The reign of Catherine II was called. Biography of Empress Catherine II the Great - key events, people, intrigues

Empress Catherine II the Great (1729-1796) ruled the Russian Empire from 1762-1796. She came to the throne as a result of a palace coup. With the support of the guards, she overthrew her unloved and unpopular husband Peter III in the country and marked the beginning of the Catherine era, which is also called the "golden age" of the empire.

Portrait of Empress Catherine II
Artist A. Roslin

Before ascending the throne

The All-Russian autocrat belonged to the noble German princely family of Ascania, known since the 11th century. She was born on April 21, 1729 in the German city of Stettin, in the family of Prince Anhalt-Dornburg. At that time, he was the commandant of the Stettin Castle, and soon received the rank of lieutenant general. Mother - Johanna Elizabeth belonged to the German Oldenburg ducal dynasty. The full name of the born baby sounded like Anhalt-Zerbst Sophia Frederick Augustus.

The family did not have a lot of money, so Sophia Frederic Augusta received her education at home. The girl was taught theology, music, dance, history, geography, and also taught French, English and Italian.

The future empress grew up as a playful girl. She spent a lot of time on the city streets, playing with the boys. She was even called "the boy in the skirt". Mother affectionately called her troubled daughter "Fricken".

Alexey Starikov

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. IN1783 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-Elizaveta 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.

Time of Catherine II (1762–1796)

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The situation of the accession of Catherine II

A new coup was carried out, like the previous ones, by the guards noble regiments; it was directed against the emperor, who declared very sharply his national sympathies and personal oddities of a childishly capricious nature. Under such circumstances, Catherine's accession to the throne has much in common with Elizabeth's accession. And in 1741, the coup was carried out by the forces of the noble guard against the non-national government of Anna, full of accidents and arbitrariness of non-Russian temporary workers. We know that the coup of 1741 resulted in the national direction of the Elizabethan government and the improvement of the status of the nobility. We have the right to expect the same consequences from the circumstances of the coup of 1762, and indeed, as we shall see, the policy of Catherine II was national and favorable to the nobility. These traits were adopted by the policy of the empress by the very circumstances of her accession. In this, she inevitably had to follow Elizabeth, although she treated her predecessor with irony.

Portrait of Catherine II. Artist F. Rokotov, 1763

But the coup of 1741 placed at the head of the board Elizabeth, an intelligent but poorly educated woman, who brought to the throne only feminine tact, love for her father and sympathetic humanity. Therefore, the government of Elizabeth was distinguished by reasonableness, humanity, reverence for the memory of Peter the Great. But it did not have its own program and therefore sought to act according to the principles of Peter. The coup of 1762, on the contrary, put on the throne a woman not only intelligent and tactful, but also extremely talented, extremely educated, developed and active. Therefore, the government of Catherine not only returned to the good old models, but led the state forward according to its own program, which it gradually acquired according to the indications of practice and abstract theories learned by the empress. In this, Catherine was the opposite of her predecessor. Under her there was a system in management, and therefore random persons, favorites, were less reflected in the course of state affairs than it was under Elizabeth, although Catherine's favorites were very noticeable not only by their activity and power of influence, but even by whims and abuses.

Thus, the situation of accession and the personal qualities of Catherine determine in advance the features of her reign. It is impossible not to notice, however, that the personal views of the empress, with which she ascended the throne, did not fully correspond to the circumstances of Russian life, and Catherine's theoretical plans could not be translated into action due to the fact that they had no basis in Russian practice. Catherine was formed on the liberal French philosophy of the XVIII century. , learned and even expressed openly its "free-thinking" principles, but could not put them into practice either due to their inapplicability, or due to the opposition of the environment around her. Therefore, a certain contradiction arose between word and deed, between Catherine's liberal direction and the results of her practical activities, which were quite faithful to historical Russian traditions. That is why Catherine is sometimes blamed for the discrepancy between her words and deeds. We will see how this discrepancy came about; we will see that in practical activity Catherine sacrificed ideas to practice; we will see that the ideas introduced by Catherine into Russian social circulation, however, did not pass without a trace, but were reflected in the development of Russian society and in some government events.

