The history of the relationship of the Russian Empress Catherine II with men no less than her state activity. Many of Catherine's favorites were not only lovers, but also major statesmen.

Favoritism and the children of CatherineII

The development of relations between the rulers of European countries with the opposite sex in the XVII - XVIII centuries created the institution of favoritism. However, one must distinguish between favorites and lovers. The title of the favorite was practically a court title, but not included in the "table of ranks". In addition to pleasures and rewards, this carried the need to perform certain state duties.

It is believed that Catherine II had 23 lovers, of which not everyone can be called a favorite. Most sovereigns of Europe changed sexual partners much more often. They, the Europeans, created the legend about the depravity of the Russian Empress. On the other hand, you can’t call her chaste either.

It is generally accepted truth that the future Catherine II, who arrived in Russia at the invitation of Empress Elizabeth, was married off in 1745 to Grand Duke Peter, an impotent man who was not interested in the charms of his young wife. But he was interested in other women and periodically changed them, however, nothing is known about his children from his mistresses.

About kids Grand Duchess, and then Empress Catherine II, more is known, but even more unconfirmed rumors and assumptions:

There are not so many children, especially given that not all of them necessarily belonged to Catherine the Great.

How Catherine diedII

Versions of death (November 17, 1796) great empress there are several. Their authors do not cease to mock the sexual irrepressibility of the Empress, as always "not seeing the beam in their own eyes." Some of the versions are simply full of hatred and obviously fabricated, most likely in revolutionary France that hates absolutism or its other enemies:

1. The Empress died during sexual intercourse with a stallion raised above her on ropes. Allegedly, it was crushed by him.
2. The Empress died during an affair with a wild boar.
3. Catherine the Great was killed by a Pole in the back while correcting the need for a toilet.
4. Catherine, with her own weight, broke the toilet seat in the toilet, which she had made from the throne of the Polish king.

These myths are completely unfounded and have nothing to do with the Russian Empress. There is an opinion that unflattering versions of death could be invented and distributed at court by a son who hated the empress - the future Emperor Paul I.

The most reliable versions of death are:

1. Catherine died on the second day after she suffered a severe heart attack.
2. The cause of death was a stroke (apoplexy), which caught the empress in the restroom. In excruciating agony, without regaining consciousness for about 3 hours, Empress Catherine died.
3. Pavel organized the murder (or untimely first aid) of the empress. While the Empress suffered in her death throes, her son Pavel found and destroyed the will transferring power to his son Alexander.
4. An additional version of death is called a gallbladder ruptured during a fall.

The official and generally accepted version, when determining the causes of the death of the Empress, is considered to be a stroke, but what really happened is not known or not proven conclusively.

Empress Catherine II the Great was buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.

The personal life and death of people of great importance for the history of the state always causes a lot of speculation and rumors. The depraved "free" Europe, as soon as it saw the results of European "enlightenment" in Russia, tried to prick, humiliate, insult the "wild" one. How many favorites and lovers there were, how many children Catherine the Great had - far from the most important questions for understanding the essence of her reign. For history, what the empress did during the day, not at night, is more important.

Around historical figures, cultural figures, art and politics, an incredible amount of myths, gossip and rumors are always collected. empress Russian Ekaterina II was no exception. By different information the children of Catherine II were born from her lawful husband Peter III, favorites Grigory Orlov and Potemkin, as well as adviser Panin. Now it is difficult to say which of the rumors is true and which is fiction, and how many children Catherine II had.

Children of Catherine II and Peter III

Pavel Petrovich- the first child of Catherine II from Peter III, was born on September 20 (October 1), 1754 in the Summer Imperial Palace in St. Petersburg. At the birth of the heir to the empire were present: the current Empress of Russia Elizaveta Petrovna, the future Emperor Peter III and the Shuvalov brothers. The birth of Paul was an extremely important and expected event for the empress, so Elizabeth arranged festivities on this occasion and took all the trouble of raising the heir upon herself. The empress hired whole state nannies and caregivers, completely isolating the child from the parents. Catherine II had almost no contact with Pavel Petrovich and did not have the opportunity to influence his upbringing.

