After the death of the Empress Elizabeth on 5 January 1762 (OS: 25 December 1761), Peter succeeded to the throne as Emperor Peter III, and Catherine became empress consort. This work, divided into four parts, dealt with teaching methods, subject matter, teacher conduct, and school administration. It also stipulated in detail the subjects to be taught at every age and the method of teaching. She provided support to a Polish anti-reform group known as the Targowica Confederation. Jaques cites a Vigilius Ericksen portrait of the empress as emblematic of Catherines many contradictions. After the decisive defeat of the Russian fleet at the Battle of Svensksund in 1790, the parties signed the Treaty of Vrl (14 August 1790), returning all conquered territories to their respective owners and confirming the Treaty of bo. The attitude of the serfs toward their autocrat had historically been a positive one. She did not allow dissenters to build chapels, and she suppressed religious dissent after the onset of the French Revolution. Catherine saw Orlov as very useful, and he became instrumental in the 28 June 1762 coup d'tat against her husband, but she preferred to remain the dowager empress of Russia rather than marrying anyone. In 1772, Catherine's close friends informed her of Orlov's affairs with other women, and she dismissed him. In 1786, she assimilated the Islamic schools into the Russian public school system under government regulation. Historian Franois Cruzet writes that Russia under Catherine: had neither a free peasantry, nor a significant middle class, nor legal norms hospitable to private enterprise. . Her rise to power was supported by her mother Joanna's wealthy relatives, who were both nobles and royal relations. She transformed the clergy from a group that wielded great power over the Russian government and its people to a segregated community forced to depend on the state for compensation. No. She levied additional taxes on the followers of Judaism; if a family converted to the Orthodox faith, that additional tax was lifted. Peter III's temperament became quite unbearable for those who resided in the palace. [108] Jewish members of society were required to pay double the tax of their Orthodox neighbours. Hulus The Great offers an irreverent, ahistorical take on the Russian empress life. Over this tunic she wore a red velvet dolman with very short sleeves. Did you know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women, causing 1 in 3 deaths every year? [33][34], The Russian victories procured access to the Black Sea and allowed Catherine's government to incorporate present-day southern Ukraine, where the Russians founded the new cities of Odessa, Nikolayev, Yekaterinoslav (literally: "the Glory of Catherine"), and Kherson. Thanks to these ties, she soon found herself engaged to the heir to the Russian throne: Peter, nephew of the reigning empress, Elizabeth, and grandson of another renowned Romanov, Peter the Great. Her sexual independence led to many of the legends about her.[127]. [78] For information about particular nations that interested her, she read Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville's Memoirs de Chine to learn about the vast and wealthy Chinese empire that bordered her empire; Franois Baron de Tott's Memoires de les Turcs et les Tartares for information about the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean khanate; the books of Frederick the Great praising himself to learn about Frederick just as much as to learn about Prussia; and the pamphlets of Benjamin Franklin denouncing the British Crown to understand the reasons behind the American Revolution. Sergei Saltykov was used to make Peter jealous, and relations with Saltykov were platonic. Empress Elizabeth knew the family well and had intended to marry Princess Joanna's brother Charles Augustus (Karl August von Holstein); however, he died of smallpox in 1727 before the wedding could take place. Catherine died quietly in her bed on Nov. 17, 1796, at the age of 67 after suffering a stroke. 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. Russia was to stop any involvement in internal affairs of Sweden. Though Russia never officially adopted the Nakaz, the widely distributed 526-article treatise still managed to cement the empress reputation as an enlightened European ruler. Teplov, T. von Klingstedt, F.G. Dilthey, and the historian G. Muller. Catherines contributions to Russias cultural landscape were far more successful than her failed socioeconomic reforms. [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. [126] The last of her lovers, Platon Zubov, was 40 years her junior. In 1757, Poniatowski served in the British Army during the Seven Years' War, thus severing close relationships with Catherine. There's no question Catherine was behind the coup that led to her husband's overthrow and her eventual coronation as Empress Yekaterina Alekseyevna Romanova, aka Catherine II. Catherine decided to have herself inoculated against smallpox by Thomas Dimsdale, a British doctor. She was a patron of the . Catherines failure to abolish feudalism is often cited as justification for characterizing her as a hypocritical, albeit enlightened, despot. She trained herself, biographer Virginia Rounding told Times Olivia B. Waxman last October, learning and beginning to form the idea that she could do better than her husband., In Catherines own words, Had it been my fate to have a husband whom I could love, I would never have changed towards him. Peter, however, proved to be not only a poor life partner, but a threat to his wifes wellbeing, particularly following his ascension to