Or the "Golden Age of the Russian nobility." The Russian Empire, under her hand, grew territories, won victories over external enemies, but the growth of internal problems had already begun to rock the imperial throne. We will try to briefly characterize the period of the reign of the great empress on the throne of the Russian Empire, which lasted from 1762 to 1796.

Presentation

Brief description of the reign of Catherine II the Great

The era of enlightened absolutism

The empress was not inclined to idleness, but the pomp of outfits, architectural delights and the style of the Russian court of those times had already begun to gain strength. Fashion, obeying the tastes of Catherine II, changed from baroque to classicism.

Despite the fact that the ideas of the "Enlightenment" postulated the equality and freedom of all people, the Empress contributed to the strengthening of the serfdom of the peasant class, which at that time accounted for about 90% of the total population of the country. Nevertheless, its contribution to the development of education, healthcare and science systems can hardly be called insignificant.

We have prepared a separate article with an analysis of the period of the reign of Catherine II the Great in the concept of enlightened absolutism.

Political life in Russia
during the reign of Catherine the Great

Foreign policy -
intrigue and war

Map - Russia conquers new territories under Catherine II

The army and navy received sufficient funding to significantly increase the number and quality of equipment, which had a positive effect on the success of military campaigns.

The most significant events were the three divisions of the Commonwealth, the wars with Turkey in 1768-1774 and 1787-1791, the successful repulse of the aggression of Sweden and Persia (under the Treaty of St. George). The result of these activities was the annexation of the Crimea, Little Russia, Novorossia, Belarus, Ochakov and other territories. A large number of cities have been founded on the Black Sea coast, and the construction of the future Black Sea Fleet has begun in ports.

The elimination of the threat from the Crimean Khanate was one of the significant achievements of foreign policy.

In addition, the Russian state has finally established itself in the status of a world power - acting as a mediator in resolving the "war for the Bavarian inheritance" and the conclusion of various alliances (the union of the "three black eagles", the convention "on armed neutrality") are a clear confirmation of this.

A successful foreign policy not only consolidated the status of the Russian Empire as an influential player in the geopolitical field, but also raised the authority of the aristocracy of that time, which took an active part in the hostilities. Two victorious Turkish companies, sections of the Commonwealth, repelled the aggression of the Swedes and Persians, all these events had their heroes and generals, whose names are still known and mentioned with respect - Suvorov, Potemkin, Rumyantsev, Yermolov.

Some projects of the Empress were not destined to come true - the Greek project (the purpose of which was the restoration of the Holy Roman Empire with the emperor-protege of Catherine II) was never implemented.

Domestic policy -
Russia's development

Having seized power as a result of the coup d'état of 1762, Catherine II began to carry out administrative and economic reforms - the reform of the Senate, the secularization of church property and the issuance of paper money - banknotes.

As a result of the exploitation of the peasant class, national politics and the general exhaustion of the state by the Russian-Polish and Russian-Turkish wars, the Pugachev uprising of 1773-1775 broke out. After the suppression of the rebellion, and the repressions that followed, Catherine II urgently carried out a number of administrative and police reforms, trying to prevent possible uprisings in the future - provincial, police and city reforms. Realizing the unreliability of the Cossack military formations (some of the Cossacks joined the Pugachev uprising), the empress abolishes the Zaporozhian Sich. To reduce social tension in the lower classes, the abolition of taxes and fees for various artisans and earners is announced.
The crown of her own lawmaking, Catherine II called the "commended letters" issued in 1785.

The nobility could rightfully consider the era of Catherine II's reign as the period of its heyday. The noble estates received confirmation of the existing privileges and new rights, including to the detriment of the peasants - the "charter to the nobles" provided support for the empress among the court. Now the nobles were not even required to carry out military service. And they had almost unlimited power over the peasants.

"Charter to the cities" - made it possible to delimit the rights and obligations of urban residents, at the same time there was a legal formation of such a class of society as the merchants.

Economic development of Russia in the second half of the 18th century

The economy during the reign of Catherine II suffered from the slave labor of serfs, even the reforms carried out could not completely solve this problem. Nevertheless, the country has become a leader in the export of such resources as timber and grain, as well as primary processed products (cast iron and canvas). Many monopolies for the extraction and sale of various raw materials were canceled, and tax duties were adjusted. As part of the financial reform, the first paper money, banknotes, was introduced. The release of the manifesto "on freedom of enterprise" allowed anyone who wished to open their own handicraft production.

The administrative reforms carried out helped to systematize taxation, and the secularization of church lands and property, at the beginning of the reign of Catherine II, made it possible to use the peasants and land that had previously fed the clergy for the interests of the empress.

Base

In the social and cultural sphere:

Streamlining and systematization of the functions of administrative and judicial institutions. The division of the territory is not by volume, but by population. Separation of responsibilities of managerial positions.

Laying the foundation of a public educational system and women's education.

The consolidation of the previously granted privileges for the nobles and the final enslavement of the peasants - complaints against the owners were prohibited, the landlords were allowed to exile the peasants to hard labor.

Delimitation of estates, their duties and rights. The emergence of the estates of "townspeople".

Development of the healthcare system, culture and art.

The resettlement of Germans on the territory of the Russian Empire with the provision of privileges.

In the economic sphere:

Issue of the first paper money - banknotes.

Free enterprise for everyone except serfs.

Dependence of the Church on the state.

The volume of exports increased from 13.9 million rubles. in 1760 to 39.6 in 1790

Significant reduction in trade duties.

Corruption and favoritism.

An increase in the "drinking collection" by six times.

The total amount of state debts after the death of Catherine II is 205 million rubles.

In the geopolitical sphere:

A significant expansion of the influence of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, the Black Sea coast and Europe - as a result of successful Turkish campaigns and the divisions of Poland, Crimea, Ochakov, Belarus, Novorossia, Little Russia and other regions were annexed.

144 cities founded.

The Black Sea Fleet was founded.

Increasing the size and quality of the army and navy.

Strengthening of potential opponents due to the divisions of the Commonwealth

Consolidation of the "Norman theory" of the emergence of Russian statehood

The golden age, the age of Catherine, the Great Kingdom, the heyday of absolutism in Russia - this is how historians designate and designate the reign of Russia by Empress Catherine II (1729-1796)

“Her reign was successful. As a conscientious German, Catherine worked diligently for the country that gave her such a good and profitable position. She naturally saw the happiness of Russia in the greatest possible expansion of the boundaries of the Russian state. By nature, she was smart and cunning, well versed in the intrigues of European diplomacy. Cunning and flexibility were the basis of what in Europe, depending on the circumstances, was called the policy of Northern Semiramis or the crimes of Moscow Messalina. (M. Aldanov "Devil's Bridge")

Years of reign of Russia by Catherine the Great 1762-1796

The real name of Catherine II was Sophia Augusta Frederick of Anhalt-Zerbstsk. She was the daughter of Prince Anhalt-Zerbst, who represented “a side line of one of the eight branches of the Anhalst house,” the commandant of the city of Stettin, which was in Pomerania, an area subject to the kingdom of Prussia (today the Polish city of Szczecin).

“In 1742, the Prussian king Frederick II, wanting to annoy the Saxon court, who expected to marry his princess Maria Anna to the heir to the Russian throne, Peter Karl Ulrich of Holstein, who suddenly became Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, began to hastily look for another bride for the Grand Duke.

The Prussian king had three German princesses in mind for this purpose: two of Hesse-Darmstadt and one of Zerbst. The latter was the most suitable for age, but Friedrich knew nothing about the fifteen-year-old bride herself. They only said that her mother, Johanna-Elizabeth, led a very frivolous lifestyle and that little Fike was hardly really the daughter of the Zerbst prince Christian-August, who served as governor in Stetin ”

How long, short, but in the end, the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna chose little Fike as a wife for her nephew Karl-Ulrich, who became Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich in Russia, the future Emperor Peter the Third.

