On February 14, 1744, an event occurred that was extremely important for the subsequent history of Russia. She arrived in St. Petersburg accompanied by her mother Princess Sophie Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst. A high mission was entrusted to the 14-year-old girl - she was to become the wife of the heir to the Russian throne, give birth to her husband's sons and thereby strengthen the ruling dynasty.

court leapfrog

The middle of the 18th century in Russia went down in history as the “epoch of palace coups”. In 1722 Peter I issued a decree on the succession to the throne, according to which the emperor himself could appoint his successor. This decree played a cruel joke on Peter himself, who did not have time to express his will before his death.

There was no obvious and unconditional contender: Peter's sons had died by that time, and all the other candidates did not find universal support.

Most Serene Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov managed to enthrone the wife of Peter I Catherine who became empress under the name Catherine I. Her reign lasted only two years, and after her death, the grandson of Peter the Great, the son of the prince, ascended the throne. Alexei Peter II.

The struggle for influence over the young king ended with the unfortunate teenager catching a cold on one of the many hunts and dying on the eve of his own wedding.

The nobles, who again faced the problem of choosing a monarch, preferred the dowager Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna, daughters Ivan V brother of Peter the Great.

Anna Ioannovna did not have children who could legally take the Russian throne, and appointed her nephew as heir John Antonovich, who by the time of accession to the throne was not even six months old.

In 1741, another coup took place in Russia, as a result of which the daughter of Peter the Great ascended the throne. Elizabeth.

Looking for an heir

Elizaveta Petrovna, 1756. Artist Toque Louis (1696-1772)

Before ascending the throne, Elizabeth Petrovna, who by that time was already 32 years old, immediately raised the question of an heir. The Russian elite did not want a repeat of the Troubles and strove for stability.

The problem was that the officially unmarried Elizaveta Petrovna, just like Anna Ioannovna, could not give the empire, so to speak, a natural heir.

Elizabeth had many favorites, with one of whom, Alexey Razumovsky, she, according to one version, even entered into a secret marriage. Moreover, the empress may even have given birth to children for him.

But in any case, they could not become heirs to the throne.

Therefore, Elizaveta Petrovna and her entourage began to look for a suitable heir. The choice fell on a 13-year-old Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp, son of sister Elizabeth Petrovna Anna and Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich.

The childhood of Elizabeth's nephew was difficult: his mother died of a cold, which she received during fireworks in honor of the birth of her son. The father did not pay much attention to the upbringing of his son, and the appointed teachers of all pedagogical methods preferred the rod. The boy became very ill when, at the age of 11, his father died and his distant relatives took him in.

At the same time, Karl Peter Ulrich was a great-nephew Charles XII and was a pretender to the Swedish throne.

Nevertheless, the Russian envoys managed to get the boy to move to St. Petersburg.

What did not work for Elizabeth and Catherine?

Pyotr Fedorovich when he was the Grand Duke. Portrait Georg Christopher Groth (1716-1749)

Elizaveta Petrovna, who first saw her nephew alive, was in a slight shock - a thin, sickly-looking teenager with a wild look, spoke French with difficulty, did not know manners, and was not burdened with knowledge at all.

The Empress rather presumptuously decided that in Russia the guy would be quickly re-educated. To begin with, the heir was transferred to Orthodoxy, named Petr Fedorovich and appointed him teachers. But teachers spent time with Petrusha in vain - until the end of his days, Pyotr Fedorovich never mastered the Russian language, and in general he was one of the most poorly educated Russian monarchs.

After they found an heir, it was necessary to find a bride for him. Elizabeth Petrovna generally had far-reaching plans: she was going to get offspring from Pyotr Fedorovich and his wife, and then raise her grandson on her own from birth, so that he would become the successor to the empress. However, in the end, this plan was not destined to come true.

It is curious that Catherine the Great will subsequently try to carry out a similar maneuver, preparing her grandson as heirs, Alexander Pavlovich, and also fail.

Princess as Cinderella

However, back to our story. The main "fair of the royal brides" in the XVIII century was Germany. There was no single state, but there were many principalities and duchies, small and insignificant, but possessing an overabundance of well-born, but poor young girls.

Considering the candidates, Elizaveta Petrovna remembered the Holstein prince, who in her youth was predicted to be her husband. The prince's sister Johanna Elizabeth, a daughter was growing up - Sophia Augusta Frederick. The girl's father was Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, a representative of an ancient princely family. However, large incomes were not attached to a big name, because Christian Augustus was in the service of the Prussian king. And although the prince ended his career with the rank of Prussian field marshal, he and his family spent most of his life in poverty.