It should be noted that the father of the heir doubted his paternity, although Catherine II herself categorically denied all suspicions. There were also doubts at court. Firstly, the child appeared after 10 years of marriage, when everyone at the court was sure of the infertility of the spouses. Secondly, it is not known for certain what caused long-awaited pregnancy Catherine II: the successful cure of Peter III from phimosis by surgical intervention (as the empress claims in her memoirs) or the appearance at the court of the noble handsome Sergei Saltykov - Catherine's first favorite. To be fair, Paul had an extraordinary resemblance with Peter III and did not look like Saltykov at all.

Anna Petrovna

Princess Anna was born on December 9 (20), 1757 in winter palace in St. Petersburg. As in the case of Paul, Empress Elizabeth immediately took the baby to her chambers for education, forbidding her parents to visit her. In honor of the birth of a girl from the Peter and Paul Fortress, 101 shots were fired around midnight. The baby was named Anna in honor of the sister of the Empress Elizabeth, although Catherine intended to name her daughter Elizabeth. The baptism was carried out almost secretly: there were no guests and representatives of other powers, and the empress herself entered the church through a side door. Both parents received 60,000 rubles each for the birth of Anna, which greatly pleased Peter and offended Catherine. The children of Catherine II from Peter grew up and were brought up by strangers - nannies and teachers, which deeply saddened the future empress, but completely suited the current one.

Stanislav August Poniatowski

Peter doubted his paternity and did not hide it, there were rumors at court that Stanislav Poniatowski, the future king of Poland, was the real father. Anna lived a little over a year and after a short illness she died. For Catherine II, the death of her daughter was a strong blow.

Illegitimate children

Children of Catherine II and Grigory Orlov

Alexey Bobrinsky

The connection between Catherine II and Grigory Orlov was quite long, because many are inclined to the idea that the empress gave birth to several children of the count. However, information about only one child, Alexei Bobrinsky, has been preserved. It is not known whether Orlov and Catherine II had other children, but Alexei is the official offspring of the couple. The boy became the first illegitimate child of the future empress and was born on April 11-12 (22), 1762 at the Summer Palace in St. Petersburg.

Immediately after birth, the boy was transferred to the family of Vasily Shkurin, Catherine's wardrobe master, where he was brought up with Vasily's other sons. Orlov recognized his son, secretly visited the boy with Catherine. The son of Catherine II from Grigory Orlov, despite all the efforts of his parents, grew up as a mediocre and infantile man. The fate of Bobrinsky cannot be called tragic - he received a good education, arranged his life well at the expense of public funding and even maintained friendly relations with his brother Paul after his coronation.

Other children of Orlov and Catherine II

In various sources, one can find references to other children of the empress and favorite, but there is not a single fact or document confirming their existence. Some historians are inclined to the version that Catherine II had several failed pregnancies, others speak of stillborn children or those who died in infancy. There is also a version about the illness of Grigory Orlov and his inability to bear children after it. However, the count, having married, became a father again.

Children of Catherine II and Grigory Potemkin

As well as with Orlov, with Potemkin Catherine II long time was in a close relationship, because there are many myths around this union. According to one version, Prince Potemkin and Catherine II had a daughter who was born on July 13, 1775 in the Prechistensky Palace in Moscow. existence itself Elizabeth Grigoryevna Tyomkina there is no doubt - such a woman really existed, even left behind 10 children. The portrait of Tyomkina can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery. More importantly, the origin of the woman is unknown.

The main reason for doubt that Elizabeth is the daughter of Potemkin and the Empress is the age of Catherine II at the time of the birth of the girl: at that time the empress was about 45 years old. At the same time, the baby was transferred to be raised in the family of the prince's sister, Potemkin appointed his nephew as guardian. The girl received a good education, Gregory allocated significant amounts for her maintenance and fussed about the marriage of his alleged daughter. In this case, it is more obvious that Grigory Potemkin was Elizabeth's father, while one of his favorites, and not Empress Catherine, could well have been her mother.

