Why do we love Catherine?

She was born Sophia Augusta Frederika of Anhalt-Zerbst to a minor Prussian nobleman and his wife of slightly higher station. Related indirectly and through marriage to the Empress Elizabeth of Russia, the daughter of Peter the Great, the young Sophia was handpicked by the Empress to be the consort to her selected heir, the future Tsar Peter III. The 14-year-old princess arrived in Russia to her new name, Catherine, her new religion, Orthodoxy, her new husband, and an appointment with her destiny, command of Russia, on January 1, 1744.

Catherine’s time in the Empress Elizabeth’s court was, by all accounts, an unhappy one. Charged with producing a male heir for her sickly husband, she was given little else to do. Catherine spent all her time reading Age of Enlightenment writers, such as Voltaire, riding her horses, and, eventually, having affairs. Catherine did finally give birth to a son (presumably sired by one of her lovers) in 1754.

When Empress Elizabeth died, Peter’s weakness, combined with Catherine’s strength, intelligence, and beauty led to an eventual coup. Catherine was crowned Empress in 1762. With no legal, bloodline claim to the Russian throne, she instead reformed Russia, fashioning herself as an "Enlightened Despot" (prefiguring Napoleon by some 35 years), and extending the westernization of Russia begun by Peter the Great. Under her rule, Russia expanded rapidly, absorbing smaller lands into the ever-vast Russian landscape. She encouraged the spread of education, especially to girls. Her greatest impact was her reorganization of the responsibilities of the aristocracy to common law and the establishment of town and city dynamics.

She is most scandalously famous, however, for her lovers. They were many, though not as many as the publicity might indicate. Catherine paid little attention to whispers about her private life. (After all, a single Empress has to have some outlet!) While not universally loved or even necessarily respected by her people or history, Catherine was a truly bold woman in a time when such creatures were exceptionally rare. Not since Queen Elizabeth I had so powerful a woman stalked the world stage

Biography:

Born - April 21, 1729
Stettin, (then) Germany/(now) Poland
Died - November 5, 1796
St. Petersburg, Russia

Achievements:

• 1744—Sophia and her mother, Johanna, arrive in Moscow to meet Elizabeth, becomes Catherine Alexeyevna
• 1745—Marries Peter Feodorovich, the Grand Duke of Holstein, heir to the Russian throne, in St. Petersburg.
• 1761—Empress Elizabeth dies on December 25 and Catherine’s husband, Peter, is crowned emperor.
• 1762—To the chagrin of the Russian nobility, Peter III signs a treaty with Frederick of Prussia on April 24. Catherine, supported by the Imperial Guard, overthrows Peter and becomes Catherine II. Peter III dies while held prisoner by the Orlovs. Catherine denies complicity.
• 1763—Catherine confirms the privileges of the nobility. Begins to collect art from all over Europe and exhibits it at the newly built Hermitage. Russia invades Lithuania.
• 1764—Count Betskoy is commissioned to draw up plans for the education of both boys and girls.
• 1766—Writes her Nakaz (Instructions). Catherine reforms St. Petersburg’s local administration by creating the position of gorodskoi golova (mayor). Treaty of Friendship with England.
• 1767—Influenced by the French Enlightenment, Catherine forms a commission for legal reform.
• 1768-72—Russia wars with Turkey, conquers the Crimea, signs treaties with Prussia, Austria.
• 1774—Oversees the creation of a Magistrat (municipal council) which becomes the city Duma in 1786.
• 1775—Reforms the provincial and urban administrations.
• 1778—Acquires Voltaire’s entire library after his death.
• 1789—Fearful that the revolution in France might spread, begins to undo many of her liberal reforms.