First reign

The first years of Catherine's reign were a difficult time for her. She herself did not know current state affairs and had no assistants: the main businessman of Elizabeth's time, P. I. Shuvalov, died; she had little confidence in the abilities of other old nobles. One Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin enjoyed her confidence. Panin was a diplomat under Elizabeth (ambassador to Sweden); she was also appointed tutor of the Grand Duke Paul and left in this position by Catherine. Under Catherine, although Vorontsov remained chancellor, Panin became in charge of Russia's foreign affairs. Catherine used the advice of the old man Bestuzhev-Ryumin, returned by her from exile, and other persons of the previous reigns, but these were not her people: she could neither believe in them nor trust them. She consulted with them on various occasions and entrusted them with the conduct of certain cases; she showed them outward signs of favor and even respect, standing up, for example, to meet Bestuzhev as he entered. But she remembered that these old men once looked down on her, and more recently they intended the throne not for her, but for her son. Spreading smiles and courtesies to them, Catherine was wary of them and despised many of them. She would not like to rule with them. For her, those persons who elevated her to the throne, that is, the junior leaders of the successful coup, were more reliable and pleasant; but she understood that they did not yet have the knowledge or ability to govern. It was the youth of the guards, who knew little and had little education. Catherine showered them with awards, allowed them to work, but felt that it was impossible to put them at the head of affairs: they had to ferment earlier. This means that those who could be immediately introduced into the government environment, Catherine does not introduce because she does not trust them; those she trusts, she does not bring in because they are not yet ready. This is the reason why at first, under Catherine, not this or that circle, not this or that environment constituted the government, but constituted its totality of individuals. In order to organize a dense government environment, of course, time was needed.

So, Catherine, not having reliable people fit for power, could not rely on anyone. She was lonely, and even foreign ambassadors noticed this. They also saw that Catherine was going through difficult times in general. The court environment treated her with some exactingness: both people exalted by her, and people who had power earlier, besieged her with their opinions and requests, because they saw her weakness and loneliness and thought that she owed them the throne. The French ambassador Breteuil wrote: “In large gatherings at court, it is curious to observe the heavy care with which the Empress tries to please everyone, the freedom and annoyingness with which everyone talks to her about their affairs and their opinions ... It means that she strongly feels her dependence to carry it."

This free circulation of the court environment was very difficult for Catherine, but she could not stop it, because she did not have true friends, she was afraid for her power and felt that she could save it only with the love of the court and subjects. She used every means, in the words of the British ambassador Buckingham, to gain the trust and love of her subjects.

Catherine had valid reasons to fear for her power. In the first days of her reign, among the army officers gathered for the coronation in Moscow, there were rumors about the state of the throne, about Emperor John Antonovich and Grand Duke Paul. Some found that these persons have more rights to power than the empress. All these rumors did not grow into a conspiracy, but Catherine was very worried. Much later, in 1764, a conspiracy to release Emperor John was also discovered. John Antonovich from the time of Elizabeth was kept in Shlisselburg. army officer Mirovich conspired with his comrade Ushakov to release him and to carry out a coup in his name. Both of them did not know that the former emperor had lost his mind in prison. Although Ushakov drowned, Mirovich alone did not abandon the case and angered part of the garrison. However, at the first movement of the soldiers, according to the instructions, John was stabbed to death by his overseers and Mirovich voluntarily surrendered to the hands of the commandant. He was executed, and his execution had a terrible effect on the people, under Elizabeth weaned from executions. And outside the army, Catherine could catch signs of fermentation and displeasure: they did not believe the death of Peter III, they spoke with disapproval about the closeness of G. G. Orlov to the empress. In a word, in the first years of power, Catherine could not boast that she had solid ground under her feet. It was especially unpleasant for her to hear condemnation and protest from among the hierarchy. Metropolitan Arseny (Matseevich) of Rostov raised the issue of alienating church lands in such an unpleasant form for the secular authorities and for Catherine herself that Catherine found it necessary to treat him harshly and insisted on his removal and imprisonment.

