FREE ESSAY ON CATHERIN THE GREAT

CATHERIN THE GREAT

Catherine the Great:
Empress of Russia,
(1762-1796)
History 120, Section 4 Russell Smith
Dr. Homer December 2, 1999
One of the most interesting, hard-working and powerful people to grace the pages of
history during the eighteenth century was Catherine II, Empress of Russia. Historians
have not always been so kind to her memory, and all too often one reads accounts of her
private life, ignoring her many achievements. The stories of her love affairs have been
overly misinterpreted and can be traced to a handful of French writers in the years
immediately after Catherine's death, when Republican France was fighting for its life
against a coalition that included Russia.
Catherine was born Sophia Augusta Frederika of Anhalt-Zerbst on April 
21, 1729 in Stettin, then Germany, now Poland. Her father, Prince Christian Augustus of
Anhalt-Zerbst, was a high-ranking officer in the Prussian Army and a minor prince among
the principalities in Germany. He married the much younger Princess Johanna of
Holstein-Gottorp. Years before, Johanna's brother Karl August of Holstein-Gottorp had
gone to Russia to marry the Princess Elizabeth Petrovna. However the Prince died of small
pox, leaving Elizabeth heart-broken. Elizabeth's sister, Anna gave birth to a son named
Peter Ulrich, however tragedy once again struck as Anna's died of tuberculosis three
months after giving birth to Peter. Peter, who eventually became Tsar Peter III, was the
only surviving male descendent and the potentially heir to the throne of Russia after his
father died. 
In November 1741, Elizabeth seized the throne with the help of the Imperial Guards, and
formally declared her nephew Peter heir to the throne. Peter was now 14 years old, and it
was time for him to find a bride. Elizabeth had always remembered the family of her dead
fiancee with fondness, and chose Sophie as the bride to be. The Empress Elizabeth seemed
to have taken an instant liking to Sophie at an early age. Sophie began to learn the
Russian language and studied the Orthodox religion, which of course pleased the Empress.
On June 28, Sophie was received into the Church in a great ceremony, and as a result
changed her name to Catherine. Catherine was now the second highest-ranking lady in the
country. Shortly after, Peter obtained measles, which started to show all the symptoms of
small pox. Catherine found him to be a most pitiful creature, and it was with dismay that
she looked towards her wedding day. The royal court was back in St. Petersburg, and after
several postponements, the wedding took place on August 21, 1745 in the Cathedral of
Kazan. It was at this time that Catherine, who had never felt more isolated, wrote: I
should have loved my new husband, if only he had been willing or able to be in the least
lovable. But in the first days of my marriage, I made some cruel reflections about him. I
said to myself: If you love this man, you will be the most wretched creature on Earth.
Watch your step, so far as affection for this gentleman is concerned, think of yourself,
Madame. 
The young couple settled down, but the marriage was a miserable failure. Catherine was
disappointed with her marriage, but decided to stick it out and concentrate on building
herself a powerful group of allies. Catherine occupied herself with reading everything
she could lay her hands on. She discovered satisfaction in the works of Plato and
Voltaire. Her interest in the intellect caused an even greater distance between Peter and
herself. The years passed and there was still no heir in sight. This of course irritated
the Empress who wanted to secure a powerful dynasty, and could not do so without the
presence of a male heir. She thought it must be Catherine's fault because she was not
attracted to her husband. However, it was Peter that was not able to produce a male son,
so Elizabeth permitted an affair between Catherine and a Russian military officer named
Serge Saltykov. 
Catherine finally gave birth to a son, whom the Empress named Paul, on September 20,
1754. Peter accepted it as his own. Elizabeth took the baby off to her apartments, where
he would remain, as long as the Empress lived. This helped to tear Peter and Catherine's
relationship even further apart. A change came over Catherine after confronting the
Empress about this, and she now trusted no one. She did help Peter with his Holstein
Affairs and, at the same time, befriended the British Ambassador, Sir Charles
Hanbury-Williams. Sir Charles arranged secret loans for her from England, as she was
always short of funds. The Seven Years War began in 1756, and Russia and Prussia were on
opposing sides. The Seven Years War put an end to the friendship with the English
Ambassador. England was on Prussia's side against Russia, and the English Ambassador was
called home to London. 
