What do we know about the Russian Empress Catherine the Great? Facts that have little to do with state policy often emerge in the memory of descendants. Catherine was a very big fan of court balls, exquisite toilets. Strings of cavaliers always followed her. The life of her favorites, once connected with her by love bonds, went down in history. Meanwhile, the Russian Empress was, above all, a smart, bright, extraordinary personality and a talented organizer. It is worth noting that under her the system of state government was transformed for the first time after the reign of Peter the Great. The reforms of Catherine II are of great interest even today. However, it is hardly possible to summarize them briefly. In general, all its political changes fit into the mainstream of the theory called enlightened absolutism. This movement gained particular popularity in the 18th century. Many areas of state and public life were affected by the reform of Catherine II. The table "Transformations within the country" below clearly shows this.
Childhood andRaising Princess Fike
Sophia Frederick Augustus of Anh alt-Zerbst - this was the full name of the future Russian Empress. She was born in the spring of 1729 in a small German town called Stettin (now it is the territory of Poland). Her father was in the service of the Prussian king. This was a vain man. At one time he was first a regimental commander, then a commandant, and then the governor of his native city. The mother of the future empress was of royal blood. She was a cousin of Peter III, the future husband of her daughter. Sofia, or Fike, as her relatives called her, was educated at home.
She studied French, Italian, English, geography, history, theology, danced and played music. The girl had a cheerful disposition, was restless, was friends with the boys. Her parents were unhappy with her behavior. The Fike family was not rich. But her mother dreamed of getting her daughter in marriage profitably. Soon her dreams were brought to life.
Marriage with the heir to the throne of Russia
In 1744, the Zerbst princess Fike was invited along with matter to Russia to the royal court for a wedding with the future Russian Emperor Peter III, who was her second cousin.
The sixteen-year-old bride was soon introduced to Elizaveta Petrovna, who, in an effort to secure the Romanovs' right to the throne, hoped to marry her unlucky nephew. The Russian Empress believed that the pretty andgraceful Sophia will be able to distract Peter from his childish play with puppies and toys. As soon as Fike was in Russia, she eagerly began to study the Russian language, court etiquette and the Orthodox law of God. The wedding was scheduled for August 25, 1745. The day before, Sofia converted to Orthodoxy and received the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna. On the wedding day at 6 o'clock in the morning, the princess was taken to the chambers of Elizabeth Petrovna, where she was dressed and combed. The wedding ceremony took place in the Kazan Church. It is noteworthy that 17 years after that, the Life Guards will swear allegiance to their new Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna here. After the wedding, a big ball and a banquet were given at the royal court, where Fike was forced to dance with an endless series of elderly nobles. Immediately after the wedding, it turned out that the newly-made husband was not going to fulfill his marital duties. Peter spent all his time playing with tin soldiers and cardboard castles. He turned his matrimonial bedroom into a kennel for hunting dogs. It was obvious that this undergrowth was not capable of governing the state. Meanwhile, Russia needed internal reforms. Catherine 2, as such, did not yet exist. Yes, and those close to the royal court expected that everything would be limited to the role of the wife of the emperor and the mother of his children for Fike. How wrong they were.
Catherine's accession to the Russian throne
The acting Empress Elizaveta Petrovna was fading away every day, her he alth was very weak. And the relationship of the crowned spouses did not develop. Peter openly lived with his mistress and talked aboutdesire to marry her. Catherine herself soon also became interested in the 26-year-old chamber junker Sergei S altykov. A few months later, Fike gave birth to a son, who was named Paul. There were rumors at court that Catherine's lover was his father. Despite all this, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna proclaimed the boy the second in line heir to the throne. Meanwhile, Russia, in alliance with Austria and France, was at war with Prussia, where it won one victory after another. This pleased everyone except the infantile Peter, who considered King Frederick II of Prussia to be an unsurpassed military genius. It was clear that in the event of his accession to the throne, Russia would conclude a humiliating peace with Prussia, losing everything that it had gained during the war. Soon this happened. Elizabeth died on Christmas Day in 1761. After that, Peter became the Russian emperor. In March 1762, he made peace with Prussia, which caused a lot of discontent in the ranks of the Russian army. This was what Catherine's associates, the Orlov brothers, decided to use against Peter III, one of whom, Grigory, was her lover and the father of her last child. In the Kazan Church, Catherine underwent the rite of anointing and taking the oath as Empress of All Russia. The soldiers were the first to swear allegiance to her.
It happened on June 28, 1762. At that time, no one could have imagined what Catherine's policy would be 2.