the Russian throne upon his aunt Elizabeths death in January 1762. The commission studied the reform projects previously installed by I.I. Non-Russian opinion of Catherine is less favourable. Cause of Death: Stroke. For all her show of sensuality, Catherine was actually rather prudish, says Jaques. By building new settlements with mosques placed in them, Catherine attempted to ground many of the nomadic people who wandered through southern Russia. [133] Sometime after 9:00 she was found on the floor with her face purplish, her pulse weak, her breathing shallow and laboured. Subsequently, in 1792, the Russian government dispatched a trade mission to Japan, led by Adam Laxman. [18], In 1759, Catherine became pregnant with her second child, Anna, who only lived to 14 months. In terms of making Russia a great power, says Hartley, these efforts proved successful. [60] The only thing a noble could not do to his serfs was to kill them. Her goal was to modernise education across Russia. But in a purely humanitarian light, Catherines expansionist drive came at a great cost to the conquered nations and the czarinas own country alike. The empress was a great lover of art and books, and ordered the construction of the Hermitage in 1770 to house her expanding collection of paintings, sculpture, and books. Historians debate Catherine's technical status, whether as a regent or as a usurper, tolerable only during the minority of her son, Grand Duke Paul. She tells Heathcliff "You have killed me - and thriven on it, I think."(Bronte 1847, 167). Biography 27 (2004), 51734. The church's lands were expropriated, and the budget of both monasteries and bishoprics were controlled by the Collegium of Accounting. She acquired his collection of books from his heirs, and placed them in the National Library of Russia. 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. [107] Judaism was a small, if not non-existent, religion in Russia until 1772. Upon Potemkins death in 1791, Catherine reportedly spent days overwhelmed by tears and despair., In her later years, Catherine became involved with a number of significantly younger loversa fact her critics were quick to latch onto despite the countless male monarchs who did the same without attracting their subjects ire. You Might Also Like Does Catherine Sedgwick's Use Of The Rhetorical Appeals In Dog. [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. But while the empress did have her fair share of lovers12 to be exactshe was not the sexual deviant of popular lore. A new Hulu series titled The Great takes its cue from the little-known beginnings of Catherines reign. By the winter of 1773, the Pugachev revolt had started to threaten. [115] She closed 569 of 954 monasteries, of which only 161 received government money. [79] For philosophy, she liked books promoting what has been called "enlightened despotism", which she embraced as her ideal of an autocratic but reformist government that operated according to the rule of law, not the whims of the ruler, hence her interest in Blackstone's legal commentaries. Catherine recalled in her memoirs her optimistic and resolute mood before her accession to the throne: I used to say to myself that happiness and misery depend on ourselves. The Commonwealth had become the Russian protectorate since the reign of Peter I, but he did not intervene into the problem of political freedoms of dissidents advocating for their religious freedoms only. 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 1775, the empress decreed a Statute for the Administration of the Provinces of the Russian Empire. She acted as mediator in the War of the Bavarian Succession (17781779) between the German states of Prussia and Austria. She was also very fat, but her face was still beautiful, and she wore her white hair up, framing it perfectly. And yet it was important to me that there were tent poles of things that were true, [like] her being a kid who didn't speak the language, marrying the wrong man and responding to that by deciding to change the country.. The rumours tell us more about the time in which Catherine lived than they do about the cause of her death. This was one of the chief reasons behind rebellions, including Pugachev's Rebellion of Cossacks, nomads, peoples of the Volga, and peasants. Jaques says that Catherine initially started collecting art as a political calculation aimed at legitimizing her status as a Westernized monarch. She worked as a maid for most of her childhood and remained illiterate throughout her life. [114] Endowments from the government replaced income from privately held lands. Petersburg." Catherine The Great death: She was the victim of many slurs (Image: SKY/HBO) Trending There were a number of salacious tales surrounding the monarch and her court, which was something that . 