Catherine fell in love with an officer in the Imperial Guard, named Gregory Orlov, whose
four other brothers were also guards. They were not of high birth, but to Catherine they
were the embodiment of the Russian Army. Peter had formed a close relationship with
Elizabeth Vorontsova, the niece of the vice-chancellor. On Christmas day 1761, the
Empress Elizabeth Petrovna died and the reign of Peter III had begun. Catherine mourned
the Empress sincerely. Peter's first official action was to end any hostile relations
between Prussia and his Russia. On April 24, 1762 the new Tsar signed a treaty with the
King of Prussia which restored all occupied territories to Prussia. Peter began to adopt
many aspects of the Prussian military, such as changing imposing new brutal rules. The
Russian Army started to suffer great losses during the Seven Years' War, thanks in part
to Peter. The army started to turn against Peter, and all classes in Russia began to grow
hatred to Peter. 
Catherine heard rumors that Peter intended to dispose of her and make Elizabeth
Vorontsova his wife. With all that Peter had done to alienate the Army, Catherine felt
herself in great danger. So some of Catherine's friends plotted to overthrow the new
Tsar. The main influences behind this plan were Princess Dashkova, the sister of Peter's
mistress, and all five Orlov brothers. Catherine was waiting to be summoned by Peter to
attend the feast he had planned for his name day, when Alexis Orlov slipped past the
Holstein Guards and told Catherine of their plan for a coup d'etat. Catherine went to the
Ismailovsky regiment looking for their support saying I have come to you for protection.
The Emperor has given orders to arrest me. I fear he intends to kill me. The soldiers
believed her and had her support. The procession of carriages reached the Cathedral of
Kazan, where they found the church filled with clergy, awaiting Catherine's inauguration.
Catherine took the oath as Empress and Sole Autocrat.
Peter was with his mistress Elizabeth Vorontsova, the Prussian Ambassador Baron von
Goltz, and the Chancellor when a secret messenger had arrived from St. Petersburg with
the news that Catherine had been proclaimed Empress. Peter was urged to confront
Catherine, however he refused such confrontation. Peter signed an act of abdication and
left the thrown without a drop of blood even shed. By order of the Empress, Peter was
taken to a nearby estate in the village of Ropsha and was to be under surveillance. Six
days later she received the news that Peter had died after an apparent argument with his
guards. However, Peter was murdered by Catherine's lover, Gregory Orlov. Catherine did
not attend the funeral. 
Not many people at European courts believed that Catherine would last long. Another
German without a drop of Russian blood in her veins, and the true heir, Peter the Great's
grandson murdered. Catherine herself knew how fragile her position really was. She kept
the statesmen who had been active under Elizabeth and under Peter. She even kept
Chancellor Vorontzov. Nikita Panin was put in charge of foreign affairs. With his help
she formed a greater alliance with Prussia. This alliance was established to stop
Austrian and French influence on Russia's borders and to keep Poland and Sweden as weak
countries. Catherine conducted much of her Foreign Policy by letter, writing to her
fellow Sovereigns, most notably Frederick of Prussia. When Catherine met the Senate for
the first time at the Summer Palace, she was stunned by the realities of the country's
financial and social situation. The budget showed a deficit of 17 million rubles, in a
country of only 100 million people. Everywhere people complained about corruption,
extortion and injustice. Catherine left the sheltered world of a civilized court and
stepped into an ignorant, disorganized, unruly, and often diseased Russia. She decided to
concentrate on increasing Russia's wealth, and since Russia was primarily agricultural,
she began with the land. 
On September 22, 1762 in the old Assumption Cathedral in the heart of Moscow's Kremlin,
Catherine received her crown. After her return to St. Petersburg, she turned to the
affairs of state, often working relentlessly from early morning to late at night. She
decided that the prevailing task would be to improve techniques in the agricultural
regions, and this was accomplished as the Free Economic Society was established. She sent
experts to study the soil and propose suitable crops. She made grants to landowners to
learn the techniques that were being used in England, and to buy machines that were being
invented there. She encouraged introduction of modern methods to breed sheep and cattle,
and she promoted horse breeding. She saw that more workers were needed to work the under
populated areas. Catherine turned to advertisements in foreign newspapers, mostly German,
inviting settlers and offering attractive terms. The response was excellent. 
Next she turned to mining and sent geologists to access the ores from Russia's seemingly
barren lands. She founded the first School of Mines in St. Petersburg, complete with an
underground mine where trainees could learn the trade under realistic conditions. She
also paid special attention to the mining of silver. Furs had long been a resource of
Russian wealth and she encouraged the existing trade in Siberia. She decreed that anyone
could start a new factory, except in the two capitals, which were overcrowded. A whole
range of industries began to emerge: linen, pottery, leather goods and furniture.