Sophia Augusta Frederica was educated at home solely because her father could not afford to hire expensive tutors. The girl even had to darn her own stockings, so there was no need to talk about any pampered princess.

At the same time, Fike, as Sophia Augusta Frederic was called at home, was distinguished by curiosity, a craving for study, and also for street games. Fike was a real daredevil and took part in boyish amusements, which did not please her mother too much.

The Tsar's Bride and the Unfortunate Conspirator

The news that the Russian Empress was considering Fike as the bride of the heir to the Russian throne struck the girl's parents. For them, it was a real gift of fate. Fike herself, who had a sharp mind from her youth, understood that this was her chance to escape from a poor parental home into another, brilliant and vibrant life.

Catherine after her arrival in Russia, a portrait by Louis Caravaque.

Time of Catherine II (1762–1796)

(Start)

The situation of the accession of Catherine II

A new coup was carried out, like the previous ones, by the guards noble regiments; it was directed against the emperor, who declared very sharply his national sympathies and personal oddities of a childishly capricious nature. Under such circumstances, Catherine's accession to the throne has much in common with Elizabeth's accession. And in 1741, the coup was carried out by the forces of the noble guard against the non-national government of Anna, full of accidents and arbitrariness of non-Russian temporary workers. We know that the coup of 1741 resulted in the national direction of the Elizabethan government and the improvement of the status of the nobility. We have the right to expect the same consequences from the circumstances of the coup of 1762, and indeed, as we shall see, the policy of Catherine II was national and favorable to the nobility. These traits were adopted by the policy of the empress by the very circumstances of her accession. In this, she inevitably had to follow Elizabeth, although she treated her predecessor with irony.

Portrait of Catherine II. Artist F. Rokotov, 1763

But the coup of 1741 placed at the head of the board Elizabeth, an intelligent but poorly educated woman, who brought to the throne only feminine tact, love for her father, and sympathetic humanity. Therefore, the government of Elizabeth was distinguished by reasonableness, humanity, reverence for the memory of Peter the Great. But it did not have its own program and therefore sought to act according to the principles of Peter. The coup of 1762, on the contrary, put on the throne a woman not only intelligent and tactful, but also extremely talented, extremely educated, developed and active. Therefore, the government of Catherine not only returned to the good old models, but led the state forward according to its own program, which it acquired little by little according to the indications of practice and abstract theories learned by the empress. In this, Catherine was the opposite of her predecessor. Under her there was a system in management, and therefore random persons, favorites, were less reflected in the course of state affairs than it was under Elizabeth, although Catherine's favorites were very noticeable not only by their activity and power of influence, but even by whims and abuses.

Thus, the situation of accession and the personal qualities of Catherine determine in advance the features of her reign. It is impossible not to notice, however, that the personal views of the Empress, with which she ascended the throne, did not fully correspond to the circumstances of Russian life, and Catherine's theoretical plans could not be put into action due to the fact that they had no basis in Russian practice. Catherine was formed on the liberal French philosophy of the XVIII century. , learned and even expressed openly its "free-thinking" principles, but could not put them into practice either due to their inapplicability, or due to the opposition of the environment around her. Therefore, a certain contradiction arose between word and deed, between Catherine's liberal direction and the results of her practical activities, which were quite faithful to historical Russian traditions. That is why Catherine is sometimes blamed for the discrepancy between her words and deeds. We will see how this discrepancy came about; we will see that in practical activity Catherine sacrificed ideas to practice; we will see that the ideas introduced by Catherine into Russian public circulation, however, did not pass without a trace, but were reflected in the development of Russian society and in some government events.

First reign

The first years of Catherine's reign were a difficult time for her. She herself did not know current state affairs and had no assistants: the main businessman of Elizabeth's time, P. I. Shuvalov, died; she had little confidence in the abilities of other old nobles. One Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin enjoyed her confidence. Panin was a diplomat under Elizabeth (ambassador to Sweden); she was also appointed tutor of the Grand Duke Paul and left in this position by Catherine. Under Catherine, although Vorontsov remained chancellor, Panin became in charge of Russia's foreign affairs. Catherine used the advice of the old man Bestuzhev-Ryumin, returned by her from exile, and other persons of the previous reigns, but these were not her people: she could neither believe in them nor trust them. She consulted with them on various occasions and entrusted them with the conduct of certain cases; she showed them outward signs of favor and even respect, standing up, for example, to meet Bestuzhev as he entered. But she remembered that these old men once looked down on her, and more recently they intended the throne not for her, but for her son. Spreading smiles and courtesies to them, Catherine was wary of them and despised many of them. She would not like to rule with them. For her, those persons who elevated her to the throne, that is, the junior leaders of the successful coup, were more reliable and pleasant; but she understood that they did not yet have the knowledge or ability to govern. It was the youth of the guards, who knew little and had little education. Catherine showered them with awards, allowed them to work, but felt that it was impossible to put them at the head of affairs: they had to ferment earlier. This means that those who could be immediately introduced into the government environment, Catherine does not introduce because she does not trust them; those she trusts, she does not bring in because they are not yet ready. This is the reason why at first, under Catherine, not this or that circle, not this or that environment constituted the government, but constituted its totality of individuals. In order to organize a dense government environment, of course, time was needed.

