was still “pro-noble” in nature, from 1773 to 1775 she was faced with a peasant uprising led by. The peasant war engulfed almost the entire empire, but the state army was able to suppress the rebellion and arrest Pugachev, who was subsequently executed.
In 1775, Catherine the Great held territorial division empire and expanded Russia into 11 provinces. During her reign, Russia acquired Azov, Kiburn, Kerch, Crimea, Kuban, as well as part of Belarus, Poland, Lithuania and the western part of Volyn. At the same time, elected courts were introduced in the country, which dealt with criminal and civil cases of the population.
In 1785, the Empress organized local government in cities. At the same time, Catherine II established a clear set of noble privileges - she freed the nobles from paying taxes, compulsory military service, and gave them the right to own lands and peasants. Thanks to the empress, a secondary education system was introduced in Russia, for which special closed schools, institutes for girls, and educational homes were built. In addition, Catherine founded the Russian Academy, which became one of the leading European scientific bases.
During her reign, Catherine paid special attention to the development of agriculture. Under her, for the first time in Russia, bread began to be sold, which the population could buy with paper money, also introduced into use by the empress. Also among the valor of the monarch is the introduction of vaccination in Russia, which made it possible to prevent epidemics of fatal diseases in the country, thereby maintaining the population.
During her reign, Catherine the Second survived 6 wars, in which she received the desired trophies in the form of lands. Her foreign policy is considered by many to this day to be immoral and hypocritical. But the woman managed to go down in Russian history as a powerful monarch who became an example of patriotism for future generations of the country, despite the absence of even a drop of Russian blood in her.
Personal life
The personal life of Catherine II is legendary and arouses interest to this day. The Empress was committed to “free love,” which was a consequence of her unsuccessful marriage to Peter III.
The love stories of Catherine the Great are marked in history by a series of scandals, and the list of her favorites contains 23 names, as evidenced by data from authoritative Catherine scholars.
The most famous lovers of the monarch were Platon Zubov, who at the age of 20 became the favorite of 60-year-old Catherine the Great. Historians do not rule out that the empress’s love affairs were her kind of weapon, with the help of which she carried out her activities on the royal throne.
It is known that Catherine the Great had three children - a son from her legal marriage with Peter III, Pavel Petrovich, Alexey Bobrinsky, born from Orlov, and a daughter, Anna Petrovna, who died of illness at the age of one.
In the last years of her life, the Empress devoted herself to caring for her grandchildren and heirs, as she was on bad terms with her son Paul. She wanted to transfer power and the crown to her eldest grandson, whom she personally prepared for the royal throne. But her plans were not destined to happen, since her legal heir learned about his mother’s plan and carefully prepared for the fight for the throne.
The death of Catherine II occurred according to the new style on November 17, 1796. The Empress died from a severe stroke; she tossed about in agony for several hours and, without regaining consciousness, passed away in agony. She was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
Movies
The image of Catherine the Great is very often used in modern cinema. Her bright and rich biography is taken as a basis by screenwriters all over the world, since the great Russian Empress Catherine II had a turbulent life filled with intrigues, conspiracies, love affairs and the struggle for the throne, but at the same time she became one of the most worthy rulers of the Russian Empire.
In 2015, a fascinating historical show started in Russia, for the script of which facts were taken from the diaries of the queen herself, who turned out to be a “male ruler” by nature, and not a feminine mother and wife.
Years of reign: 1762-1796
1. For the first time since Peter I reformed the system government controlled. Culturally Russia finally became one of the great European powers. Catherine patronized various areas of art: under her, the Hermitage and the Public Library appeared in St. Petersburg.
2. Spent administrative reform , which determined the territorial structure of the country right up to before 1917. She formed 29 new provinces and built about 144 cities.
3. Increased the territory of the state by annexing the southern lands - Crimea, Black Sea region and eastern part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In terms of population, Russia became the largest European country: it accounted for 20% of the European population
4. Brought Russia to first place in the world in iron smelting. By the end of the 18th century, there were 1,200 large enterprises in the country (in 1767 there were only 663).
5. Strengthened Russia's role in the global economy: export volume increased from 13.9 million rubles in 1760 to 39.6 million rubles in 1790. IN large quantities sailing cloth, cast iron, iron, and also grain were exported. The volume of timber exports increased fivefold.
6. Under Catherine II of Russia The Academy of Sciences has become one of the leading scientific bases in Europe. The Empress paid special attention to the development of women's education: in 1764, the first educational institutions in Russia for girls were opened - the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens and the Educational Society for Noble Maidens.
7. Organized new credit institutions - a state bank and a loan office, and also expanded the range of banking operations (since 1770, banks began to accept deposits for storage) and for the first time established the issuance of paper money - banknotes.
8. Gave the fight against epidemics the character of state measures. Having introduced compulsory smallpox vaccination, I decided to give my subjects personal example: in 1768, the empress herself was vaccinated against smallpox.
9. She supported Buddhism by establishing the post of Hambo Lama in 1764 - the head of Buddhists in Eastern Siberia and Transbaikalia. The Buryat lamas recognized Catherine II as the incarnation of the main goddess White Tara and since then swore allegiance to all Russian rulers.
10 Belonged to those few monarchs who communicated intensively with their subjects by drawing up manifestos, instructions and laws. She had the talent of a writer, leaving behind a large collection of works: notes, translations, fables, fairy tales, comedies and essays.
Catherine the Great is one of the most extraordinary women in world history. Her life is a rare example of self-education through deep education and strict discipline.
The empress rightfully earned the epithet “Great”: the Russian people called her, a German and a foreigner, “her own mother.” And historians almost unanimously decided that if Peter I wanted to instill in Russia everything German, then the German Catherine dreamed of reviving Russian traditions. And in many ways she did this very successfully.
The long reign of Catherine is the only period of transformation in Russian history about which one cannot say “the forest is being cut down, the chips are flying.” The population of the country doubled, while there was practically no censorship, torture was prohibited, and elected bodies of class self-government were created... “ Steady hand", which the Russian people supposedly needed so much, was not at all useful this time.
Princess Sofia
The future Empress Catherine II Alekseevna, nee Sophia Frederica Augusta, Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, was born on April 21, 1729 in the unknown Stettin (Prussia). His father, the unremarkable Prince Christian August, made a good career thanks to his devotion to the Prussian king: regiment commander, commandant of Stettin, governor. Constantly busy in the service, he became for Sofia an example of conscientious service in the public sphere.
Sofia was educated at home: she studied German and French, dance, music, the basics of history, geography, and theology. Her independent character and perseverance were evident in early childhood. In 1744, together with her mother, she was summoned to Russia by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. Here she, previously a Lutheran, was accepted into Orthodoxy under the name Ekaterina (this name, like the patronymic Alekseevna, was given to her in honor of Elizabeth’s mother, Catherine I) and was named the bride of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich (the future Emperor Peter III), with whom the princess married in 1745.
Uma ward
Catherine set herself the goal of winning the favor of the empress, her husband and the Russian people. From the very beginning, her personal life was unsuccessful, but the Grand Duchess decided that she always liked the Russian crown more than her groom, and turned to reading works on history, law and economics. She was absorbed in studying the works of French encyclopedists and already at that time she was intellectually superior to everyone around her.
Catherine truly became a patriot of her new homeland: she scrupulously observed the rituals of the Orthodox Church, tried to return the Russian national costume to court use, and diligently studied the Russian language. She even studied at night and once became dangerously ill from overwork. The Grand Duchess wrote: “Those who succeeded in Russia could be confident of success throughout Europe. Nowhere, as in Russia, are there such masters at noticing the weaknesses or shortcomings of a foreigner; you can be sure that nothing will be missed for him.”
The communication between the Grand Duke and the princess demonstrated the radical difference in their characters: Peter’s infantility was opposed by Catherine’s active, purposeful and ambitious nature. She began to fear for her fate if her husband came to power and began to recruit supporters at court. Catherine's ostentatious piety, prudence and sincere love for Russia contrasted sharply with Peter's behavior, which allowed her to gain authority both among high society and among the ordinary population of St. Petersburg.
Double grip
Having ascended the throne after the death of his mother, Emperor Peter III, during his six-month reign, managed to turn the nobility against himself to such an extent that he himself opened the path to power for his wife. As soon as he ascended the throne, he concluded an unfavorable agreement with Prussia for Russia, announced the seizure of the property of the Russian Church and the abolition of monastic land ownership. Supporters of the coup accused Peter III of ignorance, dementia and complete inability to govern the state. A well-read, pious and benevolent wife looked favorably against his background.
When Catherine’s relationship with her husband became hostile, the twenty-year-old Grand Duchess decided to “perish or reign.” Having carefully prepared a conspiracy, she secretly arrived in St. Petersburg and was proclaimed an autocratic empress in the barracks of the Izmailovsky regiment. The rebels were joined by soldiers from other regiments, who unquestioningly swore allegiance to her. The news of Catherine's accession to the throne quickly spread throughout the city and was greeted with delight by St. Petersburg residents. Over 14,000 people surrounded the palace, welcoming the new ruler.
The foreigner Catherine had no rights to power, but the “revolution” she committed was presented as a national liberation one. She correctly grasped the critical moment in her husband’s behavior - his contempt for the country and Orthodoxy. As a result, the grandson of Peter the Great was considered more German than the purebred German Catherine. And this is the result of her own efforts: in the eyes of society, she managed to change her national identity and received the right to “liberate the fatherland” from foreign yoke.