General information about the reign of the Empress
A week after the events described, on July 6, Ekaterina received a letter from Orlov stating that her husband Peter,who wrote the abdication and exiled to the Ropsha manor, died. According to eyewitnesses, the newly-made empress rushed about, cried and shouted that her descendants would never forgive her for this. However, other sources indicate that she knew about the impending assassination attempt on her husband, since 2 days before his murder, doctor Paulsen was sent to him not with medicines, but with tools for dissecting corpses. Be that as it may, no one began to challenge Catherine's right to the throne. And today we can sum up the results of her 34-year reign. Historians often use the term "enlightened absolutism" to characterize her rule within the state. Adherents of this theory are convinced that the state must have a strong autocratic power that will work for the benefit of all its citizens. The enlightened absolutism of Catherine II was expressed primarily in the strengthening of the bureaucratic apparatus, the unification of the management system and the centralization of the country. The Empress believed that the vast territory of Russia and its harsh climate necessitated the emergence and prosperity of the autocracy here. Schematically, you can depict the reforms of Catherine 2.
Table "Transformations within the country"
| p/p | Name | Regulations |
| 1 | Provincial reform | Territories began to be divided into governorships and counties, the number of the former increased from 23 to 50. Each province was headed by a governor appointed by the Senate. |
| 2 | Judicial reform | The Senate has become the highest judicial body. The nobles were judged by the zemstvo court, the townspeople - magistrates, the peasants - reprisals. So-called Soviet courts were created. |
| 3 | Secularization reform | The monastic lands, together with the peasants who lived on them, were placed at the disposal of the College of Economy. |
| 4 | Reform of the Senate | The Senate became the highest court, was divided into 6 departments. |
| 5 | Urban reform | The urban reform of Catherine II was that the inhabitants of the cities were divided into 6 categories, each of which had its own rights, obligations and privileges |
| 6 | Police reform | The Deanery Council became a city police department |
| 7 | Education reform | People's schools were created in the cities, supported by the money of the state treasury. People of all classes could study in them. |
| 8 | Monetary reform | The loan office and the State Bank were formed. Banknotes were issued for the first time - paper money. |
As we can see from the data in the table, these reforms fully manifested the enlightened absolutism of Catherine II. She stroveconcentrate all state power in their hands and ensure that all classes live in the country according to the special laws introduced by it.
Document "Instruction" - the concept of Catherine's enlightened absolutism 2
The Empress, who enthusiastically spoke about the works of Montesquieu and adopted the basic principles of his theory, attempted to convene the so-called Legislative Commission, the main purpose of which is to clarify the needs of the people in order to carry out the necessary transformations within the state. This body was attended by 600 deputies from various estates. As the guiding document of this Commission, Catherine issued the “Instruction”, which, in fact, became the theoretical justification for enlightened absolutism. It is known that it was almost completely rewritten from the works of Montesquieu, a zealous supporter of this theory. Ekaterina herself admitted that here she owns “somewhere one line, one word.”
This Commission existed for only a year and a half, and then was dissolved. Was this body called upon to carry out the administrative reforms of Catherine II? Maybe yes. But historians today agree that all the work of the Commission was aimed at creating a favorable image of the Empress in Russia and abroad. It was this body that decided to award her the title of "Great".
Catherine's administrative reforms 2
These innovations were legalized on November 7, 1775. The system of administrative division of the territory of Russia has changed. She was previouslythree-link: provinces, provinces, counties. And now the regions of the state began to be divided only into governorships and counties. At the head of several governorships was a governor-general. The governors, herald-fiscals and refatgeys obeyed him. The Treasury Chamber, with the support of the Accounts Chamber, was in charge of finances in the governorates. At the head of each county was a police captain. A city was allocated as a separate administrative unit, headed by a mayor instead of a voivode.
Reform of the Senate of Catherine 2
This neoplasm was accepted by the Empress on December 15, 1763. According to him, the Senate became the highest judicial instance. In addition, it was divided into 6 departments:
• first - was in charge of all state and political affairs in St. Petersburg;
• second - court cases in St. Petersburg;
• third - medicine, science, art, education, transport;
• Fourth - military maritime and land affairs;
• fifth - state and political affairs in Moscow;
• sixth - court cases in Moscow.
The government reforms of Catherine II here were aimed at making the Senate an obedient instrument of autocratic power.
Economic reforms
The reign of the Empress was characterized by the extensive development of the country's economy. The economic reforms of Catherine II affected the banking and monetary spheres, foreign trade.
