Katka the second. The beginning of the reign of Catherine II. Liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich
Empress of All Russia (June 28, 1762 - November 6, 1796). Her reign is one of the most remarkable in Russian history; and its dark and bright sides had an enormous influence on subsequent events, especially on the mental and cultural development of the country. The wife of Peter III, nee Princess of Anhalt-Zerbt (born April 24, 1729), was naturally gifted with a great mind and strong character; on the contrary, her husband was a weak man, ill-bred. Not sharing his pleasures, Catherine devoted herself to reading and soon moved from novels to historical and philosophical books. An elected circle formed around her, in which Catherine's greatest confidence was first enjoyed by Saltykov, and then by Stanislav Poniatowski, later the King of Poland. Her relationship with Empress Elizabeth was not particularly cordial: when Catherine had a son, Pavel, the Empress took the child to her and rarely allowed her mother to see him. On December 25, 1761, Elizabeth died; with the accession to the throne of Peter III, the situation of Catherine became even worse. The coup on June 28, 1762 elevated Catherine to the throne (see Peter III). The harsh school of life and a huge natural mind helped Catherine herself to get out of a very difficult situation, and to bring Russia out of it. The treasury was empty; the monopoly crushed trade and industry; factory peasants and serfs were agitated by rumors of freedom, now and then renewed; peasants from the western border fled to Poland. Under such circumstances, Catherine came to the throne, the rights to which belonged to her son. But she understood that this son would become a toy of parties on the throne, like Peter II. The Regency was a fragile business. The fate of Menshikov, Biron, Anna Leopoldovna was in everyone's mind.
Catherine's penetrating gaze was equally attentive to the phenomena of life both at home and abroad. Having learned, two months after her accession to the throne, that the famous French Encyclopedia was condemned by the Parisian parliament for godlessness and its continuation was prohibited, Catherine suggested to Voltaire and Diderot that they publish the encyclopedia in Riga. This proposal alone won over the best minds to the side of Catherine, who then gave direction to public opinion throughout Europe. In the autumn of 1762, Catherine was crowned and spent the winter in Moscow. In the summer of 1764, Lieutenant Mirovich decided to enthrone John Antonovich, the son of Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich of Braunschweig, who was kept in the Shlisselburg fortress. The plan failed - Ivan Antonovich, during an attempt to free him, was shot dead by one of the guard soldiers; Mirovich was executed by a court verdict. In 1764, Prince Vyazemsky, sent to pacify the peasants assigned to the factories, was ordered to investigate the question of the benefits of free labor over hired labor. The same question was proposed to the newly founded Economic Society (see Free Economic Society and Serfdom). First of all, it was necessary to resolve the issue of the monastery peasants, which had taken on a particularly acute character even under Elizabeth. At the beginning of her reign, Elizabeth returned the estates to monasteries and churches, but in 1757 she, along with the dignitaries surrounding her, came to the conclusion that it was necessary to transfer the management of church property to secular hands. Peter III ordered the fulfillment of Elizabeth's plan and the transfer of management of church property to the college of economy. Inventories of monastic property were made, under Peter III, extremely rudely. Upon the accession of Catherine II to the throne, the bishops filed complaints with her and asked for the return of management of church property to them. Catherine, on the advice of Bestuzhev-Ryumin, satisfied their desire, canceled the collegium of economy, but did not abandon her intention, but only postponed its execution; she then ordered that the 1757 commission resume its studies. It was ordered to make new inventories of monastic and church property; but the clergy were dissatisfied with the new inventories; Metropolitan Arseny Matseevich of Rostov especially rebelled against them. In his report to the synod, he spoke harshly, arbitrarily interpreting church historical facts, even distorting them and making comparisons offensive to Catherine. The Synod presented the case to the Empress, in the hope (as Solovyov thinks) that Catherine II would show her usual softness this time as well. The hope was not justified: Arseny's report caused such irritation in Catherine, which was not noticed in her either before or after. She could not forgive Arseny comparing her with Julian and Judas and the desire to expose her as a violator of her word. Arseny was sentenced to exile in the Arkhangelsk diocese, to the Nikolaevsky Korelsky monastery, and then, as a result of new accusations, to deprivation of monastic dignity and life imprisonment in Revel (see Arseny Matseevich). Characteristic for Catherine II is the following case from the beginning of her reign. A case was reported on allowing Jews to enter Russia. Catherine said that to begin the reign by decree on the free entry of Jews would be a bad way to calm the minds; it is impossible to recognize entry as harmful. Then Senator Prince Odoevsky offered to take a look at what Empress Elizabeth wrote in the margins of the same report. Catherine demanded a report and read: "I do not want selfish profit from the enemies of Christ." Turning to the prosecutor general, she said: "I want this case to be postponed."