M.V. Lomonosov about Catherine the Great: “On the throne is a woman - a chamber of wisdom.”
Having learned about what had happened, Peter began to send proposals for negotiations, but they were all rejected. Catherine herself, at the head of the guards regiments, came out to meet him and on the way received the emperor’s written abdication of the throne. The long 34-year reign of Catherine II began with a solemn coronation in Moscow on September 22, 1762. In essence, she committed a double takeover: she took power away from her husband and did not transfer it to the natural heir, her son.
The era of Catherine the Great
Catherine ascended the throne with a specific political program based on the ideas of the Enlightenment and at the same time taking into account the peculiarities historical development Russia. Already in the first years of her reign, the Empress carried out a reform of the Senate, which made the work of this institution more efficient, and carried out the secularization of church lands, which replenished the state treasury. At the same time, a number of new educational institutions were founded, including the first educational institutions for women in Russia.
Catherine II was an excellent judge of people; she skillfully selected assistants for herself, not being afraid of bright and talented personalities. That is why her time was marked by the appearance of a galaxy of outstanding statesmen, generals, writers, artists and musicians. During this period there were no noisy resignations, none of the nobles fell into disgrace - that is why Catherine’s reign is called the “golden age” of the Russian nobility. At the same time, the empress was very vain and valued her power more than anything else. For her sake, she was ready to make any compromises to the detriment of her beliefs.
Catherine was distinguished by ostentatious piety; she considered herself the head and defender of the Russian Orthodox Church and skillfully used religion for political interests.
After the end of the Russian-Turkish War of 1768–1774 and the suppression of the uprising led by Emelyan Pugachev, the empress independently developed key legislative acts. The most important of them were letters of grant to the nobility and cities. Their main significance is related to the implementation strategic goal Catherine's reforms - the creation in Russia of full-fledged estates of the Western European type.
Autocracy in the struggle for the future
Catherine was the first Russian monarch who saw in people individuals with their own opinions, character and emotions. She willingly acknowledged their right to make mistakes. From the distant skies of autocracy, Catherine saw the man below and turned him into the measure of her policy - an incredible somersault for Russian despotism. The philanthropy that she made fashionable would later become the main feature of the high culture of the 19th century.
Catherine demanded naturalness from her subjects, and therefore easily, with a smile and self-irony, she eliminated any hierarchy. It is known that she, being greedy for flattery, calmly accepted criticism. For example, her secretary of state and the first major Russian poet Derzhavin often argued with the empress on administrative issues. One day their discussion became so heated that the empress invited her other secretary: “Sit here, Vasily Stepanovich. This gentleman, it seems to me, wants to kill me.” His harshness had no consequences for Derzhavin.
One of his contemporaries figuratively described the essence of Catherine’s reign as follows: “Peter the Great created people in Russia, but Catherine II invested souls in them.”
I can’t even believe that behind this beauty were two Russian-Turkish wars, the annexation of Crimea and the creation of Novorossiya, the construction of the Black Sea Fleet, three partitions of Poland, which brought Russia Belarus, Western Ukraine, Lithuania and Courland, the war with Persia, the annexation of Georgia and the conquest of the future Azerbaijan , suppression Pugachev revolt, the war with Sweden, as well as numerous laws that Catherine personally worked on. In total, she issued 5,798 acts, that is, an average of 12 laws per month. Her pedantry and hard work were described in detail by her contemporaries.
Femininity revolution
In Russian history, only Ivan III (43 years) and Ivan IV the Terrible (37 years) ruled longer than Catherine II. More than three decades of her rule are almost equal to half of the Soviet period, and it is impossible to ignore this circumstance. Therefore, Catherine has always occupied a special place in the mass historical consciousness. However, the attitude towards her was ambiguous: German blood, the murder of her husband, numerous novels, Voltairianism - all this prevented selfless admiration of the empress.
Catherine was the first Russian monarch who saw in people individuals with their own opinions, character and emotions. From the distant skies of autocracy, she saw the man below and turned him into the measure of her policy - an incredible somersault for Russian despotism
Soviet historiography added class cuffs to Catherine: she became a “cruel serfdom” and a despot. It got to the point that only Peter was allowed to stay among the “Great Ones,” and she was pointedly called “the Second.” The empress's undoubted victories, which brought Crimea, Novorossiya, Poland and part of Transcaucasia to Russia, were largely usurped by her military leaders, who, in the struggle for national interests, allegedly heroically overcame the machinations of the court.
However, the fact that in the public consciousness the personal life of the empress overshadowed her political activity, indicates the search for psychological compensation by descendants. After all, Catherine violated one of the oldest social hierarchies - the superiority of men over women. Its stunning successes, and especially military ones, caused bewilderment, bordering on irritation, and needed some kind of “but”. Catherine gave reason for anger by the fact that, contrary to the existing order, she chose men for herself. The Empress refused to take for granted not only her nationality: she also tried to overcome the boundaries of her own gender, seizing typically male territory.
Manage passions
All her life, Catherine learned to cope with her feelings and ardent temperament. A long life in a foreign land taught her not to give in to circumstances, to always remain calm and consistent in her actions. Later in her memoirs, the empress would write: “I came to Russia, a country completely unknown to me, not knowing what would happen ahead. Everyone looked at me with annoyance and even contempt: the daughter of a Prussian major general is going to be the Russian empress!” Nevertheless, Catherine’s main goal always remained the love of Russia, which, as she admitted, “is not a country, but the Universe.”
The ability to plan a day, not deviate from what is planned, not succumb to blues or laziness and at the same time treat your body rationally could be attributed to German upbringing. However, it seems that the reason for this behavior is deeper: Catherine subordinated her life to the ultimate task - to justify her own stay on the throne. Klyuchevsky noted that approval meant the same to Catherine as “applause for a debutant.” The desire for glory was for the empress a way to actually prove to the world the virtue of her intentions. Such life motivation certainly turned her into self-made.
The fact that in the public consciousness the personal life of the empress overshadowed her political activities indicates the search by her descendants for psychological compensation. After all, Catherine violated one of the oldest social hierarchies - the superiority of men over women
For the sake of the goal - to rule the country - Catherine without regrets overcame a lot of givens: her German origin, her religious affiliation, the notorious weakness of the female sex, and the monarchical principle of inheritance, which they dared to remind her almost to her face. In a word, Catherine decisively went beyond the limits of those constants that those around her tried to place her in, and with all her successes she proved that “happiness is not as blind as it is imagined.”
The thirst for knowledge and increasing experience did not kill the woman in her; in addition, until her last years, Catherine continued to behave actively and energetically. Even in her youth, the future empress wrote in her diary: “You need to create yourself, your own character.” She coped with this task brilliantly, basing her life trajectory on knowledge, determination and self-control. She was often compared and continues to be compared with Peter I, but if he, in order to “Europeanize” the country, made violent changes to the Russian way of life, then she meekly finished what she started with her idol. One of his contemporaries figuratively described the essence of Catherine’s reign as follows: “Peter the Great created people in Russia, but Catherine II put souls into them.”
text Marina Kvash
Source tmnWoman #2/4 | autumn | 2014
Catherine II Alekseevna the Great (nee Sophia Auguste Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst, German Sophie Auguste Friederike von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, in Orthodoxy Ekaterina Alekseevna; April 21 (May 2), 1729, Stettin, Prussia - November 6 (17), 1796, Winter Palace, St. Petersburg) - Empress of All Russia from 1762 to 1796.
The daughter of the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, Catherine came to power in a palace coup that overthrew her unpopular husband Peter III from the throne.
Catherine's era was marked by the maximum enslavement of the peasants and the comprehensive expansion of the privileges of the nobility.
Under Catherine the Great, the borders of the Russian Empire were significantly expanded to the west (partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) and to the south (annexation of Novorossiya).
The system of public administration under Catherine II was reformed for the first time since that time.
Culturally, Russia finally became one of the great European powers, which was greatly facilitated by the empress herself, who was keen on literary activity, who collected masterpieces of painting and corresponded with French educators.
In general, Catherine’s policy and her reforms fit into the mainstream of enlightened absolutism of the 18th century.
Catherine II the Great (documentary)
Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst was born on April 21 (May 2, new style) 1729 in the then German city of Stettin, the capital of Pomerania (Pomerania). Now the city is called Szczecin, among other territories it was voluntarily transferred by the Soviet Union, following the Second World War, to Poland and is the capital of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland.
Father, Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, came from the Zerbst-Dorneburg line of the House of Anhalt and was in the service of the Prussian king, was a regimental commander, commandant, then governor of the city of Stettin, where the future empress was born, ran for duke of Courland, but unsuccessfully , ended his service as a Prussian field marshal. Mother - Johanna Elisabeth, from the Gottorp estate, was a cousin of the future Peter III. Johanna Elisabeth's ancestry goes back to Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, first Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and founder of the Oldenburg dynasty.
His maternal uncle, Adolf Friedrich, was chosen as heir to the Swedish throne in 1743, which he assumed in 1751 under the name of Adolf Friedrich. Another uncle, Karl Eitinsky, according to Catherine I, was supposed to become the husband of her daughter Elizabeth, but died on the eve of the wedding celebrations.
In the family of the Duke of Zerbst, Catherine received a home education. Studied English, French and Italian, dance, music, basics of history, geography, theology. She grew up as a playful, inquisitive, playful girl and loved to show off her courage in front of the boys with whom she easily played on the streets of Stettin. The parents were dissatisfied with their daughter’s “boyish” behavior, but they were satisfied that Frederica took care of her younger sister Augusta. Her mother called her Fike or Ficken as a child (German Figchen - comes from the name Frederica, that is, “little Frederica”).
