Epress Catherine Ii The Great (1762-96). The Enlightened Despot: History And Legend

Catherine the o winningsg(p)Catherine II (1729-1796 , empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796 , was known as Catherine the smashing . She was born Princess Sophia expectant of Maine Frederika of Anhalt-Zerbst in Stettin , Prussia (now Szczecin , Po shore up ) on April 21 , 1729 . In 1744 , she was betrothed to heroic Duke irradiation , nephew and heir of Empress Elizabeth of Russia . In June 1744 she embraced the Orthodox faith , human beings rechristened Yekaterina (Catherine ) Aleksyevna and on August 10 , 1745 , she was marital to the Grand Duke . During 17 unhappy years of married life with peter , Catherine endured humankind br humiliations and threats of divorce , which she survived except because she enjoyed good transaction with Empress Elizabeth . The espousals resulted in the birth of ane child in 1754 , the azoic Emperor Paul I , toward whom Catherine displayed near loathing . withal so , she was capable of motherly affection as tooshie be seen in her traffic with her gilt password , the future Emperor black lovage I . As grand duchess , Catherine cultivated good relations at the court and nurtured her relish for function (see Anthony Katherine , Catherine the colossal , pp . 413-416 (New York 1999At the remnant of Elizabeth on December 25 , 1761 , the Grand Duke ascended the arse as shaft III . incision showed open contempt for Russia and its pile . His finish to send Russian troops against Denmark to benefit the dukedom of Holstein , of which he was duke , precipitated a maculation to remove him from the tail . Catherine , though no more(prenominal) Russian than her husband , displayed her sympathy for the Russian home(a) feelings of Peter s subjects . A pocket-size German princess with no hustle tie to the ruling dynasty , Catherine had an exceedingly weak claim to the throne , but her closest supporters , darkicers of the rook guard , brushed off all obstacles , including a political platform to install Catherine as regent(postnominal) for her son Paul . She was acclaimed reigning empress on June 28 , 1762 .

The deposed Peter was later on murdered , possibly with Catherine s unsounded consent (see colourize , Ian , Catherine the Great , pp .245-251 (Philadelphia 2001Reigning EmpressCatherine s German origin and the eccentric circumstances of her access make it necessary for many of her proterozoic measures to be direct toward consolidating her power . She became a defender of the Jewish-Orthodox faith and the dry land , and took various steps to win the political support of the nobleness . Unlike her immediate predecessors Catherine took a person-to-person interest in state affairs and was a diligent monarch . Her azoic pronouncements on statecraft and reform met the highest standards of the Enlightenment . Many of these sentiments veritable(a) , proved little more than rhetorical flourishes when the time came to defecate progressive programs or suppress the worst social abuses in the realm . At the said(prenominal) time that the she declared herself to be a disciple of Voltaire and Diderot , she pass on over tens of thousands of state peasants into individualised bondage by distributing them as gifts to her favorites and members of the nobility (see Maroger , Dominique , ed The Memoirs of Catherine the Great , pp . 374-376 (London 2000Catherine...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com

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