Portrait of Grigory Orlov. Artist F. Rokotov, 1762-63

Under such conditions, Catherine, of course, could not immediately work out a definite program of government activities. She had a hard job to cope with the environment, apply to it and master it, look at the affairs and main needs of management, choose assistants and get to know the abilities of those around her closer. It is clear how little the principles of her abstract philosophy could help her in this matter, but it is clear how much her natural abilities, observation, practicality and the degree of mental development she possessed as a result of her broad education and habit of abstract philosophical thinking helped her a lot. Working hard, Catherine spent the first years of her reign getting to know Russia and the state of affairs, selecting advisers, and strengthening her personal position in power.

She could not be satisfied with the state of affairs that she found when she ascended the throne. The main concern of the government - finance - was far from brilliant. The Senate did not know the exact figures of revenues and expenditures, deficits occurred from military spending, the troops did not receive salaries, and the disorder of the financial administration terribly confused already bad things. Getting acquainted with these troubles in the Senate, Catherine received an idea about the Senate itself and treated its activities with irony. In her opinion, the Senate and all other institutions have gone out of their foundations; The Senate has arrogated too much power to itself and has suppressed any independence of the institutions subordinate to it. On the contrary, Catherine, in her well-known manifesto of July 6, 1762 (in which she explained the motives for the coup), wished that "each state place had its own laws and limits." Therefore, she tried to eliminate the irregularities in the position of the Senate and the defects in its activities, and little by little reduced it to the level of a central administrative-judicial institution, forbidding its legislative activity. She did this very carefully: for the speedy processing of cases, she divided the Senate into 6 departments, as was the case under Anna, giving each of them a special character (1763); she began to communicate with the Senate through the Prosecutor General A. A. Vyazemsky and gave him secret instructions not to encourage the Senate to take on a legislative function; finally, she led all her most important events, in addition to the Senate, with her personal initiative and authority. As a result, there was a significant change in the center of government: the derogation of the Senate and the strengthening of the one-man authorities, which were at the head of individual departments. And all this was achieved gradually, without noise, extremely carefully.

Ensuring her independence from the uncomfortable old management practices, Catherine, with the help of the same Senate, was actively engaged in business: she was looking for means to improve the financial situation, solving current management affairs, keeping an eye on the state of the estates, and was preoccupied with the drafting of the legislative code. In all this there was still no definite system to be seen; the empress simply responded to the needs of the moment and studied the state of affairs. The peasants were worried, embarrassed by the rumor of liberation from the landlords - Catherine was engaged in the peasant issue. The unrest reached great proportions, guns were used against the peasants, the landlords asked for protection from peasant violence - Catherine, taking a number of measures to restore order, declared: "We intend to keep the landowners inviolably with their opinions and possessions, and keep the peasants in due obedience to them." Another thing went along with this case: the letter of Peter III on the nobility caused some bewilderment by the shortcomings of its editorial board and a strong movement of the nobles from the service - Catherine, having suspended its action, in 1763 established a commission to review it. However, this commission came to nothing, and the case dragged on until 1785. Studying the state of affairs, Catherine saw the need to draw up a legislative code. The Code of Tsar Alexei is outdated; already Peter the Great took care of the new code, but to no avail: the legislative commissions that were with him did not work out anything. Almost all of Peter's successors were occupied with the idea of ​​compiling a code; under Empress Anna, in 1730, and under Empress Elizabeth, in 1761, even deputies from the estates were required to participate in legislative work. But the difficult task of codification did not succeed. Catherine II seriously stopped at the idea of ​​processing Russian legislation into a coherent system.