Other illegitimate children of Catherine II

It is not known for certain how many children Empress Catherine II had and how their fate turned out. Various sources called different amount children mention different fathers. According to some versions, miscarriages and stillborn babies were attributed to Catherine's union with Potemkin, as well as with Orlov, but there is no evidence of this.

Catherine II is the great Russian Empress, whose reign was the most significant period in Russian history. The era of Catherine the Great is marked by the "golden age" of the Russian Empire, the cultural and political culture of which the queen raised to the European level. The biography of Catherine II is full of light and dark stripes, numerous ideas and achievements, as well as a stormy personal life, about which films are made and books are written to this day.

Catherine II was born on May 2 (April 21, old style) 1729 in Prussia in the family of Governor Stettin, Prince of Zerbst and Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp. Despite the rich pedigree, the princess's family did not have a significant fortune, but this did not stop the parents from providing home schooling for their daughter, without much ceremony with her upbringing. At the same time, the future Russian empress on high level learned English, Italian and French, mastered dancing and singing, and also gained knowledge about the basics of history, geography and theology.

In childhood young princess was a frisky and curious child with a pronounced "boyish" character. She did not show any special mental abilities and did not demonstrate her talents, but she helped her mother a lot in raising her younger sister Augusta, which suited both parents. AT early years mother called Catherine II Fike, which means little Federica.

At the age of 15, it became known that the Zerbst princess was chosen as the bride for her heir, Peter Fedorovich, who later became the Russian emperor. In this regard, the princess and her mother were secretly invited to Russia, where they went under the name of Countess Reinbeck. The girl immediately began to study Russian history, language and Orthodoxy in order to more fully learn about her new homeland. Soon she converted to Orthodoxy and was named Ekaterina Alekseevna, and the next day she became engaged to Pyotr Fedorovich, who was her second cousin.

Palace coup and ascension to the throne

After the wedding with Peter III, nothing practically changed in the life of the future Russian Empress - she continued to devote herself to self-education, to study philosophy, jurisprudence and writings worldwide. famous authors, since the husband showed absolutely no interest in her and openly had fun with other ladies in front of her eyes. After nine years of marriage, when relations between Peter and Catherine completely went wrong, the queen gave birth to an heir to the throne, who was immediately taken away from her and practically not allowed to see him.

Then, in the head of Catherine the Great, a plan was ripened to overthrow her husband from the throne. She subtly, clearly and prudently organized a palace coup, in which she was helped by the English ambassador Williams and the chancellor of the Russian Empire, Count Alexei Bestuzhev.

It soon turned out that both confidants of the future Russian Empress had betrayed her. But Catherine did not abandon her plan and found new allies in its execution. They were the Orlov brothers, Adjutant Khitrov and Sergeant Major Potemkin. Participated in the organization palace coup and foreigners who provided sponsorship for bribery the right people.

In 1762, the empress was completely ready for a decisive step - she went to St. Petersburg, where she was sworn in by the guards, who by that time were already dissatisfied military policy Emperor Peter III. After that, he abdicated the throne, was taken into custody and soon died under unknown circumstances. Two months later, on September 22, 1762, Sophia Frederick Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst was crowned in Moscow and became Russian empress Catherine II.

The reign and achievements of Catherine II

From the very first day of ascension to the throne, the queen clearly formulated her royal tasks and began to actively implement them. She quickly formulated and carried out reforms in the Russian Empire, which affected all spheres of life of the population. Catherine the Great pursued a policy taking into account the interests of all classes, which won the colossal support of her subjects.

In order to pull the Russian Empire out of the financial quagmire, the tsarina carried out secularization and took away the lands of churches, turning them into secular property. This made it possible to pay off the army and replenish the treasury of the empire by 1 million souls of peasants. At the same time, she managed to briskly establish trade in Russia, doubling the number of industrial enterprises in the country. Thanks to this, the amount of state revenues quadrupled, the empire was able to maintain a large army and begin the development of the Urals.

Concerning domestic policy Catherine, today it is called "absolutism", because the empress tried to achieve the "common good" for society and the state. The absolutism of Catherine II was marked by the adoption of new legislation, which was adopted on the basis of the "Order of Empress Catherine", containing 526 articles. Due to the fact that the queen's policy still had a "pro-noble" character, from 1773 to 1775 she faced an uprising of peasants led by. The peasant war engulfed almost the entire empire, but the state army was able to suppress the rebellion and arrest Pugachev, who was subsequently executed.