Biography of Catherine II. Briefly

• 1729, April 21 (old style) - Catherine II was born
• 1742, December 27 - on the advice of Frederick II, the mother of Princess Fikkhen (Fike) sent a letter to Elizabeth with congratulations for the New Year
• 1743, January - kind letter in return
• 1743, December 21 - Johanna-Elizabeth and Fikchen received a letter from Brumner, the tutor of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, with an invitation to come to Russia

“Your Grace,” Brummer wrote pointedly, “are too enlightened not to understand the true meaning of the impatience with which Her Imperial Majesty wishes to see you here as soon as possible, as well as your princess, your daughter, about whom rumor has told us so much good”

• December 21, 1743 - on the same day a letter from Frederick II was received in Zerbst. The Prussian king ... strongly advised to go and keep the trip a strict secret (so that the Saxons would not find out ahead of time)
• 1744, February 3 - German princesses arrived in St. Petersburg
• 1744, February 9 - the future Catherine the Great and her mother arrived in Moscow, where at that moment there was a courtyard
• 1744, February 18 - Johanna-Elizabeth sent a letter to her husband with the news that their daughter was the bride of the future Russian Tsar
• 1745, June 28 - Sophia Augusta Frederica adopted Orthodoxy and the new name Catherine
• 1745, August 21 - marriage and Catherine
• 1754, September 20 - Catherine gave birth to a son, heir to the throne of Paul
• 1757, December 9 - Catherine had a daughter, Anna, who died 3 months later
• 1761, December 25 - Elizaveta Petrovna died. Peter III became king

“Peter the Third was the son of the daughter of Peter I and the grandson of the sister of Charles XII. Elizabeth, having ascended the Russian throne and wishing to secure it beyond her father's line, sent Major Korf on a mission to take her nephew from Kiel at all costs and bring him to Petersburg. Here the Duke of Holstein, Karl-Peter-Ulrich, was transformed into Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich and forced to study the Russian language and the Orthodox catechism. But nature was not as favorable to him as fate .... He was born and grew up as a frail child, poorly endowed with abilities. Early becoming an orphan, Peter in Holstein received a worthless upbringing under the guidance of an ignorant courtier.

Humiliated and embarrassed in everything, he acquired bad tastes and habits, became irritable, quarrelsome, stubborn and false, acquired a sad tendency to lie ...., and in Russia he also learned to get drunk. In Holstein, he was taught so badly that he came to Russia as a 14-year-old ignoramus and even struck Empress Elizabeth with his ignorance. The rapid change of circumstances and educational programs completely confused his already fragile head. Forced to study this and that without connection and order, Peter ended up learning nothing, and the dissimilarity between the Holstein and Russian situation, the senselessness of Kiel and St. Petersburg impressions completely weaned him from understanding his surroundings. ... He was fond of military glory and the strategic genius of Frederick II ... " (V. O. Klyuchevsky "Course of Russian History")

• 1761, April 13 - Peter made peace with Frederick. All the lands captured by Russia from Prussia in the course were returned to the Germans
• 1761, May 29 - the union treaty of Prussia and Russia. Russian troops were placed at the disposal of Frederick, which caused sharp discontent among the guards.

(The flag of the guard) “became the empress. The emperor lived badly with his wife, threatened to divorce her and even imprison her in a monastery, and put in her place a person close to him, the niece of Chancellor Count Vorontsov. Catherine kept aloof for a long time, patiently enduring her position and not entering into direct relations with the dissatisfied. (Klyuchevsky)

• 1761, June 9 - at a ceremonial dinner on the occasion of the confirmation of this peace treaty, the emperor proclaimed a toast to the imperial family. Ekaterina drank her glass while sitting. When asked by Peter why she did not get up, she replied that she did not consider it necessary, since the imperial family consists entirely of the emperor, of herself and their son, the heir to the throne. “And my uncles, the Holstein princes?” - Peter objected and ordered Adjutant General Gudovich, who was standing behind his chair, to approach Catherine and say an abusive word to her. But, fearing that Gudovich would soften this impolite word during the transmission, Pyotr himself shouted it across the table aloud.

  The Empress wept. On the same evening she was ordered to arrest her, which, however, was not carried out at the request of one of Peter's uncles, the unwitting culprits of this scene. Since that time, Catherine began to listen more carefully to the proposals of her friends, which were made to her, starting from the very death of Elizabeth. The enterprise was sympathized with many persons of high Petersburg society, for the most part personally offended by Peter

• 1761, June 28 -. Catherine is proclaimed empress
• 1761, June 29 - Peter the Third abdicated
• 1761, July 6 - killed in prison
• 1761, September 2 - Coronation of Catherine II in Moscow
• 1787, January 2-July 1 -
• 1796, November 6 - death of Catherine the Great

Domestic policy of Catherine II

- Change in central government: in 1763 streamlining the structure and powers of the Senate
- Liquidation of the autonomy of Ukraine: liquidation of the hetmanate (1764), liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich (1775), serfdom of the peasantry (1783)
- Further subordination of the church to the state: secularization of church and monastery lands, 900 thousand church serfs became state serfs (1764)
- Improving legislation: a decree on tolerance for schismatics (1764), the right of landowners to exile peasants to hard labor (1765), the introduction of a noble monopoly on distillation (1765), a ban on peasants to file complaints against landowners (1768), the creation of separate courts for nobles, townspeople and peasants (1775), etc.
- Improving the administrative system of Russia: the division of Russia into 50 provinces instead of 20, the division of provinces into districts, the division of power in the provinces by function (administrative, judicial, financial) (1775);
- Strengthening the position of the nobility (1785):

• confirmation of all class rights and privileges of the nobility: exemption from compulsory service, from poll tax, corporal punishment; the right to unlimited disposal of the estate and land together with the peasants;
• the creation of noble class institutions: county and provincial noble assemblies, which met every three years and elected county and provincial marshals of the nobility;
• conferring the title of "noble" on the nobility.

“Catherine II was well aware that she could stay on the throne, only in every possible way pleasing the nobility and officers, in order to prevent or at least reduce the danger of a new palace conspiracy. This is what Catherine did. Her whole internal policy was to ensure that the life of officers at her court and in the guards was as profitable and pleasant as possible.

- Economic innovations: the establishment of a financial commission for the unification of money; establishment of a commission on commerce (1763); a manifesto on the conduct of a general demarcation to fix land plots; the establishment of the Free Economic Society to help noble entrepreneurship (1765); financial reform: the introduction of paper money - bank notes (1769), the creation of two bank notes (1768), the issuance of the first Russian external loan (1769); establishment of a postal department (1781); permission to start printing houses for private individuals (1783)

Foreign policy of Catherine II

• 1764 - Treaty with Prussia
• 1768-1774 - Russian-Turkish war
• 1778 - Restoration of the alliance with Prussia
• 1780 - Union of Russia, Denmark. and Sweden to protect navigation during the American War of Independence
• 1780 - Defensive alliance of Russia and Austria
• 1783, April 8 -
• 1783, August 4 - the establishment of a Russian protectorate over Georgia
• 1787-1791 —
• 1786, December 31 - trade agreement with France
• 1788 June - August - war with Sweden
• 1792 - rupture of relations with France
• 1793, March 14 - treaty of friendship with England
• 1772, 1193, 1795 - participation together with Prussia and Austria in the partitions of Poland
• 1796 - war in Persia in response to the Persian invasion of Georgia

