The Russian Empress Catherine II, who went down in history as the Great, was marked by numerous reforms during her reign. After taking the throne after the overthrow of her husband, she took power into her own hands and implemented many reforms, not all of which were warmly accepted. Thus, the empress completely swept away the nascent peasant freemen and gave the nobles numerous privileges, while significantly expanding the borders of the Russian Empire.
German by birth, at birth Catherine the Second was called Sophia Augustus Frederica. Yes, here is such a long name. The surname is Anhalt-Zerbt. She always got up early, at 5-6 in the morning. Catherine II loved to read. Her library was huge. In addition, she corresponded with many prominent French writers of the Enlightenment. Preserved evidence that confirms that the Empress wrote in Russian with a huge number of errors. The imperial table for one day cost about 12.5 times more than the average soldier received for the year. During the reign of Catherine the Great, the annual budget of the country increased fourfold.
She loved knitting and embroidering on fabric, believing that these activities contribute to appeasement. Her other hobbies included engraving and carving of bone and wood. The Empress played billiards well. During the entire period spent in power, Catherine II signed only one order for the death penalty, relating to the rebel Yemelyan Pugachev. Lush dresses with lots of jewelry she wore only on the way out. In everyday life, the empress preferred to wear simple clothes. Catherine II wrote plays and even sent them to the French writer Voltaire with requests for review. Contemporaries argued that the empress never raised her voice and did not scold. However, all the same, all the courtiers, and the servants, too, were afraid to accidentally anger her – behind the mask of indifferent politeness there was an uneasy character.
Catherine II ordered the construction of a fortress, which later became the city of Vladikavkaz. In total for the years she spent on the throne, 144 new cities were built (see interesting facts about Vladikavkaz). During the spread of smallpox vaccinations, the people treated them with suspicion. To overcome it, Catherine the Great personally set an example, calling a famous doctor from England and one of the first to receive an inoculation from him.
The Empress had smoked a lot all her life, preferring expensive cigars. Catherine II, by her own admission, mastered the Russian language on her own, using books and without the help of experienced teachers. During the term of her reign, the population of the Russian Empire increased almost one and a half times. To win the sympathy of the nobility, Catherine II presented them with a total of about 800 thousand serfs. Pavel I, having come to power, destroyed most of the legacy of his mother.
By refusing to support Britain during the US war of independence, Catherine II indirectly contributed to the transformation of the former British colony into an independent state – the United States. The Empress was not indifferent to men, having changed over the years in power more than two dozen official favorites. However, the documents confirm a much smaller number. Despite the above fact, Catherine the Great did not allow her favorites to go public. The exceptions were two of them, Potemkin and Zavadovsky. After the death of the Empress, it turned out that the country had a large public debt, which had to be paid for the next three years. For more comfortable travel, she ordered the construction of many small palaces on the road connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. Catherine II herself wrote the epitaph for her gravestone.
