-
Catherine's Birth
-
Catherine marries the Grand Duke Peter
Catherine was 15 when she was handed over to marry the Grand Duke Peter, heir to the Russian throne. She was a daughter of a minor German prince at the time. -
Catherine's son Paul I is born
Officially, Paul I is the son of Catherine and Peter III, but it was rumored (by Catherine herself) that he was actually fathered by her lover on the side, Sergei Saltykov. Paul I went on to rule Russia from 1796-1801 but never could escape his mother's shadow. -
Period: to
Catherine's Early Reign
Catherine's first years of ruling. This was when she and her newly formed commission formulated their lofty goals for Russia's future. During this time, most of her attention was focused on strengthening her reign. -
Catherine comes to power
Her husband Peter was very mentally unstable, and she viewed this as a chance to rise to power. She established important relationships with Russia's army officers, and in 1762 she had so much power she arrested and confined her husband. Soon after, he "conveniently died." Her coronation followed. -
Catherine makes her first laws
Catherine formed a commission to review Russia's laws and had many proposals for reforms. She had intentions to abolish torture and capital punishment, and to allow toleration. These were very ambitious goals though, and her commission accomplished none of these goals. -
Catherine enacts laws on serfs
In 1767, Catherine enacted a series of laws on peasants instructing them to obey their landlords no matter what, and any complaining through verbal exchange or petitions to her or their landlords would lead her to banish them to the army. These laws provided a base for the soon to come serf uprisings. -
Russia obtains Polish land uner Catherine's rule
Catherine expanded the Russian empire westward into Poland. In 1772, power hungry Russia, Prussia, and Austria all split Poland's land among themselves. This is also called The First Partition of Poland. -
Period: to
Serf Uprising or Pugachev's Rebellion
Serfs were treated horribly under the first years of her reign, because her commission didn't put any effort into Catherine's initial idea for serf equality. This led to a massive serf uprising in 1773, and with great brutality, Catherine's army crushed the rebellion. -
Catherine's army crushes the rebellion
Towards the end of 1774, Catherine and her fierce army brutally ended the uprising, killing many serfs. This uprising convinced Catherine to give absolute power to the nobles and eliminate any last trace of freedom for the serfs. -
Catherine declares The Second Partition of Poland
In 1793, Catherine strived to obtain even more land for her country, and did just that through The Second Partition of Poland. With Austria out of the running for Polish land, more land was left for Russia and Prussia. -
Third Partition of Poland
In this final treaty, the Russian Empire (led by Catherine) defeated the Polish army and eliminated the rest of Poland's independent states. From this, Russia gained huge amounts of land. -
Catherine The Great's death
Catherine The Great dies of a stroke.
