The topic of this article is the biography of Catherine the Great. This empress reigned from 1762 to 1796. The era of her reign was marked by the enslavement of the peasants. Also, Catherine the Great, whose biography, photos and activities are presented in this article, significantly expanded the privileges of the nobility.

Origin and childhood of Catherine

The future empress was born on May 2 (according to the new style - April 21), 1729 in Stettin. She was the daughter of the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, who was in the Prussian service, and Princess Johanna-Elisabeth. The future empress was related to the English, Prussian and Swedish royal houses. She received her education at home: she studied French and German, music, theology, geography, history, and danced. Opening such a topic as the biography of Catherine the Great, we note that the independent nature of the future empress manifested itself already in childhood. She was a persistent, inquisitive child, had a penchant for mobile, lively games.

Baptism and wedding of Catherine

Catherine, together with her mother, was summoned by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna to Russia in 1744. Here she was baptized according to the Orthodox custom. Ekaterina Alekseevna became the bride of Peter Fedorovich, Grand Duke (in the future - Emperor Peter III). She married him in 1745.

Hobbies of the Empress

Catherine wanted to win the favor of her husband, the empress and the Russian people. Her personal life, however, was unsuccessful. Since Peter was infantile, for several years of marriage marital relations was not between them. Catherine was fond of reading works on jurisprudence, history and economics, as well as French enlighteners. All these books have shaped her worldview. The future empress became a supporter of the ideas of the Enlightenment. She was also interested in the traditions, customs and history of Russia.

Personal life of Catherine II

Today we know quite a lot about such an important historical person as Catherine the Great: biography, her children, personal life - all this is the object of research by historians and the interest of many of our compatriots. For the first time we get acquainted with this empress at school. However, what we learn in history lessons is far from full information about such an empress as Catherine the Great. A biography (grade 4) from a school textbook omits, for example, her personal life.

Catherine II in the early 1750s began an affair with S.V. Saltykov, Guards officer. She gave birth to a son in 1754, the future Emperor Paul I. Nevertheless, rumors that Saltykov was his father are unfounded. In the second half of the 1750s, Catherine had an affair with S. Poniatowski, a Polish diplomat who later became King Stanislaw August. Also in the early 1760s - with G.G. Orlov. The Empress gave birth to his son Alexei in 1762, who received the surname Bobrinsky. As relations with her husband deteriorated, Catherine began to fear for her fate and began to recruit supporters at court. True love her to her homeland, her prudence and ostentatious piety - all this contrasted with the behavior of her husband, which allowed the future empress to gain authority among the population of St. Petersburg and high-society metropolitan society.

Proclamation of Catherine as Empress

Catherine's relationship with her husband continued to deteriorate during the 6 months of his reign, eventually becoming hostile. Peter III openly appeared in the company of his mistress E.R. Vorontsova. There was a threat of arrest of Catherine and her possible expulsion. The future empress carefully prepared the plot. She was supported by N.I. Panin, E.R. Dashkova, K.G. Razumovsky, the Orlov brothers and others. One night, from June 27 to 28, 1762, when Peter III was in Oranienbaum, Catherine secretly arrived in St. Petersburg. She was proclaimed in the barracks of the Izmailovsky Regiment as an autocratic empress. Other regiments soon joined the rebels. The news of the empress's accession to the throne quickly spread throughout the city. Petersburgers greeted her with delight. Messengers were sent to Kronstadt and the army to prevent the actions of Peter III. He, having learned about what happened, began to send proposals for negotiations to Catherine, but she rejected them. The Empress personally came to Petersburg, heading guards regiments, and received on the way a written abdication of the throne by Peter III.

More about the palace coup

As a result of a palace coup on July 9, 1762, Catherine II came to power. It happened in the following way. Because of the arrest of Passek, all the conspirators rose to their feet, fearing that under torture they might be betrayed by the arrested person. It was decided to send Alexei Orlov for Ekaterina. The Empress at that time lived in anticipation of the name day of Peter III in Peterhof. On the morning of June 28, Alexei Orlov ran into her bedroom and told her about Passek's arrest. Ekaterina got into Orlov's carriage, she was brought to the Izmailovsky regiment. The soldiers ran out to the square on the drum beat and immediately swore allegiance to her. She then moved to the Semyonov regiment, which also swore allegiance to the Empress. Accompanied by a crowd of people, at the head of two regiments, Catherine went to the Kazan Cathedral. Here, at a prayer service, she was proclaimed empress. Then she went to the Winter Palace and found the Synod and the Senate there already assembled. They also swore allegiance to her.

Personality and character of Catherine II

Not only the biography of Catherine the Great is interesting, but also her personality and character, which left an imprint on her inner and foreign policy. Catherine II was a subtle psychologist and an excellent connoisseur of people. The Empress skillfully chose assistants, while not being afraid of talented and bright personalities. Therefore, Catherine's time was marked by the appearance of many prominent statesmen, as well as generals, musicians, artists, and writers. Catherine was usually restrained, tactful, and patient in dealing with her subjects. She was an excellent conversationalist, she could listen carefully to anyone. By her own admission, the Empress did not possess a creative mind, but she caught worthwhile thoughts and knew how to use them for her own purposes.

There were almost no noisy resignations during the reign of this empress. The nobles were not subject to disgrace, they were not exiled or executed. Because of this, the reign of Catherine is considered the "golden age" of the nobility in Russia. The Empress, at the same time, was very vain and valued her power more than anything in the world. She was ready to make any compromises for the sake of her preservation, including to the detriment of her own convictions.

Religiosity of the Empress

This empress was distinguished by ostentatious piety. She considered herself the protector of the Orthodox Church and its head. Catherine skillfully used in political interests religion. Apparently, her faith was not very deep. The biography of Catherine the Great is marked by the fact that she preached religious tolerance in the spirit of the times. It was under this empress that the persecution of the Old Believers was stopped. Protestant and catholic churches and mosques. Nevertheless, the conversion to another faith from Orthodoxy was still severely punished.

Catherine - an opponent of serfdom

Catherine the Great, whose biography interests us, was an ardent opponent of serfdom. She considered him contrary to human nature and inhumane. Lots of harsh comments this issue preserved in her papers. Also in them you can find her reasoning on how serfdom can be eliminated. Nevertheless, the empress did not dare to do anything concrete in this area because of the fear of another coup and a noble rebellion. Catherine, however, was convinced that the Russian peasants are spiritually undeveloped, so there is a danger in granting them freedom. According to the empress, the life of the peasants is quite prosperous with caring landowners.

First reforms

When Catherine came to the throne, she already had a fairly definite political program. It was based on the ideas of the Enlightenment and took into account the peculiarities of Russia's development. Consistency, gradualness and accounting public sentiment were the main principles of the implementation of this program. Catherine II in the first years of her reign reformed the Senate (in 1763). His work became more efficient as a result. The following year, in 1764, Catherine the Great carried out the secularization of church lands. A biography for the children of this empress, presented on the pages school textbooks, be sure to acquaint students with this fact. Secularization significantly replenished the treasury, and also eased the situation of many peasants. Catherine in Ukraine liquidated the hetmanship in accordance with the need to unify local government throughout the state. In addition, she invited German colonists to the Russian Empire to develop the Black Sea and Volga regions.

The foundation of educational institutions and the new Code

During these same years whole line educational institutions was founded, including for women (the first in Russia) - the Catherine School, the Smolny Institute. In 1767, the Empress announced that a special commission was being convened to create a new Code. It consisted of elected deputies, representatives of all social groups of society, except for serfs. For the commission, Catherine wrote "Instruction", which is, in fact, the liberal program of the reign of this empress. However, her calls were not understood by the deputies. On the smallest issues they argued. Deep contradictions between social groups were revealed in the course of these discussions, as well as low level many deputies have a political culture and the conservatism of most of them. The established commission was dissolved at the end of 1768. The empress appreciated this experience as an important lesson that introduced her to the moods of various segments of the population of the state.