The increase in the number of serfs through huge distributions to the favorites and dignitaries of the populated estates, the establishment of serfdom in Little Russia, completely fall as a dark stain on the memory of Catherine II. However, one should not lose sight of the fact that the underdevelopment of Russian society at that time affected every step. So, when Catherine II decided to abolish torture and proposed this measure to the Senate, the senators expressed their fear that if torture was abolished, no one, going to bed, would be sure whether he would get up in the morning alive. Therefore, Catherine, without publicly destroying torture, sent out a secret order that in cases where torture was used, the judges based their actions on Chapter X of the Order, in which torture is condemned as a cruel and extremely stupid thing. At the beginning of the reign of Catherine II, an attempt was renewed to create an institution that resembled a supreme privy council or a Cabinet that replaced it, in a new form, under the name of the permanent council of the empress. The author of the project was Count Panin. Feldzeugmeister General Villebois wrote to the Empress: "I don't know who the compiler of this project is, but it seems to me that, under the guise of defending the monarchy, he is in a subtle way more inclined towards aristocratic rule." Villebois was right; but Catherine II herself understood the oligarchic nature of the project. She signed it, but kept it under wraps, and it was never made public. Thus Panin's idea of a council of six permanent members remained a mere dream; the private council of Catherine II always consisted of rotating members. Knowing how the transition of Peter III to the side of Prussia irritated public opinion, Catherine ordered the Russian generals to remain neutral and thereby contributed to the end of the war (see the Seven Years' War). The internal affairs of the state demanded special attention: the lack of justice was most striking. Catherine II expressed herself energetically on this subject: “extortion has increased to such an extent that there is hardly the smallest place in the government in which the court would go without infection of this ulcer; if someone is looking for a place, he pays; if someone defends himself from slander, he defends himself with money; if anyone slanders anyone, he backs up all his cunning intrigues with gifts. Catherine was especially amazed when she learned that within the boundaries of the current Novgorod province they took money from the peasants for swearing them allegiance to her. This state of justice forced Catherine II to convene in 1766 a commission to issue the Code. Catherine II handed over to this commission the Order, by which she was to be guided in the preparation of the Code. The order was drawn up on the basis of the ideas of Montesquieu and Beccaria (see. Order [ Big] and the Commission of 1766). Polish affairs, the first Turkish war that arose from them, and internal unrest suspended the legislative activity of Catherine II until 1775. Polish affairs caused the partitions and the fall of Poland: according to the first partition in 1773, Russia received the current provinces of Mogilev, Vitebsk, part of Minsk, i.e. most of Belarus (see Poland). The first Turkish war began in 1768 and ended in peace in Kuchuk-Kaynardzhi, which was ratified in 1775. According to this peace, the Port recognized the independence of the Crimean and Budzhak Tatars; ceded Azov, Kerch, Yenikale and Kinburn to Russia; opened free passage for Russian ships from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean; granted forgiveness to Christians who took part in the war; allowed Russia's petition on Moldovan affairs. During the first Turkish war, plague raged in Moscow, causing a plague riot; in the east of Russia, an even more dangerous rebellion broke out, known as the Pugachevshchina. In 1770, the plague from the army penetrated into Little Russia, in the spring of 1771 it appeared in Moscow; the commander-in-chief (currently - governor-general) Count Saltykov left the city to the mercy of fate. The retired General Eropkin voluntarily assumed the heavy duty of maintaining order and, by preventive measures, weakening the plague. The townsfolk did not comply with his instructions and not only did not burn clothes and linen from those who died from the plague, but hid their very death and buried them in the backyards. The plague intensified: in the early summer of 1771, 400 people died daily. The people crowded in horror at the Barbarian Gates, in front of the miraculous icon. The contagion from crowding people, of course, intensified. The then Archbishop of Moscow Ambrose (see), an enlightened man, ordered the removal of the icon. A rumor immediately spread that the bishop, along with the healers, had conspired to kill the people. The ignorant and fanatical crowd, maddened with fear, put to death a worthy archpastor. There were rumors that the rebels were preparing to set fire to Moscow, exterminate doctors and nobles. Eropkin, with several companies, managed, however, to restore calm. In the last days of September, Count Grigory Orlov, then the closest person to Catherine, arrived in Moscow: but at that time the plague was already weakening and stopped in October. This plague killed 130,000 people in Moscow alone.
The Pugachev rebellion was raised by the Yaik Cossacks, dissatisfied with the changes in their Cossack way of life. In 1773, the Don Cossack Emelyan Pugachev (see) took the name of Peter III and raised the banner of rebellion. Catherine II entrusted the suppression of the rebellion to Bibikov, who immediately understood the essence of the matter; It's not Pugachev that matters, he said, it's the general displeasure that matters. The Bashkirs, Kalmyks, and Kirghiz joined the Yaik Cossacks and the rebellious peasants. Bibikov, ordering from Kazan, moved detachments from all sides to more dangerous places; Prince Golitsyn liberated Orenburg, Mikhelson - Ufa, Mansurov - Yaitsky town. At the beginning of 1774, the rebellion began to subside, but Bibikov died of exhaustion, and the rebellion flared up again: Pugachev captured Kazan and moved to the right bank of the Volga. Bibikov's place was taken by Count P. Panin, but did not replace him. Mikhelson defeated Pugachev near Arzamas and blocked his path to Moscow. Pugachev rushed to the south, took Penza, Petrovsk, Saratov and hanged the nobles everywhere. From Saratov, he moved to Tsaritsyn, but was repulsed and again defeated by Mikhelson near Cherny Yar. When Suvorov arrived at the army, the impostor held on a little and was soon betrayed by his accomplices. In January 1775, Pugachev was executed in Moscow (see Pugachevshchina). Since 1775, the legislative activity of Catherine II resumed, which, however, had not stopped before. So, in 1768, commercial and noble banks were abolished and the so-called assignation or change bank was established (see Banknotes). In 1775, the existence of the Zaporizhzhya Sich, which was already declining, ceased to exist. In the same year, 1775, the transformation of the provincial government began. An institution was issued for the administration of the provinces, which took twenty whole years to be introduced: in 1775 it began with the Tver province and ended in 1796 with the establishment of the Vilna province (see Gubernia). Thus, the reform of the provincial administration, begun by Peter the Great, was brought out of a chaotic state by Catherine II and completed by her. In 1776, Catherine commanded the word in petitions slave replace with the word loyal. By the end of the first Turkish war, Potemkin, who aspired to great deeds, gained particular importance. Together with his collaborator, Bezborodko, he drew up a project known as the Greek one. The grandiosity of this project - destroying the Ottoman Porte, restoring the Greek Empire, on the throne of which Konstantin Pavlovich should be elevated - was liked by E. The opponent of Potemkin's influence and plans, Count N. Panin, tutor of Tsarevich Pavel and president of the College of Foreign Affairs, in order to distract Catherine II from the Greek project , brought her a project of armed neutrality, in 1780. Armed neutrality (see) was intended to patronize the trade of neutral states during the war and was directed against England, which was unfavorable for Potemkin's plans. Pursuing his broad and useless plan for Russia, Potemkin prepared an extremely useful and necessary thing for Russia - the annexation of the Crimea. In the Crimea, since the recognition of its independence, two parties were worried - Russian and Turkish. Their struggle gave a reason to occupy the Crimea and the Kuban region. The manifesto of 1783 announced the annexation of the Crimea and the Kuban region to Russia. The last Khan Shagin Giray was sent to Voronezh; Crimea renamed into Taurida Governorate; Crimean raids stopped. It is believed that due to the raids of the Crimeans, Great and Little Russia and part of Poland, from the 15th century. until 1788, lost from 3 to 4 million people: captives were turned into slaves, captives filled harems or became, like slaves, in the ranks of female servants. In Constantinople, the Mamelukes had Russian nurses and nannies. in the 16th, 17th and even 18th centuries. Venice and France used shackled Russian slaves bought from the markets of the Levant as galley laborers. The pious Louis XIV tried only to ensure that these slaves did not remain schismatics. The annexation of the Crimea put an end to the shameful trade in Russian slaves (see V. Lamansky in the "Historical Bulletin" for 1880: "The Power of the Turks in Europe"). Following that, Erekle II, the king of Georgia, recognized the protectorate of Russia. The year 1785 is marked by two important pieces of legislation: Complaint to the nobility(see Nobility) and city position(see City). The statute on public schools on August 15, 1786 was implemented only on a small scale. Projects to establish universities in Pskov, Chernigov, Penza and Yekaterinoslav were shelved. In 1783, the Russian Academy was founded to study the native language. The foundation of institutions was the beginning of the education of women. Orphanages were established, smallpox vaccination was introduced, and the Pallas expedition was equipped to study the remote outskirts.