In 1775, Catherine the Great carried out the territorial division of the empire and expanded Russia into 11 provinces. During her reign, Russia acquired Azov, Kiburn, Kerch, Crimea, Kuban, as well as parts of Belarus, Poland, Lithuania and the western part of Volhynia. At the same time, elective courts were introduced in the country, which dealt with the criminal and civil cases of the population.

In 1785 the Empress organized local government by cities. At the same time, Catherine II brought out a clear set of noble privileges - she freed the nobles from paying taxes, compulsory military service and gave them the right to own land and peasants. Thanks to the Empress, a system of secondary education was introduced in Russia, for which special closed schools, institutes for girls, and educational homes were built. In addition, Catherine founded Russian academy which has become one of the leading European scientific bases.

Special attention during the reign of Catherine paid development Agriculture. Under her, for the first time in Russia, bread began to be sold, which the population could buy for paper money, also put into use by the Empress. Also, the virtues of the monarch include the introduction of vaccination in Russia, which made it possible to prevent epidemics of deadly diseases in the country, thereby maintaining the population.

During her reign, Catherine the Second survived 6 wars, in which she received the desired trophies in the form of lands. Its foreign policy is still considered by many to be immoral and hypocritical. But the woman managed to enter the history of Russia as a powerful monarch, who became an example of patriotism for future generations of the country, despite the absence of even a drop of Russian blood in her.

Personal life

The personal life of Catherine II has a legendary character and is of interest to this day. The Empress was committed to "free love", which was the result of her bad marriage with Peter III.

The love affairs of Catherine the Great are marked in history by a series of scandals, and the list of her favorites contains 23 names, as evidenced by the data of authoritative Catherine theorists.

by the most famous lovers Platon Zubov also became monarchs, who at the age of 20 became the favorite of 60-year-old Catherine the Great. Historians do not exclude that the empress's love affairs were her kind of weapon, with the help of which she carried out her activities on the royal throne.

It is known that Catherine the Great had three children - a son from her legal marriage with Peter III, Pavel Petrovich, Alexei Bobrinsky, born from Orlov, and daughter Anna Petrovna, who died of an illness at the age of one.

AT last years of her life, the empress devoted herself to caring for her grandchildren and heirs, as she was on bad terms with her son Paul. She wanted to transfer power and the crown to her eldest grandson, whom she personally prepared for the royal throne. But her plans were not destined to happen, as her legitimate heir learned about the mother's plan and carefully prepared for the struggle for the throne.

The death of Catherine II came according to the new style on November 17, 1796. The Empress died of a severe stroke, she tossed about in agony for several hours and, without regaining consciousness, passed away in agony. She was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Films

The image of Catherine the Great is very often used in modern cinema. Her bright and rich biography is taken as a basis by screenwriters all over the world, since the great Russian Empress Catherine II had a stormy life filled with intrigues, conspiracies, love affairs and the struggle for the throne, but at the same time she became one of the most worthy rulers of the Russian Empire.

In 2015, a fascinating historical show started in Russia, for the script of which facts were taken from the diaries of the queen herself, who turned out to be a “male ruler” by nature, and not a womanly mother and wife.

Museums section publications

Portraits of illegitimate children of Russian emperors

Descendants of the ruling dynasty, born from favorites - what secrets do their images hide? We examine the "fruits of love" of the Romanov family together with Sofia Bagdasarova.

In the Russian kingdom, in contrast to medieval Europe with morality, at least in the annals, it was strict: there is no mention of extramarital affairs and children of monarchs (the exception is Ivan the Terrible). The situation changed after Peter the Great turned Russia into the Russian Empire. The court began to focus on France, including in gallant adventures. However, this did not affect the appearance of bastards at first. In the first half of the 18th century, the Romanov dynasty also had a shortage of legitimate heirs, not to mention illegitimate children. With the accession of Catherine the Great in 1762, stability came to the country - it also influenced the growth in the birth rate of illegitimate offspring. And, of course, the appearance of works of art dedicated to them.