In 1743, the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, choosing a bride for her heir, Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the future Russian Emperor, remembered that on her deathbed her mother bequeathed to her to become the wife of a Holstein prince, sibling Johann Elisabeth. Perhaps it was this circumstance that tipped the scales in Frederica's favor; Elizabeth had previously vigorously supported the election of her uncle to the Swedish throne and exchanged portraits with her mother. In 1744, the Zerbst princess and her mother were invited to Russia to marry Pyotr Fedorovich, who was her second cousin. She first saw her future husband at Eitin Castle in 1739.
Immediately after arriving in Russia, she began to study the Russian language, history, Orthodoxy, and Russian traditions, as she sought to become more fully acquainted with Russia, which she perceived as a new homeland. Among her teachers are the famous preacher Simon Todorsky (teacher of Orthodoxy), the author of the first Russian grammar Vasily Adadurov (teacher of the Russian language) and choreographer Lange (dance teacher).
In an effort to learn Russian as quickly as possible, the future empress studied at night, sitting by an open window in the frosty air. Soon she fell ill with pneumonia, and her condition was so serious that her mother suggested bringing a Lutheran pastor. Sofia, however, refused and sent for Simon of Todor. This circumstance added to her popularity at the Russian court. On June 28 (July 9), 1744, Sofia Frederica Augusta converted from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy and received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna (the same name and patronymic as Elizabeth’s mother, Catherine I), and the next day she was engaged to the future emperor.
The appearance of Sophia and her mother in St. Petersburg was accompanied by political intrigue in which her mother, Princess Zerbst, was involved. She was a fan of the King of Prussia, Frederick II, and the latter decided to use her stay at the Russian imperial court to establish his influence on Russian foreign policy. For this purpose, it was planned, through intrigue and influence on Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, to remove Chancellor Bestuzhev, who pursued an anti-Prussian policy, from affairs and replace him with another nobleman who sympathized with Prussia. However, Bestuzhev managed to intercept letters from Princess Zerbst to Frederick II and present them to Elizaveta Petrovna. After the latter learned about the “ugly role of a Prussian spy” that Sophia’s mother played at her court, she immediately changed her attitude towards her and subjected her to disgrace. However, this did not affect the position of Sofia herself, who did not take part in this intrigue.
On August 21, 1745, at the age of sixteen, Catherine was married to Pyotr Fedorovich, who was 17 years old and who was her second cousin. Early years life together Peter was not at all interested in his wife, and there was no marital relationship between them.
Finally, after two unsuccessful pregnancies, On September 20, 1754, Catherine gave birth to a son, Pavel.. The birth was difficult, the baby was immediately taken away from the mother by the will of the reigning Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, and Catherine was deprived of the opportunity to raise her, allowing her to see Paul only occasionally. So the Grand Duchess first saw her son only 40 days after giving birth. A number of sources claim that Paul’s true father was Catherine’s lover S.V. Saltykov (there is no direct statement about this in the “Notes” of Catherine II, but they are often interpreted this way). Others say that such rumors are unfounded, and that Peter underwent an operation that eliminated a defect that made conception impossible. The question of paternity also aroused interest among society.
After the birth of Pavel, relations with Peter and Elizaveta Petrovna completely deteriorated. Peter called his wife “spare madam” and openly took mistresses, however, without preventing Catherine from doing the same, who during this period, thanks to the efforts of the English ambassador Sir Charles Henbury Williams, had a relationship with Stanislav Poniatowski, the future king of Poland. On December 9, 1757, Catherine gave birth to her daughter Anna, which caused strong dissatisfaction with Peter, who said at the news of a new pregnancy: “God knows why my wife became pregnant again! I’m not at all sure if this child is from me and whether I should take it personally.”
During this period, the English Ambassador Williams was a close friend and confidant of Catherine. He repeatedly provided her with significant sums in the form of loans or subsidies: only in 1750 she was given 50,000 rubles, for which there are two receipts from her; and in November 1756 she was given 44,000 rubles. In return, he received various confidential information from her - verbally and through letters, which she quite regularly wrote to him as if on behalf of a man (for purposes of secrecy). In particular, at the end of 1756, after the outbreak of the Seven Years' War with Prussia (of which England was an ally), Williams, as follows from his own dispatches, received from Catherine important information about the state of the warring Russian army and about the plan of the Russian offensive, which he transferred to London, as well as to Berlin to the Prussian king Frederick II. After Williams left, she also received money from his successor Keith. Historians explain Catherine’s frequent appeal to the British for money by her extravagance, due to which her expenses far exceeded the amounts that were allocated from the treasury for her maintenance. In one of her letters to Williams, she promised, as a sign of gratitude, “to lead Russia to a friendly alliance with England, to give her everywhere the assistance and preference necessary for the good of all Europe and especially Russia, before their common enemy, France, whose greatness is a shame for Russia. I will learn to practice these feelings, I will base my glory on them and I will prove to the king, your sovereign, the strength of these feelings of mine.”.
Already starting in 1756, and especially during the illness of Elizabeth Petrovna, Catherine hatched a plan to remove the future emperor (her husband) from the throne through a conspiracy, which she repeatedly wrote to Williams. For these purposes, Catherine, according to the historian V. O. Klyuchevsky, “begged a loan of 10 thousand pounds sterling from the English king for gifts and bribes, pledging on her word of honor to act in the common Anglo-Russian interests, and began to think about involving the guard in the case in the event of death Elizabeth, entered into a secret agreement on this with Hetman K. Razumovsky, commander of one of the guards regiments.” Chancellor Bestuzhev, who promised Catherine assistance, was also privy to this plan for a palace coup.
At the beginning of 1758, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna suspected the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Apraksin, with whom Catherine was on friendly terms, as well as Chancellor Bestuzhev himself, of treason. Both were arrested, interrogated and punished; however, Bestuzhev managed to destroy all his correspondence with Catherine before his arrest, which saved her from persecution and disgrace. At the same time, Williams was recalled to England. Thus, her former favorites were removed, but a circle of new ones began to form: Grigory Orlov and Dashkova.
The death of Elizaveta Petrovna (December 25, 1761) and the accession to the throne of Peter Fedorovich under the name of Peter III alienated the spouses even more. Peter III began to live openly with his mistress Elizaveta Vorontsova, settling his wife at the other end of the Winter Palace. When Catherine became pregnant from Orlov, this could no longer be explained by accidental conception from her husband, since communication between the spouses had stopped completely by that time. Catherine hid her pregnancy, and when the time came to give birth, her devoted valet Vasily Grigorievich Shkurin set fire to his house. A lover of such spectacles, Peter and his court left the palace to look at the fire; At this time, Catherine gave birth safely. This is how Alexey Bobrinsky was born, to whom his brother Pavel I subsequently awarded the title of count.
Having ascended the throne, Peter III carried out a number of actions that caused a negative attitude towards him from the officer corps. Thus, he concluded an unfavorable agreement for Russia with Prussia, while Russia won a number of victories over it during the Seven Years' War, and returned to it the lands captured by the Russians. At the same time, he intended, in alliance with Prussia, to oppose Denmark (Russia’s ally), in order to return Schleswig, which it had taken from Holstein, and he himself intended to go on a campaign at the head of the guard. Peter announced the sequestration of the property of the Russian Church, the abolition of monastic land ownership, and shared with those around him plans for the reform of church rituals. Supporters of the coup also accused Peter III of ignorance, dementia, dislike for Russia, and complete inability to rule. Against his background, Catherine looked favorably - an intelligent, well-read, pious and benevolent wife, subjected to persecution by her husband.
After the relationship with her husband completely deteriorated and dissatisfaction with the emperor on the part of the guard intensified, Catherine decided to participate in the coup. Her comrades-in-arms, the main of whom were the Orlov brothers, sergeant Potemkin and adjutant Fyodor Khitrovo, began campaigning in the guards units and won them over to their side. The immediate cause of the start of the coup was rumors about the arrest of Catherine and the discovery and arrest of one of the participants in the conspiracy, Lieutenant Passek.
Apparently, there was some foreign participation here too. As A. Troyat and K. Waliszewski write, planning the overthrow of Peter III, Catherine turned to the French and British for money, hinting to them what she was going to do. The French were distrustful of her request to borrow 60 thousand rubles, not believing in the seriousness of her plan, but she received 100 thousand rubles from the British, which subsequently may have influenced her attitude towards England and France.
Early in the morning of June 28 (July 9), 1762, while Peter III was in Oranienbaum, Catherine, accompanied by Alexei and Grigory Orlov, arrived from Peterhof to St. Petersburg, where the guards units swore allegiance to her. Peter III, seeing the hopelessness of resistance, abdicated the throne the next day, was taken into custody and died under unclear circumstances. In her letter, Catherine once indicated that before his death Peter suffered from hemorrhoidal colic. After death (although the facts indicate that even before death - see below), Catherine ordered an autopsy to dispel suspicions of poisoning. The autopsy showed (according to Catherine) that the stomach was absolutely clean, which ruled out the presence of poison.
At the same time, as historian N.I. Pavlenko writes, “The violent death of the emperor is irrefutably confirmed by absolutely reliable sources” - Orlov’s letters to Catherine and a number of other facts. There are also facts indicating that she knew about the impending murder of Peter III. So, already on July 4, 2 days before the death of the emperor in the palace in Ropsha, Catherine sent the doctor Paulsen to him, and as Pavlenko writes, “It is indicative that Paulsen was sent to Ropsha not with medicines, but with surgical instruments for opening the body”.