Studying the state of affairs, Catherine wanted to get acquainted with Russia itself. She undertook a number of trips around the state: in 1763 she traveled from Moscow to Rostov and Yaroslavl, in 1764 to the Ostsee region, in 1767 she traveled along the Volga to Simbirsk. “After Peter the Great,” says Solovyov, “Catherine was the first empress who undertook travels in Russia for government purposes” (XXVI, 8).

Thus passed the first five years of the internal reign of the young empress. She got used to her surroundings, took a closer look at the affairs, developed practical methods of activity, and selected the desired circle of assistants. Her position was strengthened, and she was not threatened by any dangers. Although during these five years no broad measures were revealed, Catherine, however, was already making broad plans for reform activities.

The period of the reign of Catherine II is rightly called the "golden age" of the empire. It was the heyday of the political and military power of Russia. At the same time, Catherine herself appears before us in a very contradictory light.

• The reign of Catherine II (1762-1796) contributed to the growth of Russia in many areas. Treasury revenues increased from 16 to 68 million rubles, the size of the army almost doubled, and the number of battleships increased from 20 to 67, 144 new cities were also built and 11 provinces acquired, and the population increased from 30 to 44 million people.

• By 1782, Catherine II was ripe for a grandiose plan. She was seized by the idea of ​​dividing the Turkish territories and creating the Greek - read the Byzantine Empire with its capital in Constantinople. The plans also included the formation of the puppet state of Dacia, which would be a kind of buffer zone between Russia, the Greek Empire and Austria. The “Greek project” was not destined to live, however, this year brought replenishment - Crimea was recaptured for Russia.

• Ekaterina's dining table impressed with sophistication and variety. On it one could see such exotic dishes as poulards with truffles, chiryata with olives, Compiègne gato. It is quite natural that the daily expenses for the food of the empress cost up to 90 rubles (for example, the annual salary of a soldier was only 7 rubles).

• The domestic policy of Catherine II was distinguished by religious tolerance. During her reign, the persecution of the Old Believers was stopped, Catholic and Protestant churches were actively built. For promoting the popularization of Buddhism by the lamas of Buryatia, Ekaterina was ranked as one of the manifestations of White Tara.
• It is known that the empress recognized the usefulness of polygamy existing among Muslims, which, according to her, contributed to the growth of the population. When representatives of the Russian clergy complained to Catherine about the construction of a mosque in Kazan near Orthodox churches, she replied something like this: “The Lord tolerates different faiths, which means that their churches can stand next to each other.”

• In 1791, Catherine II signed a decree forbidding Jews to settle outside the "Pale of Settlement". Despite the fact that the empress was never suspected of having a bad attitude towards Jews, she was often accused of anti-Semitism. However, this decree was dictated by purely economic considerations - to prevent competition from Jewish merchants, which could shake the position of the Moscow merchants.

• It is estimated that during the entire period of her reign, Catherine gave away more than 800 thousand serfs to the landlords and nobles, thereby setting a kind of record. There is an explanation for this. The Empress had every reason to fear a noble revolt or another coup d'état.

• During the war between England and her North American colonies, Catherine refused military assistance to the kingdom. At the initiative of the diplomat Nikita Panin, in 1780 the Empress issued a Declaration of Armed Neutrality, which was joined by most European countries. Such a step greatly contributed to the victory of the colonies and the rapid acquisition of independence by the United States of America.

• At first, Catherine reacted to the Great French Revolution with a certain degree of sympathy, seeing in it a consequence of the unreasonable and despotic policy of the French monarchs. However, everything changed the execution of Louis XVI. Now Paris, engulfed in freedom, is for her "hellish hell" and "den of robbers." She could not but see the danger of revolutionary revelry, both for Europe and for Russia itself.

• Catherine's time is the heyday of favoritism, which is very characteristic of Europe in the second half of the 18th century. Peter Bartenev attributed 23 novels to the Empress herself. According to the surviving correspondence, she was attracted to all her lovers by an "unbridled feeling."
• None of Catherine's favorites was allowed to solve important political issues, with the exception of two - Grigory Potemkin and Pyotr Zavadovsky. Catherine usually lived with her favorites for no more than two or three years - problems interfered longer: age difference, incompatibility of characters, or the tsarina's rigid daily routine. None of the favorites was disgraced, on the contrary, they were all generously awarded with titles, money, estates.

