Catherine the Great

1796

Timeline

12 Lovers <3

1729

The Beginning

Catherine's End

Her Doings

1761

The POWER

Catherine the Great was born on May 2, 1729 in Stettin, Prussia. She was the daughter of Princess Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp and Christian August, a prince of a small dominion.

Catherine had been Russia's Ruler for a great amount of time. She acomplished a lot during her time, she expanded on education and arts as well as extending the borders. Still many thought that Catherine should have improved the lives of the serfs, who were most of the Russian population. Sadly on November she was found unconscious in her bathroom floor. They kept her until the next day but she remained unconscious, and they determined she had died. RIP Catherine II (November 17, 1796)

During her power, Russia expanded their borders. She also gained a significant amount of poland where she had earlier sent her former lover, Polish count Stanislaw Poniatowski, on the country's throne. Russia's and Poland's disagreement was over the treatment of many Orthodox Russians who lived in the eastern part of the country. Later in the 1772 treaty, Catherine gave parts of Poland to Prussia and Austria, while taking the eastern region herself. Then after being victorious multiple times with different issues Catherine wanted to show the world that Russia was powerful. She signed a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire in 1774, which brought new lands into the empire and gave Russia a foothold in the Black Sea. One of the war's heroes, Gregory Potemkin, became a trusted advisor and lover of Catherine's. Gregory began to make lots of changes ,building new towns, cities and navy forces. He also convinced Catherine to to over the Crimea peninsula in 1783. Years later, Catherine clashed with the Ottoman Empire. again.

After Empress Elizabeth (Peter's aunt) died Peter III took the throne because Elizabeth had no children of her own and Catherine became Empress Consort. During this time Peter and Catherine hadn't been getting along. Peter was being cruel and threatening Catherine that he would bring his mistress to help him rule. Half a year later Peter was overthrown in a coup that was arranged by the one and only Yekaterina (aka Catherine II). Catherine had secretly came up with a scheme with Gregory Orlov, a Russian lieutenant who happened to be her lover along with a couple other people. After taking Peter down she immediately took over. A couple days later he was strangled and the act of his wife Catherine in his death was unknown. Catherine tried to get everyone on her side so she could gain more power. She wanted everyone to to believe she was following her husbands foot steps, so she created Bronze Horseman(a sculpture), built to honor him.

2013

17

Change

Serge Saltuikov (1752)

Stanislav Poniatowski (1755)

Gregory Orlov (1760)

Alexander Vasilchikov (1773)

Gregory Potemkin (1774)

Peter Zavadovsky (1776)

Simon Zorich (1777)

Ivan Rimsky-Korsakov (1778)

Alexander Lanskoy (1779)

Alexander Ermolov (1785)

Alexander Dmitriev-Mamanov (1786)

Plato Zubov (1789)

1744

Russian Royalty

Under Her Control

As Catherine began to get older her mother began to put more interest into her teenage daughter. She wanted her to get married into a royal family. They both traveled to Russia and Catherine became engaged to Grand Duke Peter. Catherine converted to the Russian Orthodox faith, regardless of her Lutheran father's objections. With her new life she recieved a new name Yekaterina. (Peter and Yekaterina were married on August 21, 1729)

Catherine was trying to change the negative view on Russia so she began to put more interests into, education. She started a boarding school for the upper class girls in St. Petersburg and she even built three other schools in Russia. She also had a theater built for opera and ballet and became a prominent art collector, and many of these were displayed in a royal residence in St. Petersburg.

During this time Catherine was in total power. She put a document together, the "Nakaz," explaining how the country's legal system should run, with a push for capital punishment and torture to be outlawed and calling for every man to be declared equal. Later they finalized the Nakaz but it became known more for its ideas rather than its immediate influence. She then made the Charter of the Nobility in 1785 which increased the power of the upper-class and made many of the citizens peasants.

Childhood

Princess Sophia Anhalt-Zerbst (Catherine the Great) was very ambitious, intelligent, and rebellious. She was tutored by a French governess and other various tutors. Her mother always expected the best from her, even if it meant beating her, just so she can learn. She spent most of her childhood in Stettin and Zerbst and occasionally other places with her mother.

Catherine's Wedding Day

Events in Russia

• Enlightened Despots (1764-1768)
• Instruction (equal protection for everyone, in 1767)
• Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774)
• Partitions of Poland
• Pugachev Rebellion (1773)
• Expanded the Education System (1786)
• Rebuilt St. Petersburg (center of civilization)
• Society for Translation of Foreign Books (1768)
• 144 new towns and cities were built (1762-1796)
• Russian Position Strengthened

Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great started off as a minor German princess. She was a burden to her mother. Her mother did not want her, because she was not a boy, and her mother had wanted a son. Her mother did not take intrest in her until she was a teen.

Fun Facts

• Catherine died of a stroke in her bedroom but her enemies would tell others that she died while on the toilet.
• When Catherine was younger, she was beaten by her mother for not being rebellious.
• Catherine's name was Sophie before she became a member of the Orthodox Christianity faith, then her name became Yekaterina (Catherine).
• Catherine has 2 birthdays because the calender changed from Old Style to New Style in 1752.
• Denis Diderot gave her the nickname "Catherine the Great".

Look Alike

Catherine the Great