After her husband's abdication, Ekaterina Alekseevna ascended the throne as reigning empress with the name of Catherine II, publishing a manifesto in which the grounds for the removal of Peter were indicated as an attempt to change the state religion and peace with Prussia. To justify her own rights to the throne (and not the heir to Paul), Catherine referred to “the desire of all Our loyal subjects, obvious and unfeigned.” On September 22 (October 3), 1762, she was crowned in Moscow. As V. O. Klyuchevsky characterized her accession, “Catherine made a double takeover: she took power from her husband and did not transfer it to her son, the natural heir of his father.”.
The policy of Catherine II was characterized mainly by the preservation and development of trends laid down by her predecessors. In the middle of the reign, an administrative (provincial) reform was carried out, which determined the territorial structure of the country until 1917, as well as judicial reform. The territory of the Russian state increased significantly due to the annexation of fertile southern lands - Crimea, the Black Sea region, as well as the eastern part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, etc. The population increased from 23.2 million (in 1763) to 37.4 million (in 1796), In terms of population, Russia became the largest European country (it accounted for 20% of the European population). Catherine II formed 29 new provinces and built about 144 cities.
Klyuchevsky about the reign of Catherine the Great: “The army with 162 thousand people was strengthened to 312 thousand, the fleet, which in 1757 consisted of 21 battleships and 6 frigates, in 1790 included 67 battleships and 40 frigates and 300 rowing ships, the amount of state revenue from 16 million rubles rose to 69 million, that is, it more than quadrupled, successes foreign trade: Baltic - in increasing imports and exports, from 9 million to 44 million rubles, Black Sea, Catherine and created - from 390 thousand in 1776 to 1 million 900 thousand rubles. In 1796, the growth of internal circulation was indicated by the issue of coins worth 148 million rubles in the 34 years of his reign, while in the previous 62 years only 97 million were issued.”
Population growth was largely the result of the annexation of foreign states and territories (which were home to almost 7 million people) to Russia, often occurring against the wishes of the local population, which led to the emergence of “Polish”, “Ukrainian”, “Jewish” and other national issues , inherited by the Russian Empire from the era of Catherine II. Hundreds of villages under Catherine received city status, but in fact remained villages according to appearance and the occupation of the population, the same applies to a number of cities founded by her (some even existed only on paper, as evidenced by contemporaries). In addition to the issue of coins, 156 million rubles worth of paper notes were issued, which led to inflation and a significant depreciation of the ruble; therefore, the real growth of budget revenues and other economic indicators during her reign was significantly less than the nominal one.
The Russian economy continued to remain agricultural. The share of the urban population has practically not increased, amounting to about 4%. At the same time, a number of cities were founded (Tiraspol, Grigoriopol, etc.), iron smelting more than doubled (for which Russia took 1st place in the world), and the number of sailing and linen manufactories increased. In total, by the end of the 18th century. there were 1,200 large enterprises in the country (in 1767 there were 663). The export of Russian goods to other European countries has increased significantly, including through the established Black Sea ports. However, in the structure of this export there were no finished products at all, only raw materials and semi-finished products, and imports were dominated by foreign industrial products. While in the West in the second half of the 18th century. The Industrial Revolution was taking place, Russian industry remained “patriarchal” and serfdom, which caused it to lag behind the Western one. Finally, in the 1770-1780s. An acute social and economic crisis broke out, which resulted in a financial crisis.
Catherine’s commitment to the ideas of the Enlightenment largely predetermined the fact that the term “enlightened absolutism” is often used to characterize the domestic policy of Catherine’s time. She actually brought some of the ideas of the Enlightenment to life.
Thus, according to Catherine, based on the works of the French philosopher, the vast Russian spaces and the severity of the climate determine the pattern and necessity of autocracy in Russia. Based on this, under Catherine, the autocracy was strengthened, the bureaucratic apparatus was strengthened, the country was centralized and the management system was unified. However, the ideas expressed by Diderot and Voltaire, of which she was a vocal supporter, did not correspond to her domestic policy. They defended the idea that every person is born free, and advocated the equality of all people and the elimination of medieval forms of exploitation and oppressive forms of government. Contrary to these ideas, under Catherine there was a further deterioration in the position of the serfs, their exploitation intensified, and inequality grew due to the granting of even greater privileges to the nobility.
In general, historians characterize her policy as “pro-noble” and believe that, contrary to the empress’s frequent statements about her “vigilant concern for the welfare of all subjects,” the concept of the common good in the era of Catherine was the same fiction as in Russia as a whole in the 18th century.
Under Catherine, the territory of the empire was divided into provinces, many of which remained virtually unchanged until the October Revolution. The territory of Estonia and Livonia as a result of the regional reform in 1782-1783. was divided into two provinces - Riga and Revel - with institutions that already existed in other provinces of Russia. The special Baltic order, which provided for more extensive rights of local nobles to work and the personality of the peasant than those of Russian landowners, was also eliminated. Siberia was divided into three provinces: Tobolsk, Kolyvan and Irkutsk.
Speaking about the reasons for holding provincial reform under Catherine, N.I. Pavlenko writes that it was a response to the Peasant War of 1773-1775. led by Pugachev, which revealed the weakness of local authorities and their inability to cope with peasant revolts. The reform was preceded by a series of notes submitted to the government from the nobility, in which it was recommended to increase the network of institutions and “police supervisors” in the country.
Carrying out provincial reform in Left Bank Ukraine in 1783-1785. led to a change in the regimental structure (former regiments and hundreds) to the administrative division common to the Russian Empire into provinces and districts, the final establishment of serfdom and the equalization of the rights of the Cossack elders with the Russian nobility. With the conclusion of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Treaty (1774), Russia gained access to the Black Sea and Crimea.
Thus, there was no longer a need to maintain the special rights and management system of the Zaporozhye Cossacks. At the same time, their traditional way of life often led to conflicts with the authorities. After repeated pogroms of Serbian settlers, as well as in connection with the Cossacks’ support for the Pugachev uprising, Catherine II ordered the disbandment of the Zaporozhye Sich, which was carried out by order of Grigory Potemkin to pacify the Zaporozhye Cossacks by General Pyotr Tekeli in June 1775.
The Sich was disbanded, most of the Cossacks were disbanded, and the fortress itself was destroyed. In 1787, Catherine II, together with Potemkin, visited Crimea, where she was met by the Amazon company created for her arrival; in the same year, the Army of the Faithful Cossacks was created, which later became the Black Sea Cossack Army, and in 1792 they were granted Kuban for eternal use, where the Cossacks moved, founding the city of Ekaterinodar.
Reforms on the Don created a military civil government modeled on the provincial administrations of central Russia. In 1771, the Kalmyk Khanate was finally annexed to Russia.
The reign of Catherine II was characterized by extensive development of the economy and trade, while maintaining “patriarchal” industry and agriculture. By a decree of 1775, factories and industrial plants were recognized as property, the disposal of which does not require special permission from their superiors. In 1763, the free exchange of copper money for silver was prohibited, so as not to provoke the development of inflation. The development and revival of trade was facilitated by the emergence of new credit institutions (state bank and loan office) and the expansion of banking operations (acceptance of deposits for safekeeping was introduced in 1770). A state bank was established and the issue of paper money - banknotes - was established for the first time.
State regulation of salt prices has been introduced, which was one of the vital goods in the country. The Senate legislatively set the price of salt at 30 kopecks per pood (instead of 50 kopecks) and 10 kopecks per pood in regions where fish are mass-salted. Without introducing a state monopoly on the salt trade, Catherine hoped for increased competition and, ultimately, an improvement in the quality of the product. However, soon the price of salt was raised again. At the beginning of the reign, some monopolies were abolished: the state monopoly on trade with China, the private monopoly of the merchant Shemyakin on the import of silk, and others.
Russia's role in the global economy has increased- Russian sailing fabric began to be exported to England in large quantities, and the export of cast iron and iron to other European countries increased (consumption of cast iron on the domestic Russian market also increased significantly). But the export of raw materials increased especially strongly: timber (5 times), hemp, bristles, etc., as well as bread. The country's export volume increased from 13.9 million rubles. in 1760 to 39.6 million rubles. in 1790
Russian merchant ships began to sail in the Mediterranean Sea. However, their number was insignificant in comparison with foreign ones - only 7% of the total number of ships serving Russian foreign trade in the late 18th - early 19th centuries; the number of foreign merchant ships entering Russian ports annually during her reign increased from 1340 to 2430.
As the economic historian N.A. Rozhkov pointed out, in the structure of exports in the era of Catherine there were no finished products at all, only raw materials and semi-finished products, and 80-90% of imports were foreign industrial products, the volume of imports of which was several times higher than domestic production. Thus, the volume of domestic manufacturing production in 1773 was 2.9 million rubles, the same as in 1765, and the volume of imports in these years was about 10 million rubles.
Industry developed poorly, there were practically no technical improvements and serf labor dominated. Thus, from year to year, cloth factories could not even satisfy the needs of the army, despite the ban on selling cloth “outside”; in addition, the cloth was of poor quality, and it had to be purchased abroad. Catherine herself did not understand the significance of the Industrial Revolution taking place in the West and argued that machines (or, as she called them, “machines”) harm the state because they reduce the number of workers. Only two export industries developed rapidly - the production of cast iron and linen, but both were based on “patriarchal” methods, without the use of new technologies that were actively being introduced in the West at that time - which predetermined a severe crisis in both industries, which began shortly after the death of Catherine II .