So, Catherine, not having reliable people fit for power, could not rely on anyone. She was lonely, and even foreign ambassadors noticed this. They also saw that Catherine was going through difficult times in general. The court environment treated her with some exactingness: both people exalted by her, and people who had power earlier, besieged her with their opinions and requests, because they saw her weakness and loneliness and thought that she owed them the throne. The French ambassador Breteuil wrote: “In large gatherings at court, it is curious to observe the heavy care with which the Empress tries to please everyone, the freedom and annoyingness with which everyone talks to her about their affairs and their opinions ... It means that she strongly feels her dependence to carry it."

This free circulation of the court environment was very difficult for Catherine, but she could not stop it, because she did not have true friends, she was afraid for her power and felt that she could save it only with the love of the court and subjects. She used every means, in the words of the British ambassador Buckingham, to gain the trust and love of her subjects.

Catherine had valid reasons to fear for her power. In the first days of her reign, among the army officers gathered for the coronation in Moscow, there were rumors about the state of the throne, about Emperor John Antonovich and Grand Duke Paul. Some found that these persons have more rights to power than the empress. All these rumors did not grow into a conspiracy, but Catherine was very worried. Much later, in 1764, a conspiracy to release Emperor John was also discovered. John Antonovich from the time of Elizabeth was kept in Shlisselburg. army officer Mirovich conspired with his comrade Ushakov to release him and to carry out a coup in his name. Both of them did not know that the former emperor had lost his mind in prison. Although Ushakov drowned, Mirovich alone did not abandon the case and angered part of the garrison. However, at the first movement of the soldiers, according to the instructions, John was stabbed to death by his overseers and Mirovich voluntarily surrendered to the hands of the commandant. He was executed, and his execution had a terrible effect on the people, under Elizabeth weaned from executions. And outside the army, Catherine could catch signs of fermentation and displeasure: they did not believe the death of Peter III, they spoke with disapproval about the closeness of G. G. Orlov to the empress. In a word, in the first years of power, Catherine could not boast that she had solid ground under her feet. It was especially unpleasant for her to hear condemnation and protest from among the hierarchy. Metropolitan Arseny (Matseevich) of Rostov raised the issue of alienating church lands in such an unpleasant form for the secular authorities and for Catherine herself that Catherine found it necessary to treat him harshly and insisted on his removal and imprisonment.

Portrait of Grigory Orlov. Artist F. Rokotov, 1762-63

Under such conditions, Catherine, of course, could not immediately work out a definite program of government activities. She had a hard job to cope with the environment, apply to it and master it, look at the affairs and main needs of management, choose assistants and get to know the abilities of those around her closer. It is clear how little the principles of her abstract philosophy could help her in this matter, but it is clear how much her natural abilities, observation, practicality and the degree of mental development that she possessed as a result of her broad education and habit of abstract philosophical thinking helped her a lot. Working hard, Catherine spent the first years of her reign getting to know Russia and the state of affairs, selecting advisers and strengthening her personal position in power.

She could not be satisfied with the state of affairs that she found when she ascended the throne. The main concern of the government - finance - was far from brilliant. The Senate did not know the exact figures of revenues and expenditures, deficits occurred from military spending, the troops did not receive salaries, and the disorder of the financial administration terribly confused already bad things. Getting acquainted with these troubles in the Senate, Catherine received an idea about the Senate itself and treated its activities with irony. In her opinion, the Senate and all other institutions have gone out of their foundations; The Senate has arrogated too much power to itself and has suppressed any independence of the institutions subordinate to it. On the contrary, Catherine, in her well-known manifesto of July 6, 1762 (in which she explained the motives for the coup), wished that "each state place had its own laws and limits." Therefore, she tried to eliminate the irregularities in the position of the Senate and the defects in its activities, and little by little reduced it to the level of a central administrative-judicial institution, forbidding its legislative activity. She did this very carefully: for the speedy processing of cases, she divided the Senate into 6 departments, as was the case under Anna, giving each of them a special character (1763); she began to communicate with the Senate through the Prosecutor General A. A. Vyazemsky and gave him secret instructions not to encourage the Senate to take on a legislative function; finally, she led all her most important events, in addition to the Senate, with her personal initiative and authority. As a result, there was a significant change in the center of government: the derogation of the Senate and the strengthening of the one-man authorities, which were at the head of individual departments. And all this was achieved gradually, without noise, extremely carefully.

