Catherine and her new husband had a rocky marriage from the start. Apart from providing that experience, the marriage was unsuccessfulit was not consummated for years due to Peter III's mental immaturity. Her goal was to modernise education across Russia. Tuberculosis, diagnosed as an abscess of the lungs, caused her early demise. [72], Catherine shared in the general European craze for all things Chinese, and made a point of collecting Chinese art and buying porcelain in the popular Chinoiserie style. While the state did not technically allow them to own possessions, some serfs were able to accumulate enough wealth to pay for their freedom. Cookie Settings, Photo illustration by Meilan Solly / Photos via Hulu and Getty Images, Photo by Fine Art Images / Heritage Images / Getty Images, Ad Meskens via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0, Godot13 via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 3.0. [73] In 1779, she hired the Scottish architect Charles Cameron to build the Chinese Village at Tsarskoye Selo (modern Pushkin, Saint Petersburg). She recovered well enough to begin to plan a ceremony which would establish her favourite grandson Alexander as her heir, superseding her difficult son Paul, but she died before the announcement could be made, just over two months after the engagement ball. They submitted recommendations for the establishment of a general system of education for all Russian orthodox subjects from the age of 5 to 18, excluding serfs. Potemkin also convinced Catherine to expand the universities in Russia to increase the number of scientists. Catherine began issuing codes to address some of the modernisation trends suggested in her Nakaz. She found that piecemeal reform worked poorly because there was no overall view of a comprehensive state budget. Other than these, the rights of a serf were very limited. Russia and Prussia had fought each other during the Seven Years' War (17561763), and Russian troops had occupied Berlin in 1761. Catherine never even mentioned her daughter's death in her memoirs. Historically, when the serfs faced problems they could not solve on their own (such as abusive masters), they often appealed to the autocrat, and continued doing so during Catherine's reign, but she signed legislation prohibiting it. By the end of her reign, 50 provinces and nearly 500 districts were created, government officials numbering more than double this were appointed, and spending on local government increased sixfold. Called the Nakaz, or Instruction, the 1767 document outlined the empress vision of a progressive Russian nation, even touching on the heady issue of abolishing serfdom. She started out married to Emperor Peter III, as Time tells us, who was less than competent. [108] Jewish members of society were required to pay double the tax of their Orthodox neighbours. [135], Later, several rumours circulated regarding the cause and manner of her death. She disapproved of off-color jokes and nudity in art falling outside of mythological or allegorical themes. Womens History Month facts: When is Women's History Month? "Despot" is not derogatory in this context. She consulted British education pioneers, particularly the Rev. 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. The following year, the 16-year-old wed her betrothed, officially becoming Grand Duchess Catherine Alekseyevna. Russian local authorities helped his party, and the Russian government decided to use him as a trade envoy. [113] This re-established the separate identity that Judaism maintained in Russia throughout the Jewish Haskalah. Meilan Solly is Smithsonian magazine's associate digital editor, history. She read widely and corresponded with many of the prominent thinkers of the era, including Voltaire and Diderot. Though not stupid, he was totally lacking in common sense, argues Isabel de Madariaga in Catherine the Great: A Short History. Dr. Brown argued, in a democratic country, education ought to be under the state's control and based on an education code. [60] The only thing a noble could not do to his serfs was to kill them. 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. Privacy Statement The frustration affected Catherine's health. The cause of death was confirmed by autopsy. I hate fountains that torture water in order to make it take a course contrary to its nature: Statues are relegated to galleries, vestibules etc. The pair met on the day of Catherines 1762 coup but only became lovers in 1774. Far away from the capital, they were confused as to the circumstances of her accession to the throne.[66]. 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. However, the Legislative Commission of 1767 offered several seats to people professing the Islamic faith. The truss holding her equine paramour broke, crushing Catherine to death beneath the poor beast. "The circumstances and cause of death, and the intentions and degree of responsibility of those . The positions on the Assembly were appointed and paid for by Catherine and her government as a way of regulating religious affairs. [65] Naturally, the serfs did not like it when Catherine tried to take away their right to petition her because they felt as though she had severed their connection to the autocrat, and their power to appeal to her. in, Inna Gorbatov, "Voltaire and Russia in the Age of Enlightenment.". Obviously he never wanted to take part in the death of Catherine, because she was the perfect woman to him. Peter ceased Russian operations against Prussia, and Frederick suggested the partition of Polish territories with Russia. She launched the Moscow Foundling Home and lying-in hospital, 1764, and Paul's Hospital, 1763. This second lost pregnancy was also attributed to Saltykov; Born at the Winter Palace, officially he was a son of Peter III but in her memoirs, Catherine implies very strongly that Saltykov was the biological father of the child. His period of rule proved disappointing after repeated effort to prop up his regime through military force and monetary aid. This spurred Russian interest in opening trade with Japan to the south for supplies and food. She addressed me immediately