Personal life of Catherine II. Briefly

“Catherine, by her nature, was neither evil nor cruel ... and excessively power-hungry: all her life she was invariably under the influence of successive favorites, to whom she gladly ceded her power, interfering in their orders with the country only when they very clearly showed their inexperience, inability or stupidity: she was smarter and more experienced in business than all her lovers, with the exception of Prince Potemkin.
There was nothing excessive in Catherine's nature, except for a strange mixture of the most rude and ever-increasing sensuality over the years with purely German, practical sentimentality. At sixty-five, she fell in love like a girl with twenty-year-old officers and sincerely believed that they were also in love with her. In her seventies, she cried bitter tears when it seemed to her that Platon Zubov was more restrained with her than usual.(Mark Aldanov)

Course of National History Devletov Oleg Usmanovich

2.3. Reign of Catherine II (1762–1796)

This period is called the time "enlightened absolutism". This is understood as the union of the monarch with the educated part of society for the sake of carrying out transformations aimed at accelerating the development of the country. The very existence of Russia in the world community of states left its mark. Distribution in the 2nd half of the 18th century. the ideologies of the Enlightenment, the war of the British colonies in North America for independence (1775-1783) and the Great French Revolution that began in 1789 required a certain reaction from Catherine II and her entourage. However, internal social upheavals had a much greater impact on the Russian authorities: the uprising led by E.I. Pugachev (1773–1775), the growing demands of the townspeople and merchants, the enlightening mood of the nobility.

The main facts of the reign of Catherine II, from which the policy of "enlightened absolutism" was formed, can be grouped into four areas:

1) protection of the throne and the state from possible encroachments;

2) reforming public administration;

3) concern for the welfare of the state and the people (that is, the economic and estate policy of the government);

4) enlightenment of the nation: care of education, science, arts.

She intended to reform public administration on the basis of the educational idea of ​​the supremacy of laws. But in practice, she was forced to follow the path traditional for the Russian autocracy - the strengthening of absolutism, which stands above all laws and institutions. Economic policy combined measures to strengthen serfdom and liberal-bourgeois measures based on the educational idea of ​​freedom of enterprise for all classes. In cultural policy - the planting of education, the promotion of science, literature, art - Catherine fully showed herself as a figure in the European Enlightenment.

Already at the very beginning of her reign, she managed to get rid of two contenders for the Russian throne - a prisoner of the Shlisselburg fortress Ivan Antonovich, who was killed by the guards while trying to free him by Lieutenant V.Ya. Mirovich in 1764, and Princess Tarakanova, posing as Elizabeth II, daughter of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and A.G. Razumovsky. The impostor was captured on the orders of Catherine in Italy by A.G. Orlov, brought to St. Petersburg and died in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The greatest test for the throne was peasant war led by E.I. Pugacheva (1773–1775). Caused by the intensification of feudal oppression, it was also fueled by the idea of ​​the return of the legitimate male monarch: it was no accident that Pugachev declared himself to be the saved Emperor Peter III. The uprising began on the river. Yaik in the autumn of 1773, and then covered a vast territory - the Urals and the Volga region. The main forces of the peasant war were the Cossacks, mining workers of the Urals, serfs, Bashkirs and the peoples of the Volga region. The main goals were set out in Pugachev's manifestos: liberation from serfdom and all sorts of duties in relation to the landowner; the transfer of all lands to the Cossacks, peasants and non-Russian peoples of the Urals and the Volga region living on them; exemption from all state duties; freedom to profess the old faith and wear beards; free Cossack administration without judges and bribe-taking officials.

The beginning of hostilities was the siege of Orenburg, which was never taken by the Pugachevites. In clashes with government detachments and garrisons, the rebels were initially successful. An army of up to 30 thousand people was organized with 100 guns. The regiments were formed according to professional, social and national characteristics: Cossack, Bashkir, peasant and mining. The military collegium was the highest body of the military, administrative and judicial power of the rebels: it led the fighting, recruited troops, ordered weapons from factories, created stocks of fodder and food, distributed property taken from the rich, drafted decrees and manifestos, introduced Cossack self-government, monitored discipline and in order, etc. Since March 1774, a series of defeats of the Pugachevites began. Under the Tatishchev fortress, Pugachev was defeated and went to the Urals; Pursued by Michelson's troops, he broke through into the Volga region from the Urals and took Kazan; then near Kazan it was defeated and went to the Right Bank of the Volga. During this period, the peasant element unfolded in full force in the Pugachev rebellion - with the defeat and arson of the lord's estates, bloody reprisals against the landowners-nobles. “Pugachev fled, but his flight seemed like an invasion” (A.S. Pushkin). Panic seized the nobility. But Pugachev did not dare to go to Moscow. In August 1774, near Tsaritsyn, he was defeated, treacherously captured by former supporters and handed over to the government. In January 1775 Pugachev was executed in Moscow. The specter of Pugachevism for decades became a psychological factor that restrained the autocracy of the feudal landlords and encouraged the strengthening of the military-repressive mechanism of the autocratic state.

And after the suppression of the Pugachev rebellion, Catherine II continued to jealously guard her crown. As an attempt on the principle of autocracy, Catherine II regarded the book AN. Radishcheva "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow" (1790)

His anti-monarchism and republicanism seemed very dangerous, especially against the background of the revolution that had begun in France. Radishchev was described as "a rebel worse than Pugachev", sentenced first to death, and then "forgiven" - exiled to prison for 10 years.

Ilim prison in Siberia. The book was confiscated and destroyed. N.I. Novikov , a Moscow publisher and a prominent member of the Masonic lodge, created the traditions of Russian book printing. In his satirical magazine "Truten" he led a caustic polemic with the empress, the publisher of the magazine "All sorts of things." In 1792, by order of Catherine II, he was imprisoned for 15 years in the Shlisselburg fortress without any trial. Masonic lodges were banned.

Catherine II intended to streamline public administration through the adoption of reasonable laws. In order to develop new legislation based on the principles of the Enlightenment, in 1767 in Moscow was convened Commission for the drafting of the new Code. It was formed from 585 deputies elected from estates, cities, state institutions and individual territories. Absolutely dominated deputies from the nobility (228 people) and cities (208 people). The landowners, palace and economic peasants, who accounted for more than half of the country's total population, did not receive the right to be represented in the Commission.

The deputies were to develop specific laws on the basis of the general principles set forth by the Empress in her written "Instruction". Catherine did not hide the fact that her work was a compilation mainly of two sources - the writings of the French educator Sh.L. Montesquieu "On the Spirit of Laws" and the treatise of the Italian forensic lawyer of the 16th century. C. Beccaria "On Crimes and Punishments". Some elements of Catherine's political and legal concept, by the standards of Russian life, were so radical - first of all, her condemnation of serfdom as inhuman and contrary to the rational organization of society - that after reading the original version of the "Instruction" she had to order her inner circle to shorten the text, removing from its sharpest points.

In the course of the work of the Commission, serious disagreements were revealed on the issues of the serfdom of the peasants, on the right of the nobles to engage in trade, on the claims of merchants to the right to own serfs, etc. The debate that lasted for a year and a half only introduced the empress to the real state of affairs in the country and the requests of the estates , but the practical result in the form of new laws was not given. In January 1769, under the pretext of a war with Turkey, the activities of the Commission were suspended. More in full force, she was not going to. Catherine realized the impossibility of immediately rewriting the legislation and the need to reform the state administration gradually.

In practice, the main direction of reforming the state apparatus has become some decentralization of management, that is, the redistribution of functions from central government agencies to local ones - the provincial and county administration.

