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 Temple
of Catherine the Great |
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Catherine
the Great (1729-1796), empress of Russia (1762-1796), who continued
the process of Westernization begun by Peter the Great and made Russia
a European power. She was born in Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland). In 1745
she married Grand Duke Peter of Holstein. Peter succeeded to the throne
in 1762, but the Imperial Guards soon overthrew him and replaced him with
Catherine.
Catherine's more benevolent achievements included the foundation of
the first Russian schools for girls and of a medical college to provide
health care for her subjects. However, because she showered her supporters
with titles, offices, state lands, and serfs, she helped expand the institution
of serfdom by transferring state-owned serfs to private landowners, extending
serfdom to newly acquired territories, and increasing the legal control
of the gentry over their serfs. After a cossack revolt from 1773 to 1775,
the cossack army was disbanded, and other cossacks were granted special
privileges in an effort to transform them into loyal supporters of the
autocracy. Major reforms of provincial and urban administrations were undertaken
to ensure better control of the empire. The French Revolution (1789-1799)
increased Catherine's hostility toward liberal ideas, and several outspoken
critics of serfdom were imprisoned. Under Catherine, the territory of the
Russian Empire was greatly expanded, especially through two wars with the
Ottoman Empire (1768-1774 and 1787-1791) and the annexation of Crimea (1783),
which gave Russia control over the northern coast of the Black Sea.
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