Son of Catherine II

Fedor Rokotov. Portrait of Alexei Bobrinsky. Around 1763. Rim

Alexei Grigorievich Bobrinsky was the son of the then simply Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna (without a serial number) and her favorite Grigory Orlov. He was born under stressful conditions: Catherine was pregnant with him when Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and her daughter died in December 1761. lawful husband Peter III ascended the throne. Relations between the spouses by that time were already very strained, they did not communicate much, and the emperor did not even know about interesting position Catherine. When it was time for childbirth in April, the devoted valet Shkurin set fire to his house to distract Peter, who loved to look at the fire. Barely recovering (a little more than two months passed), Catherine led the coup, and spent the night on her horse.

Alexei grew up not at all like his passionate, smart parents, he received a poor education, reveled, made debts and, on the orders of his angry mother, lived in the Baltic states, away from the court, throughout her reign.

In the portrait by Rokotov, a boy with a silver rattle in his hands is depicted at the age of about a year. When the painting ended up in the Russian Museum, it was believed to be a portrait of his half-brother, Emperor Paul. The subtle resemblance to her mother's features, as well as the fact that the picture came from her private quarters, seemed to confirm this version. However, experts on Rokotov's work saw that, judging by the style, the picture was created in the mid-1760s, when Pavel was already ten years old. Comparison with other portraits of Bobrinsky proved that it was he who was depicted.

Daughter of Catherine II

Vladimir Borovikovsky. Portrait of Elizabeth Grigoryevna Tyomkina. 1798. State Tretyakov Gallery

Elizaveta Grigorievna Tyomkina was the daughter of the favorite of the Empress Grigory Potemkin - this is evidenced by her artificial shortened surname (such were given by Russian aristocrats to illegitimate children), and patronymic, and the words of her son. Who exactly was her mother, unlike Bobrinsky, is a mystery. Catherine II never paid attention to her, however, the version of her motherhood is widespread. The son of Tyomkina, directly pointing out that she is Potemkina by her father, writes evasively that Elizaveta Grigorievna "from her mother's side is also of highly significant origin."

If the Empress is really her mother, then she gave birth to a child already at the age of 45, during the celebration of the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace, when, according to the official version, Catherine suffered from indigestion due to unwashed fruits. The girl was raised by Potemkin's nephew Count Alexander Samoilov. When she grew up, she was given a huge dowry and married to Ivan Calageorga, a school friend of one of the Grand Dukes. Tyomkina gave birth to ten children and, apparently, was happy. One of her daughters married the son of the sculptor Martos - is this really how the author of Minin and Pozharsky became related to the Romanovs?

The portrait painted by Borovikovsky, at first glance, is quite in line with the images of beauties for which this artist became so famous. But still, what a contrast with the portrait of Lopukhina or other languid young ladies of Borovikovsky! The red-haired Tyomkina obviously inherited from her father both temperament and willpower, and even an empire dress in ancient fashion does not make her cold. Today this picture is one of the decorations of the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery, proving that Borovikovsky could reflect the most diverse sides of the human character. But the founder of the museum, Tretyakov, twice refused to buy a portrait from her descendants: in the 1880s, the art of the gallant age seemed old-fashioned, and he preferred to invest in actual, acutely social Wanderers.

Daughter of Alexander I

Unknown artist. Portrait of Sophia Naryshkina. 1820s

Sofya Dmitrievna Naryshkina was the daughter of a long-term favorite of Emperor Alexander I, Maria Antonovna Naryshkina. Despite the fact that the beauty deceived the emperor (and her husband) either with Prince Grigory Gagarin, or with Count Adam Ozharovsky, or with someone else, Alexander I considered most of her children to be his own. Apart from eldest daughter Marina, born of her husband, Maria Antonovna, for 14 years of connection with the emperor, gave birth to five more children, of whom two survived - Sophia and Emmanuel. The emperor especially loved Sophia, who in the world was even called “Sofya Alexandrovna”, and not “Dmitrievna”.