Ensuring her independence from the inconvenient old rules of government, Catherine, with the help of the same Senate, was actively engaged in business: she was looking for means to improve her financial situation, solving current management affairs, keeping an eye on the state of the estates, and was preoccupied with the drafting of a legislative code. In all this there was still no definite system to be seen; the empress simply responded to the needs of the moment and studied the state of affairs. The peasants were worried, embarrassed by the rumor of liberation from the landlords - Catherine was engaged in the peasant issue. The unrest reached great proportions, guns were used against the peasants, the landowners asked for protection from peasant violence - Catherine, taking a number of measures to restore order, declared: "We intend to keep the landowners inviolably with their opinions and possessions, and keep the peasants in due obedience to them." Another thing went along with this case: the letter of Peter III on the nobility caused some bewilderment by the shortcomings of its editorial board and a strong movement of the nobles from the service - Catherine, having suspended its action, in 1763 established a commission to review it. However, this commission came to nothing, and the case dragged on until 1785. Studying the state of affairs, Catherine saw the need to draw up a legislative code. The Code of Tsar Alexei is outdated; already Peter the Great took care of the new code, but to no avail: the legislative commissions that were with him did not work out anything. Almost all of Peter's successors were occupied with the idea of ​​compiling a code; under Empress Anna, in 1730, and under Empress Elizabeth, in 1761, even deputies from the estates were required to participate in legislative work. But the difficult task of codification did not succeed. Catherine II seriously stopped at the idea of ​​processing Russian legislation into a coherent system.

Studying the state of affairs, Catherine wanted to get acquainted with Russia itself. She undertook a number of trips around the state: in 1763 she traveled from Moscow to Rostov and Yaroslavl, in 1764 to the Ostsee region, in 1767 she traveled along the Volga to Simbirsk. “After Peter the Great,” says Solovyov, “Catherine was the first empress who undertook travels in Russia for government purposes” (XXVI, 8).

Thus passed the first five years of the internal reign of the young empress. She got used to her surroundings, took a closer look at the affairs, developed practical methods of activity, and selected the desired circle of assistants. Her position was strengthened, and she was not threatened by any dangers. Although during these five years no broad measures were revealed, Catherine, however, was already making broad plans for reform activities.

German princess on the Russian throne

From the German town of Stettin and immediately to the Winter Palace - what 15-year-old girl will receive such an honor? To become the wife of the heir to a powerful empire - what else can a princess of a small principality dream of in the 18th century?

Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Tserbskaya (or as her family called her - Fike) on the way to Russia asked herself two important lessons - to master the Russian language, customs and learn to please. Fika succeeded. Outstanding abilities allowed her to occupy the throne of the Russian Empire for 34 years. However, before becoming Catherine the Great, the German princess had a hard time.

Fight for a place
In February 1744, Fike arrived in Moscow, where the imperial court was located at that time. With enviable perseverance, she took up the study of the Russian language. On June 28, 1744, a German woman converted to Orthodoxy. During her address, she clearly pronounced her confession in good Russian, which surprised those present very much. The next day, the princess became engaged to Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich. After that, she received the title of Grand Duchess and a new name - Ekaterina Alekseevna.
The position of Ekaterina Alekseevna was not easy. She ended up in a foreign country, her husband neglected her, Empress Elizabeth humiliated her. For 18 years, the Grand Duchess waged a secret struggle for her place at the Russian court.
Therefore, when the time came, Catherine acted boldly and decisively.
After the death of Elizabeth on December 25, 1761, Peter III reigned on the throne. The new emperor did not behave quite adequately (the admirer of Frederick II, first of all, stopped Russia's victorious participation in the Seven Years' War, signed an agreement according to which all her lands were returned to Prussia), setting against himself not only the environment.

As a result, Catherine, who led the coup, was readily sworn in not only by the regiments of the guard, but also by the Senate and the Synod.