in a voice full of sweetness, if a little throaty: "I am delighted to welcome you here, Madame, your reputation runs before you. But while the empress did have her fair share of lovers12 to be exactshe was not the sexual deviant of popular lore. [23][24] On 17 July 1762eight days after the coup that amazed the outside world[25] and just six months after his accession to the thronePeter III died at Ropsha, possibly at the hands of Alexei Orlov (younger brother to Grigory Orlov, then a court favourite and a participant in the coup). [13], According to Alexander Hertzen, who edited a version of Catherine's memoirs, Catherine had her first sexual relationship with Sergei Saltykov while living at Oranienbaum as her marriage to Peter had not been consummated, as Catherine later claimed. Jerzy Lojek, "Catherine II's Armed Intervention in Poland: Origins of the Political Decisions at the Russian Court in 1791 and 1792. In her accession to power and her rule of the empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favourites, most notably Count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Terms of Use Yelizaveta Alekseyevna Tarakanova (17531775) was another potential rival. One urban legend even claimed that Catherine had an erotic cabinet created for one of her palaces. Potemkin quickly gained positions and awards. Ruth P. Dawson, "Perilous News and Hasty Biography: Representations of Catherine II Immediately after her Seizure of the Throne." Russia invaded Poland on 26 August 1764, threatening to fight, and imposing Poniatowski as king. Segments of public opinion turned against Catherine when she took a stand against the . In 1772, Catherine wrote to Potemkin. Catherine then sought to have inoculations throughout her empire and stated: "My objective was, through my example, to save from death the multitude of my subjects who, not knowing the value of this technique, and frightened of it, were left in danger". In 1769, a last major CrimeanNogai slave raid, which ravaged the Russian held territories in Ukraine, saw the capture of up to 20,000 slaves. [117] While claiming religious tolerance, she intended to recall the Old Believers into the official church. Wikimedia Commons. Share this: Like this: Loading. This allowed the Russian government to control more people, especially those who previously had not fallen under the jurisdiction of Russian law. Many cities and towns were founded on Catherine's orders in the newly conquered lands, most notably Odessa, Yekaterinoslav (to-day known as Dnipro), Kherson, Nikolayev, and Sevastopol. Writing for History Extra, Hartley describes Catherines Russia as an undoubtedly aggressive nation that clashed with the Ottomans, Sweden, Poland, Lithuania and the Crimea in pursuit of additional territory for an already vast empire. [104] Between 1762 and 1773, Muslims were prohibited from owning any Orthodox serfs. Catherine kept her illegitimate son by Grigory Orlov (Alexis Bobrinsky, later elevated to Count Bobrinsky by Paul I) near Tula, away from her court. Throughout the season, war has been brewing between the two empires, and so far things. The statute sought to efficiently govern Russia by increasing population and dividing the country into provinces and districts. Peter supposedly was assassinated, but it is unknown how he died. But in a purely humanitarian light, Catherines expansionist drive came at a great cost to the conquered nations and the czarinas own country alike. Grigory Orlov and his other three brothers found themselves rewarded with titles, money, swords, and other gifts, but Catherine did not marry Grigory, who proved inept at politics and useless when asked for advice. Although she could see the benefits of Britain's friendship, she was wary of Britain's increased power following its complete victory in the Seven Years' War, which threatened the European balance of power. In addition to the textbooks translated by the commission, teachers were provided with the "Guide to Teachers". [88] Through him, she collected information from Russia and other countries about educational institutions. Her hunger for fame centred on her daughter's prospects of becoming empress of Russia, but she infuriated Empress Elizabeth, who eventually banned her from the country for spying for King Frederick. No. This war was another catastrophe for the Ottomans, ending with the Treaty of Jassy (1792), which legitimised the Russian claim to the Crimea and granted the Yedisan region to Russia. Aided by her lover Grigory Orlov and his powerful family, she staged a coup just six months after her husband took the throne. As Robert K. Massie writes in Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, [F]rom the beginning of her husbands reign, her position was one of isolation and humiliation. A. Viazemski. Although the government knew that Judaism existed, Catherine and her advisers had no real definition of what a Jew is because the term meant many things during her reign. Finally Catherine annexed the Crimea in 1783. Did you know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women, causing 1 in 3 deaths every year? [91] This work emphasised the fostering of the creation of a 'new kind of people' raised in isolation from the damaging influence of a backward Russian environment. Catherine longed for recognition as an enlightened sovereign. She also promoted westernization and modernization for her country, though it was within the context of maintaining . In these cases, it was necessary to replace this "fake" empress with the "true" empress, whoever she may be. [99] The statute established a two-tier network of high schools and primary schools in guberniya capitals that were free of charge, open to all of the free classes (not serfs), and co-educational. Posterity will never forgive me., Contrary to Catherines dire prediction, Peters death, while casting a pall over her rule, did not completely overshadow her legacy. Peter was her second cousin. Historians have argued that the horse myth represents how her enemies wished to paint her rule and her ascension to the throne as unnatural.
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