The real figure and story of Catherine the Great and Peter the Third has been overlaid by gilt and varnish much like the church mural paintings of old. Some of the true story would be uncovered, while other fragments of it would remain hidden beneath the surface never to be revealed. The allegory of Catherine, and the mysteriously convenient death of Peter III, is one that has been pondered over for decades. With very little evidence to go by the events that occurred on June 28, 1762 are very mysterious and highly susceptible to exaggeration and bias. An examination of the memoirs of Catherine II as well as other key members of the Russian military and royalty will show that Catherine the Great was not individually responsible for the death of Peter III. Catherine the Great was an exceptionally bright and cunning woman, and she cared deeply for the well being of Russia and its citizens. After watching her husband, Peter III's, inability to govern the country properly, Catherine decided to take matters into her own hands. She plotted a coup d'etates with the help from her devoted followers and admirers the Orlav family, Count Nikita Panin, Passek, and Hetman Kirill Gregorevich Razumovsky to name a few. According to Catherine's memoirs, "the nation was completely devoted to her and saw in her their only hope. Various groups had been formed to put a stop to the suffering of the Fatherland." The coup came at the most congenial time; the Russian people were ready for a change. The coup was put in effect very rapidly; Peter did not have an opportunity to rebel. He was arrested very briskly but, "in putting himself into the power of his wife, was not entirely destitute of hope" so he was then, "confined in a pleasant villa, called R... ... middle of paper ... ...although there are several inaccuracies within theses texts, that this historical evidence should still be considered credible as it gives us priceless information about an event that would have been lost save for these manuscripts. As a juror for this case I would most likely believe that Catherine was innocent of the murder, but that Peter was in fact murdered by over zealous supporters of Catherine and her cause. Bibliography Bain, R. Nisbet. "Appendixes from Peter III Emperor of Russia" in Peter III Emperor of Russia: The Story of a Crisis and a Crime, 1971 New York: AMC Press Catherine the Great. "Memoirs of Catherine the Great: Excerpts" in Memoirs of Catherine the Great,. 1935 Tudor Publishing Catherine the Great. "The Memoirs of Catherine the Great: Excerpts and Letters" in The Memoirs of Catherine the Great,. 1995 Hamish Hamilton
Tucker, Robert C. "The Mortal Danger". Course Reader for World Culture: Russia Since 1917. New York University, Spring 2001.
I believe that there was so much attention given to Peter the Great because of his extensive reforms. Peter brought both social and economic changes to his country. He wanted to make Russia big. Peter transformed the culture; he wanted his people to wear the western European fashion. Many of the people were not thrilled with the change because they did not like the ways of the western European societies. He made his navy stronger, he reformed his army to meet the western standards, and he gained control over the church.
Moss, W., 2014. A History of Russia Volume 2: Since 1855. 1st ed. London, England: Anthem Press London, pp.112-113.
Peter preferred to live comfortably, and didn’t have a need for extravagance as much as Louis XIV did. But that didn’t mean he didn’t think big. Peter’s main goals were to modernize Russia, and to make it a major European power—a force to be reckoned with—and also to gain control of the church. He tried to achieve these in many different ways. One way he attempted to make Russia more powerful was by westernizing the country. He traveled all over Western Europe, learning about the culture, more modern practices and way of ...
Catherine was born in 1729 to a German prince and princess. She moved to Russia well before her husband’s, Peter III, reign. During the time before his reign she learned all about the Russian language and customs, even converting to Orthodoxy. Catherine started her spirited and enlightened reign in 1762. In an effort to help make a more absolute government, Catherine wished to rework Russia’s law code, which had not been changed since 1649. In July of 1767 she brought together the Legislative Commission. This was a body of elected deputies for her to consult with about her Instruction, or Nakaz. The Legislative Commission consisted of nobles, merchants and
An avid admirer of Peter the Great, she created her version of Peter the Great’s decrees known as The Grand Instructions in 1768 even though she never really put these ideas into practice. Catherine the Great tightened her control on serfs and peasants through the creation of the Decree of Serfs. This decree stated that serfs and peasants must submit to their landlords in all matters or they face arrest. They were banned from sending petitions complaining about their landlords. This allowed the monarchy to control serfs and peasants in the prevention of any uprising or revolts in the future which also favored the nobles. Ironically, Catherine claimed to believe in “the liberal rhetoric of the Enlightenment” (Catherine 2nd Proposals and Decree on Serfs) however, she evidently ruled Russia with a tight rein. By putting the nobility on such a high pedestal she was ensuring that she had the support and backing of the nobility to maintain her government in Russia. After all, no monarchies in 17th and 18th centuries were secure never without the beloved
During the course of the eighteenth century, both Peter I and Catherine II rose to power as Russian tsars implementing their social and political power upon their kingdom and people. They aimed to westernize Eastern Europe, amassing great power and tracts of land, yet the tactical process in which they did so differed for each individual. Peter I and Catherine the Great made effective changes within the structures of military, nobility, education, and peasantry.
Eventually, she had a son named Paul. However, historians are unsure of who Paul’s father actually was. It is believed that his father is either Catherine’s husband, Peter, or it could be Sergei Saltykov, Catherine II’s lover at the time. When Empress Elizabeth died in 1961, Peter III and Catherine II came into power in Russia. Peter III began to alienate himself from powerful people in Russia and he also took away land from the church. Catherine II saw this as an opportunity to take control of Russia and began to become close with nobles, officials, and the military in order to have a close relationship with those whom Peter had alienated. Catherine II with help from one of her lovers, Grigory Orlov, overthrew Peter III and took the title as ruler of Russia. Catherine II had managed to get Peter III to step down, but he was strangled at one of his estates in Ropsha, Russia. In fear of being overthrown like her late husband, Peter III, Catherine II took steps in order to help her keep her seat as ruler of Russia. She gave back the land that Peter III had taken from the church and recalled the troops sent by Peter III to fight
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’...
Westwood, J. N., “Endurance and Endeavour: Russian history, 1812-1980”. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 1981.
Misunderstandings happen in our everyday lives, but when is one misunderstanding one too many that can ultimately leave a country in ruins? The Family Romanov written by Candace Fleming is a nonfiction piece set in the time span of 1903 to 1918 filled with the experience of life in the Russian autocracy under the Romanov rule as a peasant, royal and rebel. This story tells us about the downfall of the once greatly praised Russian autocracy, Fleming takes the reader on a journey featuring the rise, but more so the downfall of their rule. After centuries of reign, the Romanov line has a final ruler, Nicholas II, decisions are made and blood is spilled. But, how far would the people of Russia go for a fair government and how oblivious is not
Peter the Great, the Russian Czar, inherited his absolutist power from his brother, Ivan V. Born in aristocracy, Peter’s dad was the Czar, and later his brother, and after his brother’s death, him. He was a firm believer in the possible benefits from the control of a single leader to make decisions for the people, and he exercised this divine right to create many renouned institutions. At the beginning of Peter’s reign, Russia was in a poor condition: many rejected modernization from the Renaissance, and large spending from his brother’s reign caused economic droughts. He took advantage of his absolutist power to help ameliorate Russia’s situation and first decided to minimalize power from the other aristocrats. The subduction of the rich allowed
3) Field, Daniel. Rebels in the Name of the Tsar. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976
Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., and Mark D. Steinberg. A History of Russia. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford, 2005. Print.