In 1763 the Senate was reformed. It lost its main function - legislative initiative and lost its political significance. It became only the highest court of appeal. The legislative initiative passed exclusively to the Empress. Since 1775, the provincial reform. Russia was divided into 50 provinces of 300-400 thousand inhabitants each, the provinces were divided into counties - 20-30 thousand each. The province was headed by an appointed governor, sometimes 2-3 provinces were united under the authority of the governor-general, who was subordinate only to the empress. The governor's assistants were the vice-governor, two provincial councilors and the provincial prosecutor. This provincial government was in charge of all affairs: the vice-governor headed the state chamber (revenues and expenses of the treasury, state property, farming, monopolies, etc.), the provincial prosecutor was in charge of all judicial institutions. In cities, the position of mayor was introduced. In the provincial cities, orders of public charity were created, which were in charge of schools, shelters, and hospitals. In the county, power belonged to the police captain elected by the noble assembly.

A system of class courts was created: for each class (nobles, townspeople, state peasants) their own special judicial institutions. The system of local government created by the provincial reform of 1775 was preserved until 1864, and the administrative-territorial division introduced by it - until 1926.

Catherine sought to strengthen the personal nature of power in the empire. The most important element of state administration was her personal office - Cabinet. Real power was increasingly concentrated in the hands of Catherine's nobles, who enjoyed the trust of the empress (I.I. Betskoy, G.A. Potemkin, K.G. Razumovsky, A.A. Bezborodko, etc.). Over time, the need to create an advisory council under the empress became apparent. Such an Imperial Council was created in 1769 and met as needed.

Under Catherine II, the process of transforming the nobility from a service class into a privileged class, which began under the immediate successors of Peter I, was completed. The time of Catherine II became a “golden age” for the Russian nobility. The final registration of the nobility in the privileged estate was completed by the "Diploma for the right of liberty and the advantages of the noble Russian nobility", usually called (1785). It confirmed all the previous and introduced new privileges: the monopoly right to own peasants, lands and mineral resources, exemption from compulsory service to the state, from taxes and corporal punishment, from standing troops in noble houses; the right to trade and entrepreneurship, the transfer of the title of nobility by inheritance. Under Catherine II, the process of transforming the nobility from a service class into a privileged class, which began under the immediate successors of Peter I, was completed. The time of Catherine II became a “golden age” for the Russian nobility. The final registration of the nobility in the privileged estate was completed by the "Diploma for the right of liberty and the advantages of the noble Russian nobility", usually called Complaint to the nobility (1785). It confirmed all the previous and introduced new privileges: the monopoly right to own peasants, lands and mineral resources, exemption from compulsory service to the state, from taxes and corporal punishment, from standing troops in noble houses; the right to trade and entrepreneurship, the transfer of the title of nobility by inheritance and the inability to lose it except by court order, etc. At the same time, the nobility received a special class structure: county and provincial noble assemblies. once every three years, these meetings elected district and provincial marshals of the nobility, who had the right to directly appeal to the king. The nobles occupied almost all bureaucratic positions in the newly created provincial and district administrative apparatus. Thus, the nobility became the politically dominant class in the state.

At the same time, the "Letter of Letters" was given to the cities. The entire urban population was divided into six categories according to their social and social status. The bulk of the inhabitants received the name " petty bourgeois ". Municipal self-government bodies were introduced, working under the control of the state administration. The attempt to create a "third estate" was unsuccessful. The cities themselves, in which about 3% of the population lived, did not become a serious social and political force.

By the end of the reign of Catherine II, the state of public administration was still far from the enlightenment ideal of legality. sensibly reformed local government was not complemented by an appropriate central state apparatus. The absence of a set of effective laws and any well-established control gave rise to general, from top to bottom, administrative and judicial arbitrariness and red tape. At court, among the nobles close to Catherine and alternating favorites, embezzlement flourished on a huge scale, below, in provincial institutions, bribery both in money and in kind. Catherine no longer tried to change the national style in public administration.

Socio-economic development. In the history of Russia in the second half of the XVIII century. at least two lines intertwined in socio-economic life: the strengthening of serfdom and the liberalization of the economy. The nobility was also interested in the feudal exploitation of the peasants, and in the development of new forms of entrepreneurship (both noble and peasant). In Central Russia, labor on the land provided only a living wage for the peasant himself. In order to receive and subsequently withdraw (in the form of taxes, dues) the surplus product, the state and landlords were interested, on the one hand, in the development of peasant crafts, which provided additional income, on the other hand, in the unrelenting exploitation of the agricultural labor of the peasant. In the fertile black earth zone, the landlords and the state received a surplus product from the agricultural labor of the peasants.

In the class policy of the government of Catherine II in relation to the peasantry, there is a tendency to expand the category of state peasants. Their membership included economic, i.e former church and monastery peasants.

The secularization of church and monastic land ownership was announced by Peter III, but Catherine, having ascended the throne, suspended his decree. And in 1764, church and monastery lands were nevertheless seized in favor of the state. About 1 million revision souls of peasants (including women - almost 2 million) came under the jurisdiction of the College of Economy and began to be called economic. Half of the dues received from them went to the treasury, the other half went to the maintenance of churches and monasteries.

In 1785, along with the Letters of Complaint to the nobility and cities, a Letter of Complaint to the state peasants was also prepared. But the government did not dare to publish it and thereby give it legal force.

Russian agriculture remained extensive. The main increase in agricultural production occurred due to the colonization of Novorossia, the Kuban, the middle and lower Volga regions, the Trans-Volga region, and the southern part of the black earth center of the country. The result of the plowing of new lands was a significant increase in bread production. The bulk of marketable grain was provided by the black earth zone of the center of Russia, a little later - the middle and lower Volga region, the lower Don became a bread-producing region. The increase in the production of bread for sale is a characteristic feature of the agricultural development of the country at this time. It was caused both by an increase in demand for grain within the country due to the growth of the urban population and the separation of a significant part of the peasantry from agricultural labor, and by the permission to export grain abroad. The main supplier of marketable bread was the landowners' farms.

The liberalization of the economy was manifested in the abolition of class restrictions on the pursuit of one or another commercial and industrial activity. Peasant manufactory became a new phenomenon. At this time, the industrial dynasties of the Morozovs and other large entrepreneurs arose. Internal customs duties were abolished. Wage labor spread. The economic centers of the districts have become trade fairs (Makarievskaya near Nizhny Novgorod, etc.). The main volume of foreign trade went through the Baltic ports: St. Petersburg, Riga, Revel (Tallinn). By the end of the XVIII century. about 40 million people lived in the Russian Empire.

Foreign policy. The main directions of foreign policy of this period: relations with Turkey and relations with European countries. There were two wars between Russia and Turkey: 1768–1774 and 1787–1791 As a result, their Russia came to the Black Sea coast and received the Crimea (1783). Russia owed its successes to the victories of the generals P.A. Rumyantseva, A.V. Suvorov, Admiral F.F. Ushakov, administrative activities of G.A. Potemkin. The most famous victories of Russian weapons were the capture of A.V. Suvorov fortress Izmail (1790) and the defeat of the Turkish fleet by F.F. Ushakov at Cape Tendra (1790). The colonization of the annexed lands began, new cities are being built - Kherson, Nikolaev, Sevastopol; the creation of the Black Sea Fleet. Peasants from the interior provinces are resettled here. At the same time, at the invitation of Catherine II in Novorossia (as these lands began to be called) tens of thousands of Germans, Bulgarians, Greeks, Armenians and people of other nationalities, persecuted in their homeland, come. In Transcaucasia in 1783, Eastern Georgia came under the protection of Russia.

Successes in the fight against Turkey provoked the emergence of the so-called "Greek project", initiated by G.A. Potemkin. It was supposed to expel the Turks from Europe and recreate the Greek Empire on the liberated Balkan Peninsula, headed by Constantine, the second grandson of Empress Catherine. From the Danubian principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia, it was supposed to create a buffer state - Dacia.

