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Catherine II (the Great), 1762-1796

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

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Catherine II (the Great), 1762-1796

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  1. Catherine II (the Great), 1762-1796

  2. Young Sophie (Catherine) • Born in 1729 as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg in Stettin, Prussia (nowPoland). • 1745: marriedtotsarevich Peter (III) tosolidifyPrussian-Russianrelations. • Arrived in Russiaandresolvedtorule it.

  3. Peter III,ruled 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.

  4. Peter III,ruled 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.

  5. Catherine’s coup d’etat • Peter’s lover: Elizabeth Vorontsova • Peter’s war with Prussia against Denmark for Holstein • His attempt to reform palace guards • Catherine saw her chance. • Gregory and Alexei Orlov “helped.”

  6. Catherine’s legitimacy • She used Paul, born 1754 • Catherine I’s precedent (Peter II) • Declared regent and empress • Bolstered by her early efforts at reform.

  7. 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.”

  8. 1767 reform effort • Catherine called a Grand Commission • 652 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.

  9. Catherine as lawmaker • 1775: Statute of Local Administration • 1781: commercial navigation and salt trade reform • 1785: 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 1785 • 1786: reformed education

  10. Catherine as conqueror • Gained much of southern Russia, as well as: • Crimea • Right-Bank Ukraine • Belarus • Lithuania • Courland • In total, added 518,000 square km

  11. Catherine as conqueror

  12. First Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774 • 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).

  13. Pugachev Rebellion, 1774-1775 • Yaik Cossacks • Emelyan Pugachev – “Peter III” • Abolished serfdom • Battle of Kazan, 12-15 July 1774 • Failed from localism, peasants, Tatars, Bashkirs • 10 January 1775: Pugachev executed in Moscow.

  14. Partitions of Poland: 1772, 1793, 1795 • 1764: King Stanislaw Poniatowski • 1768: Catherine became protectoress of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth • Provoked Confederation of the Bar, 1768-72 • Led to first partition • Frederick the Great’s idea, really

  15. Partitions of Poland: 1772, 1793, 1795 • 1789: French Revolution scared Catherine • 3 May 1791 Polish Constitution • Second Partition • 1794: Kościuszko Uprising • Final Partition

  16. Partitions of Poland: 1772, 1793, 1795

  17. Catherine’s legacy She 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)

  18. Catherine’s legacy • Died: 16 November 1796 • Solidified nobility’s place • Worsened peasants’ place • Improved government • Spread Enlightenment • Expanded militarily, but this was becoming the problem and rationale for rule.

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