2. [116] While other religions (such as Islam) received invitations to the Legislative Commission, the Orthodox clergy did not receive a single seat. [30], Catherine's foreign minister, Nikita Panin (in office 17631781), exercised considerable influence from the beginning of her reign. At the time, a source said: 'In theory, anyone can apply but all prospective tenants will be subject to security and background checks.' St James's Palace was built by Henry VIII in the 16th century. "Despot" is not derogatory in this context. [70] In a letter to Voltaire in 1772, she wrote: "Right now I adore English gardens, curves, gentle slopes, ponds in the form of lakes, archipelagos on dry land, and I have a profound scorn for straight lines, symmetric avenues. Given the frequency which this story was repeated together with Catherine's love of her adopted homeland and her love of horses, it is likely that these details were conflated into this rumor. This commission was charged with organising a national school network, as well as providing teacher training and textbooks. In addition, they received land to till, but were taxed a certain percentage of their crops to give to their landowners. [73] The Chinese Palace was designed by the Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi who specialised in the chinoiserie style. Vaizemski's Office of State Revenue took centralised control and by 1781, the government possessed its first approximation of a state budget. She had her husband arrested, and forced him to sign a document of abdication, leaving no one to dispute her accession to the throne. Russian local authorities helped his party, and the Russian government decided to use him as a trade envoy. 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. 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. Catherine then left with the Ismailovsky Regiment to go to the Semenovsky Barracks, where the clergy was waiting to ordain her as the sole occupant of the Russian throne. [104] Between 1762 and 1773, Muslims were prohibited from owning any Orthodox serfs. She placed strictures on Catholics (ukaz of 23 February 1769), mainly Polish, and attempted to assert and extend state control over them in the wake of the partitions of Poland. 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. Catherine believed education could change the hearts and minds of the Russian people and turn them away from backwardness. Her son Pavel later was inoculated as well. Catherines success as a ruler was also a driving factor behind the rumours. The life of a serf belonged to the state. In 1780, Emperor Joseph II, the son of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, toyed with the idea of determining whether or not to enter an alliance with Russia, and asked to meet Catherine. Peter, however, supported Frederick II, eroding much of his support among the nobility. While the nobility provided appreciable amounts of money for these institutions, they preferred to send their own children to private, prestigious institutions. 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 . Rumour and degrading slander became the weapon by which they would take jabs at her legacy. The cause of death is unclear, though the official autopsy report indicates that he died of hemorrhoids and an apoplectic stroke. In addition, some governors listened to the complaints of serfs and punished nobles, but this was by no means universal. Jerzy Lojek, "Catherine II's Armed Intervention in Poland: Origins of the Political Decisions at the Russian Court in 1791 and 1792. Although she mastered the language, she retained an accent. Catherine I of Russia. The male-dominated world in which Catherine lived and ruled made her an exception to the norm. [46], Nicholas I, her grandson, evaluated the foreign policy of Catherine the Great as a dishonest one. Poniatowski accepted the throne, and thereby put himself under Catherine's control. document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) B. Catherine the Great's Foreign Policy Reconsidered. Historians consider her efforts to be a success. Catherine completed the conquest of the south, making Russia the dominant power in the Balkans after the Russo-Turkish War of 17681774. This raised her in the empress's esteem. 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. [7] For the smaller German princely families, an advantageous marriage was one of the best means of advancing their interests, and the young Sophie was groomed throughout her childhood to be the wife of some powerful ruler in order to improve the position of the reigning house of Anhalt. [105][additional citation(s) needed], In 1785, Catherine approved the subsidising of new mosques and new town settlements for Muslims. [17] She became friends with Princess Ekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova, the sister of her husband's official mistress. [58] Some serfs were able to use their new status to their advantage. The official cause, after an autopsy, was a severe attack of haemorrhoidal colic and an apoplexy stroke.[26]. However, because her second cousin Peter III converted to Orthodox Christianity, her mother's brother became the heir to the Swedish throne[4] and two of her first cousins, Gustav III and Charles XIII, later became Kings of Sweden. Adapted from his 2008 play of the same name, the ten-part miniseries is the brainchild of screenwriter Tony McNamara. She once wrote to her correspondent Baron Grimm: "I see nothing of interest in it. [120] By separating the public interests from those of the church, Catherine began a secularisation of the day-to-day workings of Russia. Cartoons drawn by foreign press perpetuated them, consistently degrading Catherine and exaggerating her apparent promiscuity. Throughout Russia, the inspectors encountered a patchy response. Catherine had been targeted for being unmarried.[137]. As Simon Sebag Montefiore notes in The Romanovs: 16181918, Peter, then on holiday in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, was oblivious to his wifes actions. [43] In 1762, he unilaterally abrogated the Treaty of Kyakhta, which governed the caravan trade between the two empires. [citation needed] She bore him a daughter named Anna Petrovna in December 1757 (not to be confused with Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, the daughter of Peter I's second marriage), although she was legally regarded as Grand Duke Peter's.[129].

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