As the historian Vasily Klyuchevsky noted, she was "the last accident on the Russian throne." Catherine all the time "with a firm, albeit inaudible, step walked along the intended path, sneaking up to the throne." As a result, she illegally seized power twice: she took it from her husband and did not transfer it to her son Pavel.
Being German by origin, she learned the main thing - the Russian Empress should put the interests of Russia in the first place and tried not to deviate from this fundamental rule. Possessing great capacity for work, willpower and determination, the autocrat was able to suppress emotional outbursts in herself under various conditions.
Catherine II began her reign with internal transformations. The Secret Expedition was established - the highest body of political supervision and investigation, the hetmanship in Ukraine was abolished, the monastic lands were alienated and transferred to the state. Catherine II deftly split the close-knit noble Senate, which forever lost its former importance after a decree was signed in September 1763 dividing it into six departments. Subsequently, the empress single-handedly headed the central government apparatus, only in some cases convening the Council at the royal court as an advisory body, composed of major dignitaries of her choice.
Also in Russia, the first banknotes (paper money) were put into circulation, and new credit institutions appeared - the State Bank and the Loan Treasury. In the same year, Catherine II created a medical commission and orders of public charity, which for the first time began to deal with health issues. An associate of Catherine II, Ivan Betskoy, thought out and brought to reality a system of educational institutions, which included boarding houses, pedagogical, art, medical, commercial and theater schools. The following were opened: a school at the Academy of Arts, a commercial school, the Educational Society for Noble Maidens in St. Petersburg and the Catherine's School - the first women's educational institutions. In the future, the empress continued the reform of education: a system of public schools for the diverse population was developed, which were opened in cities, counties and large villages.
After the end of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774 and the suppression of the uprising under the leadership of Pugachev, a new stage of Catherine's reforms began. In 1775, a manifesto was issued that allowed the free establishment of any industrial enterprises. Merchants who owned capital over 500 rubles were exempt from the poll tax and paid a tax of 1% on capital; they could get rid of recruitment duty by giving 360 rubles. The Empress also adopted a preferential customs tariff for the Black Sea ports and abolished industrial and commercial monopolies. The development of southern Russia made it possible to trade in grain on the Black Sea; new cities were laid in Russia, a naval base was built in Sevastopol. All these activities contributed to the expansion of exports and the improvement of various industries.
In the same year, the "Institution for the management of the province of the All-Russian Empire" appeared. The new provincial reform introduced changes in local government. Instead of the previous three levels of regional administration - province, province and county - only two remained - province and county. The number of provinces increased from 20 to 50. Catherine II personally elected people known to her who had already proven themselves to the highest administrative positions. The provincial reform significantly strengthened state power in the localities. The established institutions (the provincial government, the upper zemstvo court, the provincial magistrate, the upper zemstvo reprisal, orders of public charity, the guardianship of the nobility, the orphan's court) performed extensive functions.

In 1785, Catherine II issued her most important legislative acts - charters to the nobility and cities.

Thus, the empress stimulated the creation in Russia of full-fledged estates of the Western European type. For the Russian nobility, a charter meant a legal consolidation of almost all the rights and privileges that they had.
A third charter was also prepared - to the state peasants, but it never came into effect. Despite the fact that Catherine was a staunch opponent of serfdom (in her papers, discussions about various options for the elimination of serfdom were preserved), she did not dare to do anything specific in this area because of the fear of a palace coup.

Golden age
In the foreign policy of the state, not a single serious issue also passed by Catherine II. “I want to manage myself. And let Europe know about it!” - she said to her favorite Grigory Potemkin. Catherine had considerable experience in international affairs. She mastered the art of pretense, which in the 18th century was considered the main quality of a diplomat. “They will be very mistaken,” she said of herself, “whoever judges affairs by the initial methods.”

The Empress believed that Russia should take an active position on the world stage and pursue an offensive policy.