Catherine also founded factories for textiles outside the Moscow region, including linen
in the area of Yaroslov and leather and candles in the central Volga region. The total
number of factories during her reign was increased from 984 to 3161. She turned to
England and brought over Admiral Knowles to build warships and dockyards.
By the simple act of abolishing export duties, she achieved remarkable results. Russia's
primary exports were timber, hemp, flax, raw leather, furs, linen, cloth and iron. After
the Treaty of Kyakhta was signed in 1768, camel caravans were soon passing to and from
Manchuria. Russia exported furs, leather and linens to China, and imported cottons,
silks, tobacco, silver and tea, among other commodities from China. As early as 1765
three quarters of the Empress Elizabeth's debt was repaid, and a budget deficit had been
turned into a surplus. A decree issued by Catherine in 1764 to all governor-generals
instructed them to take accurate census, map their provinces and report on agriculture
and trade. They were to build and repair roads and bridges, oversee the fighting of
fires, and ensure that orphanages and prisons were properly administrated. 
Catherine now turned to education. There were few schools in Russia. She started to
convert a convent in St. Petersburg into a boarding school for girls, the Smolny
Institute. She sent for Daniel Dumaresq, who had been a colleague of hers at Oxford and
installed him as a member of the Educational Committee. In 1786, Catherine issued the
Statue for Schools for all of Russia. It said that every district town was to establish a
minor school with two teachers and every provincial town a major school with six
teachers. She did not deal with the founding of Universities, as she knew that Russia
lacked qualified teachers for such institutions. However, she did increase the number of
grants to study abroad.
When she looked at public health at the beginning of her reign, she found that its need
was just as great as it was for education. She knew that children were plagued most by
smallpox. So she brought Dr. Thomas Dimsdale, who had published a paper on how to treat
smallpox, to St. Petersburg. Catherine volunteered to set an example by being the first
person to be administered this vaccine. Dimsdale declared the vaccination a success and
many followed her example. Catherine bought houses in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where
Dr. Dimsdale could operate vaccination hospitals. In 1763, Catherine founded Russia's
first College of Medicine, which consisted of a director, a president and eight members.
The College was instructed to train Russian doctors, surgeons and apothecaries to serve
in the provinces. Peter the Great had built military hospitals, while Catherine founded
hospitals for civilians. 
When she reorganized the provinces in 1775, she decreed that each provincial capital must
have a hospital. Each county with a population between 20,000 and 30,000 should have a
doctor, a surgeon, an assistant surgeon, and a student doctor. Catherine's efforts
prompted her gentry to follow her example. Baron von Kleichen founded a 300 bed hospital
in St. Petersburg, which in the 1790's the College added 250 more beds. These are some of
the visible results of Catherine's domestic reforms. There would be many more during her
long reign, but one can get an idea of her tireless striving for improvements.
Catherine was also an enthusiastic collector of the arts. She built up the Imperial art
collection from a dozen works to an incredible 3926. She commissioned the building of
Palaces and pumped millions of rubbles into the creation of the Hermitage, which can
still be seen today. She built a theater where artists that were invited to Russia could
perform operas and plays. Catherine, herself tried her hand at writing several operas,
and some were performed there. Later in life she wrote stories for her grandchildren. She
had new monuments erected throughout Russia and transformed St. Petersburg into a truly
European city of Imperial pretensions. Her great love for Russia and pride in her country
comes through to us when we look at this beautiful collection of paintings done by the
world's greatest masters, acquired not for personal indulgence, but as an effort to make
Russia respected.
Throughout all of this domestic reform, there were problems that took place outside of
her empire. In 1768, Turkey and Russia had gone to war; the Turks were suffering great
losses. In 1772, Frederick of Prussia convinced Catherine that a partition of Poland was
necessary and she complied. After many decisions, it was agreed that Poland would be
separated into three regions. Russia, Prussia and Austria would each take one of these
regions. In 1773, Yemelian Pugachev led the Cossacks, which were independent tribes of
fierce warriors, and others in revolts that encompassed large parts of eastern Russia.
The Cossacks fought with the Russians against the Turks to resist the government's
attempt to absorb them into the government. These Cossack revolts showed Catherine how
important these people were. In 1775, Catherine granted special privileges to the
Cossacks, gaining in return their loyal support. The Russians had been at war once again
with the Turks and were gaining land at a fast pace. These confrontations caused
Catherine to realize that reforms were necessary for her survival. She began to abandon
some of her principles and slipped deeper into the role of an autocrat, at the same time
maintaining the look of an enlightened ruler. By 1774, the Russian army had gained great
advances on the Turks and reached the Black Sea. At the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji, the
Turks handed over access to the Black Sea, Crimean peninsula and other Turkish waters to
the Russians.