Potemkin's enemies argued, not understanding the importance of acquiring Crimea, that Crimea and Novorossiya were not worth the money spent on their establishment. Then Catherine II decided to inspect the newly acquired region herself. Accompanied by the Austrian, English and French ambassadors, with a huge retinue, in 1787 she set off on a journey. The Archbishop of Mogilev, Georgy Konissky, met her in Mstislavl with a speech, which was famous by his contemporaries as a model of eloquence. The whole character of the speech is determined by its beginning: "Let's leave it to the astronomers to prove that the Earth revolves around the Sun: our sun walks around us." In Kanev met Catherine II Stanislav Poniatowski, King of Poland; near Keidan - Emperor Joseph II. He and Catherine laid the first stone of the city of Yekaterinoslav, visited Kherson and inspected the Black Sea Fleet, which had just been created by Potemkin. During the journey, Joseph noticed the theatricality in the setting, saw how hastily they drove the people to the villages supposedly under construction; but in Kherson he saw the real deal - and did justice to Potemkin.
The second Turkish war under Catherine II was waged, in alliance with Joseph II, from 1787 to 1791. In 1791, on December 29, peace was concluded in Iasi. For all the victories, Russia received only Ochakov and the steppe between the Bug and the Dnieper (see Turkish wars and the Peace of Jassy). At the same time, with varying happiness, there was a war with Sweden, declared by Gustav III in 1789 (see Sweden). It ended on August 3, 1790 with the Peace of Verel (see), on the basis of the status quo. During the 2nd Turkish War, a coup took place in Poland: on May 3, 1791, a new constitution was promulgated, which led to the second partition of Poland, in 1793, and then to the third, in 1795 (see Poland). Under the second section, Russia received the rest of the Minsk province, Volhynia and Podolia, under the 3rd - the Grodno province and Courland. In 1796, in the last year of the reign of Catherine II, Count Valerian Zubov, appointed commander-in-chief in the campaign against Persia, conquered Derbent and Baku; his successes were stopped by the death of Catherine.
The last years of the reign of Catherine II were overshadowed, from 1790, by a reactionary direction. Then the French Revolution broke out, and with our domestic reaction all-European, Jesuit-oligarchic reaction entered into an alliance. Her agent and instrument was Catherine's last favorite, Prince Platon Zubov, together with his brother, Count Valerian. European reaction wanted to draw Russia into a struggle against revolutionary France - a struggle alien to the direct interests of Russia. Catherine II spoke kind words to the representatives of the reaction and did not give a single soldier. Then the undermining under the throne of Catherine II intensified, accusations were renewed that she illegally occupied the throne belonging to Pavel Petrovich. There is reason to believe that in 1790 an attempt was being made to elevate Pavel Petrovich to the throne. This attempt was probably connected with the expulsion from St. Petersburg of Prince Frederick of Württemberg. The domestic reaction at the same time accused Catherine of allegedly excessive free-thinking. The basis of the accusation was, among other things, the permission to translate Voltaire and participation in the translation of Belisarius, the story of Marmontel, which was considered anti-religious, because it does not indicate the difference between Christian and pagan virtue. Catherine II grew old, there was almost no trace of her former courage and energy - and now, under such circumstances, in 1790, Radishchev's book "Journey from St. The unfortunate Radishchev was punished by exile to Siberia. Perhaps this cruelty was the result of a fear that the exclusion of articles on the emancipation of the peasants from the Nakaz would be considered hypocrisy on the part of Catherine. In 1792, Novikov was sent to Shlisselburg, who had served Russian education so much. The secret motive for this measure was Novikov's relationship with Pavel Petrovich. In 1793, Knyazhnin suffered severely for his tragedy Vadim. In 1795, even Derzhavin was suspected of taking a revolutionary direction, for transcribing Psalm 81, entitled "To Rulers and Judges." Thus ended the educational reign of Catherine II, which had raised the national spirit, great husband(Catherine le grand). Despite the reaction of recent years, the name of the educational institution will remain with him in history. Since this reign in Russia, they began to realize the importance of humane ideas, they began to talk about the right of a person to think for the benefit of their own kind [We almost did not touch on the weaknesses of Catherine II, recalling the words of Renan: "serious history should not attach too much importance to the morals of sovereigns, if these morals are not had a great influence on the overall course of affairs. Under Catherine, the influence of Zubov was harmful, but only because he was an instrument of a harmful party.].
Literature. The works of Kolotov, Sumarokov, Lefort are panegyrics. Of the new ones, Brickner's work is more satisfactory. The very important work of Bilbasov is not finished; only one volume was published in Russian, two in German. S. M. Solovyov in the 29th volume of his history of Russia dwelled on peace in Kuchuk-Kainardzhi. The foreign works of Rulière and Caster cannot be bypassed only by the undeserved attention given to them. Of the countless memoirs, the memoirs of Khrapovitsky are especially important (the best edition is N. P. Barsukov). See Waliszewski's latest work: "Le Roman d" une impératrice". Works on individual issues are indicated in the corresponding articles. The publications of the Imperial Historical Society are extremely important.