In 1764, Catherine II achieved the election of her protege Stanislav Poniatowski to the Polish throne and supported him in every possible way, assisted in the fight against the Bar Confederation (it was convened to counter Russian influence in the Commonwealth and advocated the deposition of Poniatowski). The confederation, in turn, sought support from France and the Ottoman Empire. Taking advantage of the Haidamaks' attack on the border Tatar village of Galta, Porta, at the instigation of France and counting on the assistance of Austria, she declared war on Russia under the pretext of non-compliance with the treaties regarding the Commonwealth.
The Russian-Turkish war was generally successful for Russia, but the difficult domestic political situation prompted the country to seek peace, for which it was necessary to restore relations with Austria. As a result, a compromise was reached, Russia, Prussia and Austria carried out the first division of part of the Polish territory. With Turkey, the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhysky peace was signed, which ensured the independence of the Crimea, which was beneficial for Russia. The Black Sea coast with the fortresses of Kerch, Yenikale and Kinburn also passed under the authority of the empire.
In subsequent years, Russian positions in the Crimea and the Caucasus were strengthened, culminating in the inclusion of Crimea into Russia and the signing of the Treaty of Georgievsk with the King of Kartli-Kakheti Erekle II in 1783 (the treaty ensured the presence of Russian troops in Georgia).
In 1787, Catherine II, accompanied by the court, foreign diplomats, the Austrian emperor Joseph II and the Polish king Stanislav Poniatowski, made a trip to the Crimea, which became a grandiose demonstration of Russian military power. Soon after this, a new war with Turkey began (1787 - 1791). Russia successfully coped with the enemy. The Treaty of Jassy was signed, which secured Russia's influence in Bessarabia and Transcaucasia, as well as the annexation of Crimea. In 1793 and 1795, the second and third partitions of Poland took place, which ended the Polish statehood.

The territory of the country expanded due to the reclaimed lands, the influence of the empire grew so much that, in the words of Chancellor Alexander Bezborodko, "not a single gun in Europe dared to fire without our permission."

Russia included the Northern Black Sea region, Crimea, the North Caucasus, Western Ukrainian, Belarusian and Lithuanian lands. In the east, the development and settlement of Alaska and California by Russians began. The Aleutian Islands went to Russia.
Catherine II - a subtle psychologist and an excellent connoisseur of people - skillfully selected bright and talented associates for herself. Her time was marked by the appearance of a galaxy of prominent statesmen, generals, writers, artists, and musicians. Catherine's reign was perceived as the "golden age" of the Russian nobility. However, the end of the reign of the Empress was not so glorious. Millions of sums were spent on the favorites, the results of numerous wars also affected, the costs of the army and navy doubled. The immoderate issue of banknotes led to the depreciation of the ruble. The country's external debt amounted to 41.4 million rubles. However, the huge territorial gains, the growth of industry, the increase in the number of hospitals and schools as a result of the successful activities of the empress allowed the descendants to name Catherine the Great. The autocrat died after a stroke on November 6, 1796.

Special for the Centenary

Catherine II.F.Rokotov

Facts about the life and reign of one of the most powerful, glorious and controversial monarchs of the Russian Empire, Empress Catherine II

1. During the reign of Catherine the Great from 1762 to 1796, the possessions of the empire expanded significantly. Of the 50 provinces, 11 were acquired during the years of her reign. The amount of state revenues increased from 16 to 68 million rubles. 144 new cities were built (more than 4 cities per year throughout the reign). The army almost doubled, the number of ships of the Russian fleet increased from 20 to 67 battleships, not counting other ships. The army and navy scored 78 brilliant victories, which strengthened Russia's international prestige.

Palace embankment

Access to the Black and Azov Seas was won, Crimea, Ukraine (except for the Lvov region), Belarus, Eastern Poland, and Kabarda were annexed. The annexation of Georgia to Russia began.

At the same time, during her reign, only one execution was carried out - the leader of the peasant uprising, Emelyan Pugachev.



F. Rokotov

2. The daily routine of the Empress was far from the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe inhabitants of the royal life. Her day was scheduled by the hour, and its routine remained unchanged throughout her reign. Only the time of sleep changed: if in her mature years Catherine got up at 5, then closer to old age - at 6, and by the end of her life even at 7 in the morning. After breakfast, the empress received high-ranking officials and secretaries of state. The days and hours of reception of each official were constant. The working day ended at four o'clock, and it was time for rest. The hours of work and rest, breakfast, lunch and dinner were also constant. At 10 or 11 pm Catherine finished the day and went to bed.



3. Every day, 90 rubles were spent on the food of the Empress (for comparison: the salary of a soldier during the reign of Catherine was only 7 rubles a year). Boiled beef with pickles was a favorite dish, and currant juice was used as a drink. For dessert, preference was given to apples and cherries.



4. After dinner, the empress took up needlework, and Ivan Ivanovich Betskoy at that time read aloud to her. Ekaterina "masterfully sewed on canvas", knitted on knitting needles. Having finished reading, she moved to the Hermitage, where she sharpened from bone, wood, amber, engraved, played billiards.



View of the Winter Palace

5. Catherine was indifferent to fashion. She did not notice her, and sometimes quite deliberately ignored her. On weekdays, the Empress wore a simple dress and did not wear jewelry.