Development of legislative acts

After the Russian-Turkish war ended, which lasted from 1768 to 1774, and the Pugachev uprising was suppressed, the new stage Catherine's reforms. The empress began to develop the most important legislative acts. In particular, a manifesto was issued in 1775, according to which it was allowed to start any industrial enterprises without restrictions. Also in this year, a provincial reform was carried out, as a result of which a new administrative division of the empire was established. It survived until 1917.

Expanding the topic "Brief biography of Catherine the Great", we note that in 1785 the Empress issued the most important legislative acts. These were letters of grant to the cities and the nobility. A charter was also prepared for the state peasants, but political circumstances did not allow it to be put into effect. The main significance of these letters was associated with the implementation of the main goal of Catherine's reforms - the creation of full-fledged estates in the empire on the model of Western Europe. The diploma meant for the Russian nobility the legal consolidation of almost all the privileges and rights that they had.

Recent and unrealized reforms proposed by Catherine the Great

Biography ( summary) of the empress of interest to us is marked by the fact that until her death she spent various reforms. For example, education reform was continued into the 1780s. Catherine the Great, whose biography is presented in this article, created a network of school institutions based on the classroom system in cities. Empress in last years of her life continued to plan major transformations. Reform central control was scheduled for 1797, as well as the introduction of legislation on the succession to the throne in the country, the creation of a higher court based on representation from the 3 estates. However, Catherine II the Great did not have time to complete the extensive reform program. Her brief biography, however, would be incomplete if we did not mention all this. In general, all these reforms were a continuation of the reforms begun by Peter I.

Catherine's foreign policy

What else is interesting about the biography of Catherine the Great? The empress, following Peter, believed that Russia should actively act on the world stage, pursue an offensive policy, even to some extent aggressive. After ascending the throne, she tore alliance treaty with Prussia, concluded by Peter III. Thanks to the efforts of this empress, it was possible to restore Duke E.I. Biron on the throne of Courland. Supported by Prussia, in 1763 Russia achieved the election of Stanisław August Poniatowski, his protege, to the Polish throne. This, in turn, led to a deterioration in relations with Austria due to the fact that she feared the strengthening of Russia and began to incite Turkey to war with her. On the whole, the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774 was successful for Russia, but the difficult situation inside the country encouraged her to seek peace. And for this it was necessary to restore the old relations with Austria. In the end, a compromise was reached. Poland fell victim to it: its first division was carried out in 1772 by Russia, Austria and Prussia.

The Kyuchuk-Kaynarji peace treaty was signed with Turkey, which ensured the independence of the Crimea, which was beneficial for Russia. The empire in the war between England and the colonies of North America took neutrality. Catherine refused to help the troops of the English king. A number of European states joined the Declaration on Armed Neutrality, created at the initiative of Panin. This contributed to the victory of the colonists. In subsequent years, the positions of our country in the Caucasus and Crimea were strengthened, which ended with the inclusion of the latter in the Russian Empire in 1782, as well as the signing in the following year of the Treaty of St. George with Erekle II, King of Kartli-Kakheti. This ensured the presence of Russian troops in Georgia, and then the annexation of its territory to Russia.

Strengthening of authority in the international arena

The new foreign policy doctrine of the Russian government was formed in the 1770s. It was a Greek project. main goal its been a recovery Byzantine Empire and the announcement by Emperor of Prince Konstantin Pavlovich, who was the grandson of Catherine II. Russia in 1779 significantly strengthened its authority on international arena, participating as an intermediary between Prussia and Austria in the Teschen Congress. The biography of Empress Catherine the Great can also be supplemented by the fact that in 1787, accompanied by the court, Polish king, Austrian emperor and foreign diplomats traveled to the Crimea. It became a demonstration military power Russia.

Wars with Turkey and Sweden, further partitions of Poland

The biography of Catherine the Great continued with the fact that she started a new Russian-Turkish war. Russia was now acting in alliance with Austria. Almost at the same time, the war with Sweden also began (from 1788 to 1790), which tried to take revenge after the defeat in northern war. The Russian Empire managed to cope with both of these opponents. In 1791 the war with Turkey ended. The Peace of Jassy was signed in 1792. He secured the influence of Russia in Transcaucasia and Bessarabia, as well as the annexation of Crimea to it. The 2nd and 3rd Partitions of Poland took place in 1793 and 1795 respectively. They put an end to Polish statehood.

Empress Catherine the Great, whose brief biography we reviewed, died on November 17 (according to the old style - November 6), 1796 in St. Petersburg. So significant is her contribution to Russian history that the memory of Catherine II is kept by many works of domestic and world culture, including the works of such great writers as N.V. Gogol, A.S. Pushkin, B. Shaw, V. Pikul and others. The life of Catherine the Great, her biography inspired many directors - the creators of such films as "Caprice of Catherine II", "Royal Hunt", "Young Catherine", "Dreams of Russia", " Russian rebellion" and others.

A foreigner by birth, she sincerely loved Russia and cared about the welfare of her subjects. Having taken the throne through a palace coup, the wife of Peter III tried to bring the best ideas of the European Enlightenment to life in Russian society. At the same time, Catherine opposed the beginning of the Great French Revolution (1789-1799), outraged by the execution of the French king Louis XVI Bourbon (January 21, 1793) and foreshadowing Russia's participation in the anti-French coalition of European states at the beginning of the 19th century.

Catherine II Alekseevna (nee Sophia Augusta Frederick, Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst) was born on May 2, 1729 in the German city of Stettin (modern territory of Poland), and died on November 17, 1796 in St. Petersburg.

The daughter of Prince Christian-August of Anhalt-Zerbst, who was in the Prussian service, and Princess Johanna-Elisabeth (nee Princess of Holstein-Gottorp) was related to the royal houses of Sweden, Prussia and England. Received home education, in the course of which, in addition to dancing and foreign languages also included the foundations of history, geography and theology.

In 1744, she and her mother were invited to Russia by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, and baptized according to Orthodox tradition under the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna. Soon her engagement to Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich (the future Emperor Peter III) was announced, and in 1745 they were married.

Catherine understood that the court loved Elizabeth, did not accept many of the oddities of the heir to the throne, and, perhaps, after the death of Elizabeth, it was she who, with the support of the court, would ascend the Russian throne. Catherine studied the works of figures French Enlightenment, as well as jurisprudence, which had significant influence to her worldview. In addition, she made as much effort as possible to study and, perhaps, understand the history and traditions of the Russian state. Because of her desire to know everything Russian, Catherine won the love of not only the court, but the whole of St. Petersburg.

After the death of Elizaveta Petrovna, Catherine's relationship with her husband, never characterized by warmth and understanding, continued to deteriorate, taking on clearly hostile forms. Fearing arrest, Catherine, with the support of the Orlov brothers, N.I. Panin, K.G. Razumovsky, E.R. Dashkova on the night of June 28, 1762, when the emperor was in Oranienbaum, made a palace coup. Peter III was exiled to Ropsha, where soon after mysterious circumstances died.

Starting her reign, Catherine tried to implement the ideas of the Enlightenment and arrange the state in accordance with the ideals of this most powerful European intellectual movement. Almost from the first days of her reign, she has been actively involved in public affairs by proposing meaningful reforms for society. On her initiative, in 1763, the Senate was reformed, which significantly increased the efficiency of its work. Wishing to strengthen the dependence of the church on the state, and provide additional land resources to the nobility, who supported the policy of reforming society, Catherine carried out the secularization of church lands (1754). The unification of the administration of the territories of the Russian Empire began, and the hetmanship in Ukraine was abolished.

The champion of the Enlightenment, Catherine, creates a number of new educational institutions, including for women (Smolny Institute, Catherine's School).

In 1767, the empress convened a commission, which included representatives of all segments of the population, including peasants (except serfs), to draw up a new code - a set of laws. In order to direct the work of the Legislative Commission, Catherine wrote the "Instruction", the text of which was based on the writings of enlightenment authors. This document, in fact, was the liberal program of her reign.

After the end of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. and the suppression of the uprising under the leadership of Emelyan Pugachev, a new stage of Catherine's reforms began, when the empress independently developed the most important legislative acts and, using the unlimited power of her power, put them into practice.