• Shortly before her death, Catherine the Great composed an epitaph for her future tombstone, which became a kind of self-portrait of the ruler. Among other things, there are such lines: “She easily forgave and hated no one. She was indulgent, loved life, had a cheerful disposition, was a true republican in her convictions and had a good heart. She had friends. The job was easy for her. She enjoyed secular entertainment and the arts."

EKATERINA II ALEKSEEVNA(04/21/1729-11/06/1796) - Russian Empress from 06/28/1762
Catherine II, nee Sophia Augusta Frederick of Anhalt-Zerbst, was born in Stettin in Pomerania. Her father was Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, a native of the impoverished princely family of Northern Germany, Major General of the army of the Prussian King Frederick II.
In 1744, when the girl was 15 years old, she was married to the heir to the Russian imperial throne, Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich. In February 1744, at the invitation of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, she and her mother arrived in Moscow, where at that time the Russian Empress was with her court. A few months later, Sofia Augusta converted to Orthodoxy and received a new name - Ekaterina Alekseevna. The wedding with Peter Fedorovich took place on August 21, 1745 in St. Petersburg.
From the very beginning, relations between the young spouses did not work out. Peter was more interested in toys and soldiers than in his young wife. Her husband's inattention offended Catherine. Her relationship with Empress Elizabeth was tense, and Catherine did everything possible to win popularity at court and in the guard. The Grand Duchess performed all Orthodox rites seriously and zealously, and very quickly mastered the Russian language. Thanks to her intelligence, charm and natural tact, she managed to enlist the favor of many Elizabethan nobles. The influence of Ekaterina Alekseevna at court, among the guards and the nobility was constantly growing.
Catherine thought that the country could become powerful and rich only in the hands of an enlightened sovereign. She read the works of Plato, Plutarch, Tacitus, the works of the French enlighteners Montesquieu and Voltaire. So she managed to fill in the gaps in her education and gain a solid knowledge in the field of history and philosophy.
On December 25, 1761, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna died. Ekaterina Alekseevna's husband, Peter III, came to the throne. He made an alliance with Prussia, abandoned Russia's victories in the Seven Years' War, and began to lose Russia's former allies. Peter exalted and brought the Germans closer to him, especially his relatives. His policy aroused sharp hostility among the guards and the nobility. Even the Manifesto on the Liberty of the Nobility, promulgated on February 18, 1762, could not alleviate discontent. A conspiracy of courtiers and guardsmen formed against Peter III, the center of which was his ambitious wife Ekaterina Alekseevna, and the main organizers were the Orlov brothers. On June 28, 1762, a palace coup took place. Relying on the Izmailovsky and Semenovsky Guards regiments, Catherine removed her husband from power, and proclaimed herself empress. Having ascended the throne, Catherine II tried to implement a program of transformations in the economic and political life of Russia. In 1767, the Legislative Commission began its work in Moscow to develop a new Code - the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. By the beginning of the work of the commission, Catherine prepared the "Instruction", designed to become the basis for the creation of the Code. The empress considered absolute monarchy to be the most suitable form of government for Russia. At the same time, in her opinion, it was necessary to introduce laws that would protect the fundamental rights of citizens. The Empress insisted on the need for equality of all before the law. But Catherine was not at all going to deprive the nobility, which was her support, of its main wealth - the serfs. She did not think about freedom for the peasants - there were only general arguments about the humane treatment of the landowners with the peasants.
Under Catherine, elected courts first appeared in Russia. They were elected separately for the nobility, for urban residents and for state peasants. (The serfs were judged by the landowner himself.) The court must become public, and without its decision no one could be found guilty. In "Instruction" Catherine opposed torture and the death penalty. She defended the need to develop commercial and industrial activities, build new cities, bring order to the issues of agriculture.