E. Belov.
Gifted with literary talent, receptive and sensitive to the phenomena of life around her, Catherine II took an active part in the literature of her time. The literary movement she initiated was devoted to the development of enlightenment ideas of the 18th century. Thoughts on education, briefly outlined in one of the chapters of the "Order", were subsequently developed in detail by Catherine in allegorical tales: "About Tsarevich Chlor" (1781) and "About Tsarevich Fevey" (1782), and mainly in "Instructions to Prince N. Saltykov", given when he was appointed tutor of the Grand Dukes Alexander and Konstantin Pavlovich (1784). The pedagogical ideas expressed in these works, Catherine mainly borrowed from Montaigne and Locke: from the first she took a general view of the goals of education, the second she used in developing particulars. Guided by Montaigne, Catherine II put forward the moral element in the first place in education - the instillation in the soul of humanity, justice, respect for the laws, indulgence towards people. At the same time, she demanded that the mental and physical aspects of education should be properly developed. Personally leading the upbringing of her grandchildren up to the age of seven, she compiled an entire educational library for them. For the Grand Dukes, Catherine also wrote Notes on Russian History. In purely fictional writings, to which magazine articles and dramatic works belong, Catherine II is much more original than in writings of a pedagogical and legislative nature. Pointing to the actual contradictions of the ideals that existed in society, her comedies and satirical articles were to greatly contribute to the development of public consciousness, making more understandable the importance and expediency of the reforms she was undertaking.
The beginning of the public literary activity of Catherine II dates back to 1769, when she was an active collaborator and inspirer of the satirical magazine "Vsyakaya Vsyachina" (see). The patronizing tone adopted by Vsyakoy Vsyachina in relation to other journals, and the instability of its direction, soon armed almost all the journals of that time against it; her main opponent was the bold and direct "Drone" of N. I. Novikov. The latter's sharp attacks on judges, governors, and prosecutors strongly displeased Vsyakaya Vsyachina; who conducted the controversy against Trutnya in this journal cannot be said positively, but it is reliably known that one of the articles directed against Novikov belongs to the empress herself. In the interval from 1769 to 1783, when Catherine again acted as a journalist, she wrote five comedies, and between them her best plays: "On Time" and "Name Day of Mrs. Vorchalkina." The purely literary merits of Catherine's comedies are not high: there is little action in them, the intrigue is too simple, the denouement is monotonous. They are written in the spirit and after the model of French modern comedies, in which the servants are more developed and intelligent than their masters. But at the same time, purely Russian social vices are ridiculed in Catherine's comedies and Russian types appear. Bigotry, superstition, bad education, the pursuit of fashion, blind imitation of the French - these are the themes that Catherine developed in her comedies. These themes had already been outlined earlier by our satirical magazines of 1769 and, among other things, by Vsyakoy Vsachina; but what was presented in the magazines in the form of separate pictures, characterizations, sketches, in the comedies of Catherine II received a more solid and vivid image. The types of the miserly and heartless hypocrite Khanzhakhina, the superstitious gossip Vestnikova in the comedy "On Time", the petimeter Firlyufyushkov and the projector Nekopeikov in the comedy "Mrs. Vorchalkina's Name Day" are among the most successful in Russian comic literature of the last century. Variations of these types are repeated in the rest of Catherine's comedies.
By 1783, Catherine was actively involved in the "Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word", published at the Academy of Sciences, edited by Princess E. R. Dashkova. Here Catherine II placed a number of satirical articles, entitled by the common name "Tales and Fables". The original purpose of these articles was, apparently, a satirical depiction of the weaknesses and ridiculous sides of the society of the contemporary empress, and the originals for such portraits were often taken by the empress from among those close to her. Soon, however, "There were Fables" began to serve as a reflection of the magazine life of the "Interlocutor". Catherine II was the unspoken editor of this magazine; as can be seen from her correspondence with Dashkova, she still read in manuscript many of the articles sent for publication in the journal; some of these articles touched her to the core: she entered into polemics with their authors, often making fun of them. For the reading public, Catherine's participation in the magazine was not a secret; Articles of the letter were often sent to the address of the writer of "Tales and Fables", in which rather transparent hints were made. The empress tried as much as possible to keep her composure and not betray her incognito; only once, enraged by Fonvizin's "impudent and reprehensible" questions, she so clearly expressed her irritation in "Facts and Fables" that Fonvizin found it necessary to hasten with a letter of repentance. In addition to Tales and Tales, the empress placed in the Interlocutor several small polemical and satirical articles, for the most part ridiculing the pompous writings of random collaborators of the Interlocutor - Lyuboslov and Count S. P. Rumyantsev. One of these articles ("Society of the Unknowing Daily Note"), in which Princess Dashkova saw a parody of the meetings of the then newly founded, in her opinion, Russian Academy, served as a pretext for stopping Catherine's participation in the magazine. In subsequent years (1785-1790), Catherine wrote 13 plays, not counting dramatic proverbs in French intended for the Hermitage theatre.
Freemasons have long attracted the attention of Catherine II. If we are to believe her words, she took the trouble to study in detail the enormous Masonic literature, but found nothing in Freemasonry but "folly." Stay in St. Petersburg. (in 1780) Cagliostro, about whom she spoke of as a scoundrel worthy of the gallows, armed her even more against the Masons. Receiving disturbing news about the ever-increasing influence of Moscow Masonic circles, seeing among her close associates many followers and defenders of Masonic teachings, the Empress decided to fight this "folly" literary weapon, and within two years (1785-86) she wrote one the other, three comedies ("Deceiver", "Seduced" and "Siberian Shaman"), in which she ridiculed Freemasonry. Only in the comedy "Seduced" are there, however, life traits reminiscent of Moscow Freemasons. "Deceiver" directed against Cagliostro. In The Shaman of Siberia, Catherine II, obviously unfamiliar with the essence of Masonic teachings, did not hesitate to reduce it to the same level as shamanic tricks. There is no doubt that Catherine's satire did not have much effect: Freemasonry continued to develop, and in order to deal him a decisive blow, the Empress no longer resorted to meek methods of correction, as she called her satire, but to harsh and decisive administrative measures.
