She alluded to her habit of often switching lovers in a letter she wrote to Prince Grigory Potemkin, a military leader with whom she had an affair in Catherine started her reign with Russia already in a relatively favorable military position.
He noted that with the death of the Polish king, Augustus III, in , she was able to put one of her lovers, Stanislaw Poniatowski, on the Polish throne. Poniatowski and Catherine ended up getting more than they bargained for. This issue led to a rebellion, and in the end Russian troops were sent into Poland to support Poniatowski.
The presence of these Russian troops raised concerns among neighboring states that Russia had ambitions on their own territories, wrote researcher Robert Massie in his book "Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman" Random House, Massie noted that the sultan of Turkey felt the most threatened, fearing that Russian troops in Poland would be able to pour into the Balkans, threatening Istanbul itself.
After discussions with French diplomats, and an incident with Russian troops at the Turkish border in October , Turkey declared war on Russia. Also in , a Russian naval squadron reached the eastern Mediterranean, inflicting a defeat on the Turkish fleet. In , Poland was partitioned between Russia, Austria and Prussia, with subsequent partitions occurring in and Additionally, in , after Russian troops were in a position to threaten Istanbul, Turkey sued for peace, with Russia gaining territories on the Black Sea coast and the Sea of Azov area.
While Catherine enjoyed great military success, internally her country had a precarious social structure. Much of the population lived as serfs, in essence a form of slave. Their living conditions were horrible; Massie noted that few of the serfs working in the mines, foundries and factories lived to middle age.
Although Catherine is said to have personally opposed the institution, she tolerated it. In , her government even published a decree condemning serfs who protested about their conditions. She put together a document, known as the "Nakaz," on 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.
Catherine had also sought to address the dire situation of the country's serfs, workers who were owned by landowners for life. The Senate protested any suggestion of changing the feudal system.
After finalizing the Nakaz, Catherine brought delegates together from different social and economic classes to form the Legislative Commission, which met for the first time in No laws came out of the commission, but it was the first time that Russians from across the empire had been able to express their thoughts about the country's needs and problems.
Ultimately, the Nakaz became more known for its ideas rather than its immediate influence. At the time of Catherine's accession, Russia was viewed as backward and provincial by many in Europe. She sought to change this negative opinion through expanding educational opportunities and the arts. Catherine had a boarding school established for girls from noble families in St.
Petersburg and later called for free schools to be created in towns across Russia. Catherine was devoted to the arts and sponsored many cultural projects. In St. Petersburg, she had a theater built for opera and ballet performances—and even wrote a few librettos herself. She also became a prominent art collector, and many of these were displayed in the Hermitage in a royal residence in St.
An avid reader, Catherine was especially fond of the philosophers and writers of the Enlightenment. She exchanged letters with the French writer Voltaire , and writer Denis Diderot came to Russia to visit with her. In fact, Diderot was the one who gave the empress her nickname, "Catherine the Great. During Catherine's reign, Russia expanded its borders. She made substantial gains in Poland, where she had earlier installed her former lover, Polish count Stanislaw Poniatowski, on the country's throne.
Russia's main dispute with Poland was over the treatment of many Orthodox Russians who lived in the eastern part of the country. In a treaty, Catherine gave parts of Poland to Prussia and Austria, while taking the eastern region herself.
Russia's actions in Poland triggered a military conflict with Turkey. Enjoying numerous victories in and , Catherine showed the world that Russia was a mighty power. She reached a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire in , bringing new lands into the empire and giving Russia a foothold in the Black Sea.
One of the war's heroes, Gregory Potemkin, became a trusted advisor and lover of Catherine's. Ruling over newly gained territories in southern Russia in her name, he started new towns and cities and built up the country's navy there. Potemkin also encouraged Catherine to take over the Crimea peninsula in , shoring up Russia's position in the Black Sea.
A few years later, Catherine once again clashed with the Ottoman Empire. The two countries battled each other from to With the Charter of the Nobility in , Catherine made an about-face on policy and greatly augmented upper-class power, with a large number of citizens forced into the oppressive conditions of serfdom. By the mids, Catherine had enjoyed several decades as Russia's absolute ruler.
She had a strained relationship with her son and heir, Paul, over her grip on power, but she enjoyed her grandchildren, especially the oldest one, Alexander. In her later years, Catherine continued to possess an active mind and a strong spirit. The love life of Catherine II has been a topic of much speculation and misinformation.
At this point, Russia won the war with Turkey and Catherine crushed the rebellion. Catherine now realised that she needed to exercise more control over the people and that serf liberation would be intolerable to the owners, on whom she depended, and who would throw the country into chaos once they lost their income.
Catherine thus focused on strengthening a system that she had labelled as inhuman. She also enjoyed a reputation for being a patron of the arts, education and culture, writing a guide for the education of young noble women in , as well as establishing the Smolny Institute the same year.
Catherine also wrote fictions, comedies and memoirs while cultivating the talents of French intellectuals including Diderot, D'Alembart and Voltaire, with whom she corresponded for over 15 years. She became the most-renowned and longest-serving female monarchs of Russia, with her reign seen by many as the Golden Age of Russia.
Catherine died in from a stroke which caused her to fall into a coma, from which she never recovered. She was succeeded by her eldest son Paul, who was thought to be the son of Peter as he resembled the late emperor. Catherine had three other children with different lovers. Catherine The Great. Most Recent.
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