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Birth
Catherine The Great was born on April 21, 1729. She was the offspring of Christian August and Johanna Elisabeth. It was her first day on her path to success. -
William Christian Frederick's Death
William Christian Frederick is the youngest brother of Catherine the Great. His death in 1742 forced Johanna to focus on her daughter. Johanna having to turn her attention to Catherine is how Catherine would later become the Tsarina of Russia. -
Arrival In Russia
CAtherine arrived in Russia in 1744. Her mother who was constantly trying to marry her off, managed to get her an invitation to Russia to meet Peter III. This trip will be the beginning of her love for Russia. -
Marriage
On August 21, 1745 Catherine marries Peter III.Upon her marriage into the royal family she was forced to convert to Eastern Orthodox. This was the beginning of her very unhappy marriage. -
Birth of Paul
Though Catherine and Peter never had a good relationship, they had a son named Paul. He was born on October 1, 1754. When he was born his grandmother, Elizabeth, took him away to raise him. Since he never saw his mother they had a very strained relationship. -
Birth of Anna
Anna Petrovna was born on December 20, 1757. She was the second child of Peter and Catherine. She, sadly, will not have a long life. -
Death of Anna
Anna died a couple of months after her first birthday. She died on March 19,1759. I couldn't find how she died or how effected Catherine was. -
Death of Elizabeth
On January 5, 1762 Empress Elizabeth died. After she died Peter III took to the throne. When he entered the throne he openly talked about how he hated Catherine and planned to divorce her and replace her with one of his concubines. Now it was time for Catherine to put her years of education to work. -
Coup
On July 8, 1762, after only being emperor for 6 months Peter is overthrown. Catherine the Great, who was sick of Peter as it was, conspired with Grigory Orlov and launched a coup. No one died, yet, and Catherine became Empress Catherine. -
Death of Peter
Catherine being a nice lady, didn't kill Peter and sent him to prison, for the rest of his life. Turns out that the rest of his life is only 8 days. He is killed by Grigory Orlov's younger brother. I don't think Catherine was too heart broken. -
Corination
On September 22, 1762 Catherine the Great was crowned Empress Catherine of Russia. She was crowned in Moscow at the Assumption Cathedral. She is now free from her husband and is able to do what Russia needs. -
Smolny Institute
Catherine was always a fan of education and opened the first school for girls. Like everywhere during this time girls never got much of a higher education. So, Catherine created the first school for girls in the nobility class. -
Creation of the Grand Commission.
Catherine was always very involved with the arts and education. A few years after she came to power she set up the Grand Commission. It was set up to discuss the needs and how to address them. It was made up of all different races and social standings. This was one of he beginnings of Catherine's social and liberal arts reforms. -
Assignation Bank
When Catherine entered the throne the economy wasn't thriving. Wanting to regulate money she created the first government paper money. She puts the Assignation Bank up to the task. This is one of the first economic reforms she made. -
Pugachev's Rebellion
From the years between 1773-1775 the serf's revolted. Catherine did want to try and help them, but to gain favor of the nobles, she had to take their side on whether or not to abolish serfdom. Sick of being treated like they weren't humans, they revolted.The battles ended in 1775 when Pugachev was captured and sentenced to death. This was the first time Catherine had to force her hand -
Birth of Yelizaveta Grigoryevna Tyomkina
Catherine who was known to have many lovers and was open about it. Her and one of her main lover Grigory Potemkin had a child. She is the only daughter of Catherine's to have survived childhood. She didn't see her mother much, due to the whole ruling the country, but I couldn't find anything that was problematic between the two. -
Friendship with Voltaire
During Catherine's reign she was considered to be an 'enlightened despot. She was a very big fan of Voltaire and he of her. They traded letters back and both and shared copies of each other's writings. He was one of her best friend and took the news of his death very hard. He encouraged her reign and helped her with ideas. -
Opening Trade With Japan
Catherine had been considering furthering political relations with Japan. When a Japanese captain was blown offshore during a storm and washed up on the Aleutian Islands and Catherine eagerly helped him in order to establish a good relationship. This was a further extension on her diplomatic policy. -
Russo-Turkish Wars
Russia has been going to war with Turkey for years. Russia wanted a warm water port, so they fought for the Black Sea. After a series of victories the Turks surrendered and signed the Treaty of Jassy on January 9, 1792. Once this treaty is signed Russia is officially the biggest its ever been -
Death of Catherine
I'm going to say this once: CATHERINE DID NOT DIE COPULATING A HORSE. Let it go. She died of a stroke while going to the bathroom. Now that that's out of the way we can talk about the important things. Catherine was what Russia needed at the time. They needed a strong ruler that was dedicated to Russia, and she was all in. She lived a long, and successful life and died at the age of 67.