In all likelihood, Catherine's acquaintance with Shakespeare, in French or German translations, also belongs to the indicated time. She remade "Windsor Gossips" for the Russian stage, but this reworking turned out to be extremely weak and very little reminiscent of genuine Shakespeare. In imitation of his historical chronicles, she composed two plays from the life of the ancient Russian princes - Rurik and Oleg. The main significance of these "Historical Representations", which are extremely weak in literary terms, lies in the political and moral ideas that Catherine puts into the mouths of the characters. Of course, these are not the ideas of Rurik or Oleg, but the thoughts of Catherine II herself. In comic operas, Catherine II did not pursue any serious goal: these were situation plays in which the main role was played by the musical and choreographic side. The Empress took the plot for these operas, for the most part, from folk tales and epics, known to her from manuscript collections. Only "Unfortunate Hero Kosometovich", despite its fabulous character, contains an element of modernity: this opera put the Swedish king Gustav III in a comic light, who at that time opened hostile actions against Russia, and was removed from the repertoire immediately after the conclusion of peace with Sweden. Catherine's French plays, the so-called "proverbs" - small one-act plays, the plots of which were, for the most part, episodes from modern life. They are of no particular importance, repeating the themes and types already introduced in other comedies by Catherine II. Catherine herself did not attach importance to her literary activities. “I look at my writings,” she wrote to Grimm, “as if they were trifles. I like to make experiments in all kinds, but it seems to me that everything I wrote is rather mediocre, why, apart from entertainment, I did not attach any importance to this.”
Works of Catherine II published by A. Smirdin (St. Petersburg, 1849-50). Exclusively literary works of Catherine II were published twice in 1893, under the editorship of V. F. Solntsev and A. I. Vvedensky. Individual articles and monographs: P. Pekarsky, "Materials for the history of the journal and literary activities of Catherine II" (St. Petersburg, 1863); Dobrolyubov, art. about "The Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word" (X, 825); "Works of Derzhavin", ed. J. Grota (St. Petersburg, 1873, vol. VIII, pp. 310-339); M. Longinov, "Dramatic works of Catherine II" (M., 1857); G. Gennadi, "More on the dramatic works of Catherine II" (in "Bibl. Zap.", 1858, No. 16); P. K. Shchebalsky, "Catherine II as a Writer" ("Dawn", 1869-70); his own, "Dramatic and moral writings of Empress Catherine II" (in "Russian Bulletin", 1871, vol. XVIII, nos. 5 and 6); N. S. Tikhonravov, "Literary little things in 1786" (in the scientific and literary collection, published by "Russian Vedomosti" - "Help for the Starving", M., 1892); E. S. Shumigorsky, "Essays from Russian history. I. Empress-publicist" (St. Petersburg, 1887); P. Bessonova, "On the influence of folk art on the dramas of Empress Catherine and on whole Russian songs inserted here" (in the journal Zarya, 1870); V. S. Lebedev, "Shakespeare in the alterations of Catherine II" (in the Russian Bulletin "(1878, No. 3); N. Lavrovsky, "On the pedagogical significance of the works of Catherine the Great" (Kharkov, 1856); A. Brikner, "Comic Opera Catherine II "The Unfortunate Hero" ("Zh. M. N. Pr.", 1870, No. 12), A. Galakhov, "There were also Fables, the work of Catherine II" ("Notes of the Fatherland" 1856, No. 10).
V. Solntsev.
At birth, the girl was given the name Sophia Frederica Augusta. Her father, Christian August, was the prince of the small German principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, but he won fame for his achievements in the military field. The mother of the future Catherine, Princess of Holstein-Gottorp Johanna Elizabeth, cared little about raising her daughter. And because the girl was raised by a governess.
Catherine was educated by tutors, and, among them, a chaplain who gave the girl religious lessons. However, the girl had her own point of view on many questions. She also mastered three languages: German, French and Russian.
Entry into the royal family of Russia
In 1744, the girl goes with her mother to Russia. The German princess becomes engaged to Grand Duke Peter and converts to Orthodoxy, receiving the name Catherine at baptism.
August 21, 1745 Catherine marries the heir to the throne of Russia, becoming a princess. However, family life was far from happy.
After long childless years, Catherine II finally gave birth to an heir. Her son Pavel was born on September 20, 1754. And then heated debate flared up about who really is the boy's father. Be that as it may, Catherine hardly saw her first-born: shortly after birth, Empress Elizabeth takes the child to be raised.
Seizure of the throne
On December 25, 1761, after the death of Empress Elizabeth, Peter III ascended the throne, and Catherine became the wife of the emperor. However, it has little to do with state affairs. Peter and his wife were frankly cruel. Soon, due to the stubborn support he provided to Prussia, Peter becomes a stranger to many court, secular and military officials. The founder of what today we call progressive internal state reforms, Peter also quarreled with the Orthodox Church, taking away church lands. And now, six months later, Peter was deposed from the throne as a result of a conspiracy that Catherine entered into with her lover, Russian lieutenant Grigory Orlov, and a number of other persons, in order to seize power. She successfully manages to force her husband to abdicate and take control of the empire into her own hands. A few days after the abdication, in one of his estates, in Ropsha, Peter was strangled. What role Catherine played in the murder of her husband is unclear to this day.
Fearing herself to be thrown off by the opposing forces, Catherine is trying with all her might to win the favor of the troops and the church. She recalls the troops sent by Peter to the war against Denmark and in every possible way encourages and gives gifts to those who go over to her side. She even compares herself to Peter the Great, whom she reveres, declaring that she is following in his footsteps.
Governing body
Despite the fact that Catherine is a supporter of absolutism, she still makes a number of attempts to carry out social and political reforms. She publishes a document, the "Order", in which she proposes to abolish the death penalty and torture, and also proclaims the equality of all people. However, the Senate resolutely refuses any attempts to change the feudal system.
After finishing work on the "Order", in 1767, Catherine convenes representatives of various social and economic strata of the population to form the Legislative Commission. The commission did not leave a legislative body, but its convocation went down in history as the first time that representatives of the Russian people from all over the empire had the opportunity to express their ideas about the needs and problems of the country.
Later, in 1785, Catherine issued the Charter of the Nobility, in which she radically changed politics and challenged the power of the upper classes, in which most of the masses were under the yoke of serfdom.
Catherine, a religious skeptic by nature, seeks to subjugate the Orthodox Church to her power. At the beginning of her reign, she returned land and property to the church, but soon changed her views. The empress declares the church a part of the state, and therefore all her possessions, including more than a million serfs, become the property of the empire and are subject to taxes.