In the field of foreign trade, Catherine’s policy consisted of a gradual transition from protectionism, characteristic of Elizabeth Petrovna, to complete liberalization of exports and imports, which, according to a number of economic historians, was a consequence of the influence of the ideas of the physiocrats. Already in the first years of the reign, a number of foreign trade monopolies and a ban on grain exports were abolished, which from that time began to grow rapidly. In 1765, the Free Economic Society was founded, which promoted the ideas of free trade and published its own magazine. In 1766, a new customs tariff was introduced, significantly reducing tariff barriers compared to the protectionist tariff of 1757 (which established protective duties of 60 to 100% or more); they were reduced even more in the customs tariff of 1782. Thus, in the “moderate protectionist” tariff of 1766, protective duties averaged 30%, and in the liberal tariff of 1782 - 10%, only for some goods rising to 20- thirty%.
Agriculture, like industry, developed mainly through extensive methods (increasing the amount of arable land); The promotion of intensive agricultural methods by the Free Economic Society created under Catherine did not have much result.
From the first years of Catherine's reign, famine began to occur periodically in the village, which some contemporaries explained by chronic crop failures, but the historian M.N. Pokrovsky associated with the beginning of mass grain exports, which had previously, under Elizaveta Petrovna, been prohibited, and by the end of Catherine’s reign amounted to 1.3 million rubles. in year. Cases of mass ruin of peasants have become more frequent. The famines became especially widespread in the 1780s, when they affected large regions of the country. Bread prices have increased significantly: for example, in the center of Russia (Moscow, Smolensk, Kaluga) they increased from 86 kopecks. in 1760 to 2.19 rubles. in 1773 and up to 7 rubles. in 1788, that is, more than 8 times.
Paper money introduced into circulation in 1769 - banknotes- in the first decade of its existence, they accounted for only a few percent of the metal (silver and copper) money supply, and played a positive role, allowing the state to reduce its costs of moving money within the empire. However, due to the lack of money in the treasury, which became a constant phenomenon, from the beginning of the 1780s, an increasing number of banknotes were issued, the volume of which reached 156 million rubles by 1796, and their value depreciated by 1.5 times. In addition, the state borrowed money abroad in the amount of 33 million rubles. and had various unpaid internal obligations (bills, salaries, etc.) in the amount of RUB 15.5 million. That. the total amount of government debts amounted to 205 million rubles, the treasury was empty, and budget expenses significantly exceeded income, which was stated by Paul I upon his accession to the throne. All this gave the historian N.D. Chechulin, in his economic research, the basis to conclude about a “severe economic crisis” in the country (in the second half of the reign of Catherine II) and about the “complete collapse of the financial system of Catherine’s reign.”
In 1768, a network of city schools was created, based on a class-lesson system. Schools began to open actively. Under Catherine, given Special attention development of women's education, in 1764 the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens and the Educational Society of Noble Maidens were opened. The Academy of Sciences has become one of the leading scientific bases in Europe. An observatory, a physics laboratory, an anatomical theater, a botanical garden, instrumental workshops, a printing house, a library, and an archive were founded. On October 11, 1783, the Russian Academy was founded.
Compulsory smallpox vaccination introduced, and Catherine decided to set a personal example for her subjects: on the night of October 12 (23), 1768, the empress herself was vaccinated against smallpox. Among the first vaccinated were also Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna. Under Catherine II, the fight against epidemics in Russia began to acquire the character of state measures that were directly included in the responsibilities of the Imperial Council and the Senate. By decree of Catherine, outposts were created, located not only on the borders, but also on the roads leading to the center of Russia. The “Border and Port Quarantine Charter” was created.
New areas of medicine for Russia developed: hospitals for the treatment of syphilis, psychiatric hospitals and shelters were opened. A number of fundamental works on medical issues have been published.
To prevent their relocation to the central regions of Russia and attachment to their communities for the convenience of collecting state taxes, Catherine II established the Pale of Settlement in 1791, outside of which Jews had no right to live. The Pale of Settlement was established in the same place where Jews had lived before - on the annexed the result of three divisions of Poland lands, as well as in the steppe regions near the Black Sea and sparsely populated areas east of the Dnieper. The conversion of Jews to Orthodoxy lifted all restrictions on residence. It is noted that the Pale of Settlement contributed to the preservation of Jewish national identity and the formation of a special Jewish identity within the Russian Empire.
In 1762-1764, Catherine published two manifestos. The first - “On the permission of all foreigners entering Russia to settle in whichever provinces they wish and the rights granted to them” - called on foreign citizens to move to Russia, the second defined a list of benefits and privileges for immigrants. Soon the first German settlements arose in the Volga region, reserved for settlers. The influx of German colonists was so great that already in 1766 it was necessary to temporarily suspend the reception of new settlers until those who had already arrived were settled. The creation of colonies on the Volga was increasing: in 1765 - 12 colonies, in 1766 - 21, in 1767 - 67. According to the census of colonists in 1769, 6.5 thousand families lived in 105 colonies on the Volga, which amounted to 23.2 thousand people. In the future, the German community will play a significant role in the life of Russia.
During the reign of Catherine, the country included the Northern Black Sea region, the Azov region, Crimea, Novorossia, the lands between the Dniester and the Bug, Belarus, Courland and Lithuania. The total number of new subjects acquired by Russia in this way reached 7 million. As a result, as V. O. Klyuchevsky wrote, in the Russian Empire “the discord of interests intensified” between different peoples. This was expressed, in particular, in the fact that for almost every nationality the government was forced to introduce a special economic, tax and administrative regime. Thus, the German colonists were completely exempt from paying taxes to the state and from other duties; the Pale of Settlement was introduced for Jews; From the Ukrainian and Belarusian population in the territory of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the poll tax was at first not levied at all, and then levied at half the amount. The indigenous population turned out to be the most discriminated against in these conditions, which led to the following incident: some Russian nobles at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. as a reward for their service, they were asked to “register as Germans” so that they could enjoy the corresponding privileges.
On April 21, 1785, two charters were issued: “Certificate on the rights, liberties and advantages of the noble nobility” And “Charter of Complaint to Cities”. The Empress called them the crown of her activity, and historians consider them the crown of the “pro-noble policy” of the kings of the 18th century. As N.I. Pavlenko writes, “In the history of Russia, the nobility has never been blessed with such diverse privileges as under Catherine II.”
Both charters finally assigned to the upper classes those rights, obligations and privileges that had already been granted by Catherine’s predecessors during the 18th century, and provided a number of new ones. Thus, the nobility as a class was formed by the decrees of Peter I and then received a number of privileges, including exemption from the poll tax and the right to unlimited disposal of estates; and by decree of Peter III it was finally released from compulsory service to the state.
The charter granted to the nobility contained the following guarantees:
Already existing rights were confirmed
- the nobility were exempted from the quartering of military units and commands, from corporal punishment
- the nobility received ownership of the subsoil of the earth
- the right to have their own estate institutions, the name of the 1st estate has changed: not “nobility”, but “noble nobility”
- it was forbidden to confiscate the estates of nobles for criminal offenses; estates were to be transferred to the legal heirs
- nobles have the exclusive right of ownership of land, but the “Charter” does not say a word about the monopoly right to have serfs
- Ukrainian elders were given equal rights with Russian nobles. a nobleman who did not have an officer rank was deprived of the right to vote
- only nobles whose income from estates exceeded 100 rubles could hold elected positions.
Despite the privileges, in the era of Catherine II, property inequality among the nobles increased greatly: against the backdrop of individual large fortunes, the economic situation of part of the nobility worsened. As the historian D. Blum points out, a number of large nobles owned tens and hundreds of thousands of serfs, which was not the case in previous reigns (when the owner of more than 500 souls was considered rich); at the same time, almost 2/3 of all landowners in 1777 had less than 30 male serfs, and 1/3 of landowners had less than 10 souls; many nobles who wanted to enter the public service did not have the funds to purchase appropriate clothing and shoes. V. O. Klyuchevsky writes that many noble children during her reign, even becoming students at the maritime academy and “receiving a small salary (scholarships), 1 rub. per month, “from barefoot” they could not even attend the academy and were forced, according to the report, not to think about the sciences, but about their own food, to acquire funds for their maintenance on the side.”
During the reign of Catherine II, a number of laws were adopted that worsened the situation of the peasants:
The decree of 1763 entrusted the maintenance of military commands sent to suppress peasant uprisings to the peasants themselves.
According to the decree of 1765, for open disobedience, the landowner could send the peasant not only to exile, but also to hard labor, and the period of hard labor was set by him; The landowners also had the right to return those exiled from hard labor at any time.
A decree of 1767 prohibited peasants from complaining about their master; those who disobeyed were threatened with exile to Nerchinsk (but they could go to court).
In 1783, serfdom was introduced in Little Russia (Left Bank Ukraine and the Russian Black Earth Region).
In 1796, serfdom was introduced in New Russia (Don, North Caucasus).
After the divisions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the serfdom regime was tightened in the territories that were transferred to the Russian Empire (Right Bank Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland).
As N.I. Pavlenko writes, under Catherine “serfdom developed in depth and breadth,” which was “an example of a blatant contradiction between the ideas of the Enlightenment and government measures to strengthen the serfdom regime.”