In the West, Russia participates in sections of Poland, which was in political decline. The conflicts of the Catholic gentry with the Orthodox Cossacks and peasants were accompanied by monstrous cruelty on both sides. The uprising of the Haidamaks in Ukraine is especially well known. Their leaders, the Zaporizhian Cossacks M. Zheleznyak and I. Gonta, perpetrated a terrible massacre of Poles and Jews in the city of Uman. Russian troops brutally suppressed this uprising, at the same time they defeated the Polish detachments. In 1772 took place first section parts of Polish lands between Russia, Prussia and Austria.

In 1791, progressive-minded gentry achieved the adoption of a new constitution and the strengthening of the state system. This was contrary to the foreign policy interests of the participants in the first partition of Poland. Russian and Prussian troops were moved to Poland, the constitution of 1791 was abolished. second partition of Poland, torn away from it another part of the territory. In response to this, in 1794, a national liberation uprising broke out under the leadership of Tadeusz Kosciuszko. A.V. was put at the head of the army, moved by the empress to suppress the uprising. Suvorov. Kosciuszko was captured and subsequently exiled to Siberia. In 1795 Poland was finally divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria. The result of the three sections was liquidation of Poland as a state until 1918 and the entry into Russia of new lands - the Right-Bank Ukraine (except Galicia), Belarus, Lithuania and Courland.

The policy of Catherine II in relation to the newly acquired territories was characterized by the desire to unite them with the entire empire. The administrative structure of the Great Russian regions extended to them, the poll tax and recruitment kits were introduced, serfdom was confirmed. The nobility of these regions received all the rights and privileges of the Russian nobility.

In 1788–1790 there was a war with Sweden. The Russian Baltic Fleet won victories at Gotland (1788), Rochensalm (1789), Reval (1790), Vyborg (1790). On land, the Swedes also did not succeed. The plan conceived by the Swedish king to capture St. Petersburg from land and sea failed. In 1790, peace was concluded in Reval, the borders remained the same.

In the context of the French Revolution (1789-1794), one of the most important problems of foreign policy was relations with France. At first, after the start of the revolution, Russian diplomacy took a wait-and-see attitude, but the arrest of the royal family put an end to the hesitation. Catherine II organized a general demarche of the European powers demanding freedom for Louis XVI, and the Russian ambassador in Paris, I.M. Simolin helped the flight - albeit unsuccessful - of the royal family. Catherine gave shelter in Russia to French emigrant nobles, they were enrolled in the service, received pensions, land. After the execution of Louis XVI in January 1793, Russia broke off diplomatic and trade relations with France. An Anglo-Russian agreement was concluded on joint actions against France.

In the Far East, the expansion of the empire's borders continued due to geographical discoveries: in 1784, G.I. Shelekhov laid the foundation for Russian settlements in Alaska.

Extensive conquests completed the transformation of Russia into a "single and indivisible" empire, possessing inexhaustible resources and endless expanses. The country gradually acquired a unique ethnic, economic, cultural, natural and social image.

The reign of Catherine II is estimated differently. A.S. Pushkin called her "Tartuffe in a skirt and a crown." IN. Klyuchevsky considered many of her undertakings spectacular only outwardly. According to the interpretation of S.F. Platonova Catherine II brought "to the end, to the full resolution of those questions that history posed to her." Modern historian A.B. Kamensky writes that Catherine took the second, after Peter the Great, step towards the Europeanization of the country and the first step towards reforming it in the liberal-enlightenment spirit.

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Sophia Frederick Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst was born on April 21 (May 2), 1729 in the German Pomeranian city of Stettin (now Szczecin in Poland). The father came from the Zerbst-Dornburg line of the Anhalt house and was in the service of the Prussian king, was a regimental commander, commandant, then governor of the city of Stettin, ran for the Dukes of Courland, but unsuccessfully, ended the service as a Prussian field marshal. Mother - from the family of Holstein-Gottorp, was the cousin of the future Peter III. Maternal uncle Adolf Friedrich (Adolf Fredrik) has been the king of Sweden since 1751 (elected heir in the city). The lineage of Catherine II's mother goes back to Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the first Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and the founder of the Oldenburg dynasty.

Childhood, education and upbringing

The family of the Duke of Zerbst was not rich, Catherine was educated at home. She studied German and French, dances, music, the basics of history, geography, theology. I was brought up in strictness. She grew up inquisitive, prone to outdoor games, persistent.

Ekaterina continues to educate herself. She reads books on history, philosophy, jurisprudence, the works of Voltaire, Montesquieu, Tacitus, Bayle, and a large amount of other literature. The main entertainment for her was hunting, horseback riding, dancing and masquerades. The absence of marital relations with the Grand Duke contributed to the appearance of Catherine's lovers. Meanwhile, Empress Elizabeth expressed dissatisfaction with the absence of children from the spouses.

Finally, after two unsuccessful pregnancies, on September 20 (October 1), 1754, Catherine gave birth to a son, whom they immediately take away from her, call him Paul (future Emperor Paul I) and deprive him of the opportunity to educate, and only allow him to see occasionally. A number of sources claim that the true father of Paul was Catherine's lover S. V. Saltykov. 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 openly made mistresses, however, without preventing Catherine from doing this, who during this period had a relationship with Stanislav Poniatowski, the future king of Poland. On December 9 (20), 1758, Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Anna, which caused great displeasure of Peter, who said at the news of a new pregnancy: “God knows where my wife is getting pregnant; I don’t know for sure if this child is mine and if I should recognize him as mine. At this time, the condition of Elizabeth Petrovna worsened. All this made the prospect of expelling Catherine from Russia or concluding her in a monastery real. The situation was aggravated by the fact that Catherine's secret correspondence with the disgraced Field Marshal Apraksin and the British Ambassador Williams, dedicated to political issues, was revealed. Her former favorites were removed, but a circle of new ones began to form: Grigory Orlov, Dashkova and others.

The death of Elizabeth Petrovna (December 25, 1761 (January 5, 1762)) and the accession to the throne of Peter Fedorovich under the name of Peter III further alienated the spouses. Peter III began to openly live with his mistress Elizaveta Vorontsova, settling his wife at the other end of the 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. Thus, the first in Russia, Count Bobrinsky, the founder of a famous family, was born.

Coup June 28, 1762

1. It is necessary to educate the nation, which should govern.
2. It is necessary to introduce good order in the state, to support society and force it to comply with the laws.
3. It is necessary to establish a good and accurate police force in the state.
4. It is necessary to promote the flourishing of the state and make it abundant.
5. It is necessary to make the state formidable in itself and inspire respect for its neighbors.

The policy of Catherine II was characterized by progressive, without sharp fluctuations, development. Upon her accession to the throne, she carried out a number of reforms (judicial, administrative, etc.). 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), Russia became the most populous European country (it accounted for 20% of the population of Europe). As Klyuchevsky wrote, “The army from 162 thousand people was strengthened to 312 thousand; from 16 million rubles. rose to 69 million, that is, increased by more than four times, the success of foreign trade: the Baltic; in an increase in import and export, from 9 million to 44 million rubles, the Black Sea, Catherine and created - from 390 thousand in 1776 to 1900 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.

The Russian economy continued to be agrarian. The share of the urban population in 1796 was 6.3%. 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 large enterprises in the country (in 1767 there were 663 of them). The export of Russian goods to European countries has increased significantly, including through the established Black Sea ports.

Domestic politics

Catherine's commitment to the ideas of the Enlightenment determined the nature of her domestic policy and the direction of reforming various institutions of the Russian state. The term "enlightened absolutism" is often used to characterize the domestic policy of Catherine's time. According to Catherine, based on the works of the French philosopher Montesquieu, the vast Russian expanses and the harshness 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.

Laid commission

An attempt was made to convene the Legislative Commission, which would systematize the laws. The main goal is to clarify the people's needs for comprehensive reforms.