Foreign policy
During her reign, Catherine expands the borders of the Russian Empire. She makes significant acquisitions in Poland, having previously seated her former lover, the Polish prince Stanislaw Poniatowski, on the throne of the kingdom. Under the agreement of 1772, Catherine gives part of the lands of the Commonwealth to Prussia and Austria, while the eastern part of the kingdom, where many Russian Orthodox live, goes to the Russian Empire.
But such actions cause extreme disapproval of Turkey. In 1774, Catherine makes peace with the Ottoman Empire, according to which the Russian state receives new lands and access to the Black Sea. One of the heroes of the Russian-Turkish war was Grigory Potemkin, a reliable adviser and lover of Catherine.
Potemkin, a loyal supporter of the policy of the empress, himself proved himself to be an outstanding statesman. It was he, in 1783, who convinced Catherine to annex the Crimea to the empire, thereby strengthening her position on the Black Sea.
Love for education and art
At the time of Catherine's accession to the throne, Russia for Europe was a backward and provincial state. The Empress is trying with all her might to change this opinion, expanding the possibilities for new ideas in education and the arts. In St. Petersburg, she establishes a boarding school for girls of noble birth, and later free schools open in all cities of Russia.
Catherine patronizes many cultural projects. She is gaining fame as an ardent collector of art, and most of her collection is exhibited in her residence in St. Petersburg, in the Hermitage.
Catherine, passionately fond of literature, is especially favorable to the philosophers and writers of the Enlightenment. Endowed with literary talent, the empress describes her own life in a collection of memoirs.
Personal life
The love life of Catherine II became the subject of many gossip and false facts. The myths about her insatiability have been debunked, but this royal person really had many love affairs in her life. She could not remarry, because marriage could shake her position, and therefore in society she had to wear a mask of chastity. But, far from prying eyes, Catherine showed a remarkable interest in men.
End of reign
By 1796, Catherine had absolute power in the empire for several decades. And in the last years of her reign, she showed all the same vivacity of mind and strength of spirit. But in mid-November 1796, she was found unconscious on the bathroom floor. At that time, everyone came to the conclusion that she had a stroke.
The great Russian Empress Catherine II survived until the next night, but she never regained consciousness. November 17, 1796 she died. Her son, Pavel, ordered to put the remains of his father next to her coffin, arranging a funeral for Peter III, which he was not awarded after the murder. Catherine II and Peter III are buried in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.
Catherine II made a significant contribution to the development of the Russian Empire, carrying out educational reforms and encouraging the development of the arts. During her reign, she expanded the borders of the state with the help of the military power of the empire and her own diplomatic talent.
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April 21 (May 2), 1729 in the German city of Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland) was born Sophia Augusta Frederick of Anhalt-Zerbst, the future Russian Empress Catherine II.
In 1785, Catherine II issued the famous lawsnodative acts - Letters of grant to cities and the nobility. For the Russian nobility, the Catherine's document meant the legal consolidation of almost all the rights and privileges that the nobles had, including exemption from compulsory public service.The charter to the cities established new elective city institutions, expanded the circle of voters and consolidated the foundations of self-government.
In 1773 by decree of CatherineII in St. Petersburg, for the training of specialists in metalworking industries, the first in Russia and the second in the world higher technical educational institution, the Mining School, was founded. In 1781, the foundation was laid for the creation of a nationwide system of public education in Russia- A network of urban school institutions based on the class-lesson system has been created. In subsequent years, the empress also continued to develop plans for major changes in the field of education. V1783 Catherine issued a decree II "On Free Printing Houses", which allowed private individuals to engage in publishing activities. In 1795 Catherine the Great approved the construction project of the building of the first public library in St. Petersburg..
During her reign, the Russian empress waged two successful wars against the Ottoman Turks (Russian-Turkish wars of 1768-1774 and 1787-1791), as a result of which Russia finally gained a foothold on the Black Sea. Leading an alliance with Austria and Prussia, Catherine participated in the three partitions of Poland. In 1795 the empressa manifesto was issued on the accession of Courland "for all eternity to the Russian Empire."
The era of Empress Catherine the Great was marked by the emergence of a galaxy of prominent statesmen, generals, writers, and artists. Among them, a special place wasadjutant generalI. I. Shuvalov;Count P. A. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky; Admiral V. Ya. Chichagov; Generalissimo A. V. Suvorov; Field Marshal G. A. Potemkin; educator, book publisher N. I. Novikov; historian, archaeologist, artist, writer, collector A. N. Olenin, President of the Russian Academy E. R. Dashkova.
On the morning of November 6 (17), 1796, Catherine II died and was buried in the tomb of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. 77 years after the death of Catherine in St. Petersburg on Alexandrinsky Square (now Ostrovsky Square) a monument to the great Empress was solemnly opened.
Lit .: Brikner A. G. The history of Catherine II. SPb., 1885; Grotto Ya. K. Education of Catherine II // Ancient and New Russia. 1875. V. 1. No. 2. S. 110-125; The same [Electronic resource]. URL:http://memoirs.ru/texts/Grot_DNR_75_2.htm; Catherine II. Her life and writings: Sat. historical and literary articles. M., 1910;Joanna Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst. News written by Princess Joanna-Elizabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst, mother of Empress Catherine, about her arrival with her daughter in Russia and about the celebrations on the occasion of joining Orthodoxy and the marriage of the latter. 1744-1745 // Collection of the Russian Historical Society. 1871. T. 7. S. 7-67; The same [Electronic resource]. URL: http://memoirs.ru/texts/IoannaSRIO71.htm; Kamensky A. B. Life and fate of Empress Catherine the Great. M., 1997; Omelchenko O. A. "Legitimate monarchy" of Catherine II. M., 1993; A. M. Turgenev's stories about Empress Catherine II // Russian Antiquity. 1897. V. 89. No. 1. S. 171-176; The same [Electronic resource]. URL: http://memoirs.ru/texts/Turgenev897.htm ; Tarle E.V. Catherine II and her diplomacy. Ch. 1-2. M., 1945.
See also in the Presidential Library:
Catherine II (1729-1796) // Romanov dynasty. 400th anniversary of the Zemsky Sobor of 1613: collection.
Empress Catherine II went down in history under the name of the Great, along with Peter I. Her reign is often called the century of enlightenment for Russia, because in 30 years under her the country went from decline in all areas to a prosperous European power.
