Catherine, Queen of Russia

In Russian history, Catherine the Great is as famous as Peter the Great, and she has established an unprecedented huge empire in human history. Her political achievements are outstanding, and a series of dizzying love stories have become a topic that historians from generation to generation talk about. Catherine was born in a small German duke's family, her father was a professional officer of the Anholt-Tilbu royal family in Germany, and her mother was a princess of the Godop royal family in holst, Germany. Catherine has traveled to many European cities with her mother since she was a child, and has also been to the courts of many German princes. The turning point of her fate occurred in 1744. This year, the Russian Queen Yelisavita chose a wife for her heir Peter (later Peter III), and Catherine was invited to the Russian court as a candidate. When Catherine and her mother's carriage galloped on the post road in the eastern European plain, she might be full of expectations for the future. Being familiar with the court struggle since childhood, she is obviously psychologically prepared for the complicated court life she will face in the future. After arriving in Moscow, Catherine was quickly designated as the spouse of the Crown Prince, but the next 18 was not easy for her. Queen Jelisavita was cold and hot to her, which made her more miserable. Her husband Peter is a weak, weak-willed and eccentric man. He dotes on his mistress and often humiliates Catherine. During this period, Catherine claimed that "no books, no pain, but never happiness", accumulated knowledge in books, and secretly organized a small group, and the young officers of the Guards, headed by her lover Grigol Liaoerlov, became an iron fist to support her. 1762, Queen Yeli Savita died, and pregnant yekaterina dared not make a move, watching her husband and sworn enemy Peter ascend to the throne and become Tsar Peter III. Peter III carried out the pro-Prussian policy, which harmed the interests of Russia and aroused the dissatisfaction of the nobles. After he took office, a series of jaw-dropping actions finally pushed himself to the wall. He ordered the Russian army, which had a good situation and was in sight of victory in the Seven-Year War, to stop fighting, withdraw from the occupied Prussian land and sign a peace treaty with King Frederick II of Prussia. Because he is an admirer of Frederick II, he is also prepared to "personally lead some troops and obey the command of Frederick II". At home, he hoped that Russians would convert to Lutheranism, declare the Orthodox Church a heretic and confiscate its property. In this way, people will naturally change their minds. With the help of orlov brothers and Cossack leader Razumovski, Catherine staged a coup, successfully seized the throne and imprisoned Peter III. A few days later, Peter III died mysteriously. After 18 years of humiliation, Catherine finally waited for this day and became the master of the largest empire in the world. For more than 30 years, Catherine has been trying to innovate, control and manipulate this male-dominated world. Because of his good governance and outstanding achievements, his talent and fame are well-known at home and abroad, and he has become a generation of British lords in the eyes of Russians, second only to Peter the Great. Catherine the Great tried to strengthen the state apparatus of aristocratic bureaucrats, expand aristocratic privileges and maintain and develop serfdom. In 1960s, he claimed to be an "enlightened monarch", practiced enlightened autocracy and kept in touch with Voltaire, Diderot and other western European enlightenment thinkers. 1767, she called a committee to compile a new code, and wrote an Oracle for this committee, proclaiming that everyone is equal before the law. After suppressing the Pugachev uprising, he turned to open reactionary rule. 1775 promulgated the decree on the management system of all-Russian imperial provinces, which strengthened the power of nobles everywhere. In the conquered minority areas, the policy of compulsory Russia was implemented. 1785 promulgated the imperial edict of aristocratic privilege and the imperial edict of urban privilege, which made aristocrats become privileged classes in society and improved citizens' economic and political status to a certain extent. During her reign, she practiced serfdom against Ukrainians; Give nobles a lot of land and serfs; The edict that landlords have the right to exile peasants and peasants must obey landlords was promulgated, which brought serfdom to its peak. In terms of foreign policy, in order to realize its plan to seize world hegemony, it launched two wars against Turkey (1768 ~ 1779, 1787 ~ 179 1), which opened the sea to the Black Sea and invaded the northern shore of the Black Sea, including the Crimean Peninsula. 1788 ~ 1790 wage war with Sweden. Poland, together with Prussia and Austria, was divided up three times in 1772, 1793 and 1795. It occupied most of Lithuania, Belarus and western Ukraine, and set Georgia as a protectorate, thus expanding Russia's territory by 670,000 square kilometers. 1789 After the French bourgeois revolution broke out, he tried to organize an anti-French alliance, actively participated in the suppression of the French revolution by European monarchies, and set a precedent for Russian intervention in the European revolution, making Russia a European gendarmerie. Catherine the Great's greatest achievement is Russia's territorial expansion, which is also her main influence on history. Catherine adopted a step-by-step strategy on Poland. First, she manipulated the Polish election meeting in 1763 to help her lover poniatowski ascend to the Polish throne. 1772, Russia carved up Poland with Prussia and Austria for the first time, and obtained a part of Belarus and Latvia. Polish patriots rebelled before their demise. 