More than 600 deputies took part in the commission, 33% of them were elected from the nobility, 36% - from the townspeople, which also included the nobles, 20% - from the rural population (state peasants). The interests of the Orthodox clergy were represented by a deputy from the Synod.

As the guiding document of the Commission of 1767, the empress prepared the "Instruction" - a theoretical justification for enlightened absolutism.

The first meeting was held in the Faceted Chamber in Moscow

Due to the conservatism of the deputies, the Commission had to be dissolved.

Soon after the coup, the statesman N.I. Panin proposed the creation of an Imperial Council: 6 or 8 higher dignitaries rule together with the monarch (as the conditions of 1730). Catherine rejected this project.

According to another project of Panin, the Senate was transformed - 15 Dec. 1763 It was divided into 6 departments, headed by chief prosecutors, the prosecutor general became the head. Each department had certain powers. The general powers of the Senate were reduced, in particular, it lost the legislative initiative and became the body of control over the activities of the state apparatus and the highest judicial authority. The center of legislative activity moved directly to Catherine and her office with secretaries of state.

Provincial reform

Nov 7 In 1775, the "Institution for the administration of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire" was adopted. Instead of a three-tier administrative division - province, province, county, a two-tier administrative division began to operate - province, county (which was based on the principle of taxable population). Of the former 23 provinces, 50 were formed, each of which had 300-400 thousand residents. The provinces were divided into 10-12 counties, each with 20-30 thousand d.m.p.

Thus, the further need to maintain the presence of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks in their historical homeland for the protection of the southern Russian borders has disappeared. At the same time, their traditional way of life often led to conflicts with the Russian authorities. After repeated pogroms of Serbian settlers, and also in connection with the support of the Pugachev uprising by the Cossacks, Catherine II ordered the Zaporizhzhya Sich to be disbanded, 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 bloodlessly disbanded, and then the fortress itself was destroyed. Most of the Cossacks were disbanded, but after 15 years they were remembered and created the Army of the Faithful Cossacks, later the Black Sea Cossack Host, and in 1792 Catherine signs a manifesto that gives them the Kuban for perpetual use, where the Cossacks moved, founding the city of Ekaterinodar.

The reforms on the Don created a military civil government modeled on the provincial administrations of central Russia.

The beginning of the annexation of the Kalmyk Khanate

As a result of the general administrative reforms of the 1970s aimed at strengthening the state, a decision was made to annex the Kalmyk Khanate to the Russian Empire.

By her decree of 1771, Catherine liquidated the Kalmyk Khanate, thereby starting the process of joining the Kalmyk state to Russia, which previously had vassalage relations with the Russian state. The affairs of the Kalmyks began to be in charge of a special Expedition of Kalmyk Affairs, established under the office of the Astrakhan governor. Under the rulers of the uluses, bailiffs from among Russian officials were appointed. In 1772, during the Expedition of Kalmyk Affairs, a Kalmyk court was established - Zargo, consisting of three members - one representative each from the three main uluses: Torgouts, Derbets and Khoshuts.

This decision of Catherine was preceded by a consistent policy of the empress to limit the khan's power in the Kalmyk Khanate. Thus, in the 1960s, the khanate intensified the crisis associated with the colonization of Kalmyk lands by Russian landowners and peasants, the reduction of pasture land, the infringement of the rights of the local feudal elite, and the interference of tsarist officials in Kalmyk affairs. After the construction of the fortified Tsaritsynskaya line, thousands of families of Don Cossacks began to settle in the area of ​​the main nomad camps of the Kalmyks, cities and fortresses began to be built along the entire Lower Volga. The best pasture lands were allocated for arable land and hayfields. The nomadic area was constantly narrowing, in turn, this aggravated internal relations in the khanate. The local feudal elite was also dissatisfied with the missionary activities of the Russian Orthodox Church to Christianize the nomads, as well as the outflow of people from the uluses to the cities and villages to work. Under these conditions, among the Kalmyk noyons and zaisangs, with the support of the Buddhist church, a conspiracy was ripened with the aim of leaving the people to their historical homeland - to Dzungaria.

On January 5, 1771, the Kalmyk feudal lords, dissatisfied with the policy of the empress, raised the uluses that had wandered along the left bank of the Volga, and set off on a dangerous journey to Central Asia. Back in November 1770, the army was assembled on the left bank under the pretext of repelling the raids of the Kazakhs of the Younger Zhuz. The bulk of the Kalmyk population lived at that time on the meadow side of the Volga. Many noyons and zaisangs, realizing the fatality of the campaign, wanted to stay with their uluses, but the army coming from behind drove everyone forward. This tragic campaign turned into a terrible disaster for the people. The small Kalmyk ethnos lost on the way about 100,000 people who died in battles, from wounds, cold, hunger, diseases, as well as captured, lost almost all their livestock - the main wealth of the people. , , .

These tragic events in the history of the Kalmyk people are reflected in the poem "Pugachev" by Sergei Yesenin.

Regional reform in Estonia and Livonia

The Baltic states as a result of the regional reform in 1782-1783. was divided into 2 provinces - Riga and Revel - with institutions that already existed in other provinces of Russia. In Estonia and Livonia, the special Baltic order was abolished, which provided for more extensive rights than the Russian landowners had for local nobles to work and the personality of the peasant.

Provincial reform in Siberia and the Middle Volga region

Under the new protectionist tariff of 1767, the import of those goods that were or could be produced within Russia was completely prohibited. Duties from 100 to 200% were imposed on luxury goods, wine, grain, toys ... Export duties amounted to 10-23% of the value of imported goods.

In 1773, Russia exported goods worth 12 million rubles, which was 2.7 million rubles more than imports. In 1781, exports already amounted to 23.7 million rubles against 17.9 million rubles of imports. Russian merchant ships began sailing in the Mediterranean as well. Thanks to the policy of protectionism in 1786, the country's exports amounted to 67.7 million rubles, and imports - 41.9 million rubles.

At the same time, Russia under Catherine went through a series of financial crises and was forced to make external loans, the amount of which by the end of the reign of the Empress exceeded 200 million silver rubles.

Social politics

Moscow Orphanage

In the provinces there were orders of public charity. In Moscow and St. Petersburg - Orphanages for homeless children (currently the building of the Moscow Orphanage is occupied by the Military Academy named after Peter the Great), where they received education and upbringing. To help widows, the Widow's Treasury was created.

Compulsory smallpox vaccination was introduced, and Catherine was the first to make such an inoculation. 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.

National politics

After the lands that were formerly part of the Commonwealth were annexed to the Russian Empire, about a million Jews turned up in Russia - a people with a different religion, culture, way of life and way of life. 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, beyond which Jews had no right to live. The Pale of Settlement was established in the same place where the Jews had 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 territories 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.

Having ascended the throne, Catherine canceled the decree of Peter III on the secularization of lands near the church. But already in Feb. In 1764, she again issued a decree depriving the Church of landed property. Monastic peasants numbering about 2 million people. both sexes were removed from the jurisdiction of the clergy and transferred to the management of the College of Economy. The jurisdiction of the state included the estates of churches, monasteries and bishops.

In Ukraine, the secularization of monastic possessions was carried out in 1786.

Thus, the clergy became dependent on secular authorities, since they could not carry out independent economic activity.

Catherine achieved from the government of the Commonwealth the equalization of the rights of religious minorities - Orthodox and Protestants.

Under Catherine II, persecution ceased Old Believers. The Empress initiated the return of the Old Believers, the economically active population, from abroad. They were specially assigned a place on the Irgiz (modern Saratov and Samara regions). They were allowed to have priests.

The free resettlement of Germans in Russia led to a significant increase in the number of Protestants(mostly Lutherans) in Russia. They were also allowed to build churches, schools, freely perform worship. At the end of the 18th century, there were over 20,000 Lutherans in St. Petersburg alone.