From the very beginning of the work of the Commission, sharp contradictions were revealed between representatives of various estate groups that were part of it. In 1768, the activity of this body was suspended, and then completely terminated.
Catherine continued her reforms in 1775, after the suppression of the uprising by E.I. Pugachev. However, now she did not strive to draw up laws protecting the rights of her subjects, but only cared about strengthening the foundations of Russian statehood and improving discipline.
November 7, 1775 was published "Institution for the management of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire." His goal was to strengthen the local administrative apparatus and give the provincial nobility the means to suppress peasant uprisings. The number of provinces increased from 20 to 51. Each of them was divided into counties. The population of the provinces was 300-400 thousand inhabitants, and the county - 20-30 thousand.
The main merit of Catherine II in the field of education and culture was the creation in Russia of a system of primary education for children from all classes, except for serfs. A number of educational institutions, theaters and museums were opened in St. Petersburg and other large cities. Medical care has also become a matter of state. Each city was required to have a pharmacy and a hospital. Catherine was one of the first in Russia to get herself vaccinated against smallpox. This was the beginning of vaccination.
April 21, 1785 were published "Charters" to the nobility and cities. The nobility was granted the exclusive right to own peasants, lands and bowels of the earth; the right to establish plants and factories and sell wholesale everything that is produced in their fiefdoms; the right to start auctions and fairs on their lands. The nobles were exempt from taxes and corporal punishment. County nobles once every three years had to gather in the central city of the county and choose the local administration from their midst. Cities received the right to elective self-government.
Catherine II pursued an active foreign policy. As a result of two successful Russian-Turkish wars of 1768-1774 and 1787-1791. the Crimean peninsula and the entire territory of the Northern Black Sea region went to Russia. Russia received access to the Black Sea, and it was no longer threatened by the raids of the Crimean Tatars.
Now it was possible to develop the black earth steppes. The Black Sea Fleet was created on the Black Sea.
In 1788, Swedish troops invaded the territory of the Russian Empire, but the war turned out to be fruitless for Sweden: it did not receive any territories. In 1772-1795. Russia took part in the three sections of the Commonwealth, as a result of which the territories of Belarus, Western Ukraine, Lithuania and Courland joined the Russian Empire. In 1796, the Persian campaign took place, aimed at protecting the Georgian Kartli-Kakheti kingdom, which was attacked by the Iranian army.
Important internal events during the reign of Catherine II include the Plague Riot in Moscow in October 1771 during the plague epidemic and the appearance of a number of impostors, including Elizaveta Tarakanova.
Catherine II was extremely worried about the beginning of the revolution in France in 1789. The execution of Louis XVI in 1793 caused her outrage. The Empress allowed French emigrants to enter Russia and provided them with open financial support. All trade and diplomatic relations with France were severed. Preparations began for the war, which stopped only after the death of the Empress in 1796.
Catherine nominated people who had already shown their abilities to the highest state, military and administrative positions. Among them were G.A. Potemkin, P.A. Rumyantsev, Z.G. Chernyshev, brothers G.G. and A.G. Orlovs, Ya.E. Sievers and others. During the reign of Catherine II, A.V. became famous for his victories. Suvorov and Admiral F.F. Ushakov.
In the last years of her life, Catherine II faced the question of the heir to the throne. The Empress feared that her son, Pavel Petrovich, might ruin her life's work with her undertakings.
Before her death, Catherine II tried to transfer the imperial throne over Paul's head to her grandson Alexander Pavlovich. But Alexander did not want to enter into a quarrel with his father, and a number of influential dignitaries prevented the dying empress from carrying out this last political intrigue. Catherine II died on November 6, 1796. She was buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Her son Pavel ascended the Russian throne.
Under Catherine II, Russia turned into a powerful state, rightfully taking the place of a great power on the world stage. However, autocracy and serfdom under her only strengthened. These facts did not fit into the circle of ideas of the European Enlightenment, which Catherine II shared.