179 1 year, the patriotic party adopted the constitution of may 3, announcing the abolition of the system of free choice of king and free veto. As a result, Russia and Prussia jointly suppressed it. Catherine's army occupied Warsaw, declared the Constitution invalid on May 3rd, and signed a second agreement with Prussia to carve up Poland, which is a part of western Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. Catherine may want to keep a puppet kingdom for her lover, but 1794, Poland's national salvation uprising surged. After the Polish uprising was suppressed by the United States and Austria, in order to avoid falling asleep, she decided to carve up Poland for the third time, so that the country completely disappeared from the map. Divided Poland three times, the greedy polar bear got more than 460,000 square kilometers of land. During the reign of Peter the Great, he failed to realize his wish to let the Black Sea lead to the sea. Turkey has always been Russia's number one imaginary enemy. But the anti-Turkish war in Catherine's time went unexpectedly smoothly. 1768, under the provocation of Russia, Turkey declared war on Russia. Originally considered as a close contest, it shows Russia's one-sided advantage. It has won great victories in the Danube, Crimea, Caucasus and Aegean Sea. 1774 Peace Treaty, Turkey was forced to recognize the independence of the Crimean Khanate (later annexed by Russia). Turkey naturally refused to stop, and both sides were preparing for war. 1787 War broke out again between the two countries. This time, the Russian army won a more complete victory under the leadership of suvorov (who later showed his talents in the war with Napoleon), and more than 20,000 people were wiped out in the famous battle of Izmir. Turkey once again signed a peace treaty as a loser, ceded the land between the South Bug River and the left bank of the Transnistrian River, and recognized the territory of Crimea into Russia. Catherine was the biggest catalyst in the process of the once powerful Ottoman Turkish Empire becoming the sick man of West Asia. There was another episode in the second Russian-Turkish war. Gustav, the Swedish "king of actors", tried to attack the Russian Baltic fleet and was defeated. Sweden, Poland and Turkey have always been the three main targets of Russia's expansion in Europe, and they won a great victory during the period of Catherine the Great. Looking at the greatly expanded Russian territory, Emperor Catherine said with great pride: "If I can live to be 200 years old, the whole of Europe will crawl at my feet!" "Catherine sponsored and supported the development of Russian art, opposed ignorance and backwardness, and supported philosophers and artists more generously than any monarch in Western Europe. In her early years, she read many works of western European enlightenment thinkers. In that era of popular "enlightened autocracy", she also made herself a fashionable chaser. After she acceded to the throne, she corresponded closely with Voltaire and helped Diderot. She founded various schools, advocated literary creation, adopted encouraging policies for the development of capitalist industry and commerce, and lifted trade restrictions. However, after sitting on the throne of czar autocracy, her thoughts gradually changed. 1773, the peasant uprising led by pugachev, pretending to be Tsar Peter III, was suppressed for more than a year, but the strategically important big city was not occupied, but it still made the Queen feel a great shock. She further strengthened centralization, such as changing the three-level system of "province, state and county" to the two-level system of "province and county", giving the nobles more and more power. 1787 promulgated the imperial edict of Russian nobility, freedom and privilege, which is a concentrated expression, so she is called the "noble queen". In this regard, although it is beneficial to consolidate the rule in the short term, in the long run, it intensifies the contradiction between aristocratic serf owners and serfs, and the exploitation and oppression suffered by serfs further deepens. Serfdom has always been a major problem in Russian society. Catherine the Great aggravated it and pushed this thorny problem to her descendants to solve. On the other hand, by giving more freedom to the aristocrats, the advanced elements among them can fully contact with the liberal ideas of western Europe, which opens a door for Russia's modernization. The first cry of Russia to overthrow the czar's autocracy and serfdom came from the progressive aristocrats. In daily life, the queen is very regular and kind to people. Almost all the women who served her praised her character. Catherine has a foreign chef. His cooking is not to the queen's taste, but the queen can't bear to fire him, so she put up with his food for a long time. Another time, she went to the lobby to find someone to help her deliver the letter, only to find the waiter playing cards in the lobby. As a result, she ordered one of them to deliver the letter, and then sat down to continue playing. The Queen has always been in good health, but her rich nightlife is likely to consume too much physical strength. /kloc-one day in early October, the queen enjoyed one fifth of espresso brewed with coffee beans as usual and went to the dressing room to change clothes alone. After a long time, the maid-in-waiting opened the door and found the queen lying unconscious on the ground-she had a stroke. 1796165438+1October 6, Catherine ended her brilliant life in extreme pain. Before she died, she ordered an imperial edict to be hidden in a jewelry box. This imperial edict probably stated the ownership of the throne after her death (Alexander, of course), but this imperial edict was burned by Archduke Paul who came immediately. The latter became the new emperor of Russia. 180 1 year, the unpopular Paul Ⅰ Petrovich was assassinated, and Archduke Alexander succeeded to the throne, that is, Alexander I, known as the "Sphinx of the North". It seems that the queen's last fable has also come true. In a word, Catherine the Great's influence on history is mainly reflected in the changes in the international pattern and territory. She made Poland disappear, let Turkey decline rapidly, and at the same time made Russia stronger, and the ruling power further approached the heart of Europe, which was invincible in the coming Napoleonic War era. " If I can live to be 200 years old, the whole of Europe will crawl at my feet! "-Catherine the Great