Alexander I was anxious about her fate and wanted to marry the girl to one of the richest people Russia - the son of Parasha Zhemchugova Dmitry Nikolaevich Sheremetev, but he managed to evade this honor. Sophia was engaged to the son of her mother's friend, Andrei Petrovich Shuvalov, who expected this great career take-off, especially since the emperor had already begun to joke with him in a kindred way. But in 1824, 16-year-old Sophia died of consumption. On the day of the funeral, the frustrated careerist groom said to a friend: “My dear, what meaning have I lost!” Two years later he married a millionaire, the widow of Platon Zubov. And the poet Pyotr Pletnev dedicated her to the end of the line: “She did not come for the earth; / It bloomed not according to the earthly, / And like a star it is far away, / Without approaching us, it shone.

On a small miniature painted in the 1820s, Sophia is depicted as it was supposed to portray young, clean girls - without complicated hairdos or rich jewelry, in a simple dress. Vladimir Sollogub left a description of her appearance: "Her childish, as it were, transparent face, large blue children's eyes, light blond curly curls gave her an unearthly reflection."

Daughter of Nicholas I

Franz Winterhalter. Portrait of Sophia Trubetskoy, Countess de Morny. 1863. Château Compiègne

Sofya Sergeevna Trubetskaya was the daughter of Ekaterina Petrovna Musina-Pushkina, married to Sergei Vasilievich Trubetskoy (Lermontov's future second) at a long pregnancy. Contemporaries believed that the father of the child was Emperor Nicholas I, because it was he who organized the wedding. After the birth of the baby, the couple parted - Ekaterina Petrovna left for Paris with the child, and her husband was sent to serve in the Caucasus.

Sophia grew up beautiful. When she was 18 years old, at the coronation of her alleged brother Alexander II, he saw the girl french ambassador, Duke de Morny and proposed to her. The duke was not embarrassed by the dubious origin of Trubetskoy: he himself was illegitimate son Dutch Queen Hortense Beauharnais. And moreover, he even flaunted the fact that for several generations there were only bastards in his family: “I am the great-grandson of a great king, the grandson of a bishop, the son of a queen,” referring to Louis XV and Talleyrand (who, among other things, had the title of bishop) . In Paris, the newlywed was among the first beauties. After the Duke's death, she married the Spanish Duke of Albuquerque, made a splash in Madrid, and planted the first Christmas tree there in 1870 (an exotic Russian custom!).

Her portrait was painted by Winterhalter, a fashionable portrait painter of that era who painted both Queen Victoria and Empress Maria Alexandrovna. A bouquet of wild flowers in the beauty's hands and rye in her hair hint at naturalness and simplicity. A white outfit emphasizes this impression, as does pearls (which are fabulous, however, in value).

Children of Alexander II

Konstantin Makovsky. Portrait of the Children of the Most Serene Princess Yuryevskaya. 19th century

George, Olga and Ekaterina Alexandrovich, the most serene princes of Yuryevsky, were illegitimate children of Emperor Alexander II from his long-term mistress, Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova. After his wife Maria Alexandrovna died, the emperor, unable to endure even two months of mourning, quickly married his beloved and granted her and the children the title and new surname while legitimizing them. His assassination by the People's Will next year stopped the further flow of honors and gifts.

George died in 1913, but continued the Yuryevsky family, which still exists today. Daughter Olga married Pushkin's grandson, the unfortunate heir to the Luxembourg throne, and lived with him in Nice. She died in 1925. The youngest, Ekaterina, died in 1959, having survived both the revolution and both world wars. She lost her fortune and was forced to earn money professionally by singing in concert.

Portrait of Konstantin Makovsky, in which the three of them are depicted in childhood, - is typical for this secular portrait painter, from whom many aristocrats ordered their images. The picture is so typical that long years it was considered an image of unknown children, and only in the 21st century did the experts of the Grabar Center determine who these three were.

Catherine II was born on April 21, 1729, before the adoption of Orthodoxy, she had the name of Sophia-August-Frederick. By the will of fate, in 1745 Sophia converted to Orthodoxy, and was baptized under the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna.

Married with the future emperor of Russia. The relationship between Peter and Catherine somehow did not work out right away. A wall of barriers arose between them because of the banal not understanding each other.

