Catherine the Great
BORN: May 2, 1729 in Stettin, Prussia (now Szczecin, Poland)
DIED: November 6, 1796 near Saint Petersburg, Russia
[IMAGE]
A Russian Empress for thirty-four years,
during which Russia became a world super-power.
When Catherine II, seized the Russian throne from her
less-than-perfect husband, Peter III, she had absolutely no right to
it! She wasn't even born a Russian, nor was her name Catherine at
first. In fact, her birth name was Sophia Augusta Fredericka of
Anhalt-Zerbst.
She was a German princess, who was ignored by her parents as a child
for being a girl. That is why her French governess, Mme Babet Cardel,
covered the task of raising Catherine when she was young. Even at a
young age, Catherine showed great potential. From the beginning, she
was devoted to art, science, literature, and politics, and showed the
leadership skills she would need later in life.
When she was fifteen, Elizabeth, the empress of Russia, asked
Catherine to come to Russia to marry the Grand Duke Peter, Elizabeth's
nephew and heir to the throne. Seeing a very flattering portrait of
Catherine, the empress was convinced that she would be the perfect
wife for her nephew.
Text Box: Catherine agreed to the marriage, and so, spent a miserable
eighteen years trying to act the part of a good wife to Peter, who
treated her like a playmate. He would pull out toy soldiers when they
went to bed at night, and force Catherine to participate in mock
military maneuvers. Peter would also humiliate Catherine by flirting
with other women in the castle. To pass the time, Catherine immersed
herself in literature and rode ...
... middle of paper ...
...force. Catherine was one of them. However, when she
died, the Russian Empire passed peacefully into the hands of her son,
Emperor Paul I.
Bibliography
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* Cracraft, James. "Catherine the Great." World Book Encyclopedia.
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* Krull, Kathleen. "Catherine the Great." Lives of Extraordinary
Women. New
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* Vernadsky, G. "Modern History Sourcebook: Catherine the Great." A
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Book for Russian History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972:
Vol. 2, pp. 453-454.
* Costello, Chris. " Map: The World of Peter and Catherine."
Calliope: World History for Young People. May/June 1997: pp. 2,
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Moss, W., 2014. A History of Russia Volume 2: Since 1855. 1st ed. London, England: Anthem Press London, pp.112-113.
In 1981, Isabel de Madariaga wrote the landmark book, Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great. This book was the first comprehensive study of Catherine the Great’s reign. It was a very long, thoroughly researched, very dense book about later eighteenth-century in Russia and was meant for scholars. The book I read and am reviewing, Catherine the Great: a Short History, also by de Madariaga, is more than a shortened version of her earlier work; it is a manageable, factual examination of only about 200 pages with maps, illustrations and timelines, and genealogical tables.
was backward and would need to change in order for it to remain being a
Elizabeth I was born in 1533 to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Although she entertained many marriage proposals and flirted incessantly, she never married or had children.
Queen Isabella was born in 1451, in the city of Castile, Spain (Leon 75). She was the daughter of King John II and Arevalo (Maltby par 1). Her family was very strong Catholics and she was born and raised a Catholic. Her brother, Alfonso, became King. He banished her mother, younger brother, and her from the kingdom (Leon 75, 77). Isabella had chestnut hair with natural red highlights and her look was demure and soft. She went to school with nuns at Santa Ana Convent. At school, she fancied reading, writing, music, and painting. In her free time, she was tutored at home with her older brother. After her childhood, she learned treachery was everywhere. As a teenager, her family forced her to marry a scoundrel. That day, she prayed to God for deliverance. On the way to their wedding, he choked and died from bronchitis. From that day on, she was ready for what was coming her way.
Peter the Great had many goals during the time he ruled. One of his biggest goals was to modernize and westernize Russia. The main reason Peter the Great modernized Russia was because he did not want the country he ruled to be left vulnerable to expansionist powers in Europe. The powers were constantly at war, fighting to take over each other’...
Mosse, Werner E., “Alexander II and the modernization of Russia”. London, English Universities Press ltd. 1958.
Mary Tudor or Queen Mary I of England was infamously known as Bloody Mary. While many believe Bloody Mary was an evil monster, others believe she was a great queen because of her many accomplishments. Mary was actually a good devoted Catholic others still to this day believe she was an evil woman, but with these interesting facts it will be determined that Mary was a good queen.
Queen Elizabeth I was said to be one of the best rulers of England. Unlike rulers before her, she was a Protestant and not a Catholic. She was not stupid though. She did go to church and did everything that Catholics did to prevent getting her head cut off under the rules of her sister Mary. Elizabeth was very young when she came to rule. She was only 17 years old when her sister Mary died and she took over.
Catherine of Siena was born in Italy in 1347 at a time when political and religious changes were affecting the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Dedicating her life to the Holy Spirit from a very young age, Catherine pursued a life of purity and simplicity that served as a background to her great literary work, The Dialogue of the Divine Providence . Her work focuses on the importance of prayer and its transcendent power in human life.
Catherine the Great, really was a great ruler. I think that overall, she was trying to be very fair to everybody. In 1773 Catherine the Great had an edict called “Toleration of All Faiths.” With this edict I thought she was showing how everybody should be treated fair by tolerating free practice of people’s faith. However, the main purpose she did this was she thought it was a good way to pacify frontier territory. Then there were some instances such as how she treated the Jews and when she attacked the privileges of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was not tolerating all faiths. Putting that instance behind though I think that she really was aware of what her duties were and what she was supposed to do. She made it very clear in her law code that the End of Monarchy was to “Not to deprive People of their natural Liberty; but to correct their Actions, in order to attain the supreme Good.”
Wood, A. (1986). The Russian Revolution. Seminar Studies in History. (2) Longman, p 1-98. ISBSN 0582355591, 9780582355590
7) Vernadsky, George. A History of Russia: Fourth Edition, Completely Revised. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1954.
Catherine of Aragon was born on December 16th, 1485 and died on January 7th, 1536. Catherine was the first born daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Both of her parents later on funded Christopher Columbus’s long voyages to the New World in 1492. At a very, very young age of just 3 years old; Catherine was to be betrothed to Prince Arthur and married him when she turned 16, in the year 1501. Sadly, her husband died 5 months later and she acquired a very important title in her young life; the title of being the very First Woman to be an Ambassador of the Spanish Court in England. Soon after being the ambassador, Catherine was to be married to Arthur’s youngest brother, Henry VIII. Her title then went from being an ambassador, to a Princess, and finally to the highest title; a Queen. Catherine ruled England from 1509-1533 by the side of Henry. Catherine was painfully unaware of the fact that Henry was having an affair with his mistress; and soon to be wife, Anne Boleyn. The reason being for his infidelity was due to the fact that Catherine hadn’t p...
Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., and Mark D. Steinberg. A History of Russia. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford, 2005. Print.