Catherine has come a long way from a Prussian princess, who was made the wife of her second cousin, to the greatest empress in the history of the country. She was an outstanding personality in all areas of her life - from the leadership of the state to countless novels. Catherine did not rule for long with a weak and spineless husband, she took the initiative into her own hands and made the country enlightened.
In this article we will tell the biography of Catherine the Great and interesting facts about her life!
Before coming to Russia
One of the greatest rulers in the history of Russia, who loved this country with all her heart, was a foreigner. Catherine's birth name was Sophia Augusta Frederica.
She was born in 1729 into a family that united two great German princely houses - Anhalt and Holstein-Gottorp. Her mother, Johanna Elisabeth, came from a family founded by Christian I, King of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. In addition, her uncle was elected king of Sweden in 1751.
The future Empress of Russia grew up on the streets of the German city of Stettin. She received an excellent home education - history, dance, music, theology, several foreign languages. But the girl's behavior was always boyish, she liked to run with the boys along the street more. Parents did not approve of this, but did not say anything against her childhood hobbies. Catherine herself did not consider herself a creative or outstanding person, but she was well versed in people and skillfully singled out other talents.
Catherine in her youth and after her betrothal to Peter.
In 1743, in Russia, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna began searching for a bride for her nephew, heir to the throne. The choice fell on the young Prussian princess Sophia Augusta Frederica, who at the age of 15 arrived in Russia with her mother Johanna Elisabeth.
The girl did not perceive the marriage with her second cousin Peter as coercion, and immediately accepted Russia as a new homeland. She began to actively study the Russian language, became interested in the traditions of the country and became interested in Orthodoxy. She arrived in Russia in February, and already in July she was engaged to Peter, having converted to Orthodoxy before that. She received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna at baptism. However, her mother was soon expelled from Russia for participating in political intrigue, and Catherine was left at court alone, with her future husband.
Wife of Peter III
In 1745, 16-year-old Catherine and 17-year-old Peter were married. However, the marriage between the Prussian princess and the heir to the Russian throne cannot be called happy. He was cold to his wife, and for the first years there was no intimate relationship between them. Peter immediately told his wife that he was in love with her maid of honor, so Catherine forbade herself to fall in love with Peter and experience any warm feelings for him. She began to have lovers, and until now, historians cannot give an exact answer whether Catherine's children are born from Peter.
It was rumored that Peter could not conceive a child, and Catherine's first two pregnancies were unsuccessful. However, in 1745 she managed to bear a son, who was named Paul. There is an opinion that Pavel is the son of Catherine's first serious lover, Sergei Saltykov.
Empress Elizaveta Petrovna immediately ordered the child to be taken away, and Catherine saw him for the first time only a month later. But she did not waste time, seeing how popular Elizabeth was, and her nephew unloved by society, she was intensively engaged in training and self-education.
Catherine's son Pavel I and Empress Elizaveta Petrovna The birth of an heir only worsened the marriage of Peter and Catherine, he openly started mistresses, and she started an affair with Stanislav Poniatovsky. In 1757, she gave birth to a daughter, Anna, and Peter expressed his displeasure, saying that only God knows how his wife becomes pregnant.
In those years, the health of Empress Elizabeth began to deteriorate, and even then Catherine began to think about the overthrow of Peter. She began to plan a coup d'état from 1756, building relationships with important people in the palace.
Every year the relationship of the spouses got worse - Peter openly lived with Elizaveta Vorontsova, and Catherine gave birth to a son from her lover Grigory Orlov. She had to hide her pregnancy, and during childbirth, her valet even set fire to her own house to distract Peter from the cries of the woman in labor.
In 1762, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna passed away, and her nephew became known as Emperor Peter III. In just a few months, it became clear that he was not ready for power.
Palace coup
As we already wrote, long before this, Catherine began to think over a plan to overthrow Peter from the throne, which he would have taken in any case. Her faith was reinforced by the love of the people for Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.
In addition, Peter spent most of his childhood at the German court, did not like Russia and openly expressed his unwillingness to rule such an uncivilized country. Elizabeth absolutely did not allow her nephew to participate in public affairs. The people did not like him, and Catherine decided to take advantage of this fact for her own purposes.
Catherine during the life of Elizabeth did not show herself, because the empress herself understood the disadvantageous position of Peter and wanted to replace him with his nephew Paul. However, she died before she did this, but even here Catherine did not act quickly. She began to wait until Peter himself heated the situation in the country to the limit, and he did it. During the six months of his reign, he issued more than 190 decrees, most of which were not very rosy accepted by society. The last straw can be considered the fact that Peter returned to Prussia back the lands conquered by Russia during the Seven Years' War.
Catherine (on the balcony) becomes Empress Ekaterina, meanwhile, looked very positive against his background - she was smart, well-read and loved Russia very much. When Peter III advanced with the army and stopped at Oraniyebaum, Catherine went to St. Petersburg, where the guardsmen swore allegiance to her. Peter was trapped and could not do anything - he had to abdicate, and already on June 28, 1762, Catherine became empress. Peter died a week later, and it is still unknown whether this was a murder, and whether Catherine knew about it.
Catherine herself became the ruling empress, which historians call the fact of a double coup, because she had to transfer the throne to her son. But from that time on, she became the head of the throne and began the path to ascension ...
Catherine the Great
Catherine herself wrote that the country went to her in a deplorable state. She immediately formulated the goals that she set for herself and the government for the coming years. First of all, she was going to educate the population of the country and make the state a formidable and respected rival for other countries. She ruled the country for more than 30 years, and during the years of her reign, the country really became strong.
Under Catherine, many lands were annexed, almost 7 million people became residents of Russia. Many lands were annexed against the will of the population, which gave rise to many national questions. Catherine carried out a deep provincial reform and formed 29 new provinces. During her reign, 144 cities were built. Many villages received only the actual title of the city, but remained rural settlements. It almost doubled the size of the army, the fleet tripled, the number of enterprises also almost doubled.
Catherine revised domestic legislation, clearly defined the provincial administration of the country, and divided Russian society into five estates. She also took up education, medicine, began to pay attention to women's education and supported vaccination against smallpox. The country's treasury quadrupled, paper money was introduced, and the country's population grew from 23 million to 37 million.