During her reign, new credit institutions appeared (loan offices andState Bank), began to accept funds from the population for deposits for storage. For the first time banknotes were issued - paper money. Under Catherine, the state began to export goods abroad in large quantities, such as cast iron, sailcloth, timber, hemp, and bread. It is difficult to say whether these reforms of Catherine II brought a positive result. It is unlikely that it will be possible to talk about this briefly. The massive export of grain under its management led to the famine in 1780 in many regions of Russia. Cases of mass ruin of peasants became more frequent. The price of bread has risen. The state treasury is empty. And Russia's foreign debt exceeded 33 million rubles.
Innovations in the education system
But far from all the transformations of the Empress had negative consequences. The education reform of Catherine II was launched in the 1760s. Schools began to open everywhere, which children from different classes could attend. Particular attention was paid to women's education. In 1764, the Smolensk Institute for Noble Maidens was formed. In 1783, the Russian Academy was opened, where eminent foreign scientists were invited. What else was the education reform of Catherine 2 manifested in? The fact that in the provinces they formed orders of public charity, which were in charge of the management of public schools, hospitals, asylums for the insane and the sick, and hospitals. Homes for homeless children were opened in Moscow and St. Petersburg, who received upbringing and education in them.
Estates under Catherine 2
This transformation is still controversial among historians. Estate reformsCatherine II consisted in her issuing two charters in 1785, one of which finally secured the privileges of the nobility, and the other divided the urban population into 6 categories. The empress herself called these innovations "the crown of her activity." "Charter to the nobility" suggested the following:
• this estate was exempted from quartering military units, from corporal punishment, from confiscation of property for criminal offenses;
• the nobility received the right to the bowels of the earth, the right to own land, the right to have class institutions;
• These people were forbidden to hold elected positions if their income from the estates was less than 100 rubles, and they were also deprived of the right to vote if they did not have an officer rank.
What was the urban reform of Catherine II? The Empress ordered to divide the population into 6 categories:
• urban dwellers (homeowners);
• merchants of 3 guilds;
• artisans;
• out-of-town and foreign merchants;
• eminent citizens (we althy merchants, bankers, architects, painters, scientists, composers);
• townspeople (having no houses).
With regard to these innovations, we can say that the policy of Catherine II here contributed to a strong stratification of society into rich and poor. At the same time, the economic situation of some of the nobles worsened. Many of them could not enter the civil service, not being able to purchase the necessary clothing and footwear for this. At the same time, a number of large nobles owned vast territories.land and hundreds of thousands of serfs.
Religious politics
What other areas were affected by the state reforms of Catherine II? This strong-willed woman tried to control absolutely everything in her state, including religion. In 1764, by issuing a decree, she deprived the church of land. Together with the peasants, these territories were transferred to the management of a certain College of Economy. Thus, the clergy became dependent on the royal power. In general, the empress tried to pursue a policy of religious tolerance. In the first years of her reign, the persecution of the Old Believers ceased, Buddhism, Protestantism, and Judaism received state support.
Catherine 2 as an adherent of the Enlightenment theory
The 34-year reign of the empress is filled with many controversial events. The enlightened absolutism of Catherine 2, which she tried to preach among the nobility, was manifested in the “Order” she created, and in the convening of the Legislative Commission, and in the class reform, and in the administrative division of the territory of Russia, and in transformations in the field of education. However, all these reforms were limited. The estate system, the autocratic principle of government, serfdom remained unshakable. Catherine's relationship with the French enlighteners (Voltaire, Diderot) deserves special attention.
She was in active correspondence with them, exchanging ideas. They had a very high opinion of her. True, modern historians are sure that these relations were purely sponsored. Empress oftengave generously to her “friends.”
Results of the reign of the great empress
It's time to briefly characterize the reforms of Catherine II and take stock of her reign. She carried out many transformations, sometimes very contradictory. The era of the empress is characterized by the maximum enslavement of the peasants, the deprivation of their minimum rights. Under her rule, a decree was issued prohibiting peasants from filing a complaint against their landowner. Corruption flourished, and on a particularly large scale. The empress herself set an example, generously giving gifts to relatives and court entourage and appointing her favorites to responsible government posts. It is not surprising that after a few years of her reign, the country's treasury was empty. How did the reforms of Catherine II eventually end? Briefly, this can be said as follows: a severe economic crisis and the complete collapse of the financial system of the state. Be that as it may, she actively participated in public life and loved Russia, which became her native.
We found out how the enlightened absolutism of Catherine II manifested itself during her reign, some of the provisions of which she was able to put into practice.