In 1775, a manifesto was issued allowing the free opening of any industrial enterprises. In the same year, a provincial reform was carried out, which introduced a new administrative-territorial division of the country, which remained until 1917. In 1785, Catherine issued letters of commendation to the nobility and cities.

In the foreign policy arena, Catherine II continued to pursue an offensive policy in all directions - northern, western and southern. The results of foreign policy can be called the strengthening of Russia's influence on European affairs, the three sections of the Commonwealth, the strengthening of positions in the Baltic states, the annexation of Crimea, Georgia, and participation in countering the forces of revolutionary France.

The contribution of Catherine II to Russian history is so significant that many works of our culture keep her memory.

Catherine II Alekseevna the Great (nee Sophie Auguste Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst, German Sophie Auguste Friederike von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, in Orthodoxy Ekaterina Alekseevna; April 21 (May 2), 1729, Stettin, Prussia - November 6 (17), 1796, Winter Palace, Petersburg) - Empress of All Russia from 1762 to 1796.

The daughter of Prince Anhalt-Zerbst, Catherine came to power in a palace coup that dethroned her unpopular husband, Peter III.

The Catherine era was marked by the maximum enslavement of the peasants and the comprehensive expansion of the privileges of the nobility.

Under Catherine the Great, the borders of the Russian Empire were significantly moved to the west (sections of the Commonwealth) and to the south (annexation of Novorossia).

The system of state administration under Catherine II was reformed for the first time since.

AT culturally Russia finally entered the ranks of the great European powers, which was greatly facilitated by the empress herself, who was fond of literary activity, collected masterpieces of painting and was in correspondence with the French enlighteners.

In general, Catherine's policy and her reforms fit into the mainstream of the enlightened absolutism XVIII century.

Catherine II the Great ( documentary)

Sophia Frederick Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst was born on April 21 (May 2, according to a new style) in 1729 in the then German city of Stettin, the capital of Pomerania (Pomerania). Now the city is called Szczecin, among other territories, it was voluntarily transferred by the Soviet Union, following the results of World War II, to Poland and is the capital of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland.

Father, Christian August Anhalt-Zerbst, came from the Zerbst-Dornenburg line of the Anhalt house and was in the service of 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, ended his service as a Prussian field marshal. 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.

Maternal uncle Adolf-Frederick was elected in 1743 to the throne of Sweden, which he entered in 1751 under the name of Adolf-Fredrik. Another uncle, Karl Eytinsky, according to the plan of Catherine I, was to become the husband of her daughter Elizabeth, but died on the eve of the wedding celebrations.

Catherine was educated at home in the family of the Duke of Zerbst. Studied English, French and Italian, dance, music, the basics of history, geography, theology. She grew up a frisky, inquisitive, playful girl, she loved to flaunt her courage in front of the boys, with whom she easily played on the Stettin streets. Parents were unhappy with the "boyish" behavior of their daughter, but they were happy that Frederica took care of her younger sister Augusta. Her mother called her as a child Fike or Fikhen (German Figchen - comes from the name Frederica, that is, "little Frederica").

In 1743, the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, while choosing a bride for her heir, Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the future Russian emperor, remembered that on her deathbed her mother bequeathed her to become the wife of the Holstein prince, brother of Johann Elizabeth. Perhaps it was this circumstance that tipped the scales in Frederica's favor; earlier, Elizabeth had vigorously supported her uncle's election to the Swedish throne and had exchanged portraits with her mother. In 1744, the Zerbst princess, together with her mother, was invited to Russia to marry Peter Fedorovich, who was her second cousin. For the first time she saw her future husband in Eitinsky Castle in 1739.

Immediately after her arrival in Russia, she began to study the Russian language, history, Orthodoxy, Russian traditions, as she sought to get to know Russia as fully as possible, which she perceived as a new homeland. Among her teachers are the famous preacher Simon Todorsky (Orthodoxy teacher), the author of the first Russian grammar Vasily Adadurov (Russian language teacher) and choreographer Lange (dance teacher).

In an effort to learn Russian as quickly as possible, the future empress studied at night, sitting at open window in the frosty air. She soon fell ill with pneumonia, and her condition was so severe that her mother offered to bring a Lutheran pastor. Sophia, however, refused and sent for Simon Todorsky. This circumstance added to her popularity at the Russian court. June 28 (July 9), 1744 Sophia Frederick Augusta converted from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy and received the name Catherine Alekseevna (the same name and patronymic as Elizabeth's mother, Catherine I), and the next day she was betrothed to the future emperor.

The appearance of Sophia with her mother in St. Petersburg was accompanied by political intrigue, in which her mother, Princess Zerbstskaya, was involved. She was a fan of King Frederick II of Prussia, and the latter decided to use her stay in the Russian imperial court to establish its influence on the foreign policy of Russia. To do this, it was planned, through intrigue and influence on the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, to remove Chancellor Bestuzhev, who pursued an anti-Prussian policy, from the affairs and replace him with another nobleman who sympathized with Prussia. However, Bestuzhev managed to intercept the letters of Princess Zerbst Frederick II and present them to Elizabeth Petrovna. After the latter found out about the “ugly role of a Prussian spy” played by her mother Sophia at her court, she immediately changed her attitude towards her and disgraced her. However, this did not affect the position of Sophia herself, who did not take part in this intrigue.

On August 21, 1745, at the age of sixteen, Catherine was married to Peter Fedorovich, who was 17 years old and who was her second cousin. For the first years of their life together, Peter was not at all interested in his wife, and there was no marital relationship between them.

Finally, after two failed pregnancies, On September 20, 1754, Catherine gave birth to a son, Pavel. The birth was difficult, the baby was immediately taken away from her mother at the behest of the reigning Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, and Catherine was deprived of the opportunity to educate, allowing only occasionally to see Paul. So grand duchess I saw my son for the first time only 40 days after the birth. A number of sources claim that the true father of Paul was Catherine's lover S. V. Saltykov (there is no direct statement about this in the "Notes" of Catherine II, but they are often interpreted this way). Others - that such rumors are unfounded, and that Peter underwent an operation that eliminated a defect that made conception impossible. The issue of paternity aroused public interest as well.

After the birth of Pavel, relations with Peter and Elizaveta Petrovna finally deteriorated. Peter called his wife “reserve madam” and openly made mistresses, however, without preventing Catherine from doing this, who during this period, thanks to the efforts of the English ambassador Sir Charles Henbury Williams, had a connection with Stanislav Poniatowski, the future king of Poland. On December 9, 1757, Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Anna, which caused great displeasure of Peter, who said at the news of a new pregnancy: “God knows why my wife became pregnant again! I am not at all sure whether this child is from me and whether I should take it personally.

English Ambassador Williams during this period was a close friend and confidant of Catherine. He repeatedly provided her with significant amounts in the form of loans or subsidies: in 1750 alone, 50,000 rubles were transferred to her, for which there are two of her receipts; and in November 1756, 44,000 rubles were transferred to her. In return, he received from her various confidential information - in oral and through letters, which she quite regularly wrote to him, as if on behalf of a man (for the purpose of conspiracy). In particular, at the end of 1756, after the start of the Seven Years' War with Prussia (whose ally was England), Williams, as follows from his own dispatches, received from Catherine important information on the state of the warring Russian army and on the plan of the Russian offensive, which he handed over to London, as well as to Berlin, the Prussian king Frederick II. After Williams left, she also received money from his successor, Keith. Historians explain Catherine's frequent appeal for money to the British by her extravagance, due to which her expenses far exceeded the amounts that were allocated for her maintenance from the treasury. In one of her letters to Williams, she promised, in gratitude, “to bring Russia to a friendly alliance with England, to render her everywhere the assistance and preference necessary for the good of all Europe and especially Russia, before their common enemy, France, whose greatness is a shame for Russia. I will learn to practice these feelings, base my fame on them and prove to the king, your sovereign, the strength of these my feelings..

