Nicco Machiavelli´s PrinceThoery: Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great

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Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher during the renaissance. Machiavelli had written “The Prince” which gained overall recognition. The prince summarized all the actions of how a prince should act. Machiavelli had said," That a prince must act cunning and evil to gain success. When fighting, the prince should learn how to fight with laws and force that is able for him to achieve his success.” The prince should also act half beast and half human. The prince shall act like two types of beasts as well: a fox and a lion. The fox represents their strength in politics and military. The lion represents how they are shrewd and clever. His quote meant that a prince must act like a fox and lion to rule an entire nation correctly. These words were not forgotten, Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great acted as both a lion and a fox. Elizabeth had acted like a fox by establishing the Act of Supremacy and Act of Uniformity, by not marrying and using the Sea Beggars. She acted like a lion by executing Mary Queen of Scots, defeating the Spanish Armanda, and by establishing the Conventicle Act. Catherine the Great acted as a fox by controlling the nobles and using her enlightenment ideas in her absolute monarch. Catherine acted as a lion by crushing the serf revolt in Russia and by dividing Poland into parts. Elizabeth I took over the thrown of England in 1558, when her half-sister Mary had died. Elizabeth was an intelligent women who knew six languages. She believed in Protestant Faith and promised to build a Church that resembled some Catholic traditions. Elizabeth had acted like a fox in many ways. She was called the “Virgin Queen,” since she never engaged in marriage. She would flirt with people from different countries to make them in... ... middle of paper ... ...enment, she meet with Diderot and Voltaire. Catherine had also acted like a lion in many ways. The Pugachev's Rebellion took place 1773-1775. Catherine was the one responsible of stopping the rebellion. Pugachev promised the serfs freedom from the nobles. The rebellion went through southern Europe. Before the riot increased, Catherine captured Pugachev and stopped the rebellion. Catherine also decided to divide Poland into parts and very time it happened, Russia gained land. Meanwhile, Poland was erased off the map. The actions took by Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great improved their countries by following Niccolo Machiavelli’s “Prince”. They were able to act like both a lion and fox. Showing cunningness and knowledge in politics, the leaders were able improve their country. Both of their rise in power and polices showed that they followed Machiavelli’s words.

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