During her reign, Catherine donated more than 800 thousand peasants to landowners and nobles, thereby setting a kind of record. Most of them were not state peasants, but peasants from lands acquired during the partitions of Poland, as well as palace peasants. But, for example, the number of assigned (possession) peasants from 1762 to 1796. increased from 210 to 312 thousand people, and these were formally free (state) peasants, but converted to the status of serfs or slaves. Possession peasants of the Ural factories took an active part in Peasant War 1773-1775
At the same time, the situation of the monastic peasants was alleviated, who were transferred to the jurisdiction of the College of Economy along with the lands. All their duties were replaced by monetary rent, which gave the peasants more independence and developed their economic initiative. As a result, the unrest of the monastery peasants ceased.
The fact that a woman who did not have any formal rights to this was proclaimed empress gave rise to many pretenders to the throne, which overshadowed a significant part of the reign of Catherine II. Yes, just from 1764 to 1773 seven False Peters III appeared in the country(who claimed that they were nothing more than the “resurrected” Peter III) - A. Aslanbekov, I. Evdokimov, G. Kremnev, P. Chernyshov, G. Ryabov, F. Bogomolov, N. Krestov; Emelyan Pugachev became eighth. And in 1774-1775. To this list was added the “case of Princess Tarakanova,” who pretended to be the daughter of Elizaveta Petrovna.
During 1762-1764. 3 conspiracies were uncovered aimed at overthrowing Catherine, and two of them were associated with the name of Ivan Antonovich - the former Russian Emperor Ivan VI, who at the time of Catherine II’s accession to the throne continued to remain alive in prison in the Shlisselburg fortress. The first of them involved 70 officers. The second took place in 1764, when second lieutenant V. Ya. Mirovich, who was on guard duty in the Shlisselburg fortress, won over part of the garrison to his side in order to free Ivan. The guards, however, in accordance with the instructions given to them, stabbed the prisoner, and Mirovich himself was arrested and executed.
In 1771, a major plague epidemic occurred in Moscow, complicated by popular unrest in Moscow, called the Plague Riot. The rebels destroyed the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin. The next day, the crowd took the Donskoy Monastery by storm, killed Archbishop Ambrose, who was hiding there, and began to destroy quarantine outposts and houses of the nobility. Troops under the command of G. G. Orlov were sent to suppress the uprising. After three days of fighting, the riot was suppressed.
In 1773-1775 there was a peasant uprising led by Emelyan Pugachev. It covered the lands of the Yaitsky army, the Orenburg province, the Urals, the Kama region, Bashkiria, part Western Siberia, Middle and Lower Volga region. During the uprising, the Cossacks were joined by Bashkirs, Tatars, Kazakhs, Ural factory workers and numerous serfs from all the provinces where hostilities took place. After the suppression of the uprising, some liberal reforms were curtailed and conservatism intensified.
In 1772 took place First section of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Austria received all of Galicia with its districts, Prussia - West Prussia(Pomorie), Russia - eastern part Belarus to Minsk (Vitebsk and Mogilev provinces) and part of the Latvian lands that were previously part of Livonia. The Polish Sejm was forced to agree to the division and give up claims to the lost territories: Poland lost 380,000 km² with a population of 4 million people.
Polish nobles and industrialists contributed to the adoption of the Constitution of 1791; The conservative part of the population of the Targowica Confederation turned to Russia for help.
In 1793 there took place Second section of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, approved at the Grodno Seim. Prussia received Gdansk, Torun, Poznan (part of the lands along the Warta and Vistula rivers), Russia - Central Belarus with Minsk and Novorossiya (part of the territory of modern Ukraine).
In March 1794, an uprising began under the leadership of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the goals of which were to restore territorial integrity, sovereignty and the Constitution on May 3, but in the spring of that year it was suppressed by the Russian army under the command of A.V. Suvorov. During the Kościuszko uprising, the rebel Poles who seized the Russian embassy in Warsaw discovered documents that had a great public resonance, according to which King Stanisław Poniatowski and a number of members of the Grodno Sejm, at the time of the approval of the 2nd partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, received money from the Russian government - in in particular, Poniatowski received several thousand ducats.
In 1795 took place Third section of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Austria received Southern Poland with Luban and Krakow, Prussia - Central Poland with Warsaw, Russia - Lithuania, Courland, Volyn and Western Belarus.
October 13, 1795 - a conference of the three powers on the fall of the Polish state, it lost statehood and sovereignty.
An important direction of Catherine II’s foreign policy was also the territories of Crimea, the Black Sea region and North Caucasus who were under Turkish rule.
When the uprising of the Bar Confederation broke out, the Turkish Sultan declared war on Russia (Russian-Turkish War 1768-1774), using as a pretext the fact that one of the Russian troops, pursuing the Poles, entered the territory of the Ottoman Empire. Russian troops defeated the Confederates and began to win victories one after another in the south. Having achieved success in a number of land and sea battles (Battle of Kozludzhi, Battle of Ryabaya Mogila, Battle of Kagul, Battle of Larga, Battle of Chesme, etc.), Russia forced Turkey to sign the Kyuchuk-Kainardzhi Treaty, as a result of which Crimean Khanate formally gained independence, but de facto became dependent on Russia. Turkey paid Russia military indemnities in the order of 4.5 million rubles, and also ceded the northern coast of the Black Sea along with two important ports.
After the end of the Russian-Turkish War of 1768-1774, Russia's policy towards the Crimean Khanate was aimed at establishing a pro-Russian ruler in it and joining Russia. Under pressure from Russian diplomacy, Shahin Giray was elected khan. The previous khan, Turkey's protege Devlet IV Giray, tried to resist at the beginning of 1777, but it was suppressed by A.V. Suvorov, Devlet IV fled to Turkey. At the same time, the landing of Turkish troops in the Crimea was prevented and thus an attempt to start a new war was prevented, after which Turkey recognized Shahin Giray as khan. In 1782, an uprising broke out against him, which was suppressed by Russian troops introduced into the peninsula, and in 1783, with the manifesto of Catherine II, the Crimean Khanate was annexed to Russia.
After the victory, the Empress, together with the Austrian Emperor Joseph II, made a triumphal tour of the Crimea.
The next war with Turkey occurred in 1787-1792 and was an unsuccessful attempt by the Ottoman Empire to regain the lands that had gone to Russia during the Russian-Turkish War of 1768-1774, including Crimea. Here, too, the Russians won a number of important victories, both land - the Battle of Kinburn, the Battle of Rymnik, the capture of Ochakov, the capture of Izmail, the battle of Focsani, the Turkish campaigns against Bendery and Akkerman were repulsed, etc., and sea - the battle of Fidonisi (1788), The Battle of Kerch (1790), the Battle of Cape Tendra (1790) and the Battle of Kaliakria (1791). Eventually Ottoman Empire in 1791, she was forced to sign the Treaty of Yassy, which assigned Crimea and Ochakov to Russia, and also moved the border between the two empires to the Dniester.
The wars with Turkey were marked by major military victories of Rumyantsev, Orlov-Chesmensky, Suvorov, Potemkin, Ushakov, and the establishment of Russia in the Black Sea. As a result, the Northern Black Sea region, Crimea, and the Kuban region went to Russia, its political positions in the Caucasus and Balkans strengthened, and Russia’s authority on the world stage was strengthened.
According to many historians, these conquests are the main achievement of the reign of Catherine II. At the same time, a number of historians (K. Valishevsky, V. O. Klyuchevsky, etc.) and contemporaries (Frederick II, French ministers, etc.) explained the “amazing” victories of Russia over Turkey not so much by the strength of the Russian army and navy, which were still quite weak and poorly organized, largely a consequence of the extreme decomposition of the Turkish army and state during this period.
Catherine II's height: 157 centimeters.
Personal life of Catherine II:
Unlike her predecessor, Catherine did not carry out extensive palace construction for her own needs. To move around the country comfortably, she set up a network of small travel palaces along the road from St. Petersburg to Moscow (from Chesmensky to Petrovsky) and only at the end of her life began building a new country residence in Pella (not preserved). In addition, she was concerned about the lack of a spacious and modern residence in Moscow and its environs. Although she did not visit the old capital often, Catherine for a number of years cherished plans for the reconstruction of the Moscow Kremlin, as well as the construction of suburban palaces in Lefortovo, Kolomenskoye and Tsaritsyn. For various reasons, none of these projects were completed.
Ekaterina was a brunette of average height. She combined high intelligence, education, statesmanship and a commitment to “free love.” Catherine is known for her connections with numerous lovers, the number of which (according to the list of the authoritative Catherine scholar P.I. Bartenev) reaches 23. The most famous of them were Sergei Saltykov, G.G. Orlov, horse guard lieutenant Vasilchikov, hussar Zorich, Lanskoy, the last favorite there was cornet Platon Zubov, who became a general. According to some sources, Catherine was secretly married to Potemkin (1775, see Wedding of Catherine II and Potemkin). After 1762, she planned a marriage with Orlov, but on the advice of those close to her, she abandoned this idea.
Catherine's love affairs were marked by a series of scandals. So, Grigory Orlov, being her favorite, at the same time (according to M.M. Shcherbatov) cohabited with all her ladies-in-waiting and even with his 13-year-old cousin. The favorite of Empress Lanskaya used an aphrodisiac to increase “male strength” (contarid) in ever-increasing doses, which, apparently, according to the conclusion of the court physician Weikart, was the cause of his unexpected death at a young age. Her last favorite, Platon Zubov, was a little over 20 years old, while Catherine’s age at that time had already exceeded 60. Historians mention many other scandalous details (“a bribe” of 100 thousand rubles paid to Potemkin by the empress’s future favorites, many of who were previously his adjutants, testing their “male strength” by her ladies-in-waiting, etc.).
