Catherine the Great
Key Facts
- Born in 1729 in Germany; marries the future Tsar Peter III and embraces Russian culture completely
- Overthrows her husband Peter III in July 1762 and ascends the throne alone at age 33
- Reigns for 34 years (1762-1796), the longest female reign in Russian history
- Corresponds with Voltaire and Diderot and reads Montesquieu; embodies enlightened despotism
- Annexes Crimea in 1783 and gains access to warm-water seas through two wars against the Ottoman Empire
- Takes part in the three partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795); enlarges the Empire by 500,000 km²
- Founds the Hermitage; her collection is today the heart of the largest museum in Russia
Biography
Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst was born on 2 May 1729 in Szczecin (then Stettin), in a modest German principality. Her ambitious and scheming mother sent her to the Russian court at the age of fifteen to marry Grand Duke Peter, heir to the throne. The young German woman immediately understood the importance of becoming Russian: she learnt the Russian language with determination, converted to Orthodoxy, took the name Catherine and meticulously observed the rituals of the imperial court. This extraordinary capacity for adaptation would be the key to her destiny.
Married to Peter III, an unstable and unpopular man, Catherine endured an unhappy union but at the same time built a network of loyal supporters at court. In July 1762, a few months after Peter III's accession, she overthrew her own husband with the support of the palace guards, notably the Izmailovsky and Semenovsky regiments, and ascended the Russian throne. Peter III was arrested and died shortly afterwards in obscure circumstances. Catherine then ruled alone, at the age of 33, over one of the world's greatest empires.
For thirty-four years, Catherine governed with formidable political intelligence. Influenced by the Enlightenment philosophers (she corresponded with Voltaire, invited Diderot to her court, admired Montesquieu), she presented herself as an enlightened despot. She modernised the administration, codified the laws, founded the Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg and encouraged neoclassical architecture. But her social reforms remained limited: the condition of the serfs, far from improving, deteriorated after the Pugachev Revolt (1773–1774), which she suppressed with exemplary brutality before reinforcing the nobles' power over their peasants.
In foreign policy, Catherine pursued an ambitious expansionist programme. She fought two victorious wars against the Ottoman Empire (1768–1774 and 1787–1792), annexing Crimea in 1783 and opening Russia's access to the warm waters of the Black Sea coast. She took an active part in the three Partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795), considerably enlarging Russian territory to the West. She also established a Russian presence in Alaska. Under her reign, Russia became an undisputed European power.
Catherine II died on 17 November 1796 in Saint Petersburg, probably of a stroke. She left behind a considerably enlarged Empire, lasting cultural institutions and the reputation of being the greatest ruler in Russian history. Her flamboyant personality, her numerous love affairs and her passion for art (she assembled the collection that today forms the core of the Hermitage Museum) have fed a legend that endures to this day.