In 1775, Catherine reorganized the local administration and integrated the Cossa troops
into the Russian army. She drafted the Fundamental Law of 1775, which was the basis of
her domestic policy, which lasted until 1861. By now she was a complete autocrat with
viceroys and governors helping her rule the land. In 1787, another Russo-Turkish war
broke out. Once again, the Russians responded with great strength, making great advances
southward. By the end of this conflict, Russia had gained the areas of Georgia and
Crimea. By the time 1793 came, uprisings were occurring in Poland and the government in
Poland was trying to establish a constitutional monarchy. Once word of this broke out,
Catherine sent in her Russian forces and the second partition of Poland occurred. Two
years later, in 1795, the third partition of Poland occurred due to the uprisings of
peasants and serfs. Catherine would no longer tolerate Poland; she dissolved Poland into
Russia, gaining many of the Kievan lands, something many Russians value. In 1796 the
peasantry - private serfs and state peasants - compromised one million privately owned
serfs under the control of the state. Catherine began to attack the Orthodox Church, just
as Peter the Great had done. Catherine seized its wealth and turned its prelates and
priests into state employees under her control. As the church became more dependent on
the state, the clergy declined in great numbers. The government began to close many
monasteries; Catherine made the church subservient to the state. Catherine, however,
granted a toleration law to Old Believers and revoked their double taxation law.
Catherine wanted to bring the Russian people back to Russia. To attract colonists and
improve her image, she granted the freedom of worship to Protestants and Catholics. 
When her son Paul was old enough, she arranged a marriage to a German princess. Paul's
wife died in childbirth, but her son Alexander survived. In 1776, he married Princess
Dorothea of Wuertemberg, who was re-named Maria Federovna. Catherine raised Alexander,
just as Elizabeth had done with Paul. The succession of her family line was never a worry
for Catherine. It was her great regret during her long reign that she was unable to
abolish serfdom. She realized that she would alienate the nobility with such an act, who
depended on the labor of the serfs for their great estates. She did, however, issue
several decrees for the humane treatment of the serfs. Catherine hoped that her grandson
Alexander would be in a stronger position to free the people.
After she had distanced herself from Gregory Orlov, another important public figure
appeared on the scene. Gregory Potemkin was a man of exceptional ability, and she soon
entrusted him with important affairs of State. Through him, Catherine was able to annex
the Crimea from the Turks, a region of great importance. In the 1780's Potemkin was the
most important man in Russia. Catherine's Empire now reached from the Baltic to the Black
Sea. Some Historians state that there was a possibility that Catherine may have married
Potemkin in a secret ceremony. We do know that they had a loving relationship for some
year, however there is no solid proof that such a marriage existed. He was deeply devoted
to Catherine till his death. 
Catherine possessed majesty without being pompous like the many before her. Over the
years she lived through hurtful criticism, rebellion, war and estrangement from her son,
whom she thought was incapable of ruling Russia. Paul never forgave his mother for how
she treated him and for the involvement she played in the death of Peter III, whom he
always believed to be his farther. Catherine had planned to bypass him as heir to the
throne, leaving it to her grandson Alexander. She was a woman alone without her own
family, except her beloved grandchildren. We can read how devastated she was, when as
Grand Duchess, she had learned of the death of her beloved father. She felt much guilt at
the time because she had gone against her father's wishes and changed her religion. 
As Empress, she showered her grandsons with much love, but some suggest that this was a
void she tried to fill with the many relationships she formed with men. Perhaps we
misunderstand her many attachments. She loved to teach, and she had much knowledge to
give. We can see from her many letters to Baron von Grimm, that she took pride in the
education of her young proteges. Perhaps what many historians interpret as promiscuous
behavior, was nothing more than her filling the lonely hours by sharing her vast
knowledge with the young men she deemed worthy of her attention. She had long and lasting
relationships with Orlov and Potemkin, and it seems that she was capable of being
faithful and devoted. 
Russia owes her much. After a long reign of thirty-four years, Catherine died of a stroke
on November 17, 1796. History knows her as Catherine the Great, a title she was offered
during her lifetime and rejected. I leave it to posterity to judge impartially what I
have done she said at the time; and Catherine has done well. Domestically, She dealt with
peasant revolts, pretenders, and noble opposition. Abroad, she increased Russia's
territory, prestige and international importance. Regardless of her much emphasized
personal life and sexual relations, she deserves the title because she earned it.
Endnotes