Catherine II (the Great), Catherine II (the Great), 1762-17961762-1796

Young Sophie (Catherine)Young Sophie (Catherine)Born in 1729 as

Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg in Stettin, Prussia (now Poland).

1745: married to tsarevich Peter (III) to solidify Prussian-Russian relations.

Arrived in Russia and resolved to rule it.

Peter III,Peter III,ruled 5 January-9 July 1762ruled 5 January-9 July 1762

Born 1728, son of Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter I and Catherine I, and Karl Friedrich (Duke of Holstein-Gottorp).

Mother died soon after his birth.

Father died when he was 11. Elizabeth I took him in and

appointed him her heir (1742).

1745-1762: He and Catherine waited and waited, and hated each other.

Catherine thought him a capricious fool.

Peter III,Peter III,ruled 5 January-9 July 1762ruled 5 January-9 July 1762

Typical “enlightened absolutist”

Faced economic demands of Seven Years’ War, so ended it.

Mobilize economy Expand powers of the state Improve tax collection Russian nobles resented pro-

Prussian policies Introduced “Liberty of the

Nobility,” loosening their service obligations.

Removed use of torture in interrogations.

Enacted religious tolerance. Confiscated church lands.

Catherine’s coup d’etatCatherine’s coup d’etatPeter’s lover:

Elizabeth VorontsovaPeter’s war with

Prussia against Denmark for Holstein

His attempt to reform palace guards

Catherine saw her chance.

Gregory and Alexei Orlov “helped.”

Catherine’s legitimacyCatherine’s legitimacyShe used Paul,

born 1754Catherine I’s

precedent (Peter II)

Declared regent and empress

Bolstered by her early efforts at reform.

Catherine’s quotations:Catherine’s quotations:

“You philosophers are lucky men. You write on paper and paper is patient. Unfortunate Empress that I am, I write on the susceptible skins of living beings.” (Letter to Denis Diderot)

“Power without a nation's confidence is nothing.”

“I like to praise and reward loudly, to blame quietly.”

1767 reform effort1767 reform effortCatherine called a Grand Commission652 members from nobles, clergy, townspeople

and peasants (but not serfs)Wrote Наказ комиссии о составлении

проекта нового уложения (Instruction for the commission about composing a proposal for a new general law)

Exposed many enlightenment ideas to Russia (such as rule of law), but as Catherine’s interpretations.

Denis Diderot’s critique focused on national sovereignty.

Commission had over 200 meetings; no immediate legislation resulted, but eventually led to much.

Catherine as lawmakerCatherine as lawmaker1775: Statute of Local Administration1781: commercial navigation and salt trade

reform1785: Charter of the Nobility («Грамота на

права, вольности и преимущества благородного российского дворянства»): rights, freedoms, and benefits:◦ confirmed inheritance, right to private property◦ no corporal punishment, no obligation to serve◦ right to trade, provincial self-government.

1785: Charter of the Towns of 17851786: reformed education

Catherine as conquerorCatherine as conquerorGained much of southern Russia,

as well as:◦Crimea◦Right-Bank Ukraine◦Belarus◦Lithuania◦Courland

In total, added 518,000 square km

Catherine as conquerorCatherine as conqueror

First Russo-Turkish War, First Russo-Turkish War, 1768-17741768-1774

Sparked by border dispute at Balta (Poles vs. Russians)

Sultan Mustafa III declared war on Russia

Ottomans allied with Polish opposition

Russia got British naval advisers

1770: Battle of Chesme: Alexey Orlov; Ottoman fleet destroyed

Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, 21 July 1774 (humiliating for Ottomans).

Pugachev Rebellion, 1774-Pugachev Rebellion, 1774-17751775Yaik CossacksEmelyan Pugachev –

“Peter III”Abolished serfdomBattle of Kazan, 12-

15 July 1774Failed from localism,

peasants, Tatars, Bashkirs

10 January 1775: Pugachev executed in Moscow.

Partitions of Poland: 1772, 1793, Partitions of Poland: 1772, 1793, 17951795

1764: King Stanislaw Poniatowski

1768: Catherine became protectoress of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Provoked Confederation of the Bar, 1768-72

Led to first partitionFrederick the Great’s

idea, really

Partitions of Poland: 1772, Partitions of Poland: 1772, 1793, 17951793, 17951789: French

Revolution scared Catherine

3 May 1791 Polish Constitution

Second Partition1794: Kościuszko

UprisingFinal Partition

Partitions of Poland: 1772, 1793, 1795Partitions of Poland: 1772, 1793, 1795

Catherine’s legacyCatherine’s legacyShe also hated the French

Revolution: “I preach and will go on preaching common cause with all the kings against the destroyers of thrones and of society, despite all the adherents of the wretched opposing system, and we will see who comes out on top: reason, or the nonsense talked by the perfidious partisans of an execrable system, which in itself excludes and tramples underfoot all sentiments of religion, honour and glory.”

20 October 1796 letter to Friedrich Grimm (Rounding, Catherine the Great, pp. 497-498)

Catherine’s legacyCatherine’s legacyDied: 16 November

1796Solidified nobility’s placeWorsened peasants’

placeImproved governmentSpread EnlightenmentExpanded militarily, but

this was becoming the problem and rationale for rule.