Expansion of the Russian Empire

Partitions of Poland

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth included Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus.

The reason for intervening in the affairs of the Commonwealth was the question of the position of dissidents (that is, the non-Catholic minority - Orthodox and Protestants), so that they were equalized with the rights of Catholics. Catherine exerted strong pressure on the gentry to elect her protege Stanisław August Poniatowski to the Polish throne, who was elected. Part of the Polish gentry opposed these decisions and organized an uprising raised in the Bar Confederation. It was suppressed by Russian troops in alliance with the Polish king. In 1772, Prussia and Austria, fearing the strengthening of Russian influence in Poland and its success in the war with the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), offered Catherine to divide the Commonwealth in exchange for ending the war, otherwise threatening war against Russia. Russia, Austria and Prussia brought in their troops.

In 1772 took place 1st section of the Commonwealth. Austria received all of Galicia with districts, Prussia - West Prussia (Pomorye), Russia - the eastern part of 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: it lost 3,800 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 2nd section of the Commonwealth, approved by the Grodno Seimas. Prussia received Gdansk, Torun, Poznan (part of the land along the Warta and Vistula rivers), Russia - Central Belarus with Minsk and Right-Bank Ukraine.

The wars with Turkey were marked by major military victories by Rumyantsev, Suvorov, Potemkin, Kutuzov, 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.

Relations with Georgia. Georgievsky treatise

Georgievsky treatise of 1783

Catherine II and the Georgian king Erekle II concluded the Treaty of Georgievsk in 1783, according to which Russia established a protectorate over the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti. The treaty was concluded in order to protect Orthodox Georgians, since Muslim Iran and Turkey threatened the national existence of Georgia. The Russian government took Eastern Georgia under its protection, guaranteed its autonomy and protection in case of war, and during the peace negotiations, it was obliged to insist on the return of the Kartli-Kakheti kingdom of possessions that had long belonged to it, and illegally torn away by Turkey.

The result of the Georgian policy of Catherine II was a sharp weakening of the positions of Iran and Turkey, which formally destroyed their claims to Eastern Georgia.

Relations with Sweden

Taking advantage of the fact that Russia entered the war with Turkey, Sweden, supported by Prussia, England and Holland, unleashed a war with her for the return of previously lost territories. The troops that entered the territory of Russia were stopped by General-in-Chief V.P. Musin-Pushkin. After a series of naval battles that did not have a decisive outcome, Russia defeated the Swedish battle fleet in the battle of Vyborg, but due to a storm that had flown in, suffered a heavy defeat in the battle of rowing fleets at Rochensalm. The parties signed the Treaty of Verel in 1790, according to which the border between the countries did not change.

Relations with other countries

After the French Revolution, Catherine was one of the initiators of the anti-French coalition and the establishment of the principle of legitimism. She said: “The weakening of the monarchical power in France endangers all other monarchies. For my part, I am ready to resist with all my might. It's time to act and take up arms." However, in reality, she abstained from participating in hostilities against France. According to popular belief, one of the real reasons for the formation of the anti-French coalition was to divert the attention of Prussia and Austria from Polish affairs. At the same time, Catherine refused all treaties concluded with France, ordered the expulsion of all suspected sympathizers for the French Revolution from Russia, and in 1790 issued a decree on the return of all Russians from France.

During the reign of Catherine the Russian Empire acquired the status of a "great power". As a result of two successful Russian-Turkish wars for Russia, 1768-1774 and 1787-1791. the Crimean peninsula and the entire territory of the Northern Black Sea region were annexed to Russia. In 1772-1795. Russia took part in the three sections of the Commonwealth, as a result of which it annexed the territories of present-day Belarus, Western Ukraine, Lithuania and Courland. The Russian Empire also included Russian America - Alaska and the West coast of the North American continent (the current state of California).

Catherine II as a figure of the Age of Enlightenment

Ekaterina - writer and publisher

Catherine belonged to a small number of monarchs who would communicate so intensively and directly with their subjects through the preparation of manifestos, instructions, laws, polemical articles and indirectly in the form of satirical writings, historical dramas and pedagogical opuses. In her memoirs, she confessed: "I cannot see a clean pen without feeling the desire to immediately dip it in ink."

She possessed an extraordinary talent as a writer, leaving behind a large collection of works - notes, translations, librettos, fables, fairy tales, comedies “Oh, time!”, “Name day of Mrs. Vorchalkina”, “Anterior noble boyar”, “Ms. Vestnikova with her family”, “The Invisible Bride” (-), essays, etc., participated in the weekly satirical magazine “All sorts of things”, published from the city. The Empress turned to journalism in order to influence public opinion, so the main idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe magazine was criticism of human vices and weaknesses . Other subjects of irony were the superstitions of the population. Catherine herself called the magazine: "Satire in a smiling spirit."

Ekaterina - philanthropist and collector

Development of culture and art

Catherine considered herself a "philosopher on the throne" and favored the European Enlightenment, was in correspondence with Voltaire, Diderot, d "Alembert.

Under her rule, the Hermitage and the Public Library appeared in St. Petersburg. She patronized various areas of art - architecture, music, painting.

It is impossible not to mention the mass settlement of German families initiated by Catherine in various regions of modern Russia, Ukraine, as well as the Baltic countries. The goal was to “infect” Russian science and culture with European ones.

Courtyard of the time of Catherine II

Features of personal life

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. Potemkin (later prince), hussar Zorich, Lanskoy, the last favorite was the cornet Platon Zubov, who became a count of the Russian Empire and a general. With Potemkin, according to some sources, Catherine was secretly married (). After she planned a marriage with Orlov, however, on the advice of those close to her, she abandoned this idea.

It is worth noting that Catherine's "debauchery" was not such a scandalous phenomenon against the backdrop of the general licentiousness of the mores of the 18th century. Most kings (with the possible exception of Frederick the Great, Louis XVI and Charles XII) had numerous mistresses. Catherine's favorites (with the exception of Potemkin, who had state abilities) did not influence politics. Nevertheless, the institution of favoritism had a negative effect on the higher nobility, who sought benefits through flattery to a new favorite, tried to make “their own man” a lover to the Empress, etc.

Catherine had two sons: Pavel Petrovich () (it is suspected that his father was Sergey Saltykov) and Alexei Bobrinsky (- the son of Grigory Orlov) and two daughters: Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna (1757-1759, possibly the daughter of the future king) who died in infancy Poland Stanislav Poniatowski) and Elizaveta Grigorievna Tyomkina (- Potemkin's daughter).

Famous figures of the Catherine era

The reign of Catherine II was characterized by the fruitful activities of outstanding Russian scientists, diplomats, military, statesmen, cultural and art figures. In 1873, in St. Petersburg, in the square in front of the Alexandrinsky Theater (now Ostrovsky Square), an impressive multi-figured monument to Catherine was erected, designed by M. O. Mikeshin by sculptors A. M. Opekushin and M. A. Chizhov and architects V. A. Schroeter and D. I. Grimm. The foot of the monument consists of a sculptural composition, the characters of which are outstanding personalities of the Catherine's era and the empress's associates:

The events of the last years of the reign of Alexander II - in particular, the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 - prevented the implementation of the plan to expand the memorial of the Catherine's era. D. I. Grimm developed a project for the construction in the square next to the monument to Catherine II of bronze statues and busts depicting figures of the glorious reign. According to the final list, approved a year before the death of Alexander II, six bronze sculptures and twenty-three busts on granite pedestals were to be placed next to the monument to Catherine.