The bewilderment of contemporaries, including foreign diplomats, the Austrian Emperor Joseph II, etc., was caused by the enthusiastic reviews and characteristics that Catherine gave to her young favorites, most of whom were devoid of any outstanding talents. As N.I. Pavlenko writes, “neither before Catherine nor after her did debauchery reach such a wide scale and manifest itself in such an openly defiant form.”
It is worth noting that in Europe, Catherine’s “debauchery” was not such a rare occurrence against the backdrop of the general debauchery of morals in the 18th century. Most kings (with the possible exception of Frederick the Great, Louis XVI and Charles XII) had numerous mistresses. However, this does not apply to reigning queens and empresses. Thus, the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa wrote about the “disgust and horror” that such persons as Catherine II instill in her, and this attitude towards the latter was shared by her daughter Marie Antoinette. As K. Walishevsky wrote in this regard, comparing Catherine II with Louis XV, “the difference between the sexes until the end of time, we think, will give a deeply unequal character to the same actions, depending on whether they were committed by a man or a woman... besides, the mistresses of Louis XV never influenced the fate of France.”
There are numerous examples of the exceptional influence (both negative and positive) that Catherine’s favorites (Orlov, Potemkin, Platon Zubov, etc.) had on the fate of the country, starting from June 28, 1762 until the death of the Empress, as well as on its domestic and foreign policies and even military actions. As N.I. Pavlenko writes, to please the favorite Grigory Potemkin, who was jealous of the glory of Field Marshal Rumyantsev, this outstanding commander and hero of the Russian-Turkish wars was removed by Catherine from command of the army and was forced to retire to his estate. Another, very mediocre commander, Musin-Pushkin, on the contrary, continued to lead the army, despite his mistakes in military campaigns (for which the empress herself called him “a complete idiot”) - thanks to the fact that he was the “favorite of June 28”, one of those who helped Catherine seize the throne.
In addition, the institution of favoritism had a negative effect on the morals of the higher nobility, who sought benefits through flattery to the new favorite, tried to make “their own man” become lovers of the empress, etc. Contemporary M. M. Shcherbatov wrote that favoritism and debauchery of Catherine II contributed to the decline of the morals of the nobility of that era, and historians agree with this.
Catherine had two sons: Pavel Petrovich (1754) and Alexei Bobrinsky (1762 - son of Grigory Orlov), as well as a daughter, Anna Petrovna (1757-1759, possibly from the future king of Poland Stanislav Poniatovsky), who died in infancy. Less likely is Catherine's motherhood in relation to Potemkin's pupil named Elizaveta, who was born when the empress was over 45 years old.
The Russian Empress Catherine the Second, also known as the Great, reigned from 1762 to 1796. Through her own efforts, she significantly expanded the Russian Empire, significantly improved the administration system and energetically pursued a policy of Westernization, which implied the process of transition to Western ideas and traditions. During the time of Catherine the Great, Russia became quite large country. It could compete with the great powers of Europe and Asia.
The childhood of the future great empress
Catherine the Second, born Sophia Frederike Auguste, was born on April 21, 1729 in the small German principality of Stettin, Prussia (now Szczecin, Poland). Her father, Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, was the prince of this tiny domain. He made a military career under Frederick William the First.
Catherine's mother is Princess Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. The girl's parents really hoped for an heir, and therefore did not show much affection for their daughter. Instead, they devoted most of their time and energy to their son Wilhelm, who sadly later died at the age of twelve.
Receiving an education and intimacy with the governess
As a child, the future Catherine the Second was very close to her governess Babette. Subsequently, the empress always spoke warmly of her. The girl's education consisted of those subjects that were necessary for her status and origin. This is religion (Lutheranism), history, French, German and even Russian, which will be very useful later. And, of course, music.
This is how Catherine the Great spent her childhood. Briefly describing her years in her homeland, we can say that nothing unusual could happen to the girl. Life seemed very boring to the growing Catherine, and she did not know then that an exciting adventure awaited her - a journey to a distant, harsh land.
Arrival in Russia, or the beginning of family life
As soon as Catherine grew up, her mother saw in her daughter a means of moving up the social ladder and improving the situation in the family. She had many relatives, and this helped her to conduct a thorough search for a suitable groom. At the same time, Catherine the Great's life was so monotonous that she saw in this upcoming marriage an excellent means of getting away from her mother's control.
When Catherine turned fifteen, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna invited her to Russia so that she could become the wife of the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Peter the Third. He was an immature and unpleasant sixteen-year-old boy. As soon as the girl arrived in Russia, she immediately fell ill with pleurisy, which almost killed her.
Elizabeth survived thanks to frequent bloodletting, which she insisted on. But her mother was against this practice, and because of this she fell into disgrace with the empress. However, as soon as Catherine recovered and accepted Orthodox faith Despite the objections of her father, a devoted Lutheran, she and the young prince got married. And along with the new religion, the girl received another name - Katerina. All these events took place in 1745, and this is how the story of Catherine the Great began.
Years of family life, or How a spouse plays toy soldiers
Having become a member of the royal family on August 21, Catherine began to bear the title of princess. But her marriage turned out to be completely unhappy. Catherine the Great's husband was an immature youth who, instead of spending time with his own wife, preferred to play with soldiers. And the future empress spent her time entertaining herself with other pastimes and reading.
The Count, who was Catherine's chamberlain, knew the memoirist James Boswell well, and he informed the Count of the details of the monarch's intimate life. Some of these rumors contained information that shortly after his marriage, Peter took Elizaveta Vorontsova as his mistress. But after that I didn’t remain in debt. She was seen in relationships with Sergei Saltykov, Grigory Orlov, Stanislav Poniatovsky and others.
The appearance of the long-awaited heir
Several years passed before the future empress gave birth to an heir. Catherine the Great's son, Pavel, was born on September 20, 1754. The paternity of this child has been the subject of endless debate. There are many scientists who believe that in fact the boy's father is not the husband of Catherine the Great, but Sergei Saltykov, a Russian nobleman and member of the court. Others claimed that the baby looked like Peter, who was his father.
In any case, Catherine did not have time for her first-born, and soon Elizaveta Petrovna took him into her care. Despite the fact that the marriage was unsuccessful, this did not overshadow Catherine’s intellectual and political interests. The bright young woman continued to read a lot, especially in French. She loved novels, plays and poetry, but was most interested in the works of major figures French Enlightenment such as Diderot, Voltaire and Montesquieu.
Catherine soon became pregnant with her second child, Anna, who would live only four months. The children of Catherine the Great, due to various rumors about the debauchery of the future empress, did not call Peter the Third warm feelings. The man doubted that he was their biological father. Of course, Catherine rejected such accusations from her husband and preferred to spend most of her time in her boudoir to hide from his obnoxious character.
One step from the throne
After the death of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, who died on December 25, 1761, Catherine's husband ascended the throne, becoming Peter the Third, while Catherine herself received the title of Empress. But the couple still lived separately. The Empress had nothing to do with the reign. Peter was openly cruel to his wife. He ruled the state together with his mistresses.
But Catherine the Great was a very ambitious woman with enormous intellectual abilities. She hoped that over time she would eventually come to power and rule Russia. Unlike her husband, Catherine tried to demonstrate her devotion to the state and the Orthodox faith. As she correctly assumed, this helped her not only take a place on the throne, but also gain the necessary support of the Russian people.
Conspiracy against your own spouse
Within just a few months of his reign, Peter the Third managed to get a bunch of enemies in the government among the military and especially church ministers. On the night of June 28, 1762, Catherine the Great entered into an agreement with her lover Grigory Orlov, left the palace and went to the Izmailovsky regiment, where she gave a speech to the soldiers in which she asked to protect her from her own husband.
This is how a conspiracy was carried out against Peter the Third. The ruler was forced to sign a document of abdication, and Catherine the Great's son, Paul, ascended the throne. The empress was supposed to remain with him as a regent until he came of age. And Peter, soon after his arrest, was strangled by his own guards. Perhaps it was Catherine who ordered the murder, but there is no evidence of her guilt.
Dreams Come True
From this time on, the reign of Catherine the Great began. In the first years, she devotes maximum time to ensuring the firmness of her position on the throne. Catherine understood perfectly well that there were people who considered her a usurper who had seized someone else’s power. Therefore, she actively used the slightest opportunities to win the favor of the nobles and military.
In terms of foreign policy, Catherine the Great understood that Russia needed a long period of peace in order to concentrate on domestic problems. And this peace could only be achieved through a cautious foreign policy. And to conduct it, Catherine chose Count Nikita Panin, who was very knowledgeable in matters of foreign affairs.
The unsettled personal life of Empress Catherine
The portrait of Catherine the Great shows us her as a woman of rather pleasant appearance, and it is not at all surprising that the personal life of the empress was very varied.
Catherine could not remarry because it would have jeopardized her position.
According to most researchers, the history of Catherine the Great includes about twelve lovers, whom she often presented with various gifts, honors and titles in order to win their favor.
Favorites, or How to ensure your old age
After Catherine’s affair with adviser Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin ended, and this happened in 1776, the Empress chose a man who had not only physical beauty, but also excellent mental abilities. It was Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov. Many of the empress's lovers treated her very kindly, and Catherine the Great always demonstrated generosity towards them even after all relationships were completed.