Since 1756, and especially during the illness of Elizabeth Petrovna, Catherine hatched a plan to remove the future emperor (her husband) from the throne by means of a conspiracy, about which she repeatedly wrote to Williams. To this end, Catherine, according to the historian V. O. Klyuchevsky, “begged for a loan of 10 thousand pounds sterling for gifts and bribes from the English king, pledging to act in good faith in the common Anglo-Russian interests, began to think about bringing the guard to the case in case of death Elizabeth, entered into a secret agreement on this with Hetman K. Razumovsky, the commander of one of the guards regiments. Chancellor Bestuzhev was also privy to this plan of a palace coup, who promised Catherine assistance.

At the beginning of 1758, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna suspected Apraksin, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, with whom Catherine was on friendly terms, as well as Chancellor Bestuzhev himself, of treason. Both were arrested, interrogated and punished; however, Bestuzhev managed to destroy all his correspondence with Catherine before his arrest, which saved her from persecution and disgrace. At the same time, Williams was recalled to England. Thus, her former favorites were removed, but a circle of new ones began to form: Grigory Orlov and Dashkova.

The death of Elizabeth Petrovna (December 25, 1761) and the accession to the throne of Peter Fedorovich under the name of Peter III alienated the spouses even more. Peter III began to openly live with his mistress Elizaveta Vorontsova, settling his wife at the other end Winter Palace. When Catherine became pregnant from Orlov, this could no longer be explained by accidental conception from her husband, since communication between the spouses had completely ceased by that time. Ekaterina hid her pregnancy, and when the time came to give birth, her devoted valet Vasily Grigoryevich Shkurin set fire to his house. A lover of such spectacles, Peter with the court left the palace to look at the fire; at this time, Catherine gave birth safely. This is how Alexei Bobrinsky was born, to whom his brother Paul I subsequently awarded the title of count.

Having ascended the throne, Peter III carried out a number of actions that caused a negative attitude of the officer corps towards him. So, he concluded an unfavorable treaty for Russia with Prussia, while Russia won a number of victories over it during the Seven Years' War, and returned the lands occupied by the Russians to it. At the same time, he intended, in alliance with Prussia, to oppose Denmark (an ally of Russia), in order to return Schleswig, which she had taken from Holstein, and he himself intended to go on a campaign at the head of the guard. Peter announced the sequestration of the property of the Russian Church, the abolition of monastic land ownership and shared with others plans for the reform of church rites. Supporters of the coup accused Peter III of ignorance, dementia, dislike of Russia, complete inability to rule. Against his background, Catherine looked favorably - a smart, well-read, pious and benevolent wife, who was persecuted by her husband.

After relations with her husband finally deteriorated and dissatisfaction with the emperor on the part of the guard intensified, Catherine decided to participate in the coup. Her comrades-in-arms, the main of which were the Orlov brothers, sergeant major Potemkin and adjutant Fyodor Khitrovo, engaged in agitation in the guards units and won them over to their side. immediate cause The beginning of the coup was rumors about the arrest of Catherine and the disclosure and arrest of one of the participants in the conspiracy - Lieutenant Passek.

To all appearances, foreign participation has not been avoided here either. As A. Troyat and K. Valishevsky write, when planning the overthrow of Peter III, Catherine turned to the French and the British for money, hinting to them what she was going to implement. The French were distrustful of her request to borrow 60 thousand rubles, not believing in the seriousness of her plan, but she received 100 thousand rubles from the British, which subsequently may have influenced her attitude towards England and France.

In the early morning of June 28 (July 9), 1762, while Peter III was in Oranienbaum, Catherine, accompanied by Alexei and Grigory Orlov, arrived from Peterhof to St. Petersburg, where the guards swore allegiance to her. Peter III, seeing the hopelessness of resistance, abdicated the next day, was taken into custody and died under unclear circumstances. In her letter, Catherine once pointed out that before his death, Peter suffered from hemorrhoidal colic. After her death (although the facts indicate that even before her death - see below), Catherine ordered an autopsy to dispel suspicions of poisoning. An autopsy showed (according to Catherine) that the stomach is absolutely clean, which excludes the presence of poison.

At the same time, as the historian N.I. Pavlenko writes, “The violent death of the emperor is irrefutably confirmed by absolutely reliable sources” - Orlov’s letters to Catherine and a number of other facts. There are also facts indicating that she knew about the impending assassination of Peter III. So, already on July 4, 2 days before the death of the emperor in the palace in Ropsha, Catherine sent the doctor Paulsen to him, and as Pavlenko writes, “It is indicative that Paulsen was sent to Ropsha not with medicines, but with surgical instruments for opening the body”.

After the abdication of her husband, Ekaterina Alekseevna ascended the throne as the reigning empress with the name of Catherine II, issuing a manifesto in which the basis for the removal of Peter was an attempt to change the state religion and peace with Prussia. To justify her own rights to the throne (and not the heir to Paul), Catherine referred to "the desire of all Our loyal subjects is clear and not hypocritical." On September 22 (October 3), 1762, she was crowned in Moscow. As V. O. Klyuchevsky described her accession, “Catherine made a double capture: she took away power from her husband and did not transfer it to her son, the natural heir of her father”.

The policy of Catherine II was characterized mainly by the preservation and development of the trends laid down by her predecessors. In the middle of the reign, an administrative (provincial) reform was carried out, which determined the territorial structure of the country until 1917, as well as judicial reform. The territory of the Russian state increased significantly due to the annexation of the fertile southern lands - the Crimea, the Black Sea region, as well as the eastern part of the Commonwealth, etc. The population increased from 23.2 million (in 1763) to 37.4 million (in 1796), In terms of population, Russia became the largest European country (it accounted for 20% of the population of Europe). Catherine II formed 29 new provinces and built about 144 cities.

Klyuchevsky about the reign of Catherine the Great: "The army from 162 thousand people was strengthened to 312 thousand, the fleet, which in 1757 consisted of 21 battleships and 6 frigates, in 1790 included 67 battleships and 40 frigates and 300 rowing ships, the amount of state revenue from 16 million rubles rose to 69 million, that is, more than quadrupled, the success of foreign trade: the Baltic - in increasing import and export, from 9 million to 44 million rubles, the Black Sea, Catherine and created - from 390 thousand to 1776 to 1 million 900 thousand rubles in 1796, the growth of domestic turnover was indicated by the issue of a coin in 34 years of the reign for 148 million rubles, while in the 62 previous years it was issued only for 97 million. "

Population growth was largely the result of the accession to Russia of foreign states and territories (where almost 7 million people lived), which often took place against the wishes of the local population, which led to the emergence of "Polish", "Ukrainian", "Jewish" and other national issues inherited by the Russian Empire from the era of Catherine II. Hundreds of villages under Catherine received the status of a city, but in fact they remained villages in appearance and occupation of the population, the same applies to a number of cities founded by her (some even existed only on paper, as evidenced by contemporaries). In addition to issuing coins, 156 million rubles worth of paper banknotes were issued, which led to inflation and a significant depreciation of the ruble; therefore, the real growth of budget revenues and other economic indicators during her reign was much less than the nominal one.

The Russian economy continued to be agrarian. The share of the urban population has practically not increased, amounting to about 4%. At the same time, a number of cities were founded (Tiraspol, Grigoriopol, etc.), iron smelting increased by more than 2 times (in which Russia took 1st place in the world), and the number of sailing and linen manufactories increased. In total, by the end of the XVIII century. there were 1200 in the country large enterprises(in 1767 there were 663). Exports of Russian goods to other European countries have increased significantly, including through established Black Sea ports. However, in the structure of this export there were no finished products at all, only raw materials and semi-finished products, and foreign industrial products dominated in imports. While in the West in the second half of the XVIII century. the Industrial Revolution took place, Russian industry remained "patriarchal" and serfdom, which led to its lagging behind the Western one. Finally, in the 1770-1780s. an acute social and economic crisis broke out, which resulted in a financial crisis.

Catherine's commitment to the ideas of the Enlightenment largely predetermined the fact that the term " enlightened absolutism". She really brought some of the ideas of the Enlightenment to life.