Despite the fact that the spouses did not have a particularly big difference in age, Pyotr Fedorovich was a real child, and Ekaterina Alekseevna wanted a more adult relationship from her husband.

Catherine was quite well educated. Since childhood, she studied various sciences, such as: history, geography, theology and foreign languages. Her level of development was very high, she danced and sang beautifully.

Arriving in, she was immediately imbued with the Russian spirit. Realizing that the emperor's wife must have certain qualities, she sat down at textbooks on Russian history and the Russian language.

From the first days of her stay in Russia, she was imbued with the Russian spirit, and big love to the new homeland. Ekaterina Alekseevna quickly mastered new sciences, in addition to language and history, she studied economics and jurisprudence.

Her desire to “become her own” in a completely new, unfamiliar society, made this very society accept her and love her passionately.

As a result of complications in relations with her husband and constant palace intrigues, Ekaterina Alekseevna seriously had to take care of her fate. The situation was stalemate.

Peter III did not have authority in Russian society, and there was no support for those six months of his reign, nothing but irritation and indignation in Russian society.

In connection with the aggravation of relations between the spouses, she seriously risked going to the monastery. The situation forced her to act decisively.

Enlisting the support of the guards, Ekaterina Alekseevna and her supporters carried out a coup d'état. Peter III abdicated the throne, and Catherine II became the new Russian empress. The coronation took place on September 22 (October 3), 1762 in Moscow.

Its policy can be described as successful and thoughtful. During the years of her reign, Ekaterina Alekseevna has achieved excellent results. Thanks to the successful internal and foreign policy, Catherine II managed to achieve a significant increase in the territory and the number of people inhabiting it.

During her reign, trade flourished in Russia. The number of industrial enterprises on the territory of the Empire doubled. The enterprises fully provided for the needs of the army and navy. Under her active development of the Urals began, most of the new enterprises were opened here.

Let's briefly go through the legislative acts of Ekaterina Alekseevna in economic matters. In 1763, internal customs duties were abolished.

In 1767, people had the legal right to engage in any urban industry. In the period from 1766 to 1772, duties on the export of wheat abroad were abolished, which led to an increase in the development of agriculture and the development of new lands. In 1775, the Empress abolished taxes on small-scale trade.

The nobles received the right to exile their peasants to Siberia. Also, now the peasants could not complain about their master. The decrease in the personal freedoms of the peasants was one of the reasons for the uprising that took place from 1773 to 1775.

In 1775 Catherine IIstarted reform government controlled. According to the new law, the territorial and administrative division of Russia took the following form: the Empire was divided into provinces, those in turn into counties, and instead of 23 provinces, 50 were created.

The provinces were formed from the point of view of the convenience of taxation, and not geographical or national characteristics. The province was governed by a governor appointed by the monarch. Some large provinces were subject to the governor-general, who had a wider scope of power.

The governor headed the provincial government. The functions of the board were: the announcement and explanation of the laws to the population. As well as the transfer to justice of violators of laws. The power in the lower echelons of the county was under the jurisdiction of the local nobility, an assembly where people were chosen who would occupy important posts in the field.

The foreign policy of Catherine II was aggressive. The Empress believed that Russia should behave as during the time of Peter I, conquer new territories, legitimize its rights to access to the seas. Russia took part in the division of Poland, as well as in the Russo-Turkish wars. Successes in them made the Russian Empire one of the most influential states in Europe.

Ekaterina Alekseevna died in 1796, on November 6 (17). The years of the reign of Catherine II 1762 - 1796

Needless to say, Catherine II is one of the most recognizable characters in Russian history. Her personality is definitely interesting. Ask any layman who he considers the most successful Russian ruler? I am sure that in response you will hear the name of Catherine II. She was in fact a worthy ruler, with her the Russian theater, Russian literature, and science were actively developing.

Culturally and historically Russian empire really got a lot. Unfortunately, the personal life of the Empress is full of various rumors and gossip. Some of them are probably true, and some are not. It is a pity that Catherine II, being a great historical figure, to put it mildly, is not a model of morality.