Historians are ambivalent about her reign, there were both good and bad sides. For example, during the reign of Catherine, corruption flourished, which the Empress herself contributed to with her favorites. Among the same ambiguous successes of the empress, one can name the expansion of the privileges of the nobility and the enslavement of the peasants. She also annexed the Crimea, New Russia, the Caucasus and part of the Commonwealth. These national issues still arise and cause controversy (for example, Crimea).
In Western history, Catherine left even more controversial opinions. Foreign contemporaries called Catherine "Russian Messalina" and spread rumors about her turbulent personal life. In some ways they were right, but somewhere the rumors were greatly exaggerated.
Favorites of the Empress
The personal life of Catherine the Great was stormy, but this does not mean that she led a cheeky lifestyle. There were practically no fleeting connections in her biography; she was in a relationship with all the favorites for several years.
In total, historians single out 23 beloved empresses, although according to rumors there were many times more. But officially, she brought only ten men closer to her, who received the privileges and duties of favorites.
Among Catherine's favorites were three men - Grigory Orlov, with whom she had a relationship for more than 12 years, Grigory Potemkin and Platon Zubov. Orlov was with her for many years, selecting and advising her new favorites even after parting. Relations with Potemkin were short-lived, but, according to rumors, she entered into an unequal marriage with him. Zubov was the last favorite, who held out until Catherine's death in 1796.
Ekaterina's favorite Grigory Orlov and their son Alexei Bobrinsky Despite the huge number of lovers, she was not on bad terms with any of them after breaking up. Most of the favorites after the death of Peter III were many times younger than the empress, she was suitable for them as a mother and always began relationships with maternal care. Even those who cheated on her, she bestowed lands and money. There is no unequivocal opinion on this matter, many condemn Catherine for a huge number of favorites, which led to corruption and to the fact that the empress's lovers influenced the affairs of the country.
Children
An equally interesting question in Catherine's biography is her children. Three were officially recognized, two of them were recognized by her husband Peter III. But since he and Catherine were on bad terms, many doubt that Peter is the father of the children.
Pavel could be the son of Sergei Saltykov, and the daughter Anna - Stanislav Poniatovsky. It is absolutely certain that the third son was born from Grigory Orlov, he was named Alexei Bobrinsky, and he became the ancestor of the genus of the same name. There are also doubts about three more children who can be born from Catherine. But there is no exact evidence, as in the case of paternity.
Catherine died in 1796, leaving her son Paul on the throne. Her reign lasted more than 30 years, and Russia became a real enlightened empire on a par with other European countries. Her identity has been controversial among both her contemporaries and historians.
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On April 21, 1729, Princess Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Tserptskaya, the future Empress Catherine II the Great, was born. The princess's family was very low on funds. And therefore Sophia Frederica received only home education. However, it was it that largely influenced the formation of the personality of Catherine 2, the future Russian Empress.
In 1744, an event occurred that was significant both for the young princess and for all of Russia. Elizaveta Petrovna stopped at her candidacy as the bride of Peter 3. Soon the princess arrived at the court. She enthusiastically took up self-education, studying the culture, language, history of Russia. Under the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna, she was baptized into Orthodoxy on June 24, 1744. The wedding with Peter 3 took place on August 21, 1745. But, the marriage did not bring Catherine family happiness. Peter did not pay much attention to his young wife. For quite a long time, hunting and balls became the only entertainment for Catherine. On September 20, 1754, the first-born Pavel was born. But, her son was taken away from her immediately. After that, relations with the Empress and Peter 3 deteriorated significantly. Peter 3, not shy, made mistresses. Yes, and Catherine herself cheated on her husband with Stanislav Poniatowski, the king of Poland.
Perhaps for this reason, Peter had very serious suspicions about the paternity of his daughter, who was born on December 9, 1758. It was a difficult period - Empress Elizabeth became seriously ill, Catherine's correspondence with the Austrian ambassador was opened. The support of the favorites and associates of the future empress turned out to be decisive.
Shortly after the death of Empress Elizabeth, Peter 3 ascended the throne. This happened in 1761. The matrimonial chambers were occupied by a mistress. And Catherine, having become pregnant by Orlov, gave birth in strict secrecy to her son Alexei.
The policy of Peter 3, both external and internal, provoked the indignation of almost all sections of Russian society. Yes, and could not cause any other reaction, for example, the return of Prussia captured during the Seven Years' War territories. Catherine, on the contrary, enjoyed considerable popularity. It is not surprising that in such a situation a conspiracy soon developed, led by Catherine.
On June 28, 1762, the guards took the oath to Catherine in St. Petersburg. Peter 3 was forced to abdicate the next day and arrested. And soon he was killed, as is believed, with the tacit consent of his wife. Thus began the era of Catherine II, referred to only as the Golden Age.
In many ways, the domestic policy of Catherine II depended on her commitment to the ideas of the Enlightenment. It was the so-called enlightened absolutism of Catherine II that contributed to the unification of the management system, the strengthening of the bureaucratic apparatus and, ultimately, the strengthening of the autocracy. The reforms of Catherine 2 became possible thanks to the activities of the Legislative Commission, which included deputies from all classes. However, the country did not manage to avoid serious problems. So, 1773 - 1775 became difficult. - the time of the Pugachev uprising.
The foreign policy of Catherine II turned out to be very active and successful. It was especially important to secure the southern borders of the country. Turkish campaigns were of great importance. In their course, the interests of the greatest powers - England, France and Russia - clashed. During the reign of Catherine II, great importance was attached to the annexation of the territories of Ukraine and Belarus to the Russian Empire. This Catherine II was able to achieve with the help of the divisions of Poland (together with England and Prussia). It is necessary to mention the decree of Catherine 2 on the liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich.
The reign of Catherine 2 was not only successful, but also long. She ruled from 1762 to 1796. According to some sources, the empress also thought about the possibility of abolishing serfdom in the country. It was at that time that the foundations of civil society were laid in Russia. Pedagogical schools were opened in St. Petersburg and Moscow, the Smolny Institute, the Public Library, and the Hermitage were created. On November 5, 1796, the Empress suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. Catherine II died on November 6th. Thus ended the biography of Catherine 2 and the brilliant Golden Age. The throne was inherited by Paul 1, her son.
