3/22/2023 0 Comments Great rulers![]() ![]() This issue led to a rebellion, and in the end Russian troops were sent into Poland to support Poniatowski. Catherine insisted that he grant rights to Poland’s Orthodox and Protestant worshipers, something that offended many Polish Catholics. Poniatowski and Catherine ended up getting more than they bargained for. He noted that with the death of the Polish king, Augustus III, in 1763, she was able to put one of her lovers, Stanislaw Poniatowski, on the Polish throne. Before her reign, Russia’s military had defeated the forces of Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, in battles at Gross-Jägersdorf (in 1757) and Kunersdorf (1759), victories that left Russia in a powerful position in Eastern Europe, wrote Simon Dixon, a professor at University College London, in his book "Catherine the Great" (Profile Books, 2009). It is said that human vices are often concealed under the cloak of kindness, and it is possible that such a disposition of the heart is more of a vice than a virtue, but I ought not to write this to you, for you might stop loving me or refuse to go to the army fearing I should forget you…” (From the book "The Russian Chronicles," 1998, Quadrillion Publishing, edited by Joseph Ryan) Expanding the empireĬatherine started her reign with Russia already in a relatively favorable military position. “The trouble is that my heart is loath to remain even one hour without love. She alluded to her habit of often switching lovers in a letter she wrote to Prince Grigory Potemkin, a military leader with whom she had an affair in 1774-1775. ![]() Orlov would be one of many lovers that Catherine would have in her life. Peter III was then arrested, forced to abdicate the throne and ultimately killed. With the support of local military units, Catherine was proclaimed Empress of Russia in July 1762 while her husband was away from St. Catherine got the jump on the others through her romantic relationship with Grigory Orlov, an officer in the Russian Guards. “Most of his policies were so unpopular at court, so lacking in judgment, that several groups started plotting to dethrone him,” wrote Madariaga. He embarked on a seemingly pointless military campaign against Denmark, alienated the Orthodox clergy by attempting to take over church lands and even tried to marry his mistress. “Though not stupid, he was totally lacking in common sense, and he quickly set about alienating all the powerful parties at court,” Madariaga wrote. The two of them hated each other, and he ruled ineptly. Madariaga wrote that Catherine's opportunity came when her husband ascended to the throne as Peter III at the end of 1761. She also allowed a system of serfdom to continue in Russia, something that would contribute to a full-fledged revolt led by a pretender to the throne.Ĭatherine had no claim whatsoever to the Russian throne, according to Isabel de Madariaga, a professor emeritus of Slavonic Studies at the University of London in the opening of her book "A Short History of Catherine the Great" (Yale University Press, 2002). Power and loveĬatherine was also a successful military ruler her troops conquered a great deal of new territory. "Kurakina's songs were so popular that Breitkopf (Petersburg) published a collection of eight of her French romances in 1795," wrote Harley. "These female aristocrats followed a new model of empowered and extremely cultured womanhood, modeled by four women who ruled the Russian empire for more than two-thirds of the 18th century: Catherine I, Anna, Elisabeth, and Catherine II," wrote Harley in her paper.Īmong the most prolific Russian female artists was Princess Natalia Ivanovna Kurakina (lived 1768-1831) who wrote at least 45 songs. These female artists tended to be from the aristocratic class but they followed the lead of Catherine II ("the great") and other women who held power in Russia in the 18th century. ![]()
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