So, according to Catherine, based on the works of the French philosopher, the vast Russian expanses and the severity of the climate determine the regularity and necessity of autocracy in Russia. Based on this, under Catherine, the autocracy was strengthened, the bureaucratic apparatus was strengthened, the country was centralized and the system of government was unified. However, the ideas expressed by Diderot and Voltaire, of which she was an adherent in words, did not correspond to her domestic politics. They defended the idea that every person is born free, and advocated the equality of all people and the elimination of medieval forms of exploitation and despotic forms of government. Contrary to these ideas, under Catherine there was a further deterioration in the position of serfs, their exploitation intensified, inequality grew due to the granting of even greater privileges to the nobility.

In general, historians characterize her policy as “pro-noble” and believe that, contrary to the Empress’s frequent statements about her “vigilant concern for the welfare of all subjects,” the concept of the common good in the era of Catherine was the same fiction as in Russia as a whole in the 18th century.

Under Catherine, the territory of the empire was divided into provinces, many of which remained practically unchanged until the October Revolution. The territory of Estonia and Livonia as a result of the regional reform in 1782-1783. was divided into two provinces - Riga and Revel - with institutions that already existed in other provinces of Russia. The special Baltic order was also eliminated, which provided for more extensive rights than the Russian landowners had for local nobles to work and the personality of a peasant. Siberia was divided into three provinces: Tobolsk, Kolyvan and Irkutsk.

Talking about the reasons for holding provincial reform under Catherine, N.I. Pavlenko writes that it was a response to the Peasant War of 1773-1775. under the leadership of Pugachev, which revealed the weakness of local authorities and their inability to cope with peasant riots. The reform was preceded by a series of notes submitted to the government from the nobility, which recommended that the network of institutions and "police guards" be increased in the country.

Carrying out the provincial reform in the Left-bank Ukraine in 1783-1785. led to a change in the regimental structure (former regiments and hundreds) to a common administrative division for the Russian Empire into provinces and counties, the final establishment of serfdom and equalization of the rights of the Cossack foreman with Russian nobility. With the conclusion of the Kyuchuk-Kainarji Treaty (1774), Russia received access to the Black Sea and Crimea.

Thus, there is no need to save special rights and control systems of the Zaporizhian Cossacks. At the same time, their traditional way of life often led to conflicts with the authorities. After repeated pogroms of Serbian settlers, as well as in connection with the support of the Cossacks of the Pugachev uprising, Catherine II ordered to disband the Zaporozhian Sich, which was carried out on the orders of Grigory Potemkin to pacify the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks by General Peter Tekeli in June 1775.

The Sich was disbanded, most of the Cossacks were disbanded, and the fortress itself was destroyed. In 1787, Catherine II, together with Potemkin, visited the Crimea, where she was met by the Amazon company created for her arrival; in the same year, the Army of the Faithful Cossacks was created, which later became the Black Sea Cossack Army, and in 1792 they were granted the Kuban for perpetual use, where the Cossacks moved, having founded the city of Yekaterinodar.

The reforms on the Don created a military civil government modeled on the provincial administrations of central Russia. In 1771, the Kalmyk Khanate was finally annexed to Russia.

The reign of Catherine II was characterized by the extensive development of the economy and trade, while maintaining the "patriarchal" industry and Agriculture. By decree of 1775, factories and industrial plants were recognized as property, the disposal of which does not require special permission from the authorities. In 1763, the free exchange of copper money for silver was banned so as not to provoke the development of inflation. The development and revival of trade was facilitated by the emergence of new credit institutions (the state bank and the loan office) and the expansion of banking operations (since 1770, deposits were accepted for storage). A state bank was established and for the first time the issue of paper money - banknotes - was launched.

Introduced state regulation salt prices, which was one of the vital goods in the country. The Senate legislated the price of salt at 30 kopecks per pood (instead of 50 kopecks) and 10 kopecks per pood in the regions of mass salting of fish. Without introducing a state monopoly on the salt trade, Catherine counted on increased competition and, ultimately, improving the quality of the goods. However, soon the price of salt was raised again. At the beginning of the reign, some monopolies were abolished: the state monopoly on trade with China, the merchant Shemyakin's private monopoly on the import of silk, and others.

The role of Russia in the world economy has increased- to England became in large quantities Russian sailing fabrics were exported, the export of cast iron and iron to other European countries increased (the consumption of cast iron in the domestic Russian market also increased significantly). But the export of raw materials grew especially strongly: timber (by a factor of 5), hemp, bristles, etc., as well as bread. The volume of exports of the country increased from 13.9 million rubles. in 1760 to 39.6 million rubles. in 1790

Russian merchant ships began to sail in the Mediterranean. However, their number was insignificant in comparison with foreign ones - only 7% of the total number of ships serving Russian foreign trade in the late 18th - early 19th centuries; the number of foreign merchant ships entering Russian ports annually increased from 1340 to 2430 during the period of her reign.

As the economic historian N. A. Rozhkov pointed out, in the structure of exports in the era of Catherine there were no finished products at all, only raw materials and semi-finished products, and 80-90% of imports were foreign industrial products, the import volume of which was several times higher than domestic production. Thus, the volume of domestic manufacturing production in 1773 it was 2.9 million rubles, the same as in 1765, and the volume of imports in these years was about 10 million rubles.

Industry developed poorly, there were practically no technical improvements, and serf labor dominated. So, from year to year, cloth manufactories could not even satisfy the needs of the army, despite the ban on selling cloth "to the side", in addition, the cloth was of poor quality, and it had to be purchased abroad. Catherine herself did not understand the significance of the Industrial Revolution taking place in the West and argued that machines (or, as she called them, “colosses”) were harmful to the state, since they reduced the number of workers. Only two export industries developed rapidly - the production of cast iron and linen, but both - on the basis of "patriarchal" methods, without the use of new technologies that were actively introduced at that time in the West - which predetermined a severe crisis in both industries that began shortly after the death of Catherine II .

In the field of foreign trade, Catherine's policy consisted in a gradual transition from protectionism, characteristic of Elizabeth Petrovna, to the complete liberalization of exports and imports, which, according to a number of economic historians, was the result of the influence of the ideas of the Physiocrats. Already in the first years of the reign, a number of foreign trade monopolies and a ban on grain exports were abolished, which from that time began to grow rapidly. In 1765, the Free Economic Society was founded, which promoted the ideas of free trade and published its own magazine. In 1766, a new customs tariff was introduced, which significantly reduced tariff barriers compared to the protectionist tariff of 1757 (which established protective duties in the amount of 60 to 100% or more); they were even more reduced in the customs tariff of 1782. Thus, in the "moderately protectionist" tariff of 1766, protective duties averaged 30%, and in the liberal tariff of 1782 - 10%, only for some goods rising to 20%. thirty%.

Agriculture, like industry, developed mainly through extensive methods (increase in the amount of arable land); the promotion of intensive methods of agriculture by the Free Economic Society created under Catherine had no great result.

From the first years of the reign of Catherine, famine began to periodically arise in the village, which some contemporaries explained by chronic crop failures, but the historian M.N. Pokrovsky associated with the beginning of the mass export of grain, which had previously been banned under Elizabeth Petrovna, and by the end of Catherine's reign amounted to 1.3 million rubles. in year. Cases of mass ruin of peasants became more frequent. The famines acquired a special scope in the 1780s, when they covered large regions of the country. Bread prices have risen sharply: for example, in the center of Russia (Moscow, Smolensk, Kaluga) they have increased from 86 kop. in 1760 to 2.19 rubles. in 1773 and up to 7 rubles. in 1788, that is, more than 8 times.