D. Levitsky

6. By her own admission, she did not have a creative mind, but she wrote plays, and even sent some of them to Voltaire for "reviewing".



7. Catherine came up with a special suit for the six-month-old Tsarevich Alexander, the pattern of which was asked from her by the Prussian prince and the Swedish king for their own children. And for her beloved subjects, the empress invented the cut of the Russian dress, which they were forced to wear at her court.

8. People who knew Catherine closely note her attractive appearance not only in her youth, but also in her mature years, her exceptionally friendly appearance, ease of handling. Baroness Elizabeth Dimsdale, who was first introduced to her with her husband in Tsarskoye Selo at the end of August 1781, described Catherine as follows: "a very attractive woman with lovely expressive eyes and an intelligent look"



View of the Fontanka

9. Catherine was aware that men liked her and she herself was not indifferent to their beauty and masculinity. "I received from nature a great sensitivity and appearance, if not beautiful, then at least attractive. I liked it from the first time and did not use any art and embellishment for this."

I. Fayzullin. Ekaterina's visit to Kazan

10. The Empress was quick-tempered, but knew how to control herself, and never made decisions in a fit of anger. She was very polite even with the servants, no one heard a rude word from her, she did not order, but asked to fulfill her will. Her rule, according to the testimony of Count Segur, was "to praise aloud, and to scold on the sly."

Oath of the Izmailovsky Regiment to Catherine II

11. Rules hung on the walls of the ballrooms under Catherine II: it was forbidden to stand in front of the empress, even if she approached the guest and spoke to him while standing. It was forbidden to be in a gloomy frame of mind, insult each other." And on the shield at the entrance to the Hermitage there was an inscription: "The mistress of these places does not tolerate coercion."



scepter

12. Thomas Dimsdale, an English physician was called from London to introduce smallpox inoculation into Russia. Knowing about the resistance of society to innovation, Empress Catherine II decided to set a personal example and became one of the first patients of Dimsdale. In 1768, an Englishman vaccinated her and Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich with smallpox. The recovery of the Empress and her son was a significant event in the life of the Russian court.



Johann the Elder Lampi

13. The Empress was a heavy smoker. The cunning Ekaterina, not wanting her snow-white gloves to be saturated with a yellow nicotine coating, ordered to wrap the tip of each cigar with a ribbon of expensive silk.



Coronation of Catherine II

14. The Empress read and wrote in German, French and Russian, but made many mistakes. Ekaterina was aware of this and once confessed to one of her secretaries that "she could only learn Russian from books without a teacher," since "Aunt Elizaveta Petrovna told my chamberlain: teach her enough, she's already smart." As a result, she made four mistakes in a three-letter word: instead of "more", she wrote "ischo".



15. Long before her death, Catherine composed an epitaph for her future tombstone: “Here lies Catherine the Second. She arrived in Russia in 1744 to marry Peter III. At the age of fourteen, she made a threefold decision: to please her husband, Elizabeth and the people "She did not miss anything in order to achieve success in this respect. Eighteen years of boredom and loneliness prompted her to read many books. Having ascended the Russian throne, she made every effort to give her subjects happiness, freedom and material well-being. She forgave easily and hated no one. She was indulgent, loved life, had a cheerful disposition, was a true republican in her convictions and had a good heart. She had friends. Work was given to her easily. She liked secular entertainment and the arts. "

Gallery of portraits of Empress Catherine II the Great



Artist Antoine Pen. Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, father of Catherine II

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 the Dukes of Courland, but unsuccessfully , finished his service as a Prussian field marshal.



Artist Antoine Pen. Johanna Elisabeth of Anhalt of Zerbst, mother of Catherine II

Mother - Johanna Elizabeth, from the Gottorp ruling house, was the cousin of the future Peter III. The family tree of Johann Elisabeth goes back to Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the first Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and the founder of the Oldenburg dynasty.



Grotto Georg-Christoph (Grooth, Groot).1748






shetty castle

Georg Groth



Grotto. PORTRAIT OF GRAND DUKE PETER FYODOROVICH AND GRAND DUCHESS EKATERINA ALEXEEVNA. 1760s.



