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Birth of a Royal Daughter
My sourcePrincess Sophia August Frederika was born in the German city of Stettin, Prussia(now Poland). She was born into royality with her father being Prince Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst and her mother being Princess Johanna Elizabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. The ironic fact about her birth was that her parents had longed for a son and were very much disappointed in the birth of their daughter. -
Age of the Enlightenment
My Source
Catherine was born during the enlightenment. The enlightenment was a period of time where society began to look through the lens of reason rather than commonly believed facts based upon superstition and cultural beliefs. Consequently, the enlightenment is also referred to as the “Age of Reason” due to this new established value that caused society to question all aspects of their lives. -
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Catherine the Great
The Russian empress Catherine II, known as Catherine the Great, born April 21, 1729. Died Nov 6, 1796. -
Early Childhood
my sourcePrincess Sophia August Frederika spent most of her childhood with her governess Babette, who acted as a mother and instructor for her. She was by far a very intellegent girl who seemed to be able to pick up on things much past her age. She spent a great deal of time reading enlightenment philosphies and novels that helped shape the ruler she would eventually become. -
Marriage to the Grand Duke
sourceCatherine spent a great deal of her childhood seizing the educational opportunity given to those born in royality. She spent countless hours trying to learn religion, history, music, and different languages. She traveld at the age of 15 and married the Duke. The marriage was unhappy on her account; filled with cheating, fighting, and overal discontent by both parities. Catherine spent most of her time on her intellectual interests. -
Death of Empress Elizabeth
my sourceAfter the death of the empress, Peter took the role of empreor while Catherine became the new empress. Catherine rode the waves of animosity that Peter had created in the government. Many wanted to overthrow him and take control. However, they underestimated Catherine and the role she inteded to play. Through the ralling of troops at St. Petersburg, Catherine was able to take control of Russia and declare herself the sole ruler. Peter was arrested and eventually killed. -
Catherine crowned
my sourceCatherine went immediately to work on restructur her country. She took the lessons from enlightenment philosphers and stepped away from traditional absolutism beliefs by using reason and science. She believed it was her duty to serve the people and not the people’s duty to serve her. The term enlightened absolutism describes her style of rule. Aside from changing laws, she also worked on developing arts, music and education. -
The Deficit and Economic solutions
my sourceDuring her first meeting with the Senate she became aware that her country had a deficit of 17million rubies and was projected to continue to grow. She immediately took to work in turning that around. She set off by first modernizing exisisting infrastructure such as agrilcutural machines. Next, she worked hard in bringing in workers through extensive marketing campaign. She doubled the number of civil servants, tripled the number of factories, and turned the budget into a surplus by 1765. -
Contribution to the Arts-The Hermitage Museum
<a href='http://www.saint-petersburg.com/virtual-tour/hermitage.asp' </a> Catherine the Great made great strives in the development of the arts. Her most memorable contribution was this museum. She began it in 1764 through the purchasing of a painting collection from Berlin. Even today this museum is booming with over 2.7 million exhibits including collections from Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and others. -
Expansion of Borders(1768-1774)
my source Catherine made it her innitive to expand the borders of Russia. Her most memorable events were the successful wars agaisnt the Ottoman Empire that spanned from 1768-1774 and 1787 to 1792. She took Crimea from the Turks in 1783. Her purpose was to take control of the black sea. Aside from temporary control, she used the strategy of overpopulating the place in favour of supporters for the Russian cause. -
Death of Catherine the Great
my sourceCatherine spent her rule by modernizing Russia in to a viable westernized society. She developd all levels of life for her citizens. Although she made many accomplishments during her rule, she still regrets not being able to abolish serfdom. She is known for givign mroe rights to serfs. Catherine eventually died of a heart attack and was succeeded by her son Paul III.