So, for example, one of her lovers - Pyotr Zavadovsky - received fifty thousand rubles, a pension of five thousand and four thousand peasants after their relationship ended (this happened in 1777). The last of her many lovers was Prince Zubov, who was forty years younger than the Empress.
What about the children of Catherine the Great? Is it really possible that among so many favorites there was no one who gave her another son or daughter? Or did Paul remain her only descendant?
Children of Catherine the Great, born from favorites
When Empress Elizaveta Petrovna died, Catherine was six months pregnant with Grigory Orlov's child. The baby was born in secret on April 11, 1762 in a remote part of the palace. Her marriage to Peter the Third was completely destroyed at that time, and he often showed off at court with his mistress.
Catherine's chamberlain Vasily Shkurin and his wife took the child into their house. The reign of Catherine the Great began when the boy was only a few months old. He was returned to the palace. The baby began to enjoy a normal childhood under the control of his parents - Empress Catherine and Gregory. Orlov began to use the child in an attempt to push Catherine towards marriage.
She thought very long and hard, but still accepted the advice of Panin, who said that Mrs. Orlova would never be allowed to rule the Russian state. And Catherine did not dare to marry Grigory Orlov. When Alexey became a teenager, he went to travel abroad. The journey continued for ten years. After returning to Russia, the son received an estate as a gift from his mother and began studying in the Holy Cadet Corps.
The influence of favorites on state affairs
According to other historical data, the Empress gave birth to a boy and a girl from Poniatowski, but these children of Catherine the Great lived only about sixteen months. They were never publicly acknowledged. Most came from noble families and managed to build an outstanding political career. For example, Stanisław Poniatowski became King of Poland in 1764.
But none of Catherine’s lovers used their status enough to influence public policy. With the exception of Grigory Potemkin, with whom Catherine the Great had very deep feelings. Many experts even claim that a secret marriage took place between the Empress and Potemkin in 1774.
Catherine the Great, whose years of reign brought significant benefits to the Russian state, remained a loving and beloved woman throughout her life.
Main services to the Russian state
And although love was an important part of Catherine’s life, feelings never overshadowed political interests. The Empress always worked hard to master the Russian language to the point of completely eliminating her accent, absorbed Russian culture and customs, and meticulously studied the history of the empire. Catherine the Great indicates that she was a very competent ruler.
During her reign, Catherine expanded the borders of the Russian Empire to the south and west by almost 520,000 square kilometers. The state became the dominant force in southeastern Europe. Numerous victories on the military front allowed the empire to gain access to the Black Sea.
Moreover, in 1768, the Bank of Assignation was entrusted with the task of issuing the first government paper money. Similar institutions opened in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and then bank branches were created in other cities.
Catherine paid great attention to the education and upbringing of young people of both sexes. The Moscow Orphanage was opened, and soon the Empress established Smolny. She studied pedagogical theories in the practice of other countries and initiated many educational reforms. And it was Catherine who laid down the commitment to open schools in the provincial parts of the Russian Empire.
The Empress constantly patronized the cultural life of the country, and also demonstrated devotion to the Orthodox faith and the state. She paid maximum attention to expanding educational institutions and increasing the economic power of the country. But who ruled after Catherine the Great? Who continued her path in the development of the state?
The last days of the reign. Possible heirs to the throne
For several decades, Catherine II was the absolute ruler of the Russian state. But all this time she had a very strained relationship with her own son, the heir Pavel. The Empress understood perfectly well that it was impossible to transfer power into the hands of her son.
Catherine the Great, whose reign ended in mid-November 1796, decided to make her grandson Alexander her successor. It was in him that she saw the future ruler and treated him very warmly. The Empress prepared her grandson for the reign in advance, engaging in his education. Moreover, she even managed to marry Alexander, which meant reaching adulthood and the opportunity to take a place on the throne.
Despite this, after the death of Catherine the Second, with the help of the next son of the Empress, Paul the First, took the place of heir to the throne. Thus, he became the one who ruled after Catherine the Great for five years.
In the summer of 1742, Frederick 2 appointed him governor Stettin and granted the rank of lieutenant general. Somewhat later Christian became duke and co-ruler Zerbst. On January 1, 1744, Duchess Johanna Elisabeth Fante received a letter from St. Petersburg. It was addressed to im Krümmer on behalf of Empress Elizabeth I, contained her highest invitation to come to Russia. The matchmaking of the Russian court was important for Prussia legal importance, therefore her ambassador in St. Petersburg Lardefeld promptly informed his king of Elizabeth's intentions. Frederick 2 welcomed, of course, the upcoming marriage of Fix with the Russian heir throne, hoping in the future, in the person of the “young court”, to have its own agents in St. Petersburg. He wanted to personally talk with the bride, invited her and her mother to Berlin for a private dinner, during which he was convinced that the 15th summer fix noticeably smarter than his mother.
After a meeting with the king, the duchess and her daughter under the name of countess Rhinebeck went to distant, snow-covered Russia; On February 5 they reached Mitava (Jelgava), then Riga, St. Petersburg were on their way, and finally on the evening of February 9 they arrived in Moscow on Annenhofsky the palace in which in those days Elizabeth's court was temporarily located. From this evening a new page began in the life of this little-known girl Fix from a German city Stettin.
In contrast to her future husband, Fix, from the very first days of her stay in Russia, with enviable persistence and rare diligence, took up the study of the Russian language and Russian customs. With the help of adjunct and translator of the Academy of Sciences Vasily Adadurova She very quickly achieved noticeable success. Already at the end of June in church, during her conversion to the Orthodox faith, she clearly pronounced her confession in pure Russian. Which really surprised everyone present. The Empress even shed tears. Another task, which the young German woman quite consciously solved at that time, was to please both Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, and Empress Elizabeth, and all Russian people.
Catherine II later recalled: “... truly, I did not neglect anything in order to achieve this: obedience, obedience, respect, the desire to please, the desire to do what is right, sincere affection, everything on my part was constantly used for this GM4 to 1761 .”.
The relationship between the young spouses did not work out. Catherine finally realized that her husband would always be a stranger to her. And she thought about him differently now: “... I had a cruel thought for him in the very first days of my marriage. I told myself: if you fall in love with this man, you will be the most miserable creature on earth... this man hardly looks at you, he only talks about dolls and pays more attention to any other woman than to you; You're too proud to make a fuss about it, therefore... think about yourself, madam"
Not every woman in this musty atmosphere of court intrigue could rise above the environment around her, always behave outwardly with dignity and think only about herself, about the still completely unclear prospect that awaited her in the future. And only the combination of an extraordinary mind, a strong will beyond her years, considerable courage and, of course, cunning, hypocrisy, unlimited ambition and vanity helped Catherine for 18 years to wage a hidden struggle for her place at the Russian court and, in the end, achieve the coveted crown empress.
After the wedding, Ekaterina Alekseevna’s mother left Russia, and she remained completely alone among the Russians. But this did not upset her; she and her mother had never been spiritually close people. To top it off, the mother’s rash actions only prevented her daughter from maintaining an untainted good name at court. Most of all, Ekaterina Alekseevna sought the empress’s favor. Despite all the efforts of the Grand Duchess to always please her in everything, the relationship between them was uneven, far from friendly, and sometimes even tense. True, Elizabeth did not skimp on gifts. Before the engagement, Ekaterina Alekseevna received a necklace worth 150 thousand rubles. For small expenses she was assigned content at 30 thousand rubles.
The Empress very soon realized that she was too hasty in declaring Peter Fedorovich heir to the throne. The behavior of her mediocre nephew often irritated her. Not knowing how to get out of this awkward situation, she involuntarily transferred her dissatisfaction with the heir to the throne to his wife. She was accused of indifference to her husband, that she could not or did not want to influence him in a good way, to captivate him with her feminine charms. Finally, the empress demanded an heir from the young people. But it has not yet been foreseen.
We should not forget that the life of the “young court” took place before the eyes of the servants whom Elizabeth herself appointed. To the Grand Duchess, in particular, in 1746 as her guardian chamberlains State Lady Maria Semyonovna, who was especially devoted to the Empress, was assigned Choglokova. This evil and capricious woman, according to Catherine, spied on her and reported everything to Elizabeth. For Peter Fedorovich, the Empress also replaced Marshal Krümmer with Prince Vasily Anikitich Repnin, and then, in 1747, as chamberlain Nikolai Naumovich Choglokov, husband of Maria Semyonovna.
Due to its limitations Choglokovs could not contribute to the rapprochement between the Grand Duchess and the Empress; on the contrary, she introduced excessive wariness and mistrust into their relationship. And apparently, Ekaterina Alekseevna had reason to write: “... it seemed to me that she (Elizabeth .Money) she was always dissatisfied with me, since it happened very rarely that she did me the honor of entering into a conversation; however, even though we lived in the same house, and our chambers touched in both the Winter and Summer Palaces, we did not see her for entire months, and often more. We did not dare to appear in her chambers without being called, and we were almost never called. We were often scolded on behalf of Her Majesty for such trifles, about which one could not even suspect that they could anger the Empress.
She sent more than one to us for this purpose. Choglokovs, but it often happened that she sent a maid, a housekeeper, or someone of that kind to us to convey to us not only extremely unpleasant things, but even harsh words tantamount to the grossest insults. At the same time, it was impossible to be more careful than I was at heart, so as not to violate the due Her Respect and obedience to the Majesty"