Paper money introduced into circulation in 1769 - banknotes- in the first decade of their existence, they accounted for only a few percent of the metal (silver and copper) money supply, and played positive role, allowing the state to reduce its costs of moving money within the empire. However, due to the lack of money in the treasury, which became a constant phenomenon, from the beginning of the 1780s, there was an increasing issue of banknotes, the volume of which by 1796 reached 156 million rubles, and their value depreciated 1.5 times. In addition, the state borrowed money from abroad in the amount of 33 million rubles. and had various unpaid internal obligations (bills, salaries, etc.) in the amount of 15.5 million rubles. That. total amount government debt amounted to 205 million rubles, the treasury was empty, and budget expenditures significantly exceeded revenues, which Paul I stated upon accession to the throne. All this gave rise to the historian N. D. Chechulin in his economic study to conclude that there was a “severe economic crisis” in the country (in the second half of the reign of Catherine II) and a “complete collapse financial system Catherine's reign".

In 1768, a network of city schools was created, based on the class-lesson system. Schools began to open. Under Catherine, special attention was paid to the development of women's education; in 1764, the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens and the Educational Society for Noble Maidens were opened. The Academy of Sciences has become one of the leading in Europe scientific bases. An observatory, a physics office, anatomical theater, Botanical Garden, tool workshops, printing house, library, archive. On October 11, 1783, the Russian Academy was founded.

Compulsory vaccination introduced, and Catherine decided to set a personal example for her subjects: on the night of October 12 (23), 1768, the empress herself was vaccinated against smallpox. Among the first vaccinated were also Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna. Under Catherine II, the fight against epidemics in Russia began to take on the character of state events that were directly within the responsibilities of the Imperial Council, the Senate. By decree of Catherine, outposts were created, located not only on the borders, but also on the roads leading to the center of Russia. The "Charter of border and port quarantines" was created.

New areas of medicine for Russia developed: hospitals for the treatment of syphilis, psychiatric hospitals and shelters were opened. A number of fundamental works on questions of medicine have been published.

To prevent their resettlement in the central regions of Russia and attachment to their communities for the convenience of collecting state taxes, Catherine II established the Pale of Settlement in 1791 outside of which Jews had no right to reside. The Pale of Settlement was established in the same place where the Jews lived before - on the lands annexed as a result of the three partitions of Poland, as well as in the steppe regions near the Black Sea and sparsely populated areas east of the Dnieper. The conversion of Jews to Orthodoxy removed all restrictions on residence. It is noted that the Pale of Settlement contributed to the preservation of Jewish national identity, the formation of a special Jewish identity within the Russian Empire.

In 1762-1764 Catherine published two manifestos. The first - "On allowing all foreigners entering Russia to settle in which provinces they wish and on the rights granted to them" called on foreign citizens to move to Russia, the second determined the list of benefits and privileges for immigrants. Soon the first German settlements arose in the Volga region, allotted for immigrants. The influx of German colonists was so great that already in 1766 it was necessary to temporarily suspend the reception of new settlers until the settlement of those who had already entered. The creation of colonies on the Volga was on the rise: in 1765 - 12 colonies, in 1766 - 21, in 1767 - 67. According to the census of colonists in 1769, 6.5 thousand families lived in 105 colonies on the Volga, which amounted to 23.2 thousand people. In the future, the German community will play a prominent role in the life of Russia.

During the reign of Catherine, the country included Northern Black Sea region, Sea of ​​Azov, Crimea, New Russia, the lands between the Dniester and the Bug, Belarus, Courland and Lithuania. Total number new subjects acquired in this way by Russia, reached 7 million. As a result, as V. O. Klyuchevsky wrote, in the Russian Empire “the discord of interests” between different peoples increased. This was expressed, in particular, in the fact that for almost every nationality the government was forced to introduce a special economic, tax and administrative regime. Thus, the German colonists were completely exempted from paying taxes to the state and from other duties; for the Jews, the Pale of Settlement was introduced; from Ukrainian and Belarusian population on the territory of the former Commonwealth, the poll tax was not levied at first at all, and then it was levied at half the rate. In these conditions, the indigenous population turned out to be the most discriminated against, which led to such an incident: some Russian nobles in the late 18th - early 19th centuries. as a reward for their service, they were asked to “record as Germans” so that they could enjoy the corresponding privileges.

On April 21, 1785, two charters were issued: "Charter on the rights, liberties and advantages of the noble nobility" and "Charter to cities". The empress called them the crown of her activity, and historians consider them the crown of the "pro-noble policy" of the kings of the 18th century. As N. I. Pavlenko writes, “In the history of Russia, the nobility has never been blessed with such a variety of privileges as under Catherine II.”

Both charters finally secured for the upper classes those rights, duties and privileges that had already been granted by Catherine's predecessors during the 18th century, and provided a number of new ones. So, the nobility as an estate was formed by decrees of Peter I and at the same time received a number of privileges, including exemption from the poll tax and the right to unlimitedly dispose of estates; and by decree of Peter III, it was finally released from compulsory service to the state.

The charter to the nobility contained the following guarantees:

Pre-existing rights confirmed
- the nobility was exempted from quartering military units and commands, from corporal punishment
- the nobility received ownership of the bowels of the earth
- the right to have their own estate institutions, the name of the 1st estate changed: not "nobility", but "noble nobility"
- it was forbidden to confiscate the estates of nobles for criminal offenses; estates were to be passed on to legitimate heirs
- the nobles have the exclusive right to own land, but the "Charter" does not say a word about the monopoly right to have serfs
- Ukrainian foremen were equalized in rights with Russian nobles. a nobleman who did not have an officer rank was deprived of the right to vote
- only nobles whose income from estates exceeds 100 rubles could hold elected positions.

Despite the privileges, in the era of Catherine II, property inequality among the nobles greatly increased: against the background of individual large fortunes, the economic situation of part of the nobility worsened. As the historian D. Blum points out, a number of large nobles owned tens and hundreds of thousands of serfs, which was not the case in previous reigns (when the owner of more than 500 souls was considered rich); at the same time, almost 2/3 of all landowners in 1777 had less than 30 male serf souls, and 1/3 of the landowners - less than 10 souls; many nobles who wanted to enter the civil service did not have the means to purchase appropriate clothing and footwear. V. O. Klyuchevsky writes that many noble children in her reign, even becoming students of the Maritime Academy and “receiving a small salary (stipends), 1 rub. per month, “from barefoot” they could not even attend the academy and were forced, according to a report, not to think about the sciences, but about their own food, on the side to acquire funds for their maintenance.

During the reign of Catherine II, a number of laws were adopted that worsened the situation of the peasants:

The decree of 1763 laid the maintenance of the military teams sent to suppress peasant uprisings on the peasants themselves.
By decree of 1765, for open disobedience, the landowner could send the peasant not only into exile, but also to hard labor, and the period of hard labor was set by him; the landlords also had the right to return the exiled from hard labor at any time.
The decree of 1767 forbade peasants to complain about their master; the disobedient were threatened with exile to Nerchinsk (but they could go to court).
In 1783 serfdom was introduced in Little Russia (the Left-bank Ukraine and the Russian Chernozem region).
In 1796, serfdom was introduced in Novorossiya (Don, North Caucasus).
After the divisions of the Commonwealth, the serfdom regime was tightened in the territories that had ceded to the Russian Empire ( Right-Bank Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland).

According to N. I. Pavlenko, under Catherine "serfdom developed in depth and breadth", which was "an example of a glaring contradiction between the ideas of the Enlightenment and government measures to strengthen the serfdom regime."

During her reign, Catherine gave away more than 800 thousand peasants to landlords and nobles, thus setting a kind of record. For the most part, these were not state peasants, but peasants from the lands acquired during the partitions of Poland, as well as palace peasants. But, for example, the number of assigned (possession) peasants from 1762 to 1796. increased from 210 to 312 thousand people, and these were formally free (state) peasants, but turned into serfs or slaves. Possession peasants Ural factories accepted Active participation in Peasant War 1773-1775

At the same time, the position of the monastery peasants was alleviated, who were transferred to the jurisdiction of the College of Economy along with the lands. All their duties were replaced by a cash quitrent, which gave the peasants more independence and developed their economic initiative. As a result, the unrest of the monastery peasants stopped.