Pietro Antonio Rotari.1760,1761




V. Eriksen. Equestrian portrait of Catherine the Great



Eriksen, Vigilius.1762

I. P. Argunov Portrait of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna.1762



Eriksen.Catherine II at the mirror.1762



Ivan Argunov.1762



V.Eriksen.1782

Eriksen.1779



Eriksen.Catherine II at the mirror.1779



Eriksen.1780


Lampi Johann-Batis.1794



R. Brompton. 1782



D.Levitsky.1782

P.D. Levitsky. Portrait of Catherine II .1783

Alexey Antropov

Portrait of Empress Catherine II in a traveling suit.SHIBANOV Mikhail. 1780

V.Borovikovsky.Catherine IIfor a walk in Tsarskoye Selo park.1794

Borovikovsky Vladimir Lukich.Portrait of Catherine II

Favorites of Catherine II

Grigory Potemkin

Perhaps the most important among the favorites, who did not lose his influence even after Catherine began to pay attention to others. He deserved the attention of the empress even during the palace coup. She singled him out among other employees of the horse guards regiment, he immediately became a chamber junker at court with a corresponding salary and a gift in the form of 400 peasant souls.Grigory Potemkin is one of the few lovers of Catherine II, who not only pleased her personally, but also did a lot of good for the country. Not only the “Potemkin villages” were built by him. It was thanks to Potemkin that the active development of Novorossia and the Crimea began. Although his actions were partly the reason for the start of the Russian-Turkish war, it ended with another victory for Russian weapons. In 1776, Potemkin ceases to be a favorite, but remains a man whose advice Catherine II listened to until his death. Including, in the choice of new favorites.

Grigory Potemkin and Elizaveta Temkina, daughter of the Most Serene Prince and Russian Empress

J. de Velli. Portrait of Counts G. G. and A. G. Orlovs

Grigory Orlov

Grigory Orlov grew up in Moscow, but exemplary service, distinction in the Seven Years' War contributed to his transfer to the capital, St. Petersburg. There he received the fame of a swashbuckler and "Don Juan". Tall, stately, handsome - the young wife of the future emperor, Ekaterina Alekseevna, simply could not help but pay attention to him.His appointment as treasurer of the Office of the Main Artillery and Fortification allowed Catherine to use public money to organize a palace coup.Although he was not a major statesman, sometimes he fulfilled the delicate requests of the Empress herself. Thus, according to one version, together with his brother Orlov, he killed the lawful husband of Catherine II, the deposed Emperor Peter III.

Stanislav August Poniatowski

Known for his graceful manners, Stanisław August Poniatowski, an ancient Polish aristocrat, first met Catherine in 1756. He lived in London for many years and ended up in St. Petersburg as part of the British diplomatic mission. Poniatowski was not an official favorite, but he was still considered the lover of the Empress, which gave him weight in society. With the ardent support of Catherine II, Poniatowski became the king of Poland. It is possible that Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna, recognized by Peter III, is actually the daughter of Catherine and a handsome Polish man. Peter III complained: “God knows where my wife gets pregnant from; I don’t know for sure whether this child is mine and whether I should recognize him as mine. ”

Petr Zavadovsky

This time, Catherine was attracted by Zavadovsky, a representative of a well-known Cossack family. He was brought to court by Count Pyotr Rumyantsev, a favorite of another empress, Elizaveta Petrovna. A charming man with a pleasant character, Catherine II was once again struck to the very heart. In addition, she found him "quieter and more peaceful" than Potemkin.In 1775 he was appointed cabinet secretary. Zavadovsky received the rank of major general, 4 thousand peasant souls. He even settled in the palace. Such an approach to the empress alarmed Potemkin, and as a result of palace intrigues, Zavadovsky was removed - he left for his estate. Despite this, he remained faithful to her and passionately loved her for a long time, marrying only 10 years later. In 1780, he was recalled by the empress back to St. Petersburg, where he held high administrative positions, including becoming the first minister of public education.

Platon Zubov

Platon Zubov began his journey to Catherine with a service in the Semyonovsky regiment. Enjoyed the patronage of Count Nikolai Saltykov, educator of the grandchildren of the Empress. Zubov began to command the horse guards, who went to Tsarskoe Selo to carry guards. On June 21, 1789, with the help of the lady of state Anna Naryshkina, he received an audience with Catherine II and since then spent almost every evening with her. Just a few days later he was promoted to colonel and settled in the palace. At court, he was coldly received, but Catherine II was crazy about him. After the death of Potemkin, Zubov plays an increasingly important role, and Catherine did not have time to be disappointed in him - she died in 1796. Thus, he became the last favorite of the Empress. Later, he will take an active part in a conspiracy against Emperor Paul I, as a result of which he was killed, and Zubov's friend Alexander I became the head of state. Guglielmi, Gregorio. Apotheosis of the reign of Catherine II .1767