In growth should have been depicted: Count N. I. Panin, Admiral G. A. Spiridov, writer D. I. Fonvizin, Prosecutor General of the Senate Prince A. A. Vyazemsky, Field Marshal Prince N. V. Repnin and General A. I. Bibikov, former chairman of the Commission on the code. In the busts - the publisher and journalist N. I. Novikov, the traveler P. S. Pallas, the playwright A. P. Sumarokov, the historians I. N. Boltin and Prince M. M. Shcherbatov, the artists D. G. Levitsky and V. L Borovikovsky, architect A. F. Kokorinov, favorite of Catherine II Count G. G. Orlov, admirals F. F. Ushakov, S. K. Greig, A. I. Cruz, military leaders: Count Z. G. Chernyshev, Prince V M. Dolgorukov-Krymsky, Count I. E. Ferzen, Count V. A. Zubov; Moscow Governor-General Prince M. N. Volkonsky, Governor of Novgorod Count Ya. E. Sievers, diplomat Ya. I. Bulgakov, pacifier of the "plague riot" of 1771 in Moscow

The Russian Empress Catherine II the Great was born on May 2 (Old Style April 21), 1729 in the city of Stettin in Prussia (now the city of Szczecin in Poland), died on November 17 (Old Style November 6), 1796 in St. Petersburg (Russia). The reign of Catherine II lasted more than three and a half decades, from 1762 to 1796. It was filled with many events in internal and external affairs, the implementation of plans that continued what was being done during. The period of her reign is often called the "golden age" of the Russian Empire.

By her own admission, Catherine II, she did not have a creative mind, but she was good at capturing any sensible thought and using it for her own purposes. She skillfully selected her assistants, not being afraid of bright and talented people. That is why Catherine's time was marked by the appearance of a whole galaxy of outstanding statesmen, generals, writers, artists, and musicians. Among them are the great Russian commander, Field Marshal Pyotr Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, satirist writer Denis Fonvizin, the outstanding Russian poet, Pushkin's predecessor Gavriil Derzhavin, Russian historiographer, writer, creator of the "History of the Russian State" Nikolai Karamzin, writer, philosopher, poet Alexander Radishchev , outstanding Russian violinist and composer, founder of Russian violin culture Ivan Khandoshkin, conductor, teacher, violinist, singer, one of the founders of the Russian national opera Vasily Pashkevich, composer of secular and church music, conductor, teacher Dmitry Bortyansky.

In her memoirs, Catherine II characterized the state of Russia at the beginning of her reign as follows:

Finances were depleted. The army did not receive a salary for 3 months. Trade was in decline, for many of its branches were given over to a monopoly. There was no correct system in the state economy. The War Department was plunged into debt; the marine was barely holding on, being in utter neglect. The clergy were dissatisfied with the taking away of his lands. Justice was sold at a bargain, and the laws were governed only in cases where they favored the strong person.

The Empress formulated the tasks facing the Russian monarch as follows:

— It is necessary to enlighten the nation, which should govern.

- It is necessary to introduce good order in the state, to support society and force it to comply with the laws.

- It is necessary to establish a good and accurate police in the state.

- It is necessary to promote the flowering of the state and make it abundant.

“We need to make the state formidable in itself and inspire respect for its neighbors.

Based on the tasks set, Catherine II carried out active reformatory activities. Her reforms affected almost all spheres of life.

Convinced of the unsuitable system of government, Catherine II in 1763 carried out a Senate reform. The Senate was divided into 6 departments, losing the importance of the body that manages the state apparatus, and became the highest administrative and judicial institution.

Faced with financial difficulties, Catherine II in 1763-1764 carried out the secularization (conversion to secular property) of church lands. 500 monasteries were abolished, 1 million souls of peasants passed to the treasury. Due to this, the state treasury was significantly replenished. This made it possible to ease the financial crisis in the country, to pay off the army, which had not received a salary for a long time. The influence of the Church on the life of society has been significantly reduced.

From the very beginning of her reign, Catherine II began to strive to achieve the internal order of the state. She believed that injustices in the state could be eradicated with the help of good laws. And she decided to adopt new legislation instead of the Cathedral Code of Alexei Mikhailovich of 1649, which would take into account the interests of all classes. For this purpose, in 1767, the Legislative Commission was convened. 572 deputies represented the nobility, merchants, Cossacks. In the new legislation, Catherine tried to carry out the ideas of Western European thinkers about a just society. Having reworked their works, she compiled the famous "Order of Empress Catherine" for the Commission. "Instruction" consisted of 20 chapters, divided into 526 articles. It is about the need for a strong autocratic power in Russia and the class structure of Russian society, about legality, about the relationship between law and morality, about the dangers of torture and corporal punishment. The commission worked for more than two years, but its work was not crowned with success, since the nobility and the deputies themselves from other classes stood guard only for their rights and privileges.

In 1775, Catherine II carried out a clearer territorial division of the empire. The territory began to be divided into administrative units with a certain number of taxable (who paid taxes) population. The country was divided into 50 provinces with a population of 300-400 thousand in each, provinces into counties of 20-30 thousand inhabitants. The city was an independent administrative unit. Elected courts and "judicial chambers" were introduced to deal with criminal and civil cases. Finally, "conscientious" courts for minors and the sick.

In 1785, the "Letter of Letters to the Cities" was published. It determined the rights and obligations of the urban population, the system of governance in cities. Residents of the city every 3 years elected a self-government body - the General City Duma, the mayor and judges.

Since the time of Peter the Great, when all the nobility was obliged to lifelong service to the state, and the peasantry to the same service to the nobility, gradual changes have taken place. Catherine the Great, among other reforms, also wanted to bring harmony into the life of the estates. In 1785, the Letter of Complaint to the Nobility was published, which was a set, a collection of noble privileges, formalized by law. From now on, the nobility was sharply separated from other classes. The freedom of the nobility from paying taxes, from compulsory service was confirmed. Nobles could only be judged by a noble court. Only nobles had the right to own land and serfs. Catherine forbade subjecting nobles to corporal punishment. She believed that this would help the Russian nobility to get rid of the slave psychology and acquire personal dignity.

These letters streamlined the social structure of Russian society, divided into five classes: the nobility, the clergy, the merchants, the bourgeoisie ("the middle class of people") and the serfs.

As a result of the education reform in Russia during the reign of Catherine II, a system of secondary education was created. In Russia, closed schools, educational homes, institutes for girls, nobles, townspeople were created, in which experienced teachers were engaged in the education and upbringing of boys and girls. A network of non-estate two-class schools in the counties and four-class schools in provincial towns was created in the provinces. A classroom lesson system was introduced in schools (single dates for the beginning and end of classes), methods of teaching disciplines and educational literature were developed, and uniform curricula were created. By the end of the XVIII century in Russia there were 550 educational institutions with a total of 60-70 thousand people.

Under Catherine, the systematic development of women's education began, in 1764 the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, the Educational Society for Noble Maidens were opened. The Academy of Sciences has become one of the leading scientific bases in Europe. An observatory, a physics office, an anatomical theater, a botanical garden, instrumental workshops, a printing house, a library, and an archive were founded. The Russian Academy was founded in 1783.

Under Catherine II, the population of Russia increased significantly, hundreds of new cities were built, the treasury quadrupled, industry and agriculture developed rapidly - Russia began to export bread for the first time.

Under her, paper money was introduced for the first time in Russia. On her initiative, the first vaccination against smallpox was carried out in Russia (she herself set an example, became the first to be vaccinated).

Under Catherine II, as a result of the Russian-Turkish wars (1768-1774, 1787-1791), Russia finally gained a foothold on the Black Sea, the lands were annexed, called Novorossia: the Northern Black Sea region, Crimea, the Kuban region. She took Eastern Georgia under Russian citizenship (1783). During the reign of Catherine II, as a result of the so-called partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795), Russia returned the Western Russian lands torn away by the Poles.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources