She is one of historys greatest female rulers who modernised her adopted homeland, expanded its borders and transformed it into a global superpower. By November, they were stationed at the confluence of the Araks and Kura Rivers, poised to attack mainland Iran. Add some worm castings if you choose. In addition to the advisory commission, Catherine established a Commission of National Schools under Pyotr Zavadovsky. McNamara tells the Sydney Morning Herald that this apocryphal anecdote helped inspire The Great., It seemed like her life had been reduced to a salacious headline about having sex with a horse, the writer says. We will remember him forever. Very few members of the nobility entered the church, which became even less important than it had been. She expanded Russia's borders to the Black Sea and into central Europe during her reign. Catherine's undated will, discovered in early 1792 among her papers by her secretary Alexander Vasilievich Khrapovitsky, gave specific instructions should she die: "Lay out my corpse dressed in white, with a golden crown on my head, and on it inscribe my Christian name. In one portrait, hes managed to just somehow portray both sides of this compelling leader., Meilan Solly The event was glorified by the court poet Derzhavin in his famous ode; he later commented bitterly on Zubov's inglorious return from the expedition in another remarkable poem. She applied herself to learning the Russian language with zeal, rising at night and walking about her bedroom barefoot, repeating her lessons. At the time, it was widely assumed that Catherine was behind this, but historians aren't so sure."The circumstances and cause of death, and the intentions and degree of responsibility of those . These were the privileges a serf was entitled to and that nobles were bound to carry out. [99], Despite these efforts, later historians of the 19th century were generally critical. For all her achievements, Catherine is often remembered for the multitude of salacious and slanderous rumours attached to her name, none more famous than the one surrounding her death. [43] In 1762, he unilaterally abrogated the Treaty of Kyakhta, which governed the caravan trade between the two empires. On the morning of 5 November 1796 . By 1782, Catherine arranged another advisory commission to review the information she had gathered on the educational systems of many different countries. Wikimedia Commons. The ultimate goal for the Russian government, however, was to topple the anti-Russian shah (king), and to replace him with a half-brother, Morteza Qoli Khan, who had defected to Russia and was therefore pro-Russian. Tuberculosis, diagnosed as an abscess of the lungs, caused her early demise. [131], Catherine's life and reign included many personal successes, but they ended in two failures. In reality, Catherine the Great died of a stroke and she was discovered collapsed on the floor in her washroom. She is often included in the ranks of the enlightened despots. In 1786, she assimilated the Islamic schools into the Russian public school system under government regulation. Thirty-four years after assuming the throne, Catherine passed away on November 6, 1796. Potemkin also convinced Catherine to expand the universities in Russia to increase the number of scientists. Peter, however, supported Frederick II, eroding much of his support among the nobility. Catherine the Great painted by Vigilius Eriksen in 1778-9. So why then has the legacy of Russia's longest-ruling woman been stained with these rumours for over two centuries? The official cause of death was advertised as hemorrhoidal colican absurd diagnosis that soon became a popular euphemism for assassination, according to Montefiore. How can history remember her for anything else if she died whilst trying to have sexual intercourse with a horse? 16987. She disapproved of off-color jokes and nudity in art falling outside of mythological or allegorical themes. Catherine named ahin Giray, a Crimean Tatar leader, to head the Crimean state and maintain friendly relations with Russia. When Sophie's situation looked desperate, her mother wanted her confessed by a Lutheran pastor. Its surprising that someone whos waging war with the Ottoman Empire and partitioning Poland and annexing the Crimea has time to make sketches for one of her palaces, but she was very hands on, says Jaques. A great dreamer, he was avid for territories to conquer and provinces to populate; an experienced diplomat with a knowledge of Russia that Catherine had not yet acquired and as audacious as Catherine was methodical, Potemkin was treated as an equal by the empress up to the time of his death in 1791. Catherine waged a new war against Persia in 1796 after they, under the new king Agha Mohammad Khan, had again invaded Georgia and established rule in 1795 and had expelled the newly established Russian garrisons in the Caucasus. In 1775, the empress decreed a Statute for the Administration of the Provinces of the Russian Empire. A poor student who felt a stronger allegiance to his home country of Prussia than Russia, the heir spent much of his time indulging in various vicesand unsuccessfully working to paint himself as an effective military commander. Yekaterina Alexeevna or Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great (Russian: II , Yekaterina II Velikaya; 2 May 1729 - 17 November 1796), was the most renowned and the longest-ruling female leader of Russia, reigning from 9 July 1762 until her death in 1796 at the age of 67. Many Orthodox peasants felt threatened by the sudden change, and burned mosques as a sign of their displeasure. They often became trusted advisors who she then promoted into positions of authority. While this was considered a controversial method at the time, she succeeded. Three of her sons were kings of France . Russians continue to admire Catherine, the German, the usurper and profligate, and regard her as a source of national pride. Like his wife, Peter was actually Prussian. [82], During Catherine's reign, Russians imported and studied the classical and European influences that inspired the Russian Enlightenment. [27] Her coronation marks the creation of one of the main treasures of the Romanov dynasty, the Imperial Crown of Russia, designed by Swiss-French court diamond jeweller Jrmie Pauzi. [32], Peter the Great had succeeded in gaining a toehold in the south, on the edge of the Black Sea, in the Azov campaigns. It was instituted by the Fundamental Law of 7 November 1775. However, the Legislative Commission of 1767 offered several seats to people professing the Islamic faith. She recruited the scientists Leonhard Euler and Peter Simon Pallas from Berlin and Anders Johan Lexell from Sweden to the Russian capital. [76], Catherine read three sorts of books, namely those for pleasure, those for information, and those to provide her with a philosophy. The double doors opened and the Empress appeared. A portrait of Catherine the Great by Fedor Rokotov, 1763. In the same year, Catherine issued the Charter of the Towns, which distributed all people into six groups as a way to limit the power of nobles and create a middle estate. Catherine decided to have herself inoculated against smallpox by Thomas Dimsdale, a British doctor. Her genius seemed to rest on her forehead, which was both high and wide. In many ways, the Orthodox Church fared no better than its foreign counterparts during the reign of Catherine. Catherines success as a ruler was also a driving factor behind the rumours. When it became apparent that his plan could not succeed, Panin fell out of favour and Catherine had him replaced with Ivan Osterman (in office 17811797). This commission was charged with organising a national school network, as well as providing teacher training and textbooks. Sette, Alessandro. I am very fond of the arts, especially painting. The choice of Princess Sophie as wife of the future tsar was one result of the Lopukhina affair in which Count Jean Armand de Lestocq and King Frederick the Great of Prussia took an active part. The emergence of these assignation roubles was necessary due to large government spending on military needs, which led to a shortage of silver in the treasury (transactions, especially in foreign trade, were conducted almost exclusively in silver and gold coins). Privacy Statement [95], From 1768 to 1774, no progress was made in setting up a national school system. Peter supposedly was assassinated, but it is unknown how he died. Princess Sophie's father, a devout German Lutheran, opposed his daughter's conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy. She thus spent much of this time alone in her private boudoir to hide away from Peter's abrasive personality. She credited her survival to frequent bloodletting; in a single day, she had four phlebotomies. As many of the democratic principles frightened her more moderate and experienced advisors, she refrained from immediately putting them into practice. Running and games were forbidden, and the building was kept particularly cold because too much warmth was believed to be harmful to the developing body, as was excessive play. The rebellion ultimately failed and in fact backfired as Catherine was pushed away from the idea of serf liberation following the violent uprising. Spread fertilizer over the soil, all the way to the edges of the canopy. The frustration affected Catherine's health. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev, and admirals such as Samuel Greig and Fyodor Ushakov, she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by conquest and diplomacy. He would announce trying drills in the morning to male servants, who later joined Catherine in her room to sing and dance until late hours. In 1787, Catherine conducted a triumphal procession in the Crimea, which helped provoke the next Russo-Turkish War.[35]. To the general public, Catherine is perhaps best known for conducting a string of salacious love affairs. The next day, she left the palace and departed for the Ismailovsky Regiment, where she delivered a speech asking the soldiers to protect her from her husband. Yet shed done an enormous amount of amazing things, had been a kid whod come to a country that wasnt her own and taken it over.. One evening, while attempting to have sexual intercourse with the stallion, the harness holding the horse broke, sending the beast crashing down on top of her. If persistent tabloid covers and made-for-television miniseries . The peasants were discontented because of many other factors as well, including crop failure, and epidemics, especially a major epidemic in 1771. The crown contains 75 pearls and 4,936 Indian diamonds forming laurel and oak leaves, the symbols of power and strength, and is surmounted by a 398.62-carat ruby spinel that previously belonged to the Empress Elizabeth, and a diamond cross. This is why some serfs were able to do things such as to accumulate wealth. [18], In 1759, Catherine became pregnant with her second child, Anna, who only lived to 14 months. The monarch was succeeded by her son,. Her goal was to modernise education across Russia. In private, says Jaques, she balanced a constant craving for affection with a ruthless determination to paint Russia as a truly European country. Russia inflicted some of the heaviest defeats ever suffered by the Ottoman Empire, including the Battle of Chesma (57 July 1770) and the Battle of Kagul (21 July 1770). Hulu's new series, The Great, follows Catherine the Great and her husband Peter III of Russia, who died under mysterious circumstances after his brief ascent to . She died the next day, leaving her estranged son, Paul I, as Russias next ruler. Money was needed for wars and necessitated the junking the old financial institutions. Catherine II (born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 1729 - 17 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. Catherine believed education could change the hearts and minds of the Russian people and turn them away from backwardness. After the rebels, their French and European volunteers, and their allied Ottoman Empire had been defeated, she established in the Commonwealth a system of government fully controlled by the Russian Empire through a Permanent Council, under the supervision of her ambassadors and envoys. In the plus column, the longest-reigning empress of Russia transformed her empire into one of Europe's great and . No evidence conclusively linking Catherine to her husbands death exists, but as many historians have pointed out, his demise benefitted her immensely. [29], During her reign, Catherine extended the borders of the Russian Empire by some 520,000 square kilometres (200,000sqmi), absorbing New Russia, Crimea, the North Caucasus, right-bank Ukraine, White Russia, Lithuania, and Courland at the expense, mainly, of two powersthe Ottoman Empire and the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth. [43], In the Far East, Russians became active in fur trapping in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. Her father, Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, belonged to the ruling German family of Anhalt. They were pressured into Orthodoxy through monetary incentives. Still, there was a start of industry, mainly textiles around Moscow and ironworks in the Ural Mountains, with a labour force mainly of serfs, bound to the works. This was one of the chief reasons behind rebellions, including Pugachev's Rebellion of Cossacks, nomads, peoples of the Volga, and peasants. Derided both in her day and in modern times as a hypocritical warmonger with an unnatural sexual appetite, Catherine was a woman of contradictions whose brazen exploits have long overshadowed the accomplishments that won her the Great moniker in the first place. This spurred Russian interest in opening trade with Japan to the south for supplies and food. Does Catherine Sedgwick's Use Of The Rhetorical Appeals In Dog. [45] In a 1790 letter to Baron de Grimm written in French, she called the Qianlong Emperor "mon voisin chinois aux petits yeux" ("my Chinese neighbour with small eyes"). Further compounding these unpopular decisions were his attempted repudiation of his wife in favor of his mistress and his seizure of church lands under the guise of secularization. Catherine the Great died in 1796 at the age of 67 and was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. [96] However, Catherine continued to investigate the pedagogical principles and practice of other countries and made many other educational reforms, including an overhaul of the Cadet Corps in 1766. [CDATA[// >