The fact that a woman who had no formal rights to this was proclaimed empress gave rise to many contenders for the throne, which overshadowed a significant part of the reign of Catherine II. Yes, only from 1764 to 1773 Seven False Peter III appeared in the country(who claimed that they are nothing more than the "resurrected" Peter III) - A. Aslanbekov, I. Evdokimov, G. Kremnev, P. Chernyshov, G. Ryabov, F. Bogomolov, N. Krestov; the eighth was Emelyan Pugachev. And in 1774-1775. to this list was added the “case of Princess Tarakanova”, who pretended to be the daughter of Elizabeth Petrovna.

During 1762-1764. 3 conspiracies aimed at overthrowing Catherine were uncovered, and two of them were associated with the name of Ivan Antonovich - the former Russian Emperor Ivan VI, who at the time of accession to the throne of Catherine II continued to remain alive in custody in the Shlisselburg fortress. The first of them involved 70 officers. The second took place in 1764, when Lieutenant V. Ya. Mirovich, who was on guard duty in the Shlisselburg Fortress, won a part of the garrison over to his side in order to free Ivan. The guards, however, in accordance with the instructions given to them, stabbed the prisoner, and Mirovich himself was arrested and executed.

In 1771, a major plague epidemic occurred in Moscow, complicated popular unrest in Moscow, known as the Plague Riot. The rebels destroyed the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin. The next day, the crowd took the Donskoy Monastery by storm, killed Archbishop Ambrose, who was hiding in it, and began to smash the quarantine outposts and the houses of the nobility. Troops under the command of G. G. Orlov were sent to suppress the uprising. After three days of fighting, the rebellion was crushed.

In 1773-1775 there was a peasant uprising led by Emelyan Pugachev. It covered the lands of the Yaik army, the Orenburg province, the Urals, the Kama region, Bashkiria, part of Western Siberia, Middle and Lower Volga. During the uprising, the Bashkirs, Tatars, Kazakhs, Ural factory workers and numerous serfs from all provinces where hostilities unfolded joined the Cossacks. After the suppression of the uprising, some liberal reforms and increased conservatism.

In 1772 took place The first section of the Commonwealth. Austria received all of Galicia with districts, Prussia - West Prussia (Pomorie), Russia - eastern part Belarus to Minsk (provinces of Vitebsk and Mogilev) and part of the Latvian lands that were previously part of Livonia. The Polish Sejm was forced to agree to the partition and renounce claims to the lost territories: Poland lost 380,000 km² with a population of 4 million people.

Polish nobles and industrialists contributed to the adoption of the Constitution of 1791; the conservative part of the population of the Targowice Confederation turned to Russia for help.

In 1793 took place The second section of the Commonwealth, approved by the Grodno Seimas. Prussia received Gdansk, Torun, Poznan (part of the land along the rivers Warta and Vistula), Russia - Central Belarus with Minsk and New Russia (part of the territory of modern Ukraine).

In March 1794, an uprising began under the leadership of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, whose goals were to restore territorial integrity, sovereignty and the Constitution on May 3, but in the spring of that year it was suppressed by the Russian army under the command of A. V. Suvorov. During the Kosciuszko uprising, the insurgent Poles who seized the Russian embassy in Warsaw discovered documents that had a great public outcry, according to which King Stanislav Poniatowski and a number of members of the Grodno Seim at the time of the approval of the 2nd section of the Commonwealth received money from the Russian government - in In particular, Poniatowski received several thousand ducats.

In 1795 took place The third section of the Commonwealth. Austria received Southern Poland with Luban and Krakow, Prussia - Central Poland with Warsaw, Russia - Lithuania, Courland, Volyn and Western Belarus.

October 13, 1795 - a conference of three powers on the fall of the Polish state, it lost statehood and sovereignty.

An important direction The foreign policy of Catherine II was also the territory of the Crimea, the Black Sea and the North Caucasus, which were under Turkish rule.

When the uprising of the Bar Confederation broke out, Turkish sultan declared war on Russia (Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774), using as a pretext that one of the Russian detachments, pursuing the Poles, entered the territory of the Ottoman Empire. Russian troops defeated the Confederates and began to win one victory after another in the south. Having achieved success in a number of land and sea battles (the Battle of Kozludzhi, the battle of the Ryaba Mogila, the battle of Kagul, the battle of Larga, the battle of Chesme, etc.), Russia forced Turkey to sign the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhi Treaty, as a result of which Crimean Khanate formally gained independence, but de facto became dependent on Russia. Turkey paid Russia military indemnities in the order of 4.5 million rubles, and also ceded the northern coast of the Black Sea, along with two important ports.

After the end of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, Russia's policy towards the Crimean Khanate was aimed at establishing a pro-Russian ruler in it and joining Russia. Under pressure from Russian diplomacy, Shahin Giray was elected khan. The previous khan - protege of Turkey Devlet IV Giray - at the beginning of 1777 tried to resist, but it was suppressed by A. V. Suvorov, Devlet IV fled to Turkey. At the same time, the landing of Turkish troops in the Crimea was prevented, and thus an attempt to unleash a new war was prevented, after which Turkey recognized Shahin Giray as a khan. In 1782, an uprising broke out against him, which was suppressed by Russian troops brought to the peninsula, and in 1783, by the manifesto of Catherine II, the Crimean Khanate was annexed to Russia.

After the victory, the empress, together with the Austrian emperor Joseph II, made a triumphal trip to the Crimea.

The next war with Turkey took place in 1787-1792 and was an unsuccessful attempt by the Ottoman Empire to regain the lands that had gone to Russia during the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, including Crimea. Here, too, the Russians won a number of major victories, both land - the Kinburn battle, the Battle of Rymnik, the capture of Ochakov, the capture of Izmail, the battle of Focsani, the Turkish campaigns against Bendery and Akkerman, etc., and the sea - the battle at Fidonisi (1788), the Battle of Kerch (1790), at Cape Tendra (1790) and the Battle of Kaliakria (1791). As a result, the Ottoman Empire in 1791 was forced to sign the Iasi Peace Treaty, which secured the Crimea and Ochakov for Russia, and also moved the border between the two empires to the Dniester.

The wars with Turkey were marked by major military victories by Rumyantsev, Orlov-Chesmensky, Suvorov, Potemkin, Ushakov, and the assertion of Russia in the Black Sea. As a result of them, the Northern Black Sea region, Crimea, and the Kuban region were ceded to Russia, its political positions in the Caucasus and the Balkans were strengthened, and Russia's authority on the world stage was strengthened.

According to many historians, these conquests are the main achievement of the reign of Catherine II. At the same time, a number of historians (K. Valishevsky, V. O. Klyuchevsky, etc.) and contemporaries (Frederick II, French ministers, etc.) explained the “amazing” victories of Russia over Turkey not so much by the strength of the Russian army and navy, which were still rather weak and poorly organized, as a consequence of the extreme decomposition during this period Turkish army and states.

Growth of Catherine II: 157 centimeters.

Personal life of Catherine II:

Unlike her predecessor, Catherine did not conduct extensive palace construction for her own needs. For comfortable travel around the country, she arranged a network of small travel palaces along the road from St. Petersburg to Moscow (from Chesmensky to Petrovsky) and only at the end of her life took up the construction of a new country residence in Pella (not preserved). In addition, she was concerned about the lack of a spacious and modern residence in Moscow and its environs. Although she did not visit the old capital often, Catherine for a number of years cherished plans for the restructuring of the Moscow Kremlin, as well as the construction suburban palaces in Lefortovo, Kolomenskoye and Tsaritsyn. For various reasons, none of these projects was completed.

Catherine was a brunette of medium height. She combined high intelligence, education, statesmanship and commitment to "free love". Catherine is known for her connections with numerous lovers, the number of which (according to the list of the authoritative Ekaterinologist P.I. Bartenev) reaches 23. The most famous of them were Sergey Saltykov, G.G. was the cornet Platon Zubov, who became a general. With Potemkin, according to some sources, Catherine was secretly married (1775, see Wedding of Catherine II and Potemkin). After 1762, she planned a marriage with Orlov, but on the advice of those close to her, she abandoned this idea.

Catherine's love affairs are marked by a series of scandals. So, Grigory Orlov, being her favorite, at the same time (according to M. M. Shcherbatov) cohabited with all her ladies-in-waiting and even with his 13-year-old cousin. The favorite of Empress Lanskoy used an aphrodisiac to increase "male strength" (kontarid) in ever-increasing doses, which, apparently, according to the conclusion of the court physician Weikart, was the reason for his unexpected death at a young age. Her last favorite, Platon Zubov, was a little over 20 years old, while Catherine's age at that time had already exceeded 60. Historians mention many other scandalous details ("bribe" of 100 thousand rubles, paid to Potemkin by the empress's future favorites, many of which were before this by his adjutants, the testing of their "male strength" by her ladies-in-waiting, etc.).

The bewilderment of contemporaries, including foreign diplomats, the Austrian emperor Joseph II, etc., caused rave reviews and characteristics that Catherine gave to her young favorites, for the most part devoid of any outstanding talents. As N. I. Pavlenko writes, “neither before Catherine nor after her, debauchery did not reach such a large scale and did not manifest itself in such a frankly defiant form.”

It is worth noting that in Europe Catherine's "debauchery" was not such a rare occurrence against the backdrop of a general licentiousness of morals. XVIII century. Most kings (with the possible exception of Frederick the Great, Louis XVI and Charles XII) had numerous mistresses. However, this does not apply to reigning queens and empresses. Thus, the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa wrote about the "disgust and horror" that such persons as Catherine II inspire in her, and this attitude towards the latter was shared by her daughter Marie Antoinette. As K. Valishevsky wrote in this regard, comparing Catherine II with Louis XV, “the difference between the sexes until the end of time, we think, will give a deeply unequal character to the same actions, depending on whether they are committed by a man or a woman ... besides, the mistresses of Louis XV never influenced the fate of France.

There are numerous examples of the exceptional influence (both negative and positive) that Catherine's favorites (Orlov, Potemkin, Platon Zubov, etc.) had on the fate of the country, starting from June 28, 1762, until the death of the Empress, as well as on its domestic, foreign policy and even on military operations. According to N.I. Pavlenko, in order to please the favorite Grigory Potemkin, who envied the glory of Field Marshal Rumyantsev, this outstanding commander and the hero of the Russian-Turkish wars was removed by Catherine from command of the army and was forced to retire to his estate. Another, very mediocre commander, Musin-Pushkin, on the contrary, continued to lead the army, despite his blunders in military campaigns (for which the empress herself called him "a real blockhead") - due to the fact that he was "a favorite on June 28", one of those who helped Catherine seize the throne.

In addition, the institution of favoritism had a negative effect on the morals high nobility, who was looking for benefits through flattery to a new favorite, tried to make “his man” into lovers to the empress, etc. A contemporary M. M. Shcherbatov wrote that the favoritism and debauchery of Catherine II contributed to the decline in the morals of the nobility of that era, and historians from agree with this.

Catherine had two sons: Pavel Petrovich (1754) and Alexei Bobrinsky (1762 - son of Grigory Orlov), as well as a daughter Anna Petrovna (1757-1759, possibly from the future King of Poland Stanislav Poniatovsky) who died in infancy. Less likely is Catherine's motherhood in relation to Potemkin's pupil named Elizabeth, who was born when the Empress was over 45 years old.

Sophia Frederick Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst was born on May 2, 1729 in Stettin, Germany, which was ruled by her father. Sophia Augusta's uncle was the king of Sweden. In general, the pedigree of this girl was rich in famous and noble personalities, although, basically, they fell on the maternal branch of her family tree. He crowned the maternal family tree Christian I - the ruler, the first Duke of Schleswig-Holstein.

Sofia's family was not very wealthy, but the girl received a home education. She excelled in learning foreign languages ​​and humanities, was active, inquisitive, assertive. She loved horseback riding in general and horseback riding in particular. Frederica's mother did not have much love for her daughter, because everyone was expecting a son, and a daughter was born, and at home the girl's name was Fike.

When the girl was fifteen years old, the Russian Empress Elizabeth chose her as a bride for her nephew, Karl Peter Ulrich, better known as Peter the Third.

Sophia Frederick Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst came to the Russian state in 1744 secretly with her mother. Less than six months after her arrival, on July 9, Sophia Friederika left Lutheranism, converted to Orthodoxy and was baptized with the name Ekaterina Alekseevna.

On September 1, 1745, Sophia Frederick Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst, now Ekaterina Alekseevna, married Peter Fedorovich. Family life young spouses did not become happy, the newly-made husband did not love his wife and was not interested in her, she tried not to be jealous and found solace in the arms of other men. There were also fables about the novels of this young lady both during her life and after her death.

However, on October 1, 1754, Catherine gave birth to the heir to the throne - Pavel Petrovich. But the Russian Empress deprived her of the opportunity to raise her son on her own, taking the child for herself.

Despite all the terrible situations that happened in the life of Catherine, she remained inquisitive and continued her education, this will in the future a huge impact on the fate of the country.

The death of Elizabeth Petrovna led to the leadership of the country of Catherine's husband - Peter. Knowing about the dislike of her husband, fearing negative consequences for herself and her son, being an ambitious, cunning and intelligent woman, Catherine stood at the head of the palace coup, which ended with the death of Peter III and the coming to power of Catherine Alekseevna. At the end of September 1762, Sophia Frederick August of Anhalt-Zerbst was crowned and became Empress of Russia.

Her day began extremely early - at 5 am and ended at ten - eleven o'clock in the evening, the daily routine was distinguished by constancy.

Her reign left an indelible mark on the history of our country, she herself began to be called the "Great" and "continuer of Peter's deeds." And all because her activities were of a reformist nature and influenced all spheres of society:

• For improvement financial position country, she carried out the secularization of land and improved the state of entrepreneurship in the country. The secularization of lands involved the removal of land from the church and making it secular.
• The number of enterprises doubled due to the publication of the manifesto in 1775, which led to an increase in state revenues and allowed them to start conquering the Urals.
• Financial activity took place in several stages, first a ban was introduced on the exchange of copper money for silver, then the number of banks increased, and, finally, paper money was introduced - banknotes.
• Being an educated woman, she believed that education was necessary and not only for men. During the years of her reign, many educational institutions appeared - schools, colleges, institutes, an academy, including the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens.
• Much has been done in changing the administrative-territorial division, so the country's territory was divided into provinces, preserved to the end royal power in the country, city governments were introduced.
• Being a Lutheran by birth, who converted to Orthodoxy, Catherine led a tolerant religious policy, forbidding the church to interfere in the affairs of other religions, as well as ending the persecution of the Old Believers.
• An important achievement of Catherine was the strengthening of the role of Russia in political map peace. She pursued her foreign policy with dignity and success, which contributed both to the increase in the territory of the country and the improvement of economic ties. Having gone through two Crimean wars under the leadership of this woman, Russia expanded to the south and firmly entrenched in the Black Sea. The triple division of the Commonwealth expanded the western borders of our country.
• The reign of Catherine was not without internal conflict - already eleven years after the beginning of her reign, the country was engulfed peasant war, which was successfully suppressed.

As noted earlier, the life of the ruler of Russia was replete with novels. Her relationship with thirteen men, including her husband, has been documented. It should be noted that the personal life of this woman influenced what was happening in the country. After all, thanks to one of her favorites, she became an empress, thanks to another, Russia developed a fleet on the Black Sea and rebuilt Crimea as a result of joining the country.

Catherine's relationship with children was not the best. Children were most often brought up at a young age by strangers and met with their mother rarely and already formed personalities. In addition, she interfered in their personal lives and resolved matrimonial issues, including in case of disagreement between the future spouses themselves.

Sophia Frederick Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst lived to be 67 years old - longer than any Russian tsar. Long before her death, she composed an epitaph for her headstone.

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 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 that she received during fireworks in honor of the birth of her son. Father raising son great attention did not give, 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 the ancient princely family. However, to big name large incomes were not attached, 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.